what is reincarnation, in buddhism?

Answer 1

Usually the term rebirth is preferred to reincarnation, in a Buddhist context. The difference in words is because reincarnation (like in Hinduism or in many New age beliefs) means YOU are reborn, i.e. that you have an immortal soul that just takes on a new body, but is essentially the same person.

In Buddhism, on the other hand, one of the most central concepts is the absence of a soul, or an unchanging "I". However, your stream of consciousness doesn't disappear at death but continues in a new form, in a new body. The difference might seem difficult to grasp, but is actually crucial. According to Buddhist teaching, the gross levels of your consciousness (with your present inellectual thoughts and "personality") dies with your physical body, or rather dissolves into your subtle consciousness. Then, when you find a new body to be born into, your subtle consciousness again "gives birth" to a gross consciousness.

Your subtle consciousness, which you're usually not aware of in your everyday life, carries the continuity from life to life through carrying your habits and mental thought patterns (i.e. Karmic imprints) from one life to another.

Philosophically, they say that consciousness cannot appear from nothing or dissolve into nothing, but only transform and change into new forms, just like matter/energy cannot appear from nothing or dissolve into nothing but just transform. Thus, just like matter/energy, also consciousness is there since beginningless time, so your (constantly changing) stream of consciousness have existed since beginningless times, in life after life, and will continue in new forms after your physical death.

Answer 2

In Buddhism, reincarnation is not mandatory principal. Meaning that there are plenty of Buddhists that don’t believe or more often do not worry about reincarnation.

When asked about reincarnation, one great Seon (Korean Zen) Monk said, "I don’t know. I don’t remember my previous lives and I haven’t left this one yet." Meaning that it's not important. In Zen, the important thing is the here and now. Not Yesterday, last year, tomorrow, a life time ago or out next life.

However, like most things, there are teachings and theories about reincarnation.

First what it is not. Reincarnation is NOT the sprit jumping out of one dead body and suddenly entering a new baby body and thus it is not the continuation of this existence. That is the Hindu idea of reincarnation. Buddhists use the term Rebirth as opposed to reincarnation. Buddhism teaches that there is no permanent self. That what we are today is a conglomerate of different parts and that these parts will eventual break apart (death) and then be used top create new things. Buddhism teaches that at the death of one personality, a new one comes into being, much as the flame of a dying candle can serve to light the flame of another. But then again, the teachings also talk about how inside each of us our personality is like a spark that blooms and then explodes and then is reborn inside as an entirely new spark, just made up of the same stuff but still different.

I picture a flaming orb inside of me, and every moment, that flame expands and explodes then reforms into a new and different orb yet comprised of the same stuff. (Like a Lego building. It is build and broken down and built again. Ever the same thing twice but never really any different either.) When this body dies, that orb will explode one last time and the energy from my orb will help start a new orb in another life.

Still the important thing to remember is NOT to dwell on this. What will happen or what did happen is NOT important. That leads to suffering and suffering leads you away from the true path. You need only worry about now.

I hope this helps.

Answer 3

A major difference in reincarnation in Buddhism as compared to Hinduism is that Buddhists don't think the soul is a substance of any sort. So what transmigrates, and "goes" from one incarnation to the next, is more like a pattern rather than some "stuff." Kind of like a row of falling dominoes, with the karmic pattern or force of one life imprinting upon and setting into motion the next life.
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Answer 4

Reincarnation comes from the Hindu-buddhist philosophy of soul transmigration. This is the "religious" concept of the eternal birth-death-birth cycle, where a soul moves from body to body. The status of each successive body, whether human or animal, is the direct result of the quality of the life the soul led in the previous body. Thus, a "good" life results in rebirth to a higher quality form, and a "bad" life results in rebirth to a lower quality form. This forward and backward progression is based on the Law of Karma, a central foundation of Hinduism and other Eastern-based philosophies. As most of us know, Karma teaches that good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished. The ultimate goal in this Karma cycle is for the soul to progress to the highest level of existence and become one with the universe. Reincarnation is taught side-by-side with pantheism, the belief that everything is God and God is in everything. Reincarnation and pantheism are the central doctrines of Hinduism and occultism, variations of which have grown popular in the Western world in recent decades.

Reincarnation in Buddhism is not emphasized. In fact the Buddha denied the existence of the soul. This denial, however, was only a part of his total philosophy that denied the existence of all substances because all things, to the Buddha, were impermanent. This impermanence of existence is the first of the three aspects of existence that he called the "the three marks of existence." For the Buddha, the ultimate state of existence was Nirvana wherein all the worldly and impermanent aspects of existence disappear in the realities of something far greater. It consists of a melding of one's being with something that has no boundaries and has been compared to a dewdrop melding with the sea or the dewdrop opening up to receive the sea.

