You're very pleasant to listen to, and it's easy to tell how thoughtfully put together this video was. Thank you.

I've personally found the belief in afterlife makes it much easier in dealing with the pains of death. Thinking that a loved one is off somewhere else rather than just buried in the dirt can be very calming. Thinking that you will keep existing eternally can give you a lot of courage. But I do agree with what you're saying Doug in that the only thing that matters is the clinging. If you can avoid clinging to a loved one after they pass or avoid clinging to the terror of losing my own life, then you have the same positive effects as when I believe in the afterlife. I personally find it much easier to let go of that clinging if I embrace the afterlife as truth. But like you said, it doesn't matter what you believe, all that matters is the cessation of clinging.

The Buddha denied the existence of the soul. But he is also said to have affirmed the doctrine of karma and rebirth. At once a question arises. If there is no soul, how can there be karma? If there is no soul, how can there be rebirth? Did he use the terms in a different sense than the sense in which they were used by the Brahmans of his days? If so, in what sense? Did he use them in the same sense in which the Brahmans used them? If so, is there not a terrible contradiction between the denial of the soul and the affirmation of karma and rebirth?

I love your work so much. It's so true, worrying about it either way just attaches us more to it.

This channel is really awesome

Was waiting for these excellent talks on rebirth. Thank you.

well put, thanks for making this video

Thank you for spreading the word(s) 😁🙏 Taking the dust of and updating the language of ancient wisdom 📿

Thank you so much! I am in complete agreement with your perspective. I am happily open to any reasonable proof of such a thing, and in the meantime, happily resting with what seems reasonable now.

One of your best videos on such an important topic to secular Buddhists. You honored the true Dharma.

What a great video. Thanks for that. It helped me get my head around some stuff. I have come to doubt ritualism, Buddha worship, the meaning of cerimonial practice, devotion (which can be pretty god worship-like in Asian Buddhism), multiple Buddhas and saintly forces, and most recently even the benefit of donating for the Sangha and living around monastic teachers, who seem to be favoring political power and prestige over the Dhamma practice and even distorting the teaching to hold their leadership and traditional outdated sexist views. Still, losing one's religion is painful and Buddhism has given me much, Maybe there's a place for me with Secular folks. Be well and I hope your channel and institute will flourish and strive.

❤ Thank you for your wisdom you inherited. I understand in a clearer way now. Thank you thank you thank you. Perhaps one day I will be able to share and pass this on with your clear teachings.

Hey Doug, I recently came back from a Kadampa meditation retreat. I am still learning about the different paths, but my stomach sank when I learned how this tradition believes in different planes of existence that you can be reborn into, most problematically (I believe) hell. The concept of hell is what slowly pushed me away from Christianity. I was worried that I would drop my Buddhism practice from this concept alone. I am so happy to see others who are okay with separating reincarnation from Buddhism, and even those who believe it getting along with those who don't. I have been watching your videos for awhile now, thank you for all your work Doug! You have helped to lead me to a happier, wiser, and kinder life :)

One could argue that relying on scientific method is limited because it relies on the constraints of human perception, and that clinging to the demands of that "verifiable" sensory experience is simply eliciting suffering. I don't necessarily think there's a wrong or right answer to the question of rebirth, but I would say there is a danger in approaching the dharma through the lens of "I believe this or that," so rebirth is either important or unimportant. A very thought provoking video. I love your channel!

