Buddhism: how can 'you' be reincarnated when there is no 'you'?

Question

From what I understand, Buddha said there is no essence of 'you'. If you take a table apart, you find no essence of 'table', only bits of wood - and in the same way, there is no essence of 'you'. Am I right so far?

Well. If there's no 'you', how can 'you' be reincarnated? My religion teacher said Buddhism generally doesn't have an answer to this, and that individual Buddhists might have their own ways of explaining it.

What are possible ways of explaining it?

Answer 1

reincarnation does not have to operate within the narrow confines of singular identity. buddha says more that that in the knowing of self you forget the self shedding attachment along the way that does mean that self does not exist, only that in it's singular form it is not important.
buddhism rarely claims to answer any questions, buddhism is not thiestic, it is an approach, rather a means by which to answer questions, not the answers themselves

Answer 2

I learnt about this when I lived in India. I understand that they believe that the karmic factors which make up a person (the psychophysical organism on the tibetan wheel of life) can manifest themselves as an ego, even though one doesn't really exist. This isn't a very good explanation but there are books written on the subject, the best one I read was "The Buddhist Vision" by Alex Kennedy

Answer 3

READ HERE!!!!
VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!

You can cut to the chase and begin experiencing the benefits of Buddhism through chanting of the mantra of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, "nam myoho renge kyo." No study of dogma or history is required. That can come later. By practicing recitation of this mantra you can get all the benefits you have seen attributed to other meditation techniques, in a quick and direct way. Pursue it on the net. There are sites where you can hear the chant. And read Andrea Kovacs' story in the book "Visible Light," by Michael Lezy (New York Times Books).

Answer 4

The explanation of Buddhist Cosmology begins in the Suttas with the Consciousness Stream (Pali--Bhavanga-Sota). This is a powerful energy which is part of us yet is not conscious of self, has no "self" nor ego, nor gender nor is it self aware. This Stream of energy is what makes us a Being, without it we are just meat on bones.

Because our consciousness part (Pali - Skandha) is self aware it is aware of the other 4 parts or Skandhas. These parts are what our consciousness considers "self" and it includes itself in the definition of "self" or this is me.

These Skandhas are what make us..well..us..When we die these Skandhas dissolve just as our body dissolves, yet what is it then which is Reborn..? It is not so much as a what..as a why..question. The Lord Buddha says that everything which exists has a cause for existing, and it is no different for us. We are Reborn because our Consciousness Stream contains "Ignorance", this means that there is "Ignorance" which is causing our Rebirth. Ignorance in this sense is the Karmic Energy which always surrounds our Consciousness Stream of Energy, so it boils down to Karmic Energy which causes Rebirth.

The term Rebirth is a Dharma word with many meanings, a Dharma meaning and an ordinary meaning. The ordinary meaning is birth in the normal sense, whereas the Dharma meaning means to begin again.

What this means to the Dharma interpretation is that the Conscious Stream is "caused" to enter the zygot (the newly formed cells forming the baby) through the actions of Karmic Energy and the Skandhas are "caused" to reform around the Consciousness Stream to form the new Being.

We, or rather our Skandhas are therefore formed as a result of or "caused" by our previous live's negative Karma and the Energy of our Consciousness Stream is effected in the same way giving rise to "Ignorance" within it.

The Dharma explains it as "The 3 requirements for a Birth are the mother's egg, the father's sperm, and Karmic Energy (Pali...Karma-Vega)....

This is a basic view of Buddhist Cosmology and the process of Rebirth as a Consequence of Karma...

Hope my poor insight helps you in some way to understand what is a difficult subject to understand.

Peace from a Buddhist....(Theravada Tradition)...

Answer 5

I'm not a theologist, but I imagine that since buddist do believe in a life force, of which we are all a part of, that the same part of the life force that inhabits your human body will take on a dfferent vessle as soon as it's present one expires. So in that sense, all "you" are is "a part" of something much larger and when "you" are reincarnated, all that is happening is that "you" are being recycled as a different being. Kharma complicates this theory by giving each individual part of the life force free will, but lets just ignore that. I hope this helps.

Answer 6

In Mahayana, you mean your soul. Illusion is flesh and life. Flesh will die but soul survives. Soul will reincarnate into a new life with a new memory with an old karma. You're always you since your soul is yours even flesh is not. That is why even your body falls apart ( as you take the table apart) you are still you.