Answer 5

Reincarnation is impossible in Buddhism. Reincarnation would mean the same person will reborn with same physical and mental characteristics. In Buddhism, what matters is rebirth. i suggest you read a little about the Dependent Origination in Buddhism to properly understand this concept.

Answer 6

Reincarnation is not a central teaching like it is in Hinduism. Buddha did not give a final declaration regarding reincarnation. He rejected almost everything in Hinduism.

Answer 7

reincarnation, in Buddhism, is when your spiritual journey is not over and your soul has not reached nirvana, so it so made in to another body. but unlike Hinduism it is not quite a "rebirth"

Answer 8

REINCARNATION & YOGA EXPOSED

The Lord Jesus Christ taught that we live only once (Matthew 25:46) and that Salvation is found only through Him (John 6:35; John 8:12; John 14:6; John 10:9-11). The Bible does not teach the false doctrine of reincarnation. The doctrine of reincarnation is a cleaver lie of Satan who wants to deceive us into thinking that we could achieve salvation and liberation through our works/deeds and not by our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ (the 2nd Person of the Triune Godhead) never taught or mentioned reincarnation. Some believe that in Matthew 11:7-14, Jesus meant that the prophet Elijah reincarnated as John the Baptist. Jesus called John the Baptist Elijah because John the Baptist came in the “spirit and power of Elijah”. The Bible is very clear on this:

Luke 1:17
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

In addition, John the Baptist himself specifically said he was not Elijah:

John 1:21
And they asked him, What then? Are you Elijah? And he said, I am not. Are you that prophet? And he answered, No.

The Holy Spirit (the 3rd Person of the Triune Godhead) said that many would fall for doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1) and reincarnation is definitely a demonic doctrine. Demons are fallen angels and spirits of Nephilim. These beings make up Satan’s army and are bent on leading humans to destruction.

Persons who claim they were having memories of past lives are either not telling the truth or were actually receiving visions from evil spirits who have been around for thousands of years.

Demons implant memories in the minds of humans to make them believe in reincarnation, one of Satan’s key deceptions. A demon who lived in the body of a certain person, shared the same experiences and memories of that person. If that demon enters another person, that demon can transfer their memories to their new host. If the person doesn’t know the truth, they will think that they had lived previous lives. Demons can gain the right of way to enter a person when they practice sin. Allowing oneself to be hypnotized, taking drugs and practicing yoga are easy ways to becoming possessed by evil spirits. Demons can also enter an unborn foetus if one or both parents have unrepented sin.

Reincarnation is a false teaching – humans are given only one physical life (Hebrews 9:27). The Lord Jesus said that the human being’s afterlife state whether torment or paradise, will be eternal (Matthew 25:46). In the original text, the Greek word for eternal, “aiōnion” is used. He didn’t say that we would be born again and again until we got it right and received liberation. He would not have made that huge sacrifice for us if we could have had unity to God another way, and if there was another way, He would have taught that. The Lord said He could have employed legions of angels to prevent His crucifixion (Matthew 26:53), but because of His great and perfect love for humanity, He chose to endure a very painful death so we could be redeemed and united to God. Those who die having faith in Jesus as their Saviour will go on to eternal paradise with God (Matthew 25:46; Luke 23:42-43; Romans 10:9; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Revelation 21, 22) and those who die without having faith in Jesus as their Saviour will go on to eternal torment (Matthew 25:46; John 3:18, 36; Luke 12:5; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 20:10-15; Revelation 21:8).

A Look at the Word, "Aionion"
https://carm.org/look-word-aionion

What It Means to Be Born Again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLuZpXipO2s

Yogic doctrines hold that there is “serpent energy” called kundalini located at the base of the human spine and this energy can be caused through yoga to rise to the brain to result in “God-realization”. Yogis believe that once this alleged state of God-Realization is achieved by an individual, she or he no longer needs to reincarnate. The truth is kundalini does not naturally reside within humans. Kundalini is actually a type of demonic entity which can gain entry into a human if the human practices yoga. I’ve already proven that reincarnation is false.

Shiva, one of the 3.3 million Hindu deities gave the doctrines of yoga to mankind. Shiva is called "lord of yoga" by the Hindus. He is also known as "lord of the third eye", "lord of the lingam (male sex organ)" “god of this world” and "god of destruction". As Christians we know that the “god of this world” and “god of destruction” is Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 10:10). Shiva and Satan are the same being.

