The Buddha’s teachings offers the most satisfactory
explanation of where man came from and where he is going. When we die, the
mind, with all the tendencies, preferences, abilities and characteristics that
have been developed and conditioned in this life, re-establishes itself in a
new being. Thus the new individual grows and develops a personality conditioned
both by the mental characteristics that have been carried over from the
previous life and by the new environment. The personality will change and be
modified by conscious effort and conditioning factors like education, parental
influence and society but once again at death, it will re-establish itself as
life in a new being. This process of dying and being reborn will continue until
the conditions that cause it, the mental factors of craving and ignorance,
cease. When they do, instead of being reborn, the mind attains a state called
Nirvana.
How does the mind go from one body to
another?
When a person is dying, he begins to lose
conscious control of his mental processes. There comes a time when his actions
and habits locked away in his memories are released. In many instances, there
arises in his mind a mental image. This image is totally involuntarily and is
produced by his karma or past actions. Thus depending upon the nature of the
particular karma that produces this image, the person may see dark shadowy
figures, frightening images, or he may see his relatives or perhaps visions of
scenic beauty. Quite often, he will cry out at these visions or remark about
them to his visitors. Even though the physical body may be weak these thought
units are very strong as death approaches. When the body finally breaks down at
the point of death these energies are released as mental energy. As energy
cannot be destroyed they have to re-establish themselves in a new body thus
causing the phenomenon of rebirth.
Think of it being like radio waves which are
not made up of words and music but energy at different frequencies, which are
transmitted, travel instantaneously through space, are picked up by the
receiver from where the radio produces them as words and music. It is the same
with the mind. At death, mental energy travels through space, is picked up by
the fertilized egg of the future mother, is reborn as a new being and manifests
as a new personality.
Thus it is important that a dying person is
comforted and reminded of his good deeds. He should not be made confused and
visitors should not overtly grieve in his presence. Neither should unfamiliar
ideas like a new religion be introduced to him. The Buddha advises that when
one is fearful, he should recall to mind the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.
Is one always reborn as a human being?
No, there are several realms into which one
can be reborn. Some people are reborn in heavenly planes, some are reborn in
hell planes, some may be reborn as ghosts and as animals. Heaven is not a place
but a state of existence where one has a subtle body and where the mind
experiences mainly pleasure. Some religions strive very hard to be reborn in a
heavenly existence mistakenly believing it to be a permanent state. But it is
not. Like all conditioned states, heaven is impermanent and when one’s life
span there is finished, one could well be reborn again as a human. Hell,
likewise, is not a place but a state of existence where one has a subtle body
and where the mind experiences mainly anxiety and distress. Being a ghost,
again, is a state of existence where the body is subtle and where the mind is
continually plagued by longing and dissatisfaction. So heavenly beings
experience mainly pleasure, hell beings and ghosts experience mainly pain and
human beings experience usually a mixture of both. So the main difference
between the human realm and other realms is the body type and the quality of
experience.
“Those who imagine evil where there is none,
and do not see evil where it is — upholding false views, they go to states of
woe. Those who discern the wrong as wrong and the right as right — upholding
right views, they go to realms of bliss. ~ Dhammapada 318, 319”
What decides where we will be reborn?
The most important factor, but not the only
one, influencing where we will be reborn and what sort of life we shall have,
is karma. The word karma means ‘action’ and refers to our intentional mental
actions. In other words, what we are is determined very much by how we have thought
and acted in the past. Likewise, how we think and act now will influence how we
will be in the future. Just as radio waves will be picked up by a radio tuned
to its particular frequency, the mental energies released at the time of death
will naturally be re-established in a new material body that most suits it.
Thus, the gentle, loving type of person shall be reborn in a heavenly realm or
as a human being in a comfortable environment. The anxious, worried or
extremely cruel type of person is reborn in a hell realm, or as an animal, or
as a human being born in extremely difficult environment.
Not only is there scientific evidence to support the phenomena of
rebirth, it is the only after-life theory that has any evidence to support it.
During the last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that some
people have vivid memories of their former lives. Professor Ian Stevenson of
the University of Virginia’s Department of Psychology has described dozens of
cases of this type in his books. He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year
study of people who remember former lives is very strong evidence for rebirth.
Please SHARE This With
Your Friends & Family..