Answer 7

Your religion teacher has made a mistake. There are many examples in sutra and tantra, as well as scriptural pronouncements of Shakyamuni Buddha and realizational doctrine by adherents asserting the existence of past and future lives. Right off the bat, I think of the Pramanavarttikakarika, Dharmakirti's Compendium to Valid Cognition saying the three: consciousness, breath and sense powers prove the existence of past lives but there is nothing to be gained in trying to prove this to you by saying someone else said it! I could say The Conqueror himself asserted such things and it wouldn't amount to anything close to changing your mind. This is why you have to work at these things to increase your own understanding. This has been "under construction" for thousands of years, we would be quite far off the mark if we felt we could just hear it once and understand the ultimate nature of reality - but if we use study to support meditation and meditation to support study - then the collections of method and wisdom will increase and thus our attainments and understanding of various topics will likewise increase. As far as the example of the table goes, there are many divisions of lines of reasoning asserting the existence or non-existence of "table," and it's characterization as conventionally or ultimately able to perform a function; it's momentariness and it's nominal designation, and it being generally or specifically characterized phenomena, etc. It depends on the tenet system to which you ascribe. Keep in mind that this is something that is not done solely to convert one persons view to another but rather to use epistemological assertions to continue to point one towards valid cognition of phenomena beyond the limits of concepts and words. So, sure you could say a table is a table and you are inherently existent. You could say the table is inherently existent and not momentary. You could say that you are not impermanent. You could say the table is permanent. You could say the table is ultimately able to perform a function. You could say you are not momentary because you don't have the three: production, abiding and cessation. But you could get tripped up in debate by these things without a definition of the terms. Start with color and shape - I could say all colors are primary colors. You would say they are not! I would then say show! (Prove it!) You would then say the color of smoke. And you would be quite correct. Because the color of smoke is a color and is not a primary color. Or you could say "grey color of cloth," or something like that. But you should try and find something that is a common locus between the two say "red color of cloth" - red is a color and a primary color. Is there something that is neither? A bell. A bell is neither color nor primary color. So, like this you try and work out the pervasion between the two things being compared. You try and satisfy the question for debate by finding out if things according to their definition are synonymous, mutually exclusive, if there is a common locus, if there is something that is neither, etc. Is a table permanent? What is table? What is permanent? There are many, many divisions. But this is where the monks start. Right in this neighborhood. Then twenty years from now they would say "everything is empty of inherent existence." One could say that now according to the Prasangika-Madhyamika and be quite correct but knowing how and why that is asserted by learning the lower tenet systems and how to refute them is foundational. After all we have all these concepts floating around and we are going to try and narrow down the possibilities untill we can have direct cognition of something rather than inferential cognition - but this understanding is an effect and is concordant with its cause. You can't plant a tulip bulb and expect a rose bush. As for me, I don't really know any of this stuff. I just heard two women talking about it at the coffee shop.

Answer 8

*Encourage you to start out with the Concept of Mindfulness.

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http://dharma.ncf.ca/introduction/instru...

The first site is great; but the site below, is most excellent, providing the entire Book [not just chapter 13/as what the site above provides], for FREE: A How To - Manuel on Mindfulness Meditation. It is quite excellent:

http://www.vipassana.com/meditation/mind...

Mindfulness Meditation IS The MOST Excellent Form of Meditation a person can learn. There are so many, many benefits from the daily practice of Mindfulness Meditation. Encourage you to read this book, daily practicing mindfulness meditation as a major part of your life.
Your never turn back, with any regrets, as you daily continue with mindfulness meditation, and walking mindfully moment by moment in daily life.

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Answer 9

Based on a movie I saw, I can tell you the belief or idea that Buddhists have. When one is reincarnated, he is not quite derived from a spirit that once existed in another body. Rather, he is composed of different traits coming from different places. Intelligence, anger, love, and all the personalities come from different places and join in together on the newly reincarnated body. Thus, that would explain the quote "There is no you."

Answer 10

"Buddhism teaches that what is reborn is not the person but that one moment gives rise to another and that momentum continues, even after death. It is a more subtle concept than the usual notion of reincarnation, reflecting the sophisticated Buddhist concept of personality existing (even within one's lifetime) without a soul."