My personal thoughts on Rebirth and Reincarnation are influenced by Evolutionary Biology. From what I remember of my biology courses, the nervous system evolved from specialized cells in metazoan organisms (multiple celled organisms as opposed to protozoans which are unicellular organisms). The function of these cells is to organize the organism's actions to help it survive. Nervous cells organize muscle activity and data from sensory organs to move around, feed, reproduce, deal with social issues (if a social animal), and flee or fight the foe. Higher mental functions evolved in the brain (a specialized structure of the nervous system) to store and treat more complex information, imagine future strategies for the same above behaviours and goals, so as to further survival in this life. With the arising of self-awareness and imagination, and foreseeing one's end, one started planning also for the eventuality of an afterlife! ;) In Buddhism all the evolutionary thinking is seemingly put aside, the idea that these various specializations evolved to further the earthly survival of an organism is seemingly ignored and somewhat devalued. The idea that brain, mind and consciousness evolved solely for survival seems to be unsatisfactory and pointless (as it often seems to me also). For most biologists, the mind is created anew with each new being and belongs to that entity only. There would be relics in the organism's mind of past evolutionary mental adaptations encoded in it's DNA (Evolutionary Jungian psychology, Archetypes in humans, Maclennan). For Buddhists (and maybe Hindus also), bodies seem to have been created miraculously "as is", with an empty nervous system already there to receive the consciousness (imprinted by past karma), of organisms that have passed away, and which continue on into each new birth. I have a personal understanding of how the belief in rebirth and reincarnation came about in the past. But this is only a supposition and not necessarily fact. I think some sensitive humans (i.e. Gautama) intuitively and unconsciously realized how close species are one to another. This has been proven scientifically as Evolutionary Biology has shown. Humans, but also fungi, bacteria, plants, insects, fish, animals are basically made of the "same stuff": DNA. And all living beings passed through numerous stages or "lives" before reaching their present form. All beings continue to evolve. The fact we can understand the emotions of a dog or a cat, or even a bird like a parrot, makes it easy then to think we have in ourselves parts of these animals (we probably have the same brain structures for emotions) if we understand and identify with them so well. We can extend that and say we were once "like" them and maybe literally lived AS those animals; that would explain how we understand and identify with them so well, i.e. we lived their lives in the past. MacLennan: Evolutionary Jungian Psychology pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0f7f/71f88277bc573227de32c5bdd9562149b53c.pdf

It amazing how relevant these philosophies and teachings are today as they were centuries and millennia ago. All of us need to embrace the fact that our deeply held views and biases are pulling us apart, and recognize the futility of trying to sway the people in our life to our way of thinking.

Thank you!

I’m no Zen Buddhist. I’m a secular Buddhist. One thing I do agree with some Zen scholars on, is that Buddha taught “Non-self” and “impermanence” but also rebirth. There can be no Soul if nothing is permanent. Also we can not apply emptiness to the self if there is a permanent essence to the self. So many Buddhist reformers have interpreted rebirth as something that is constantly happening to us at all times here an now. Peace!!

The easy way to understand the rebirth is the desire. If your desire to the world is not stoped and infinity then you will be again born in the world infinity time untill desire is there. Because the root cause for the any kind of karma is the desire. The eight hold path is to annihilate the desire. Thats why the right viwe has been the first one. That is mainly the vision to see the final result associated with the desire. Buddha said this dharma should be discovered whithin self to understand clearly.

A few have mentioned the No Self doctine (anatta) - and if that's asserted, what can be reborn? The story I've heard is that the Buddha refused to answer this question - "Is there a Self (soul, God,-as-atman)" - and said more stress is caused by getting hung up on the issue. So my best guess is, after a lot of years of practice and study, is that something (energy of some kind, quanta?) continues past the death of the body/mind. And while we're alive, in samsara, it's impossible to know with certainty what this is (science, looking at you now), and what happens. I also realize I'm still conditioned by a Christian upbringing, followed by Vedanta, and now immersed in Buddhism and the best science I can comprehend. And that - as you mention in the vid - is that science keeps finding new and tantalizing data about this question. Thanks again Doug - beautifully presented.

Doug, loving your videos. I have always had trouble with the supernatural aspects of Buddhism. Do you think what continues could be understood as your impact on the world around you in this lifetime? For example part of us does carry on in our children so in a sense we do continue. As Thich Nhat Hahn explains it the cloud cannot die it only becomes the rain. I though a lot about that statement at my grandmas funeral last year. None of my family at the funeral would have been born if not in part for her. So while she is no longer a physical body she does continue through not only us but all of the other people there she had an impact on in her lifetime. Thoughts?

I think that there is more effort needed to understand the Dharma in its political, social and cultural context that surely had a strong influence on the framework and limitations of the Buddha's teachings, not to say anything about that we can't be sure that he really said what we are reading now. In my opinion, its better to follow the Kalama Sutta and see by ourselves.

Absolutely riviting. Thank you. When you spoke of unskillful living, I think of how pleasant it would be, if everyone was able to live a skillful life. And if unicorns existed everywhere.. Lol

sathu sathu ! i am a Buddhist . I COME FROM VIETNAM

This was a great video. I feel like rebirth could be real but at the same time it doesn’t matter as you said.

I have been listening to Doug’s discussion of the Buddha’s views on the existence of self and rebirth and these always make me rethink my own beliefs. On the existence of self I may share the idea of one of Buddha's followers that what appears to be most permanent is our consciousness itself and the volitional component of our personality. Even from birth we have unique tendencies resistant to change that seem to follow us throughout life. All other aspects of existence (our feelings, thoughts and bodily form as well as the life roles we engage) are in constant change and thus our desire to preserve are futile. Whether or not one believes in the concept of rebirth or not it seems that the goal of meditation and Buddhist teaching is to escape the cycle of birth and death and thus desire. This can only be done by realizing ones true identity.

