Do you have to believe in reincarnation to be a Buddhist?

Answer 1

You certainly don't HAVE TO believe in Reincarnation, but most Buddhist masters would just say the Buddhist way doesn't make much sense without it (the second, fourth and especially the third of the Four Noble Truths would lose all of their more far-reaching meanings, the same with Karma, Buddhahood, Bodhisattva, and so on).

If you have problems with reincarnation, you should remember four things:

1. Most Western Buddhist have problems with this. They still practice Buddhism, leaving the opportunity open that it might be true, although they can't grasp the meaning right at the moment. Eventually, they discover how much truth there really is in Buddhism, and can thereby strengthen their faith that this, last stumbling-block is true too. In the long run, you will get used to the thought, find that nothing actually makes it intellectually improbable, and see that believing in it gives you very good effects even disregarding the question if it is literally true or not.

2. In Buddhism you certainly don't have to believe everything at once and understand everything at once in order to practice Buddhism or call yourself a Buddhist. If you understand everything you're already a Buddha ...

3. Reincarnation is also one of the more misunderstood concepts in Buddhism. It's very different from the common understanding of Reincarnation in the West (whether New Age, Theosophical, Hare Krishna or other) and also distinctly different from the Hindu view of it. Buddhists usually prefer the term Rebirth, in order not to mistake it for the differing concepts in other systems.

4. You don't in any way have to become a Buddhist and accept its tenets in order to use [many of] its techniques and benefit from them. You can perfectly well stay Christian, agnostic, non-religious, or whatever you want, and still have remarkable benefits from Buddhist meditation, mind-training, analyzis of mind and reality, and so on. Only if you want to follow the Buddhist path single-mindedly and with the final goal (reaching enlightenment in order to be able to help all other sentient attain liberation and be free from suffering) in mind you have to worry about tenets and concepts you don't agree with. And you don't have to decide now which kind of Buddhist you should be and how far you want to walk on the path. So, don't worry, if you walk the path, one day you will understand why it looks as it does. :)

In short, all traditional schools of Buddhism believes in Rebirth (the continuity of your stream of consciousness beyond the confines of your present life). Nevertheless, some Western Buddhists try to exclude it (and all other "difficult" concepts) from their view of a "demythologized" Western Buddhism, but I would say not without throwing out the baby with the bath water.

Buddhism is about changing yourself and your mind, not about changing the world to fit your own, habitual thinking.

Answer 2

Buddhism works in a revolving manner. Circular, if you will. The rebirth and death cycle is just another example. What element of Buddhism is left if you remove this? A large, if not the MAIN element of Buddhism is to end all suffering - to stop the cycle of death and rebirth

Buddhist's always question everything, even this, so, while it is not "wrong" to not believe, what you DO believe should be questioned, as well

Answer 3

No. The Dalai Lama says that you can be a Buddhist at any level.

Answer 4

Not at all.

Buddhism never ask us to believe.

To my understanding, its gives us method to experience it.
Nobody says that I believe there is a sun & moon, because we know that it exists. Its our experience not belief.

The emphasis on experiencing. Buddha experienced that, and he told about it.
If you go deep in meditation (or dhyana), you can experience your past lives.