The Process of Rebirth

[matreyia]

3 yrs. ago I went house hunting with a good friend. Went in to the last house & all my joints started to throb & my chest started to feel pressure. I asked the agent if there were home history reports available & both she & good friend thought I was being troublesome. Then we went out back & the agent & myself turned left & my buddy went right. After a few seconds, he said, "dear lord, someone died here." I thought he was joking...then he showed me a plaque with the name, date of the deceased.

[paulot]

I think the concept of"place" ( when you refferred to. "Hovering") doesnt really apply here

[orlando098]

I am enjoying watching these videos of Ajahn Brahm, who I didn't know before yesterday. He is insightful and caring and  humourous. However I thought this video might say more about the detail of how rebirth is meant to happen. Does the ghost, that he refers to, feel drawn towards some woman who has just conceived and become united with the fetus? And what if no ghost is hovering around when a woman gets pregnant? Can a baby be born minus any karma/soul from a previous life?

[amila2006]

The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma and theology. Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism answers this description. If there is any religion that could cope with modern scientific needs it would be Buddhism. -Albert Einstein

[ramaraksha01]

@amila2006 Correct me if i am wrong but I thought Buddhism was not a religion & i don't mean it in a bad way. The Buddha never talked about God? Buddhism is about personal growth & how to become a better person.

The Buddha borrowed many of his ideas from Hinduism. We believe God is a moral Guide not a refuge, a backdoor that is going to take care of us like pets. Our goal is Moksha - to become part of God or to become part of something greater than us - Gandhiji showed us the way.

[bannatreeful]

The best brian waching talk yet , thank very much :p

[bannatreeful]

The best brain waching talk , thank you every much :p 

[operadood]

@ramaraksha01 you are aware that both Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies include a realm of hells, yes?

[MrMettiko]

i have big respect to ajan brahm but the buddha teach us not to believe everthing we hear in the kalama sutta. Reincarnation goes against the flow of cause and condition(idapacayata). Idapacayata means, because of this arise this, because of this doesn't exist, this doens't arise. My point is that our conciousness arise from our 6 sens conciousness(the body), if our 6 sens conciousness cease to function then our conciousness got to cease too

[hiKrittiya]

I have so much respect to Ajahn Brahm because he focuses on the heart of buddhism and it's practical. I believe that if it's real buddhism, there is always a reasonable answer that explains things and can be proved .

However, with this subject, what is the proof to the reincarnation ? I want to believe but I just dont know how.. can someone explain ?

[MrMettiko]

@hiKrittiya i have big respect to ajan brahm too but the buddha teach us not to believe everthing we hear in the kalama sutta. Reincarnation goes against the flow of cause and condition(idapacayata). Idapacayata means, because of this arise this, because of this doesn't exist, this doens't arise. My point is that our conciousness arise from our 6 sens conciousness(the body), if our 6 sens conciousness cease to function then our conciousness got to cease too.

[FeelGoodinc91]

@hiKrittiya Rebirth and death is the universe perpetually changing form due to impermanence. The "it" that's being reborn is not you because there's no self (anatta) but the "it" of the universe.

hope that helps

[scottman1235]

fat ass eating mangos all day!

[everygenericlogin]

@ramaraksha01 what if reality doesn't conform to your utopian like ideals and there really is a hell? i also dreamt of bagging the most beautiful chick with a perfect body and choose to believe that love is not based on looks, money and power because love is oh so sacred it is only to happen through chance and fate. but alas, reality would like to differ.

many times our expectations and ideals warps our perception and give rise to projections that would only deepen our self denial.

[janneyisin]

Yes we must be reborn - but not after death but before: Jesus said " Assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." We are all born spiritually dead because of our sin/suffering and Jesus paid the price for our rebirth - and offers it as a free gift. Who would be foolish enough not to investigate this offer?

[lumalive]

A great sermon! THANKS! May you have a long life with good health and happiness with the Blessings of the Noble Triple-Gem!

[mainmanmoose]

beautiful

[ramaraksha01]

Hell is a vile, abusive, disgusting concept. God buys love & loyalty with torture? A Gandhi, Teresa, Mandela would never think of torturing their enemies, whereas a Saddam, Hitler, Stalin would. This is the company that God keeps? Karma & Rebirth is the better, non-violent way. You are not punished, nor are you simply forgiven because you groveled enough. The most important aspect of Karma is that you are held accountable for your actions, you are reborn, given another chance to make amends.