Another great video, Doug. Similar to the concept of non-self, rebirth is one of the more esoteric aspects of Buddhism. I struggle with understanding it, especially with all the misinformation out there on how rebirth compares and contrasts with reincarnation. With respect to non-self, I’ve found practical applications by taking a non-dualistic approach to both day-to-day and world issues. I have not found a similar practical application for rebirth yet.

Doug its wonderful you teach dhamma. I can see many positive comments to your video. People clearly like to listen to you as you are smart and, obviously well read and do a nice presentation. When teaching dhamma to so many viewers this is great merit. But it also comes with great responsibility. There is a real danger of committing sin and creating heavy karma. Your explaination about your personal doubts about reincarnation are fair enough. But please consider how you portray Lord Buddha and his teaching, Where you talk in terms of conventional truth, the Buddha speaks the Ultimate Truth. Prince Siddhartha sat under that Bodhi destroyed all (kilesas) mental impurities in his mind. His pure knowing mind revealed, a mind that was no longer bound to the gravity of this world or the conventional truth. A mind that was completely liberated and free desire, hatred, greed and delusion. . The Buddha remainded and walked in this world for 50 years teaching the wisdom that you now 2600 years later cast a shadow of doubt upon. The Buddha's dhamma it the greatest medicine known to man. Please share it in a way that pays respect to Lord Buddha and can help heal this World. Sathu

Am I correct by saying Zen Buddhism doesn’t worry about afterlife or reincarnation because it’s not relevant in day to day existence in their eyes ? Also does renzai and Soto both not touch much on reincarnation

For me the doctrine of rebirth is metaphorical and works beautifully with anata. The self is an illusion being created and destroyed moment to moment, in this sense the self-illusion is in a state of constant rebirth, through the experience of not self we escape this cycle.

I'm new to buddhism and i found your video wonderful. It's so nice hearing a fellow buddhist admit they do not believe in rebirth or reincarnation as I too do not believe in it. Still our actions are important as the consequences are experienced right now and effect not only our lives but others. The consequences also live on past our deaths. Thank you for your video.

I think that the best solution in this case is to put rebirth aside. I don't know if there is rebirth or not. I just want to check by myself, in due course. We can study rebirth as happening all time, too.

As an agnostic I believe the ultimate truth is unknowable. I have always had a distasteful view of rebirth, because of my attachment to my current consciousness. I don’t like that we might live on but have no sense of continuity. I would prefer my consciousness continue on in a new plane of existence. A new adventure for my current self. I also tend to feel sadness that we may simply cease to exist, but won’t regret it if I do 😉 I practice “Buddhism” to achieve acceptance of the unknowable 😊

I like to approach such things in a jnana yoga kind of way. "Who is thinking? Who believes?" etc. That helps with intuiting the right approach.

Hi Doug ! I appreciate the way you set up the table to discuss this delicate subject, but don't you think that our own minds are for now to agitated to have a clear view of what's going on with rebirth ? I mean, great masters like Thich Nhat Hanh in the You tube video called " Nondualiy and the consciousness of things" demonstrate how in his understanding of things death doesn't exist. With all do respect to you my friend, I believe that his mind is calmier than mine and maybe than your's too so that he has a better understanding of how things really are than you and me...maybe, don't you think ? Keep on the good work ! Great video once again 😉

Doug, very well done. I was wondering if the Buddha's knowledge of the universe has given you confidence in buddha's supposed supernatural perception. The Buddha speaks of world systems and that there a countless amount of them. He also speaks of the contraction and expansion of the universe. I was wondering what you think of the fact that while there's no theory that I know of that speaks o fa contraction, that we are indeed in what the buddha would call an expansion of the universe. Nonetheless, I think he was very on the money when it comes to these things, especially in a time where big bang theory (as most experts would say) even existed yet. He also had very good knowledge of health like intermittent fasting (one meal a day before noon) which has just recently been proved to have vast health benefits like that of autophagy produce (sorry for spelling errors). Anyways, these are a few things that he spoke about that come to mind that show that he was way ahead of his time in his knowledge and also didn't have the modern or normal mundane means of making these discoveries. What are your thoughts?

