The Dharma, sutras, and commentarial interpretations of interest to American Buddhists of all traditions with news that not only informs but transforms. Emphasis on meditation, enlightenment, karma, social evolution, and nonharming.
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Chilling children's stories: Kids who remember their past lives
Not again! Help!
The thought of rebirth or reincarnation terrifies some. It pleases others. Personally, many of us would hate the thought of having to relive an entire life in ignorance all over again. It not only scares some, but it is mentally exhausting just to think about.
So we avoid thinking about it. Judging by these stories, a person who dies and is reborn can end up in the same culture doing the same things. Then what became of our life lessons? We failed to learn them. If a life has to be repeated, it is often under worse circumstances than the first time. It gets harder. It is as if we are getting back on a treadmill without being able to stay off it. Here are six astonishing cases. Some give us hope, while others are fraught with very disturbing implications.
Punabbhava ("re-arising, again becoming, renewed existence") is a sutra term for "rebirth." In later literature it is called "relinking" or "reunion" (patisandhi).
Awakening or enlightenment (liberation), which means freedom from rebirths, is often expressed in the words: Natthi 'dāni punabbhavo or "This is the last birth. Now there is no more of this [arising and suffering] to come!" (MN 26; DN 15; Theragatha 87, 339; Sn. 502).
The term rebirth is often linked with "arising" (abhinibbatti). The Buddha explains why it happens: "How, O meditators, does one come to renewed existence and arising in the future? It is because beings -- clouded by ignorance and ensnared by craving -- find ever fresh delight now here, now there. For this reason there is renewed existence and arising in the future" (MN 43).
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