[amila2006]

@ramaraksha01 who is god he is a ET extra terrestrial check you tube for Ancient Aliens

[drav1dan]

Ah, the middle finger, good choice. It is the magical finger that always shows one's own ego instead of the moon, just in case anyone failed to read it in the words.

[drav1dan]

The interesting thing about the words "ego", "self" & "transcendental" is that these special words can always be mixed and matched in any way to come up with sentences that sound extremely profound. That is, until someone digs deeper into the sentence and starts asking questions.

[drav1dan]

If a person has devoted a lot of time & energy in thoughts, speech or actions based on anger, jealousy, hatred, gross physical desires etc. then his/her mind tends to remain in such heavy, entrapping states. It takes a lot of effort to lift the mind from such tendencies & move towards light. The 'script' is really written by a person himself by his own thoughts, actions & desires in his past. That script is called karma. No external force writes a script & forces a person to follow it.

[beyond1Mind]

by performing a recapitulation or an inventory each time you go to bed, you will add no more hooks. To do a daily inventory, just before sleep, pull emotions back into the mind in a review of your day. When you waken at night it is a good time to do an inventory. Big inventories release your whole life of emotions. There is no judge or victim. It is a review of feelings.

Gessho

[narutokyubi9]

Well, how do you know that they'll be reborn as a human or something higher? How do you know if they want to leave their loved ones?

[impermanentoo]

Check out Ajahn Brahm's background first. You can find plenty of them on the internet He is respected by the Buddhist all over the world He was trained under an Eastern master for 9 years in forest tradition. The very respected tradition in Buddhism as they follow the original teaching of the Buddha. On top of that, they are meditation monks.

The best of both worlds. Only those who meditate will know what Buddhism is about

[minip64]

Sour/sweet? Depends when you pick it! What absolute gibberish.There are tendencies that reincarnate in all Ajahns videos,insupportable assertions conflated ideas, imprecise definitions, sophistry passing for philosophy and subjective observation passed off as science. I saw the Dalai, travelled in Buddhist lands, watched videos, spent hours listening to Buddhists and I've heard such insupportable rubbish.Western Buddhists are as passive aggressive,smug and complacent as any other religious sect.

[impermanentoo]

To divide the Buddhists into schools is regarded as schism

[impermanentoo]

Suttas deal mainly with wisdom and Abhidhamma psychology.

Monks that I talk to told me most monks do not learn Abhidhamma and they can't understand it.

[clw07867542]

in my opinion porpoisepork is on the right track and some Ajahns have taught the same, Ajahn Sumedho, a vary wise monk, has some good teachings in relation to this

[clw07867542]

Impermanentoo

You dont believe that story do you? It was a later made up story to try and back the validity of the Abhidhamma. You can tell that the Abhidhamma is way different from the suttas just by reading it

Its also internesting to note that not all of the early buddhist schools accepted the abhidhamma as the word of the buddha and held it to be the work of later monks

[porpoisepork]

There seems to be a lot of discussion on here about whether or not the Buddha taught rebirth. My approach is not to even worry about it. If I recall my past lives, fine, if not, fine. I'm trying to not "cling to views" and so I have opted not to form one regarding literal rebirth. The experience of recalling past lives is ultimately personal and is not a basis for encouraging belief in others. Read the Kalama Sutta and you can get a good idea of what the Buddha taught regarding this.

[impermanentoo]

The Buddha taught abhidhamma to his mother in tavatimsa(divine realm) and after the Budhha descended to the earth he taught his first diciple Sariputta Abdidhamma and in turn he taught that to 500 arahat.

First council was held three months after Buddha entered parinibbana. 500 arahat including Buddha's personnal attendant, Ananda, attended the council.

Abhidhamma was recorded during the 1st council. It has formed part of the core teaching of the Buddhist today. TIPITAKA the sacred book

[clw07867542]

Pragzter said

Because I can remember him saying something along the line of "The Universe is Infinite" etc.

The Buddha refused to give an answer on if the universe is eternal or not eternal etc

[clw07867542]

Also i would ask anyone who holds rebirth view to try and square it with the "parable of the arrow". Read the whole "shorter discourse to malunkyaputta" majjhima nikaya 63

[clw07867542]

The Buddha didnt teach rebirth after death as part of his teachings, dependent origination and the 4 noble truths arent about a metaphysical rebirth. The idea of rebirth crept in via later ideas, such as "rebirth linking consciousness" which can be found no where in the suttas themselves but from later works

[impermanentoo]

Watch this by Discovery channel:

"Reincarnation, children remember past life, PART 1 & 2"

[Drummur]

Ghosts rock. I've heard of a story of where someone started having a conversation with a ghost, and told the ghost that it had died. The ghost replied, "How do I know YOU'RE not the one that's dead?"

