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Ok guys, I am going to try to give a brief lesson on the concept of rebirth in Buddha's teachings. It will be a 2 parter, with this first part introducing the basics.
First I would like to address some misconceptions about what rebirth is/is not.
Rebirth is not reincarnation. It is not the dying of a body and then it coming back to life.
Rebirth is also not the dying of a body and then coming back to life as another body. There is no soul in Buddha's teachings.
So then you may ask, what is reborn? Well, to explain this, I will first introduce the skandas.
The skandas are 5 elements(parts, classes of phenomena, whatever u want to call them) which make up what we experience in our lives. The skandas are manifested into experience through desire, but this is complicated and will probably be delved into in lesson 2.
The 5 skandas are classified as follows:
1.) Form (not particularily important to the lesson)
2.) Feelings (emotion, sensation)
3.) Perceptions (what you think of the feelings - like or dislike, etc)
4.) Volition (intent of your actions. karma is a result of this)
5.) Consciousness (your mental state, it is comprised of many mental factors, Theravada Buddhism separates it into 52 different mental factors)
Ok, so these 5 skandas are what comprise everything you experience. So, in reality, they are what you are. You are the 5 skandas, nothing more. Everything you feel, percieve, believe, remember, experience, it's all just the skandas. You are your skandas.
But the skandas actually come as a result of something else. The skandas are the result of craving. I will give an example, for the sake of simplicity I will choose an easy one to understand.
The 2nd skanda, feelings. When you feel pleasure, it is the 2nd skanda. Now - feeling this pleasure - it is actually the result of a craving to feel the pleasure. It is only because we are so blinded and distracted that we don't realize this. This is the kind of stuff monks are figuring out when they spend all their time meditating - they are seeing past these illusions. But I digress, this blog post could end up running on forever.
The reason this is relevant to rebirth is that what is being reborn, over and over, is actually craving. It is craving that the skandas result from, and so it is craving that our experiences result from. So when Buddha taught about rebirth, he was actually talking about the death of craving, and it's rebirth.
To put this in terms relevant to our physical bodies - when we die there is a death of this craving. Desire for sensation, for the various experiences - ends. Temporarily. But the craving comes back.
The craving comes back and the desire to experience manifests as experience. In doing so, the experiences must have a form - and so they do. That form is a physical body. Understand that this craving has no physical bounds, it is untied to the physical world. But to experience the skandas, there must be a link to the physical world.
So, when you die, your cravings end and then they come back, they are reborn. And so the skandas are reborn. And so, depending on the skandas, they may be attached to a physical form - a body.
And this is what Buddha means when he talks of a person being reborn as another person. There is no soul or self moving, just the elements that result from the craving that was left behind when the body died.
Ok, I hope this isn't too hard to follow. I will write part 2 some time, I don't know when.
Feel free to write questions or comments. The end.
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shouldnt sensation be a part of perceptions too?
is pleasure possible without being the consequence of a craving? Is pleasure acceptable to experience?
also, what do you mean by illusion? the illusion of cravings that cause pleasure?
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No, sensation is separate from perception. Though the fact that you ask that question means you at least understand what I am talking about, because it really isn't a bad question.
Perception would be "this feels cold" or "this cold feels nice".
Sensation would be just the direct experiencing of cold, with no skanda interpreting it's relationship to you.
On May 26 2009 12:48 JohnColtrane wrote:
shouldnt sensation be a part of perceptions too?
is pleasure possible without being the consequence of a craving? Is pleasure acceptable to experience?
Well this gets very far off track from rebirth but I like receiving any questions whatsoever so I will try to answer.
Pleasure, in the way you most likely interpret it, is not possible without craving.
Experience, in the way you most likely interpret it, is not possible without craving.
Do you have empty moments where you do not experience anything? Those moments resulted from non-craving.
The moments where you experience something result from craving.
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are you a practising buddhist travis, or just interested in studying it?
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I live my life in practice but I don't do sitting meditation. I believe I will eventually.
Living my life in practice means that i attempt to follow the "noble 8 fold path"
1.Right Understanding
2.Right Thoughts
3.Right Speech
4.Right Action
5.Right Livelihood
6.Right Effort
7.Right Mindfulness
8.Right Concentration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path
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oh cool thanks for posting this
pretty random, but its interesting to know their beliefs
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Why is there such a common misconception with people believing that Buddhism believes in reincarnation?
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On May 26 2009 13:04 SCC-Faust wrote:
Why is there such a common misconception with people believing that Buddhism believes in reincarnation?
I would imagine it is because most westerners have never considered a view where there is no self or soul.
Maybe it's a common misconception in the east, too, actually. I don't really know.
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On May 26 2009 13:04 SCC-Faust wrote:
Why is there such a common misconception with people believing that Buddhism believes in reincarnation?
