Post # 7 - Rebirth - Part 1 

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Rebirth and Kamma – how should we understand them?

The attempt here is to highlight some salient points on this very crucial topic. I have collected some significant and relevant  facts on this subject from talks and writings of eminent Dhamma scholars to place before you for your review and analysis.

The objective is for creating sufficient interest in the topic so that the keen learner will be motivated to access more such texts and seek more opportunities to get a better understanding. In other words this collection is by no means exhaustive or complete, as coverage for the topic. However it is hoped that the reader would have sufficient facts to dispel any doubts or uncertainties he/she may have on this important subject, which can be considered as one of the pillars underpinning Buddhist practice. 

Let me begin by asking the question, what is your view about Kamma and Rebirth? Let us discuss this with focus on how such views have a relevance to the practice of Dhamma by a lay follower.  

There is a perception that this is the essence of Buddha’s teaching, and if you do not believe in a perceived Rebirth and Kamma you are not a Buddhist. This of course could not be quite true looking at the historical context, as the belief in kamma (to be discussed in detail in a later post) and rebirth in the way it was taught in ancient religions, did exist even before the Buddha.

Upon reaching enlightenment, the first challenge that Buddha faced was to teach the Dhamma that he discovered. He found that it was indeed the reality, and one which was profound and difficult to explain. He realized that what people believed in and their convictions, had to be accommodated in the teaching to encourage them to join in, when he attempted to teach the Dhamma he discovered.   So he treated the prevailing teachings in the religions, which included kamma and rebirth as concepts or conventional (sammuthi) truths, while what he discovered he treated as the reality (paramatta).

He found that thinkers at that time were asking some serious  questions about their own existence. Bhanthe Dr.Punnaji in his book “Horizons of Time”, has articulated these questions quoting the Sabbasawa Sutta as follows:

“did I exist in the past?; did I not exist in the past?; what was I in the past?; how was I in the past?; having being what, to what did I change into in the past?”;

There were also similar questions about the future such as – “will I exist in the future?; will I not exist in the future?; what will I be in the future? How will I be in the future?; having being what, to what will I change into in the future?”

 Similarly there were questions about the present as well, which included among others; “from where did this existence come?; where will this existence go?” etc.

Most religions answered these questions on the basis of a supreme creator and his doings. People accepted these explanations. It was sometimes through fear of the unknown or due to uncertainty.  

There are references to resurrection- bringing life into a dead body; reincarnation- a permanent soul entering another body; transmigration- a soul leaving one body and taking over another body; and rebirth – a soul taking on a new life.  What Buddha discovered however was contrary to all these teachings.

The Buddha rejected an "eternalist" view, which in the Buddhist sense means a belief in an individual eternal soul that survives death. But he also rejected the nihilist view that there is no existence for any of us beyond this one.

He said in his first uttering upon reaching enlightenment that- “Oh builder (creator), I have seen you! You will not create me anymore!  I have destroyed all your supports! I have broken the whole structure! My mind has stopped creating! This will be my last becoming! It’s the emotions(Thanna) that are creating existence etc.

However the Buddha had to factor in the common beliefs of the people at that time, into his teachings. He therefore conducted his teaching under the premise of two Dhammas. One a worldly Dhamma or mundane Dhamma (Sammuthi Satta), with  relevance to the worldly life and  more in harmony with the existing beliefs, which are included in  the ‘Sutta’ texts in the ‘Thripitaka’ and the other as a supra mundane or world transcending- Dhamma, related to the actuality documented in the ‘Abidhamma’ texts.

C.P. Ranasinghe in his book ‘The Buddha’s Explanation of the Universe’ says that:-

 “if we are people who would accept whatever a Buddha or an Arahant said, there exists much material in Buddhist scriptures depicting different instances of rebirth. This method of accepting the doctrine of rebirth is very unsatisfactory and Buddha himself rejected such attitudes. Accepting the doctrine of rebirth in this manner often brings in its train various superstitions which obstructs our understanding of the deeper truth”.

Bhikkhu Bhodhi the scholar monk from US says in his article on – ‘Does Rebirth Make Sense?’:-

“Even modernist interpreters of Buddhism seem to have trouble taking the rebirth teaching seriously. Some dismiss it as just a piece of cultural baggage, ‘ancient Indian metaphysics’ that the Buddha retained in deference to the world view of his age. Others interpret it as a metaphor for the change of mental states, with the realms of rebirth seen as symbols for psychological archetypes. A few critics even question the authenticity of the texts on rebirth, arguing that they must be interpolations”.

In this essay Bhikkhu Bhodhi goes on to say that:-

“I won't be arguing the case for the scientific validity of rebirth. Instead, I wish to show that the idea of rebirth makes sense. I will be contending that it ‘makes sense’ in two ways: first, in that it is intelligible, having meaning both intrinsically and in relation to the Dhamma as a whole; and second, in that it helps us to make sense, to understand our own place in the world. The teaching of rebirth makes sense in relation to ethics.

When we encounter suitable external conditions, the kammic seeds deposited in our mental continuum rise up from their dormant condition and produce their fruits. The most important function performed by kamma is to generate rebirth into an appropriate realm, a realm that provides a field for it to unfold its stored potentials.

There is a tremendous variety among the living beings existing in the world. People and animals are of different sorts. What is it that causes us to take birth in a particular form? Does it happen through coincidence, through accident, by chance without any reason or is there some principle behind it? What is it that determines the form of rebirth we take?

Buddha answers these questions, with the Pali term "kamma".

 More elaborations and justifications by Bhikkhu Bhodhi on why rebirth makes sense is given in the next post- Rebirth Part 2-

There are also many other treatise on rebirth in the web. Experimental sciences have been looking at evidences of previous lives of people through such methods as hypnotic analysis etc.

Ven Ajahn Brahm has given many talks with rational analysis on rebirth. In one talk he gives an illustration for the doctrine of rebirth as taught in Buddha Dhamma, to show the difference in the concept of a permanent soul migrating from birth to birth, by a worldly simile.  He says that when we eat a mango and deposit the seed appropriately it germinates and produces a plant, a tree and eventually a mango. This mango is not the same mango that we ate but another mango. It demonstrates the features of the mango we ate, whether sweet or sour or other, by some process of genetic inheritance.  Although the original mango is no more and did not reappear in a new form now, it did transfer its characteristics to the new mango.

How Buddhist Rebirth "Works"

Understanding the Buddhist doctrine of rebirth rests upon understanding how Buddhists view the self.  The Buddha taught that the perception that we are all distinct, stand-alone people-units is an illusion and the chief cause of our problems.

From the foregoing you will see that I have been extracting quotes or explanations from these great scholars and bringing them up for reference by you, which is my privilege through this Blog. These arguments give us enough material to ponder upon to orient our thinking towards the subject in question.

I will be attempting to gather more such material to explore other aspects on this subject. Please await the next post- Rebirth Part 2