@Doug's Dharma, I have a quick question, do you think there is any intermediate stage between one birth and the next or is it instantaneous

01:35 Nice to hear you finally using “dhamma”, perhaps a slip-up? Haha Great videos by the way :)

When the universe should reborn after the end of universe ??

The most interesting statement I think the Buddha makes in the canon is that he will not declare whether the body and jiva are the same or different. This appears to me to be a refusal to take a side on the mind/body problem (jiva can mean sentience). Specially, materialism vs dualism, though other varieties of monism are possible, I think. Perhaps, the Buddha considered a dual aspect or micropanpsychism theory as being in play too. I think the latter leaves open the door for rebirth. At the risk of sounding like a dorm room bull session, if what it is to be an organism is what it is to be a free electron’s wave function smeared throughout the neurons and synapses of the brain than rebirth is possible. That electron could eventually find its way to another brain. It is fun to speculate and go on flights of fancy sometimes.

Rebirth is very scientific, knowledge of previous life is verifiable and has been experienced by many people separated by distance, time and even culture. Check out Ian Stevenson. If the Buddha didn't recall his previous lives, I would doubt his enlightenment. My ten cents.

Hi Doug. throughout this video, you say that the Buddha 'believed' in certain things. It's been my understanding of having been a practicing Buddhist (not so much now) of 45 years that the Buddha 'knew' and didn't believe. Or am I missing something?

You should read Ian Stevenson's research on rebirth. It's done very scientifically, and it is the strongest case for the concept of rebirth.

I think there are broader ways to interpret rebirth in light of the scope of the Earth and Buddhas teachings concerning time and the almost limitless number of planets Buddha speaks of time in tens, hundreds and thousands of eons - which is an incredible amount of time. One could die - become part of the Earth - become part of a tree - and eventually back to human with enough time. Science shows the whole planet is interconnected. So you will be reborn in many ways - and possibly as a human. The Buddha also says that people can fall into life forms like animals due to their behavior. So it is not necessarily his teaching that you die and are reborn a human. At the mediation hall I attend a speaker told a story where someone asked Buddha what the chances are of being born a human - he said to imagine a planet as big as ours made completely out of water. Now imagine a yoke floating on the surface and a single sea turtle at the bottom of the ocean. The chances are as likely as the turtle surfacing and getting his neck caught on the yoke. I don’t know if that is a real Buddha story - I haven’t found it but if it is that’s a pretty good explanation of how rebirth works. Being born a human is rare and should be celebrated for that fact alone.

I like your opend-mindedness and that you acknowledge that this question is open and no real answer has been found yet. You are also right that in the practice of many buddhist techniques (meditation etc.) bein agnostic about these things is perfectly fine (I am myself very agnostic about all these topics). However we do have to say that Buddhism loses a whole lot of internal sense and logic in regards to its philosophy if literal rebirth does not really exist, or exists only in a very very indirect way. I do disagree that living an ethical life is a no-brainer in both regards. If Karma and rebirth exists and actions of this life shape YOUR future life then yes--living an ethical life definitely will have its rewards down the line. However, if living an ethical life shapes "only" some life down that road and has little to nothing to do with yourself--then it is highly debatable. The notion that an ethical life has ALWAYS its intrinsic value and reward in this life, especially in regards to deriving positive mind-states and good results from it, is highly questionable. I will give a couple examples: I have been raised highly moralistic and ethical by my parents (esp. mother). Now I have friend towards both spectrums of what one would consider "normal ethical human behavior". I have super ethical friends and friends one would consider much less ethical---and truth be told: In regards to living, haveing a pleasurable and good time, living life to the max, health etc. etc.---I really tend to think that friends that live less ethical seem to have a better time. I am , of course, not talking monastic life vs. high crimes here but for example: I have friend that have been with their spouses for 20 years now, living very faithfully etc. while other friends cheat continuously on their spouses. I used to ask the polygamous friends how their actions (since they almost never got caught and thus their actions had no openly negative impact on their lives) whether they at least felt some sort of bad conscience or guilt and their answers to sum it up was a resounding: "Heck no. I believe in humand nature being polygamous and I have literally not the slightest bit of a bad conscience or problem with having an affair once in a while. Quite the opposite: Life being quite depressing and boring in times of monogamy." That is empirically pretty much the opposite of what Buddha taught. As they almost never got caught and had no internal remorse but rather fun and satisfaction it pretty much renders Buddha's view in that regard wrong. Same goes for guys making money in a little shady way (again not talking high crimes etc.) but stretching the boundaries of what is legal etc. to its maximum or at least in ways others would find quite unethical. These guys pretty much not only enjoyed their extra money a lot, but had some deeper sense of satisfaction and pride of being savvy enough to pull it off. Against little to no internal conflict or bad conscience. I have some experience in work for myself and found that being a little less ethical and thourough definitely does not impact me in any negative way but rather even more positively. In my opinion---the attitudes that people carry are much more important than what is per se ethical or unethical in an objective way. If you have someone believing or carrying the attitude that beating or killing someone is okay, that person is not gonna feel remorse period. His or her mind will rationalize that behavior according to its belief. In that sense I see a huge weakness in Buddhism. When Buddha talkgs about skillful/unskillful actions he often seems to refer to some objective standard of behavior which if you act according to it gives you joy and if you act in contrast to it gives you pain---in my opinion thats a grand mistake.

