Buddhist historians? Was reincarnation part of the Buddha's original teaching?

Question

It's certainly one of the parts of Buddhism I have the most trouble with. Does Buddhism teach a belief in a 'soul'? If so, I don't see where it differs from other 'religions'. If it was just a philosophy, I could understand and believe in it.

*I guess I should just take the useful parts from Buddhism and run with them. Along with my stolen bits of Stoicism, and Epicurianism, Voltaireism, Sex Pistols, Gil Blas and other tidbits torn out of history. Nobody ever gets it all together... ;) Your answers were all great though. I'll put it to the vote. (Don't know if I believe in democracy, though...) Further answers welcome too!

Answer 1

No it isn't. Buddha simply taught that pain is caused by our desires. Therefore if we don't desire, we live happy lives. The rest of the stuff was added later.

Answer 2

They hold a pantheistic belief as well as polytheistic (it was one, then the other). Buddha has similar concepts to Hinduism, but it does believe that there are levels of godhood until you are absolved into the impersonal all that is pantheistic nature. While I can't remember all, I'm aware of the Brahmin's which are those who are allegedly staying behind (they've passed from their human bodies, but higher in rank of godhood) to help those achieve Nirvana. In short, the Buddhist belief is that there are stair steps to being absolved into the impersonal all that is "god." You complete each step through certain actions, and you can choose to stay in a certain area if you wish to. Nice story though.

Answer 3

Yes, although I agree with you that it is a stretch. Buddha taught that the problem, from a medical/holistic point of view, the thing that messes up your happiness is craving. Craving dooms keeps you stuck on the wheel of life and you are doomed to be reincarnated until you get it right. Perhaps that was Buddha's version of the threat of hell. Eliminate craving and the need for things, and you will feel better, mentally and physcially.

Answer 4

Hindu was probably one of the earliest religions that embraces reincarnation. Part of the soul's reincarnation was the transitory process of a human soul as it embodies from infancy to adulthood. Then as the body dies, the soul will again look for another vehicle to complete the evolutionary process through series of reincarnations where the soul clears all his gross characters through karmic experiences.
Buddhism expounded more on human development by detaching himself to the materials and emphasize more on spiritual development

Answer 5

Doesn't matter whether Buddha mentioned reincarnation or not. His teachings still apply to an existence without reincarnation.

However, Buddhists who do believe in reincarnation would say that there is no soul. Look up the five aggregates.

Answer 6

There is no such concept in Buddhism.Many people misunderstood the concept of rebirth with reincarnation.To understand the concept of rebirth,it is best to ask some one knowledgable such as a Buddhist monk.
Please go to:http://www.bswa.org
Ajahn Bram gave a very good explanation on that subject.

Answer 7

Of course - this is Nirvana - reaching the afterlife (where the souls go) and starting again. Go back to the wheel and just look to the basics. Don't try to analyse or look to far. Back to basics.

Answer 8

Buddha taught rebirth, if not nothing call suffering. Refer to Paticca-Samupada or Dependent Origination. Or you may justify the existence of rebirth through your own abilities by practising Meditation. I reccommend Pa-Auk Tawya sayadaw or Thanissaro Bhikkhu. If you are from Singapore or malaysia, I refer you to Palelai Buddhist temple or Ajhan Keng Khemako.

You can get the idea of rebirth by tracing your own trains of memories and thoughts. It just arise and fall, come and go.

2 parts, I touch on "Souless" first, then, on reincarnation.

Buddha taught "Souless". Nothing call a soul exist. If there is a "Soul" that means there is a "self",

Buddha taught "non-self" (Anatta). The idea of "self" comes from the delusion reflecting from our 5 aggregates namely, Form, Feelings, Perception, Mental Fabrications and Conciousness.

You can't say any of these 5 is "You", but when it comes together, the idea of "Self" comes in. Form is form, feeling is feeling.... so where is self? Try opening a "Clock", and take out every parts, unscrew it's parts, and find, where is the "Clock".

Let's talk on 1, Feeling. Feeling is feeling. Who is feeling? The feeling itself is feeling the feeling. Observe your feelings. Body feeling angry? Mind feeling angry?

Unlike touching something, that is call tangible objects, the sense of touch. This refers to the *consciousness of the Body, rather than 'Feeling" as scientific terms. You can't feel angry or sad when touching something, but when your "feeling" aggregate starts reacting again. You still can "feel" without touching, thus, feeling is beyond the sense of touch.