Because in the west we hear of Buddhism through the study of cultures, not through Buddhist teachings. Since the study of religions in the west is scientific when there is even a mention of rebirth in any form the "reincarnation" box is checked.
@^ That too.
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Sydney2287 Posts
I did a few courses in religious studies during my coursework at uni and unfortunately when we covered buddhism I was more focused on writing an essay on daoism to be paying too much attention >_> and the only thing I really remembered from it was that western perception of reincarnation (one body dies, come back as a new body) was grossly flawed, just not why.
So many thanks for this blog 
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844 Posts
so where does consciousness lie in this?
how are we aware ?
is consciousness = craving?
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On May 26 2009 17:38 drug_vict1m wrote:
so where does consciousness lie in this?
what do u mean exactly?
how are we aware ?
we are aware because of a desire for understanding, which has culminated through various lifetimes
is consciousness = craving?
craving is the source of anything that we experience. but it is a different phenomena from the experiences theirselves.
there is something like a basic emptiness that underlies everything we experience. it is in this emptiness that craving is conditioned. the conditioned craving brings about the experiences, because that is what the craving is for.
the exact same 2 events can happen but in one example, a person experiences the events through sensations and feelings and forms perceptions and is conscious. but in the other example, that same person could just not experience anything other than emptiness.
it is easy to think of our consciousness as some static part of us, but in reality it is ever changing, all of the parts of it are changing states all the time. and sometimes there is no consciousness experienced at all.
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844 Posts
is there a reason for consciousness?or maybe more fundamental what is consciousness?
we are aware because of a desire for understanding, which has culminated through various lifetimes
so can i say that its the craving for understanding (understanding what?) ?
thus craving = awareness?
craving is the source of anything that we experience. but it is a different phenomena from the experiences theirselves. there is something like a basic emptiness that underlies everything we experience. it is in this emptiness that craving is conditioned. the conditioned craving brings about the experiences, because that is what the craving is for. the exact same 2 events can happen but in one example, a person experiences the events through sensations and feelings and forms perceptions and is conscious. but in the other example, that same person could just not experience anything other than emptiness. it is easy to think of our consciousness as some static part of us, but in reality it is ever changing, all of the parts of it are changing states all the time. and sometimes there is no consciousness experienced at all.
so how do we experience?what gives us such a possibility?and why?
and if we are not our consciousness then who are we?
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is there a reason for consciousness?
Each skanda is dependent on the previous skandas. For consciousness to exist, there must be presence of the previous 4 skandas. Consciousness is the basis of ideas and concepts. Of thoughts and memories. And of much more.
or maybe more fundamental what is consciousness?
you experience it, you know what it is. I can't explain it any better than your experiences do for you.
so can i say that its the craving for understanding (understanding what?) ?
ignore this I think I misunderstood you
thus craving = awareness?
no. the natural state of our experiences is emptiness. but there is the potential for craving within this emptiness. this craving is on a very basic level, it is nothing more than taking delight in life itself. if you see, it is the result of craving for sight. if you smell it is from craving for smell.
the awareness is just a conditioned aspect of our consciousness. I cannot answer precisely without knowing exactly what you mean by awareness.
but our non-empty experiences just result from a conditioned craving to take delight in whatever it is we experience.
by "take delight" i mean "be involved in".
so how do we experience?what gives us such a possibility?and why?
we experience because the potential exists. even buddha said he didn't know the reason, he said that it just always was that way. natural laws I guess.
but there is a natural progression towards understanding. and through this progression there is a sort of evolution of the mind(and perhaps of form). it is through this evolution that one can be born as a human and have the faculties for awakening(the path to enlightenment)
and if we are not our consciousness then who are we?
we are our consciousness. but we are not selves and we have no souls. in reality you are as much you as you are all the other beings.
the source of our consciousness is an emptiness which is shared by all as it has no form and is not bound by dimensions. from this emptiness comes the craving for skandas. the cravings are what form separate beings, because the cravings are separate. but not the emptiness.
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844 Posts
i c i c
and your thoughts about energy?
can emptiness be assumed as energy?or maybe skandas are a form of it?
and about progression
is it also a part of skandas?why do "we" want it?
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I had to study all this stuff for my Chinese religion course at uni. Man those Sanskrit names gave me a headache. :|
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On May 26 2009 20:35 drug_vict1m wrote:
i c i c
and your thoughts about energy?
can emptiness be assumed as energy?or maybe skandas are a form of it?
I think that is just adding mroe views and further complicates things.
and about progression
is it also a part of skandas?why do "we" want it?
all that we experience is the skandas so if we experience progression, then yes it is part of the skandas
we want it because we want to understand our situation. our mind has developed to a point where we see that understanding can set us free. it is referred to as buddha nature.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha-nature
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EPT