In my opinion respecting others, none religious practice can be stayed as pure theory or truthful, and the reason why is because is not proven. Its all believe and when you follow a believe without a proof, you can be stock chasing something that will never come to you! And that's dangerous because thats when someone can manipulate your mind to take from you, your money, time, energy, will, and even family for a believe that cannot be proven no matter how logical it might be. I do agree with you living a good and honest life according to your own conscience will bring you a better life here and if there is another life then, it will be revealed to us but for the moment, its all speculation and none essential, if it were , it would have been revealed already to not just one special soul but every single one of us. Its like when i was growing up and learned to eat, learned i was hungry or tired etc. If that makes se sense

Just wondering if Buddha ever mentioned of his previous birth/s anywhere in his speeches?

The point with afterbirth or not being reborn is not whether it exist or not, it's about achieving dispassion towords it all wheter it happens or not. Its is not you who is being reborn it is not you who is dying. Nothing is for you Not appropriating anything is the escape from it all

sir can you tell any jatak story about buddha.

“Buddhism Without Beliefs”

This was an enjoyable video. I've never been able to make sense of the idea that past lives in Buddhism could be considered to be 'mine', or in any way connected with me, given that the religion explicity rejects the existence of an immortal soul to act as a bridge between lives. Since my mind is a composite of aggregates, all of which break down at death, and which came into existence as a result of craving (tanha) and grasping (upadana) giving rise to this new set of aggregates that includes my body and entire mental life, and that this process will reoccur at my death (unless I'm fortunate enough to attain nibbana) and the craving and grasping will give rise to some new sentient being, whose fate is largely determined by my karma, and which might not even be human...none of this is remotely compatible with the commonplace idea that rebirth means a new life for ME. That new sentient being is not me at all. Imagine that my past life was that of a rat. How silly it sounds to say 'I' was that rat. Most people are concerned with the idea that they will survive death, meaning that their personality or self will continue to exist in some form. Buddhism offers no hope at all for that desire, which is frankly biologically built into us by evolution. That's what bhava-tanha is.Thomas Metzinger calls it 'existence bias'. Animals that developed a powerful craving to keep existing did a lot better at living as long as possible than those that didn't!

Just come across this discussion, although I am a keen follower of your expositions, Doug. Seeing myself as an 'agnostic' Buddhist, I find myself very much in agreement with your take on rebirth. I also agree that being engaged in discussions that are obsessing about its falsity or veracity are unhelpful and, as your put it, unskillful. An 'agnosticism' about rebirth within a Buddhist context is also a very isolating position with regards Asian practices and traditions ... Is that your experience, Doug? Not talking about such different understanding, however, perhaps mean that there is always an unacknowledged elephant in the room.

Your comment about the practice being the same either way reminds me of Pascal's Wager, except in this version the world is a little better off.

HI Doug (do you know that's a Scottish by the way appropo nothing) anyway my question is what if any are the parallels or tensions between buddhism and extenttialism...if any ?

Doug, this idea that the "best bet" we have, and least to lose, is to believe reincarnation is a bit of a stretch. To me it seems that it's just not enough for most people to lead an ethical life and be rewarded in this life. We apparently need a bigger promise than that in order to be ethical.

