Reincarnation or Rebirth?

I have always thought that memes are child play but an end of the year meme passed to me by Ely which I in turn passed to Witewood of Hotel Mark revealed that they could sometimes inspire. Witewood, for instance wrote that he was afraid of reincarnation, saying that he was afraid to come back as a city supporter or something like that. That started me to work on this post.Reincarnation in simple words, means the belief that when one dies, one's body decomposes, but something of oneself, the soul, that is, moves to be reborn in another body. The belief in past lives is said to be mainly a belief in Hinduism and Buddhism but while in India, it is claimed that Buddhism is a part of Hinduism, Buddhists refute this claim. There are differences between the two religions, one of course, was this concept of reincarnation. Buddhism notably do not believe in the existence of the soul and because of this then, reincarnation is not taught in Buddhism. Rebirth which in Buddhism is the doctrine that the consciousness of a person ,upon the death or dissolution of the aggregates (skandhas) which make up that person, becomes one of the contributing causes for the arising of a new group of skandhas which may again be conventionally considered a person or individual, however is. That the consciousness passes to the next person or individual, perhaps should put Witewood to ease. Most probably, Witewood would not be doing what he doesn't want. Anyway, reincarnation or rebirth aside, let's for a short instance rejoice in this concept:
  • We have a chance to live a different life in future.
  • We have a chance to live a better life.
  • We have a chance to meet again people we love and do things we love.
  • We have a chance to do more good deeds.
  • We have a chance to visit more places.
  • We have a chance to correct our mistakes.
  • We have a chance to do so many things!
Take note though the type of rebirth that arises at the end of one life is conditioned by the karmas (actions of body, speech and mind) of the previous life and that the basic cause for this persistent re-arising of personality is the abiding of consciousness in avidya (ignorance). When ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases and this in Buddhism, should be the real joy.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Both reincarnation and rebirth seem a re-packaging process of sorts; in any case perhaps the previous life can be of service to the following one.
Anonymous said…
Both reincarnation and rebirth seem a re-packaging of sorts; in any case perhaps the previous life can be of service to the following one. (please delete one if repeating comment; some entering difficulties, thanks)
footiam said…
Frankly speaking, I don't understand both!
Ely said…
Thanks for mentioning my name here. :)
Liudmila said…
I think, the death of the physical body is not the death for the "soul" or what it is. And I believe in the stories where persons with special preparation can "change" body. And because the "soul" "accepts" an other body (even at cells state) so I would name it reincarnation. Not rebirth.
Liudmila said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
footiam said…
I really do not know what to think about this. But I do find the topic interesting and fascinating.