[KevinSolway]

Type "e-sangha watch" into google, for some interesting reading.

[KevinSolway]

The forum is e-sangha (dot com). It is mostly dominated by fundamentalist Tibetan Buddhists.

[KevinSolway]

Yes indeed, that's what I was saying. That's what I meant when I said that while a candle is alight it can light many other candles, but once it is extinguished, it can no longer do so. That's why I say that those who think that rebirth happens after physical death have got it entirely wrong.

[impermanentoo]

You can recall rebirth only after practising samatha meditation and vipassana meditation for a long time. It is not easy but not impossible. Most serious meditators are able to recall their rebirth.

To recall rebirth these conditions hasve to be met first::

1) It has to be done with the correct techniques.

2)To have faith in the teaching

3) Understand the teaching well (We need to apply the teaching during vipassana meditation)

4) Pure in speech, thought and actions

[KevinSolway]

If you can recall rebirth only after practising samatha meditation, then how do you explain the fact that the Dalai Lama cannot recally any past lives? Do you think he's never practiced samatha meditation?

[drav1dan]

When did the Dalai Lama say that he cannot recall any of his past lives?

[KevinSolway]

Apparently he says it quite often. I wish I had a transcript, or that I had it on video. However, he says that he is told that when he was a child he could remember his past lives, even though he can't remember remembering.

[KevinSolway]

Some branches of Buddhism, such as Zen, are flexible, while others are not. E-sangha, the biggest online Buddhist discussion forum, bans anyone who publicly disagrees with the dogma of literal rebirth.

[guyneo]

I like the reminder on the main priority in life. Money and fame are important but not essential. Families and personal spiritual growth are of greater importance. Thanks for the gentle reminder. Thanks

[rohatsu]

Thank you for fixing mic ; )

[kirk7524875248]

rohatsu, Hear hear! It's nice! Does he seem tired to you?

[confabulator99]

One of the key tenets of Buddhism is "no self" - your personal self won't exist after you die in the Buddhism cosmology - what survives is consciousness, and the container for your consciousness (or what form you take in rebirth) is determined by karma. The "personal self" is like a candle that burns away over time, and "reincarnation" is like the flame that moves to a new wick when the old candle burns out.

[KevinSolway]

confabulator99, it is *suggested* that a person's consciousness survives death. If this is the case then there should be some evidence for it. But there isn't. You say that reincarnation is like the flame that moves to a new wick when the old candle burns out, but it doesn't. The candle may light other candles while it is alight, but not after it has been extinguished.

[confabulator99]

You make good points. However, what kind of evidence would you look for? Your memories, skills, personality may die with your body, yet raw consciousness may still survive and there'd be little evidence to show it. Keep in mind, just because there's no evidence doesn't mean a thing isn't.

There's also little raw experimental evidence for string theory, yet many physicists "believe" in string theory because it explains incongruities and gaps in our current understanding of the universe.

[KevinSolway]

Yes, there may indeed be some element of consciousness that survives the physical death of the body, but leaves no evidence. But I reject the idea of the existence of God because there is no evidence for the existence of such a thing, and so, to be consistent, I also reject the notion of literal rebirth. The difference between literal rebirth and string theory is that the theory of literal rebirth doesn't explain anything (more)

[KevinSolway]

(cont'd) All the differences between people can be adequately explained by means of genetic differences and different environmental influences. For example, a younger brother has different genes to the older brother, and a different environment also (for example, since the younger brother has an older brother, but the older brother does not). So there's no reason to make-up the idea of literal rebirth unless we are selfishly trying to manufacture a way for our ego to survive death.

[confabulator99]

I see what you're saying. But just because an explanation is adequate, however, doesn't mean it's the right one. Thomas Kuhn showed us how the explanation of an earth-centered Copernican universe was fully adequate based on available data at the time, thus Galileo's alternative theory of a sun-centered universe to explain the same limited data was deemed so offensive to the church.

As for the argument of a selfish motive behind the theory of reincarnation, that's just an ad hominem argument.

[KevinSolway]

I agree that while my explanation for the differences between people is adequate, it isn't necessarily correct. But until some further evidence is forthcoming, it is perfectly adequate. If any evidence ever becomes available for literal rebirth, then we would need to take that into account.