If I am an annihilist it's not because I want to be. It's because, it seemes to me, that even if there is rebirth and you start over without knowledge of past life, loves, and experiences, then you are still annihiliated. I may have been a Buddha in a past life but I don't remember it so what is it worth? We have the laws of conservation of matter and conservation of energy so when we die our bodies (and brain) break down into their elements we may become some part of a tree; good, but I will still be annihilated. I know nothing just trying to understand or find reasons why I don't need to understand. Thanks

One of the things that always comes to mind with this is non-self. To suppose one person is reborn into another person may not necessarily the case. When you think in terms of Karma you could view it as multiple people, some of which that lived at the same time, contributed karma to form a new person. So, in reality, there isn't a one to one relationship. This is certainly not a point to argue since I have absolutely no proof, but it better fits my personal concept of non-self.

good man increase your confidence i believe in faring on

To assert that Buddha was deluded in his insistence on the phenomenon of reincarnation, which is the only means to continue samsara, the very thing t he Buddha abhorred , is tantamount to asserting that Jesus of Nazareth was an atheist.

One thing that isn’t stated is that reaching the 4th jhana is not required for the ability to see yours or others past lives(among many other abilities). Besides growing your own perception come a number of techniques centered spiritually around a person, place, thing, feeling or idea and having that assist you. This is enhanced gradually by means of self growth and bonds/association with austerities. The only problem with this is that with more power and knowledge comes the necessity of more maturity and responsibility. Just as these things can inspire and help you in making better life choices they are a double edged sword and can hurt and hinder you by creating more opportunities to gain more arrogance of knowledge, hatred of past grievances and grudges, attachment and longing for good times, or newfound desire and greed to recreate those good times which only contribute to a perverse frame of mind and intention which will eventually lead you astray from both your original goals and practice and most of all your moral character. All told it’s best not to seek austerities but to achieve them. How will you achieve what you don’t seek? It’s like growing up, you get taller, stronger, smarter, and calmer all simply by doing what is expected of you, living life. So meditation is like that too.

There are additional difficulties with the concept of rebirth insofar as , according to the Tibetan tradition, the being that is reborn is neither the same as nor different from the person who has died.According to this view, there is continuity but not continuity of identity. This was one of the factors that led Paul Williams to abandon Buddhism and become a Catholic. He felt it made no sense that person B should either benefit from ( in the case of good karma) or be punished because of the actions of person A( in the case of bad karma). Such thinking undermines the concept of accumulation of merit, which is big in traditional forms of Buddhism. Also, he loves his wife but there is no guarantee that he would meet her again in any future life they might have. He did admit that at some deep level he had never become truly Buddhist. One of the best books on this subject I have ever read was Exploring karma and rebirth by Nagapriya, which goes back to the Pali suttas, and reveals that karma was not understood in such a mechanistic manner by the Buddha.

What I have thought is all that is reborn is craving. That rebirth then is formed from karma, good or bad. Hence the entire practice is thriving to abandon craving though insight gained from the Noble Eightfold Path. Also, once craving is completely uprooted, birth is ended, aging is ended, sickness is ended and death is ended. The whole mass of Dukka is ended as its cause has been uprooted and cannot arise again.

How does Mr. Smith’s stance in respect of rebirth differ from Pascal’s Wager ?

Without the doctrine of rebirth, you are missing the heart of Buddhism which is based on one's kamma /action giving rise to rebirth.

with the abandonment of views Aṭṭhaka Vagga is rebirth a view -could it be the middle way , between being and nonbinding a state of nondescript- Happy blessings - bobknab

Practice not perishing together. (Ch'an Master Hsing Yun)

When asked who is reborn? Is he (or she) the same person.Lord Buddha answered no! Then is he a different person ? No came the reply! He is a result of Karma of the person who died much like a seed from the old tree, so its a continuation. So its not the same person nor a different one. He has qualities of past life but a different person. We people are different of one another phycically and mentally. So that explains. Even Henry Ford admitted that.

Early Buddhism is when you get up real early and meditate in Full Lotus. High master says not to listen to college guys.

I am not interested in Buddhism but I am only checking it out bc of reincarnation bc I have interest in that and my father is Buddhist so this is how I find out about Buddhism

So is wanting to escape samsara a craving too then?

Hi

We should not worry about rebirth. It may be, it may not. But focusing on it is pointless.

This is where buddhism lacks, if mind is ever changeable and it takes birth then how your karma gets accumulated and shapes your upcoming lives, I'm not talking about immediate next life but other future lives too. The soul is unchangeable , so it has all of your karmic footprints but if the mind is ever changeable and not permanent then how it keeps the account of karma. If perfect Buddhist practitioners can recall past lives then why do those children who recall their past lives don't lead their life as Buddhist as a perfect path !