*Consciousness refer to the "Knowing" or "Awareness".
We have 6 Sense door, 6 Sense object and 6 Sense conciousness. Read up about it, I shall not touch on this or else it gets very long.

You can see this fact by your own abilities, in our very on body, but it is hard to understand it fully just by thinking. Our thoughts is very limited in knowledge, and often affected by preceptions and views, its impossible to get it right fully through thinking.

Thus, we practise and train our mind till it is calm and clear, then we can reflect on these things clearly. With our current mind state, messy, always thinking, overcome by greed(over pleasent), Aversion(over un-pleasent) do you think it is calm and clear?

So, not to worry if you can't see it now. Just get the idea right.

Now to reincarnation. Or rather Rebirth. Reincarnation talks about a soul passes from a body to another, which is not what the Buddha taught. From what the Buddha know about the fact of it, Nothing call "Self" thus no Soul passes from a Body to another.

If nothing in the form of a spirit or soul passes from this life to the other, what is it that is reborn?

There is a Conversation between the Bactarian King, Meander(Milinda in Pali) and Venerable Nāgasena in the Milinda Panha:

King Milinda:
"Venerable Nāgasena, does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating?

Ven. Nāgasena:
"Yes, O King. rebirth takes place without anything transmigrating.

King Milinda:
"Give me an illustration, Venerable Sir.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"Suppose, O King, a man were to light a light from light pray, would the one light have passed over to the other light?"

King Milinda:
"Nay, indeed, Venerable Sir,

Ven. Nāgasena:
"In exactly the same way, O King, does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating.

King Milinda:
"Give me another illustration.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"Do you remember, O King, having learnt, when you were a boy, some verse or other from your teacher of poetry?

King Milinda:
"Yes, Venerable Sir.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"Pray, O King, did the verse pass over to you from your teacher?

King Milinda:
"Nay, indeed, Venerable Sir.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"In exactly the same way, O King, does rebirth take place without anything transmigrating."

Again King Milinda questions:

King Milinda:
"Venerable Nāgasena, what is it that is born into the next existence?

Ven. Nāgasena:
"O King, it is mind and body that is born into the next existence.

King Milinda:
"It is this same mind and body that is born into the next existence?

Ven. Nāgasena:
"O King, it is not this same mind and body that is born into the next existence, but with this mind and body, O King, one does a deed -- it may be good, or it may be evil -- and by reason of this deed another mind and body is born into the next existence.

King Milinda:
"Venerable Sir, if it is not this mind and body that is born into the next existence, is one not freed from one's evil deeds?

Ven. Nāgasena:
"If one were not born into another existence, one would be freed from one's evil deeds but, O King, inasmuch as one is born into another existence, therefore is one not freed from one's evil deeds.

King Milinda:
"Give me an illustration.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"O King, it is as if a man were to take away another man's mangoes, and the owner of the mangoes were to seize him, and show him to the king and say --'Sire, this man hath taken away my mangoes'; and the other were to say, 'Sire, I did not take away his mangoes. The mangoes which this man planted were different from those which I took away. I am not liable to punishment.' Pray, O King, would the man be liable to punishment?

King Milinda:
"Assuredly, Venerable, Sir, he would be liable to punishment.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"For what reason?

King Milinda:
"Because, in spite of what he might say, he would be liable to punishment for the reason that the last mangoes were derived from the first mangoes.

Ven. Nāgasena:
"In exactly, the same way, O King, with this mind and body one does a deed -- it may be good, or it may be bad --and by reason of this deed another mind and body is born into the next existence. Therefore is one not freed from one's evil deeds.

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I hope this helps to clarify things up. May you be well and happy. = )

Today, too much misconceptions about Buddha and his teachings, due to lack of reference to the Buddha's own words and practise of Sila, Samadhi, Panna. But they turn to esoteric or supersition practises in the name of Buddha. (Due to greed and helplessness towards dispair in the world i think.) Or they refered to what they "thought" or "heard".

I advice not to listen to words of people without finding out about Dhamma from reliable buddhist sources.

I reccomend this website: www.accesstoinsight.org
It has many discourses of the Buddha from the Pali Canon and talks from Venerables from the Theravada tradition.