Satan likes to counterfeit God’s truths and he even has a counterfeit salvation – which is yoga. Kundalini (which is actually a type of demon) is the COUNTERFEIT Holy Spirit and the Siddhis are the COUNTERFEIT gifts of the Holy Spirit. Yoga was designed by Satan to put humans in contact with the Hindu deities (demons). Faith in Jesus as one’s Saviour puts one in union with God while yoga puts one in union with Shiva or another demon.

Yogis believe that the spirit of the human being is God but this is false. The human being has a physical body, soul and spirit. The spirit of a human being isn’t God but needs God. It is where one receives God when they accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Where the “S” in spirit is capitalized in the Bible, it refers to the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the triune Godhead. After one accepts Christ, the Holy Spirit (not their spirit) brings life to them (Romans 8:10). In Zechariah 12:1, we see that God formed the spirit of humans within them. As soon as one accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within their spirit making them a true child of God (Romans 8:15-16). The Holy Spirit enables us to have a spiritual understanding of the things of God (1 Corinthians 2:11).

Yogis and many users of entheogens mistake altered states of consciousness for Godly experiences. They erroneously attribute to these states such terms as God-Realization, Self-Realization, Enlightenment, Illumination, Unitive Knowledge of the Divine, Reentering the Kingdom and Reintegration.

DMT (dimethyltryptamine) is a hallucinogen found naturally in the mammalian brain. DMT can also be extracted from certain plants. Deep and prolonged practice of yoga causes the brain to release DMT and this induces altered states of consciousness, hallucinations and feelings of bliss. Individuals who consume or inject themselves with DMT derived from external sources achieve the same altered states and feelings as yogis who spend long years in yogic practices.

Many pagan mystics have believed and taught that Jesus practiced yoga and achieved enlightenment. The Lord Jesus Christ never supported yogic doctrines. Jesus is by nature God and the 2nd Person of the Triune Godhead which is made up of Adonai, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Because Jesus, unlike humans, is by nature God, He has full authority over all demons and creatures and was able to offer His body and blood to atone for the sins of mankind so we could by faith have unity to God.

The truth about Jesus Christ can be found only in the Holy Bible. Three days after the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, He resurrected from the dead (Luke 24:1-8; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4) and 40 days later, He ascended into Heaven (Acts 1:3; Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:9-11).

Without God, the spiritual part of the human being is dead (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13). The sin of our first parents (Adam and Eve) caused the separation between God and man. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Sin causes us to be separated from God which results in spiritual death. Christ, the 2nd Person of the Triune Godhead was made flesh (through the immaculate conception) and paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross so we could through faith in Christ as our Saviour be instantly redeemed and united to God and have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who teaches us, comforts us and grants us fruits to live in righteousness and gifts to help and edify the Church. There is no redemption or unity to God apart from receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as one’s Saviour and Lord.

A PERSON BECOMES A CHRISTIAN THROUGH FAITH. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as one's Saviour is the ONLY WAY one can receive CLEANSING OF SINS (1 John 1:7), REDEMPTION (Ephesians 1:7), ADOPTION BY GOD (Romans 8:15), THE INFILLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, the 3rd Person of the Triune Godhead (John 14:26; 1 Corinthians 6:19), SANCTIFICATION (Hebrews 13:12; 1 Corinthians 1:2), JUSTIFICATION (1 Corinthians 6:11), TRANSFORMATION (2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Hebrews 9:12-14; Titus 3:5) and SALVATION (Romans 10:9; Revelation 21:8).

PRAYER TO ACCEPT JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR LORD AND SAVIOUR

"Dear Jesus, I am a sinner. I repent of my sins. Please forgive me and save me by Your shed blood. Come into my heart. I want to receive You as my own personal Lord and Saviour. Amen"

Powerful Repentance and Deliverance Prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF4i4b4zOnI

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS AND OTHER ANCIENT NON CHRISTIAN SOURCES PROVE THE VALIDITY OF THE BIBLE:

http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/library/extrabiblical.htm

https://www.probe.org/the-dead-sea-scrolls/

FULFILLED PROPHECIES ALSO PROVE THE BIBLE IS RELIABLE:

Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible by Dr. Hugh Ross
http://www.believers.org/hughross.htm

JESUS IN EVERY BOOK OF THE BIBLE
http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/jesus66books.htm

THE TRIUNE GODHEAD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJUWnt07FQM

SEQUENCE OF END-TIME EVENTS IN BIBLE PROPHECY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMsvk3FEkWk&feature=youtu.be

https://victoryinjesuschrist.wordpress.com/

Answer 9

Buddha said'"Meditate before its to late, or you'll come to regret it at a later date!"