What I find interesting in these talks about rebirth is that everyone seems to understand that what exactly is being reborn is self-evident. I am not aware of the buddha saying anywhere, "What is reborn after death is whatever is entangled with the specific dead body that you experienced reality with," or some version of that. We often seem to make the assumption that rebirth begins at the point of bodily death, but I see no reason for this to be taken for granted. Like others have pointed out, this turns the truth of impermanence into a confused mess when we try to reconcile it with rebirth. It also is at odds with mindfulness of the present moment, since rebirth only ever exists in the mind as a future event. If it did happen to you it would not be rebirth, it would just be birth. But I digress. Rather, what seems to make more sense to me is understanding rebirth in the framework of causality or karma. I use those two concepts interchangeably, forgive me if that's inappropriate (I'm not sufficiently Buddhist to know). In the transpiring of an event, there is a cause for that event, which itself becomes a cause for another event, indefinitely. In philosophical terms, that's determinism. In terms of rebirth, we can think of the initial cause as the first birth and every subsequent event as a rebirth of that first initial cause. In my understanding, the buddha saw this infinite transpiring of causation and understood that the only way to be free of causation and determinism (rebirth) was to dissociate from the world entirely, for want of a better phrase. That is the point where rebirth ends: when causality ends. Of course, the body is still subject to the laws of nature and will be recycled in its own way, but the consciousness associated with that body (if I can be forgiven for saying that, I know it's not precise) will have been freed, and, presumably, will not have propagated any ignorance while still alive. I think it makes sense when we acknowledge the direct relationship between ignorance and rebirth. The buddha claimed that when ignorance ends, rebirth ends. This seems to point to the fact that ignorance itself creates causality. In truth, there is no causation, there is only reality.

Hi Doug, Whats the source of this information which you present? Buddha didn't believe in god, soul, reincarnation. In his time and as per core/original buddha teachings, rebirth meant within the same lifetime when a person goes through changes and becomes a new person.

Manifestation of fanciful forgotten childhood fantasies in form of past birth memory.

However, isn’t not believing in rebirth a wrong view? It can lead to bad deeds like living just according to our desries.

I believe that the Buddha said that the destruction of his Dhamma will be from within. Never quite understood how that is possible. Now I begin to see the possibility. I must admit I am a little bit in awe at the subtle twists and misunderstanding of the meaning of what the Buddha taught, especially on what is right view. When the right view is wrong, the eight-fold path cannot even begin. And error in the right view is the hardest of all to correct. This video is unfortunate and sad.

Enlightenment is something that you cannot understand and no one can be enlightened that easily. Their are plenty of proof of rebirth and specially in modern science too. So my advice is reseach deeply without creating dilemmas by your own misunderstandings☝🏻

I think the brain maybe contains something like 200 megabytes. A computer can download that in a few seconds from a transmitting router. Assuming there is rebirth, that would be a transmission of synaptic electro magnetic energy to another brain. With a computer download a prerequisite condition is a protocol for both to make a connection. It follows there has to be a telepathic synced sender and receiver. I once tried learning Japanese, it takes hours and hours of study just to get t he basics. So one wonders how children pick up their complex native language so easily. Maybe it may have something to do with previous downloaded knowledge ? On the other hand, you say the Buddha experienced previous births in fourth Jana. If you assume the past logically no longer exists, the Buddha could have just been inadvertently experiencing the telepathic projection of others in the Universe in those changing moments. Or assuming the past no longer exists, experiencing memory manifestations.

I'm one way, rebirth doesn't matter to me, since I'm trying to live in the now. The future doesn't matter. In another way, I am disturbed by the result of believing in rebirth. I see it as a way for some to ignore injustice and their responsibility. "That person is suffering because they were bad in a previous life, so they deserve their suffering." Thai believe that you come back as a woman because you were unfaithful to your husband in a previous life. I have seen my Thai friends blame themselves when they are wronged because it must be the result of something bad they did in an earlier life. "I cannot be too angry at my husband for having an affair, since I must have been unfaithful in a previous life. I'm being punished for my prior misdeeds." That's a big problem.

