Welcome to Gaia! ::

So, I'm a sorry sorry sorry if this has already been adressed but I am confused and have been chewing over this for the better portion of two weeks...

1. Reincarnation is when you are brought back onto Earth. You come back as an animal, then work your way up to human again. But WHAT determines how what your brought back as? Karma.

2. But Karma isn't the same as it is in Hinduism. It's cause and effect more than an outside force that passes judgment right? So how could such a system possibly govern your future lives?

3. Noble Eightfold Path- Right speech, Right Actions, Right Livlihood. Right? But how can you have "right" actions in a religion/philosophy that speaks of no Right and Wrong?

4. I've heard a lot of different theories on reincarnation, I still don't get what exactly is reincarnated. Your soul? I could have sworn we didn't have those...Good and bad energy? But that seems more Hindu to me in the terms of karma...

I'm missing something guys... gonk

mmmmm.... it seems rather un-buddhist, if you will, to come back as an animal due to a life of bad karma... i think thats what you are mean.
Whose to say that animals are on a lower plane as humans? What if being human is the lower plane as we have more potential to create dukka? I don't think theres even planes. Can we come back as plants? Trees?

The entire concept of reincarnation baffles me and according to my own beliefs is a little too supernatural. However karma is a different story as is nirvana.
I think people should generate as much good karma as possible anyway, it's a human issue. Whether you are reincarnated or not.

That's correct. Karma is the factor that ensures rebirth. It affects not just what form you take, but it also affects the environment you are born into. The Hell Realms are the result of sentient beings' greed, anger, et cetera. Their bodies in those realms result from the same kind of things.

Of course it isn't a hierarchy. You don't work your way up or down the realms. It all depends on your karma. It is possible, though not very common, to go from a Hell Realm to a God Realm. Or vice-versa, thereby skipping the hungry ghost, animal, human (and so on) realms "between".


That's correct, it is more or less cause and effect. Of course, in Buddhism there is a distinction between karma and causality. It's just that when sentient beings are involved, the two phenomena become interwined with one another.

Karma is a force of consciousness, you could say. It is born, persists and dissipates in accordance with Mind. So when your body dies and the rest of your aggregates separate, the force of your karma is what propels them outward and into new things.

If you think of the force of an explosion sending bits and pieces of things going every which way, you can get a sense of karma sending your aggregates off from each other. Although it's not really an explosion, this is just an illustration.


"Right" in this instance is a very specific "right." If the goal is to be free from samsara, then there are correct ways to do it. These are considered "right" only in relation to the goal. They are not universally correct.

For example. If your goal is to get into a university, then it would be "right" to get excellent grades and have the money to pay for it. But those same things wouldn't help you if you wanted to run for Prime Minister of Japan.


There isn't a thing that is reborn in each lifetime. Buddhism doesn't accept the existence of the soul, and so reincarnation isn't really the term that is used in Buddhism (although sometimes the sanskrit/pali word is translated as "reincarnation").

Imagine a vast ocean. In this ocean, there are many factors determining when, where and what kind of waves arise. Wind, tides, water temperatures, the proximity of islands, et cetera. All of these things affect the waves. Now imagine that every wave is a person. A person, due to all of these factors coming together for a short time, arises. This person lives for a short time (when compared to the lifespan of the entire ocean), and then it slips back into the water as the things that caused it to form in the first place dissipate.

These causes do not cease to exist, they simply go on to be and do and cause other things. The things that they go on to cause or form is like the rebirth of those things, or the rebirth of their preceeding forms.

In Buddhism it's said that a person has five aggregates, or pieces. A body, sensations (taste, touch, smell, et cetera), perceptions (strong, soft, dim, bright), mental formations (like, dislike, indifference), and consciousness (experiencing all of the previous things). When these things come together, they form a person temporarily. Out of this convergence of factors arise a personality and an ego, a sense of self or "I".

This is a real person, with a real personality and a real ego. But it is not a solid, fixed thing. There is no eternal soul. When the person dies, the five aggregates separate from one another and go out to do other things. Your body, we know, decomposes and returns to the soil (unless it's cremated, of course). Your other aggregates may go on to form new beings - your sensations could end up in the Hungry Ghost realm by the force of your karma. Your perceptions could remain in the human realm and contribute to the birth of a new human being.

Your mental formations may go to the animal realm and end up producing insects or birds, and your consciousness could, perhaps, go up to the God Realm, or even down to the Hell Realms, depending on the force and quality of your karma.

But, here's the thing: Even these five aggregates are, themselves, made up of aggregates. So when "you" die, the aggregates also sub-separate. This is why the mental picture of an ocean is so appropriate, I think.

