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Rebirth
Rebirth refers to a one's mind taking
one body after another upon death. Our mind refers to all of our formless
emotional and cognitive experiences.
While we are alive, the body and
mind are linked, but at death they separate. The body becomes a corpse,
and the mind continues on to take another body. To emphasise the continuity
of consciousness, we use the word "mindstream" to refer to our mind. Each
person has a separate mind or mindstream.
Our Past Lives
Our minds being obscured by Ignorance
finds it difficult to remember the past. Also, many changes occur in our
body and mind as we die and are reborn, making recollection difficult.
Not remembering something does not
mean that it does not exist- we sometimes cannot even remember where we
parked our car! However, some people can remember their past lives in meditation
or through hypnosis.
No beginning
Our Mind, that carries over from
life to life has no beginning- its continuity is infinite.
Each moment of our Mind is a continuation
of the previous moment. Who we are and what we think and feel depends on
who we were yesterday. Our present mind is a continuation of the past mind.
One moment of our Mind was caused by the previous moment of our Mind. This
continuity can be traced back to childhood and even to when we were a foetus
in our Mother's womb. Even before the time of conception, our mindstream
existed in another body.
Reasons that causes Rebirth
Although all sentient beings have
the Buddha nature or Buddha potential, their minds are clouded by Ignorance
since beginning-less time. From Ignorance springs Craving and Aversion,
which cause us to continually crave for life and its illusory pleasures
while hating death and other displeasures. Each moment of Ignorance was
produced from the preceding moment without a beginning. Although Ignorance
has no beginning, it can be eradicated through the attainment of Wisdom
in Enlightenment.
Is Being Reborn Good?
The idea of rebirth can be very comforting
as it offers chances to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and
time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this
life.
If we fail to attain Enlightenment
in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If
you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to learn from your
mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well
become possible in the next life.
Ultimately, the aim of the Buddhist
is to end the wheel of rebirth- to be released from the cycle of birth
and death. Out of Compassion, one who is released can also help to show
others the path to liberation.
Factors that decides how I'm Reborn
The most important factor influencing
where we will be reborn and what sort of life we shall have is Karma- our
intentional physical and mental actions.
What we are is determined very much
by how we have thought and acted in the past. Likewise, how we think and
act now will influence how we will be in the future. A gentle loving person
tends to be reborn in a heaven realm or as a human being who has a predominance
of pleasant experiences. The anxious, worried or extremely cruel person
tends to be reborn in a hell realm or as a human who has a predominance
of painful experiences. The person who develops obsessive craving, fierce
longings, and burning ambitions that can never be satisfied tends to be
reborn as a hungry ghost or as a human being frustrated by longing and
wanting. Whatever mental habits are strongly developed in this life will
continue in the next life.
What Does Rebirth Explain?
Karma and rebirth together explain
many "unsolved" mysteries:
1.The inequality of Mankind and their
experiences (Even twins are different in character)
2.Talents of geniuses and child
prodigies
3.Spontaneous arising of instinctive
likes and dislikes in infants
4.Intellectual differences between
parents and their children
5.Sudden outbursts of emotion and
changes in character
6.Untimely death and unexpected
changes in fortune
Can I Decide Where I'm Reborn?
Yes- that is why one of the steps
on the Noble Eightfold Path is Perfect Effort. It depends on our sincerity,
how much energy we exert and how strong the habit is. Some people simply
go through life under the influence of their past habits, without making
an effort to change them and falling victim to these unpleasant results.
Such people will continue to suffer unless they change their negative habits.
The longer the negative habits remain, the more difficult they are to change.
The Buddhist understands this and
takes advantage of each and every opportunity to break mental habits that
have unpleasant results and to develop mental habits that have a pleasant
and happy result. Meditation is one of the techniques used to modify the
habit patterns of the Mind as does speaking or refraining to speaking,
acting or refraining to act in certain ways.
The whole of the Buddhist life is
a training to purify and free the mind.
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