Anything human's created has an end. Religion is a human theory. Think of humans as you would think of your dog. We eat sleep socialize and die

his holiness is himself is eg of rebirth, the karma affect in which realm we r born, otherwise if karma is not true why would God make someone perfect n other disable, god is not partial... So our karma of previous life affect the future existence

If we open 7 chakras and gain salvation then you are free of rebirth cycles

Karma was and is, depending on where your cultural milleu is coming from, part of his mother's milk... It is a simple recognition that there is near infinite series of causes... This is things, happen, exits that hard to take into anyone's hands, if you have human empathy... We are inserted into them as we identify ourselves as a fixated self... As you come out of that delusion, you see this as the flow of a river and your-self, that that the flow has allowed to enter this meander, as capable of intentional and free action... you could also see the river flow as your-self... You have the option to stand out of the flow altogether, the Buddha did at his paranirvana, as final freedom from samsara, example for the sake of all sentient being. But this new liberating flow, the wheel of the Dharma, produced a new current within the current, the Boddhisatva... We stand in the wake of the founder freedom, but following his example decided to continue the turning of the wheel of Dharma...We return to the flow with full understanding, as long as there is sentient beings to save out of the river of suffering... This is the only form of eternity buddhism have (just long task, not privilege), beside leaving the river as the Buddha, eternity of the selfless task (essence of paranirvana)... Of course, this is Mythical thinking, Methafors stretched to the limit to show its limits and a sense that could stand out of the limits... Yes, this is the same river, roaming through many of such meanders... This is the flower of the lotus that grow in such calm water purify by meditation. I turned into a poet... Is there is any other path from Nagarjuna's recognition of the limits of the process of thinking... Well is there is any other way to point beyond the flow from the flow, from being the flow... Of course, what is the face you have before you were born?, what is the sound of one hand clapping?... The three point are here to point out that there is other ways... As that black sheep of recent Zen, Nyogen Sensaki, pointed out, Karma taken into your own enlighted action becomes Dharma... This last option is rebirth, reicarnation is doing it without full conciousness. Deep Gassho!

Scottish name

WHY did the Buddha believe in rebirth?

Please keep in mind that we know what others say “Buddha” taught, not what he actually taught. Whatever he taught, it’s likely that he made mistakes. “Jesus Christ” is in the same boat. A boat called “What We Want”, otherwise known as “Perfection”.

The parable of the being shot with an arrow means to me worry about the here and now because Buddhist practices offer a reduction of suffering in this very moment. Worrying about anything other than this present moment is mostly a waste of time. I love Doug’s talks but mind with no continuation destroys most of his teachings on here.

He didn't believe, instead he experienced, even the nirvana. He only talked about his own experience not in any beliefs. He said beliefs take away ones freedom to experience the truth or reality. When you say buddha believed it makes me feel like you are talking about someone else(an unenlightened being).

Wouldn’t it not be more appropriate to say « The Buddha knew » instead of « The Buddha believed » ?! First, because « to believe » as fare as I know doesn’t be part of buddhist teaching and second, because an Enlightened One as the Buddha rather « knows » than « believes »…🤷🏻‍♂️🤗

All these become a video teach public about society.

this sounds plainly misinformed for someone who has the ability to see spirits and communicate with devas (who remembered his past life). it is the contemporary science/naturalist view that filters out this reality.

I am so glad you don"t believe in rebirth! I don't either.

I’ll rephrase - to believe in something you have to have a good reason/evidence but I certainly think that if you are following the buddhas teachings or feel that you are a ‘buddhist’ there needs to be a certain faith in it because he spells it out time and time again it IS part of right view. I don’t think we can just take out bits we like and call ourselves Buddhists but of course we can just say we follow most of his teachings many of which is hard not to like ....but refrain from being a Buddhist. Again rebirth is a fundamental part of Buddhism.

I don't think someone should be putting on a Buddhist KZfaq channel and then said he doesn't believe in rebirth......rebirth is fundamental to right view.....I.e. The whole point is to not get born again..that's what the eight fold path is for! 😆

Buddha preached no self and no soul - therefore what is it that gets reborn ? At death the subconsciousness is released into the atmosphere and somehow this can attach itself onto a fetus at six months - doctors have discovered that around 6 months the fetus becomes conscious - but the fetus that receives the conscience is a different collections of flesh and bone - thus a different human being carrying the conscience of another - like a relay runner passing the baton to the second runner and stopping - according to most rebirth cases which I have heard of the child forgets the previous experience after about five years - but in cases of violent deaths of the previous human, the shock persists for much longer in the latter life - for a man to be reborn agin as it is like a tornado hitting a junk yard and remaking a disassembled car - this is speculation and nobody really knows what happens after death - maybe some consciences are reborn while others do not depending on how they die -

Too much defending yourself here.....

Believing in science is also superstition.

Very disappointing. I was hoping to hear some kind of evidence for rebirth, at least according to some form of esoteric theory. Talk about 'annihilationism' is just a smoke screen. Of course it's important to prove rebirth, if that can be done, otherwise in these times maybe it's time that this concept was replaced.