So, in short, there really isn't anything that is reborn. But you are reborn. In fact, it is said that you never actually die because you were never actually born. Everything that makes you has always been here, and always will be. So you are eternal and deathless. That is, of course, until you realize nirvana and transcend the cycle of death and rebirth.

Hooray! You're welcome! biggrin

I'm in a bit of a rush this morning, so I apologize beforehand. If something is unclear, please ask me to expound and I will do my best when I get home after work today. biggrin


That's where some schools diverge. Some say that they are real places, like our universe, but existent elsewhere in the multiverse. Which could very well be true of string theory is correct (string theory being a branch of physics).

The teachings on the other realms, I think, is mostly for the benefit of our motivation to free ourselves and others, and also to reflect upon the effects of karma. Some people choose to believe that the other realms are just mind states, as human beings. That living in the God Realm is like being Paris Hilton, for example, where you never have to worry about money or being adored, and where there is always sense pleasure around. This is unfortunate because these distractions make it difficult to have an interest in the dharma, much less to practice it.

Similarly the Hell Realms could be viewed as living in Iraq at this time, or perhaps the poorer parts of Russia. We have no direct evidence of these realms being physically real such as our realm, but I think it's a very useful idea considering the human implication.


This is an analogy I heard from Thubten Chodron about making paper. How, if you have a tree, you have the basis for making paper. But you also need the other causes - the paper mill, the logger, the water, et cetera. The tree is like our Buddha potential, and the other things are like the aggregates. The aggregates arise and subside constantly, as they are composite things and so they are impermanent phenomena.

Buddha-nature, however, is a permanent phenomenon. Permanent means that it's partless and unchanging. Another kind of permanent phenomenon is empty space, for example. I could write much more about this topic, and if you like I can. But for now, I have to go catch my bus or less I'll be late for work! xd

Permanent here is meant that Buddha-nature is partless (it cannot be subdivided into other parts) and its unchanging (it just "is" Buddha-nature, it may be covered up by defilements, but it is not changed by them). I do not mean for permanent to imply that it's eternal, because Buddha-nature can only be around so long as there are sentient beings around. So it may not be here forever, but when it is here it is sometimes called a "permanent phenomenon".

I guess it's just that word "permanent" which is tricky. I had to have it explained to me in this way because I associated that word with eternal as well.

I apologize for not replying sooner. I was away on holidays. sweatdrop


In the same way that we create the causes that keep us in cyclic existence, we can create the causes that will ensure us good rebirths so that we can practice the dharma in future lives. That way we can work on our liberation for longer than just this life.

The things around do divide, but they're not gone forever. They change and they become something else. They're still there, they're just different and in different places doing different things. They will never come together in the same way again because it's too improbable.

You could very well reach enlightenment in this very lifetime. If you've practiced in previous lives then you have created the causes for you to practice the dharma in this lifetime, and that may very well mean that you're ready for awakening. The only way to know for sure is to keep practicing! biggrin

In theory, yes. I think the Buddha Vairocana was in the God Realm when he became enlightened. Which is why they call him a "Celestial Buddha." I could be wrong about that, though.

It's also possible to attain enlightenment in a Pure Land, but I'm not sure if you're technically human if you're in a Pure Land.

Generally it's said that having a precious human life (being a human in this realm, with access to teachings and the desire and ability to practice) is the fastest way to become enlightened. It's faster than if you were in the God Realm or a Pure Land, even. That's because having a precious human life affords us so many opportunities to transform our minds in radical and powerful ways.

The topic of the precious human life, what it is and how to get one, is a lengthy but fascinating one. I could write more about that one, too.

Ok. I'm lost.




well whats the differance between buddhism and hinduism when it comes to rebirth?


what makes buddha nature imperminate?

and, if say, i die but i made lots of good karma and i was close to enlightenment could i become a ladybug if that was what would propel me torwards enlightenment further?

can you have half of your self become enlightenedand the other half in the hungry ghosts realm?


previously, there was a metephor about a tree that was your buddha potential, and the aggrates where what helped define that. but those go away when you die. what happens to that potential? where does it go?
is my buddha potential different from yours?

for the life of me i can not comprehend re-birth and being separated from yourself but still doing things that require a full being. i suppose my main thing is, right now i am me. all the aggrates all the potential has made Me. and all of yours have made You.
and everyone says after you die Me and You "explode" to diferent places according to what kind of karma you have made and where you are on the path to enlightenment. I get that, i can deal with that, because I am not perminate, i can't be Me forever. so I wouldn't be Me anymore if i was scattered. I'd be someone else. maybe lots of other things.

so the point is to not always connect and brake away. but I still don't understand how. and i don't understand why. if i reached enlightenment i wouldn't be Myself, right? then what is the point of reaching enlightenment, or trying to reach it? why should i try if i won't be Me anymore?