We probably can't remember when exactly, but at some point when we were quite young, we become aware of our own mortality and not only that but the mortality of others. All things - plants, animals, and humans - live and then die. The reality of death is as inescapable as sun in the Sahara.

Of course, one of the first questions we begin to formulate is 'What happens when we die?? 'Where do we go?' and 'Is that it?' All cultures and religions in their different ways offer answers to these questions. The Vikings had Valhalla, Christianity has heaven (or hell) and the religions originating in India such as Hinduism and Jainism have reincarnation. So what about Buddhism?

The doctrine of rebirth in Buddhism stems from the Buddha’s own enlightenment experience. As he meditated under the Bodhi tree he came to perceive his previous rebirths - thousands in fact - and also that all beings were subject to rebirth. The place and nature of that rebirth was governed by their deeds. Good actions led to good rebirths and bad actions led to bad rebirths. Traditional teaching has it that there are six realms of existence into which one can be reborn.

Thus you can be reborn as a hell being, a ‘hungry’ ghost, an animal, a human being, a jealous god and a heavenly being. The most precious of these is seen to be the human birth as this gives the best opportunities for winning enlightenment. A heavenly being is too absorbed in pleasure to think about winning enlightenment. Unlike Christianity, Buddhism sees these states as ultimately temporary. A god, therefore, will eventually descend into one of the lower realms.

What is unique about Buddhism, however, compared to other religions is that it argues that there is no such thing as a permanent self. If this is the case how can the self that I regard as me continue its existence in a new rebirth? Buddhism does not deny the existence of a self as such, what it does deny is the existence of a permanent self that transmigrates from one existence to the next like someone getting out of one cab and entering another.

The self is seen to be made up of five factors and that these are ever changing. The new consciousness that emerges in the new rebirth is neither the same nor totally different from the previous one. It is best to see the self from the Buddhist perspective as a continuum, rather than something that is static and sharply defined.

When the Buddha saw the nature of rebirth he was filled with compassion. He saw all beings living and dying but never finding perfect peace, nibbana. Even though a good rebirth brings with it temporary happiness, it is not the true goal of Buddhism. The true goal is to realize nibbana, which is also bring an end to the cycle of birth and death and with it desire and suffering.

Tag: Rebirth