Rebirth

Rebirth

The belief that one is reborn after death. The idea is pre-Buddhist and is first encountered in the early Upanisads (c. 800 BCE). The notion is widespread in Indian religions, which believe in a continuity of the individual from one life to the next. Belief in rebirth is a corollary of the doctrine of karma, which holds that a person experiences the good or bad fruits of moral action at a later date. According to Buddhism, there are six possible realms of rebirth. Rebirth is one of the 'givens' of Buddhist thought and since its truth is universally assumed it is rarely asserted or defended as a dogma. The authorities claim that the fact of rebirth is open to empirical verification by advanced yogins (such as the Buddha) who it is said can recall in great detail the circumstances of countless previous lives. Some contemporary Buddhists have suggested that belief in rebirth is not an essential part of Buddhist teaching, but the notion is deeply engrained in the tradition and the ancient texts.

---A Dictionary of Buddhism (Damien Keown, Oxford)---