“Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.” ~ The Buddha
I found “I don’t believe in Reincarnation. Am I still a Buddhist?” on Elephant Journal interesting. While it didn’t really answer the question (at lest not for me) it did get me thinking about it.
I’m not a Buddhist nor do I claim to follow any other religion. However, I do find that many ideas in Buddhism and Yoga closely align with ideas and philosophies I’ve held for many years. One of these ideas is reincarnation which has been at least in the back of my mind since a young age when I’d read about Edgar Cayce.
I’ve always found the concept of reincarnation both comforting and appealing. The idea propagated by Western religions that we only have one shot at life and attaining enlightenment or entering Heaven has never set well with me. It seemed rather incomplete. The idea that we have more than one opportunity to get it right, to learn from previous lives (even if we are not conscious of them) and the possibility we might take lessons learned in this life into a subsequent life, is, to me, rather reassuring.
Since I am not consciously aware of any previous incarnations, it is difficult, if not impossible to test and judge reincarnation to be true. Is it enough to take concepts such as reincarnation and karma on the basis of faith? Taking things on faith alone doesn’t set well with me either. Faith should have basis in reason and should be supported by universal truths. Until such time that I can test and judge it to be true for myself, I will remain open to the possibility. Perhaps we do only have one chance to get it right. I remain open to that possibility as well.
Namaste
I found this respnse very interesting and it makes sense.
“My understanding of reincarnation from a Buddhist view is that even if you do believe, it’s not a consolation, because there is no person or soul being reincarnated. We work on attaining freedom from suffering not for the individual’s salvation but for the fact that we all are suffering (dis-ease). We work on the fact that in any incarnated moment we are co-creators of our lives.” ~ Michael Myers, Comment to the Elephant Journal post on Facebook (08/22/2010)
As I’ve said, I only lean toward Buddism at this point in my spiritual evolution. My concept of the soul is undoubtedly a carry over from Christian influences. Concepts such as reincarnation and karma need further meditation and contemplation in order to begin to understand them.