Rebirth
An English term that does not have an exact correlate in Buddhist languages, rendered instead by a range of technical terms, such as the Sanskrit Punarjanman (lit. "birth again") and Punarbhava (lit. "re-becoming"), and less commonly, the related Punarmrtyu (lit. "redeath"). The Sanskrit term Jati ("birth") also encompasses the notion of rebirth.
The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism. It was not an innovation of the Buddha, being already common to a number of philosophical schools of ancient India by the time of his appearance, especially those connected with the Sramana movement of religious mendicants.
Rebirth (sometimes called metempsychosis) is described as a beginningless process in which a mental continuum (Samtana) takes different (usually) physical forms lifetime after lifetime within the six realms (Gati) of Samsara: divinities (Deva), demigods (Asura), humans (Manusya), animals ((Tiryak), ghosts (Preta), and hell denizens (Naraka). The cycle of rebirth operates through the process of activity (Karman), with virtuous (Kusala) actions serving as the cause for salutary rebirths among the divinities and human beings, and unvirtuous (Akusala) actions serving as the cause of unsalutary rebirths (Durgati; Apaya) among demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell denizens.
The goal of the Buddhist path has been traditionally described as the cessation of the cycle of rebirth through the eradication of its causes, which are identified as the afflictions (Klesa) of greed, hatred, and ignorance and the actions motivated by those defilements. Despite this ultimate goal, however, much traditional Buddhist practice has been directed toward securing rebirth as a human or divinity for oneself and one's family members, while avoiding rebirth in the evil realms.
The issue of how Buddhism reconciles the doctrine of rebirth with its position that there is no perduring self (Anatman) has long been discussed within the tradition. Some schools of mainstream Buddhism, such as the Vatsiputriya or Pudgalavada, have gone so far as to posit that, while there may be no perduring "self" there is an "inexpressible" (Avacya) "person" (Pudgala) that is neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (Skandha), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime.
A more widely accepted view among the traditions sees the person as simply a sequence of mental and physical processes, among which is the process called consciousness (Vijnana). Consciousness, although changing every moment, persists as a continuum over time. Death is simply the transfer of this conscious continuum (Samtana) from one impermanent mental and physical foundation to the next, just as the light from one candle may be transferred to the next in a series of candles.
The exact process by which rebirth occurs is variously described in the different Buddhist traditions, with some schools asserting that rebirth occurs in the moments immediately following death, with other schools positing the existence of an "intermediate state" (Antarabhava) between death in one lifetime and rebirth in another, with that period lasting as long as forty-nine days. This state, translated as Bar Do in Tibetan, became particularly important in Tibet in both funerary rituals and in tantric practice.
The reality of rebirth is one of the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, which the religion claims can be empirically validated through direct spiritual insight.
---The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism---
The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism. It was not an innovation of the Buddha, being already common to a number of philosophical schools of ancient India by the time of his appearance, especially those connected with the Sramana movement of religious mendicants.
Rebirth (sometimes called metempsychosis) is described as a beginningless process in which a mental continuum (Samtana) takes different (usually) physical forms lifetime after lifetime within the six realms (Gati) of Samsara: divinities (Deva), demigods (Asura), humans (Manusya), animals ((Tiryak), ghosts (Preta), and hell denizens (Naraka). The cycle of rebirth operates through the process of activity (Karman), with virtuous (Kusala) actions serving as the cause for salutary rebirths among the divinities and human beings, and unvirtuous (Akusala) actions serving as the cause of unsalutary rebirths (Durgati; Apaya) among demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell denizens.
The goal of the Buddhist path has been traditionally described as the cessation of the cycle of rebirth through the eradication of its causes, which are identified as the afflictions (Klesa) of greed, hatred, and ignorance and the actions motivated by those defilements. Despite this ultimate goal, however, much traditional Buddhist practice has been directed toward securing rebirth as a human or divinity for oneself and one's family members, while avoiding rebirth in the evil realms.
The issue of how Buddhism reconciles the doctrine of rebirth with its position that there is no perduring self (Anatman) has long been discussed within the tradition. Some schools of mainstream Buddhism, such as the Vatsiputriya or Pudgalavada, have gone so far as to posit that, while there may be no perduring "self" there is an "inexpressible" (Avacya) "person" (Pudgala) that is neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (Skandha), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime.
A more widely accepted view among the traditions sees the person as simply a sequence of mental and physical processes, among which is the process called consciousness (Vijnana). Consciousness, although changing every moment, persists as a continuum over time. Death is simply the transfer of this conscious continuum (Samtana) from one impermanent mental and physical foundation to the next, just as the light from one candle may be transferred to the next in a series of candles.
The exact process by which rebirth occurs is variously described in the different Buddhist traditions, with some schools asserting that rebirth occurs in the moments immediately following death, with other schools positing the existence of an "intermediate state" (Antarabhava) between death in one lifetime and rebirth in another, with that period lasting as long as forty-nine days. This state, translated as Bar Do in Tibetan, became particularly important in Tibet in both funerary rituals and in tantric practice.
The reality of rebirth is one of the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, which the religion claims can be empirically validated through direct spiritual insight.
---The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism---
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