[confabulator99]

I'll add one other thing: does Buddhism collapse without reincarnation, like perhaps Christianity does without heaven? No, reincarnation isn't nearly so important. The Buddha himself told his followers that he didn't know what happened in the afterlife, but that it wasn't important. It's the parable of the poisoned arrow - google it, not enough space here...

[KevinSolway]

In my view, reincarnation, or rebirth, happens each and every moment of our lives. A teacher is reborn in the student. I believe that is what Buddhism intends us to understand, but unfortunately this understanding has been lost.

[ryert]

Like said earlier you have good points and in that I also understand what you are saying. As for the flame on a candle, The fire is constantly turning to heat. When you snuff it out, the energy turns into heat and in turn heats up the snuff itself. In science it is also proven that just as energy, molecules never cease to be, unless purposely destroyed(thus the Atom bomb). So just as what I was saying in energy, it is said that even the molecules we breath in today, DaVinci inhaled as well.

[ryert]

(Cont.) But none the less, as Confabulator99 said, reincarnation is not the main focal point in Buddhism. Least not for me anyways. Therefore I do not dwell on what has yet to be, more on what is now. I see Buddhism as a way of life for me, to not cause suffering to other or myself as much as possible and lead a good Karmic life. If that in turns gives me some kind of "afterlife" so be it. If not, well I can say I lead a good life with the time I did have. ;) But, great comments!

[KevinSolway]

I don't think you're meant to think about it to that extent.

[pragzter]

Why do you presume that all the humans we're seeing now were from our planet in their past lives? They could easily be from another planet or another realm. After all, it is stated in Buddhism that the universe itself is infinite.

[KevinSolway]

Sure, that would mean that each one of us is almost definitely from another planet in our past life. It's complete insanity.

[pragzter]

Dunno. *shrugs*

What's important to me is what's happening now, rather than worrying too much about a past life / after life.

[impermanentoo]

Pragzter You're right. Buddha said that there are 4 planets in our universe that have life. Rebirth can take place in 2 thoughts moments. We may be reborn in another plane or planet.

[pragzter]

4 Planets? are you sure? can you quote the Sutra?

Because I can remember him saying something along the line of "The Universe is Infinite" etc.

Speculation is pretty useless really. People will just keep arguing over these things they have no direct experience of.

[impermanentoo]

In Abhidhamma. Infinite, is when Buddha was asked about the origin of the universe.

Buddha said we'll go mad if we investigate about this topic as that is a really long history that is beyond our comprehension.

[enchentez]

impermanentoo,

First of all, you need to cite your source specifically, if it exists at all. Second, The Buddha did not teach "Abhidhamma". The Abhidhamma was contrived by Brahmin eternalists long after the Buddha's death. clw is correct to point out that this "re-linking consciousness" hooey was a later contrivance. teh "re-linking consciousness theory" was invented by Asanga in the 4th century CE.

[KevinSolway]

I find this "simile" of the mango extremely inappropriate. We *know* what the connection is between the old mango and the new mango. The connection is that they share much of the same DNA, and the DNA is what creates a great deal of what they are. But this says *nothing whatsoever* about what is passed from one life to another so far as literal rebirth is concerned. What, exactly, leaves a dead body and goes into the creation of a new being, and how? Ajahn Brahm doesn't answer the question.

[ryert]

I am only at about 8min on the video, but so far I can tell you are wanting a scientific answer of physical matter and how it goes from one "being" to another. Best way that I can explain how I see it is, our brain works from electric pulses. Therefore we have an form "energy" keeping us going. Now, my thoughts are that when this body dies it can no longer hold in that energy. We know scientifically that energy has to go somewhere. make sense? Hope so.

[KevinSolway]

When a candle is alight, it has an "energy", does it not? Now when we extinguish the candle (snuff it out), where does it go? It doesn't magically leap to another candle, does it? I think Ajahn Brahm is entirely missing the point about rebirth. A teacher is reborn in his student. Rebirth happens during life, not after death. While a candle is alight it is able to light other candles, but not after it is extinguished.

[ryert]

Also, look around in other videos, they talk about it more as well...

[KevinSolway]

Ajahn Brahm believes that as the animal population is decreasing, the animals are becoming reborn as humans! That would also explain why there are so many foolish people around. :-)

[guyneo]

Your sharings are the archor in the crazy world. There are too much distractions and commitments. I valued your simply explanation on deep concepts. Your simple way of life. Thanks with great appreciation.

[potheadvswild]

May God bless you all, Namaste.

[tigernov6]

4:40 in America we have people who come to haunted homes and get rid of ghosts called "ghost busters"