After 6 blog postings, I thought it a good time to dial things back and give you more of a personal view. I know I ask for comments and this topic is no different. I really want to get to know some of the opinions out there on this topic. I love to get different perspectives.
Some time ago, I got back in touch with an old friend. Way back when, I was likely the more religious one and I never knew that friend to be religious. Since that time the roles have reversed. I am not a spiritual person but this friend found religion. During one of our online chit-chats the topic of religion came up and I explained that I do enjoy the history of theism but I’m not a believer. Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. I was told if I didn’t believe in Jesus, I would go to hell. So I inquired, “Do you think Jewish, Buddhists and Animals go to hell?” to which I received a short response of yes, yes, no. I was slightly offended by this because I would never say to someone “you’re going to hell since you don’t believe the same thing I do” but on the other hand, I took it sort of like this “I care about you and don’t want to see you go to the wrong place”, lol.
I got to thinking and wanted people to understand my thought process. I went on to post that I did not believe in a heaven or hell but I could envision what the afterlive could be. I went onto say that when we die we are placed in the ground, for all intents and purposes, we become the compost for the earth. We become the dirt, sand, clay. We become the grass, plants and trees. (Just envision an indian fertilizing his plants with fish) We are the water, the rain, the wind and the storm. I know for some, that may be a sad realization but for me it seems closest to the truth of afterlife than other explanations.
When I first started learning about Buddhism, as a non-spiritual person, I felt conflicted upon hearing terms such as rebirth (although in retrospect, I can conceptualize it as I have done above) as well as being conflicted about hearing the terms heaven and hell realms. It has taken me a bit longer to write this blog because before I did, I wanted to hear what my teachers had to say. One teacher went on to say “What we believe depends upon our own investigation, experience of the teachings with its practical application in our daily lives, and then the faith (or confidence) that develops as a result. So in short no need to believe – just a need to explore. ” and another teacher stated something similar but also pointed me to the Four Assurances and when I read it, I immediately found the Second of the Four Assurances. (Following the link you can move back and forth to read all the entries for the Four Assurances)
“In the second assurance, the Buddha postulated a scenario contrary to his experience—one where there is no rebirth and no karmic retribution. He did this so that those who were doubtful could still benefit from his teachings”. is a quote from the above link.
I have read other varying information that rebirth is also a cycle of consciousness. Rebirth can be within a lifetime. I can envision anger and suffering to be a hell, happiness and blissfulness could be heaven and a rebirth being certain levels of awakening in this lifetime. Studying Buddhism and following it’s concepts has certainly been a rebirth for me mentally.
The same thing goes when I hear that we must understand/eliminate our suffering in this lifetime as well as future lifetimes! How do I know what my future sufferings will be? I would imagine that those sufferings are likely to be the same sufferings I experience in my current lifetime. What if the translation is off, maybe what he meant to say is that we must understand the sufferings we experience in the future of our (current)lifetime? We are born, we become a teen, we become an adult, then middle aged and then old age, with each stage of life, there will be different sufferings. As long as we can accept/eliminate the sufferings of each stage in life, we can eliminate those sufferings and lead a happy life?
Ultimately, every individual will have a slight variations on the philosophy of Buddhism. At the end of the day, what is important, is following the principles of Buddhism.
What do you think?
Story4today 
I consider myself a Buddhist. I’m open to the concept of rebirth, but don’t necessarily believe that it’s the same thing we Westerners define it as. I think it’s something different, but I’m not sure exactly what. I think the Buddhist teachings would say “meditate, and the rest comes for free”.
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Thanks for the response, Livingonchi, By definition, what I perceive to be the afterlife would be considered “rebirth” and I can relate to you thinking rebirth is something different though your not exactly sure what. We likely won’t know until we get to that place. We likely won’t be able to blog about it, though 🙂
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Because sometime you hear a threat that if your karma is bad you’ll come back as a lowly worm. What’s so bad about being a worm? That’s why I think we Westerners don’t quite have the thinking right.
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Livingonchi, I was thinking back on your comment this morning and thinking (based on my afterlife speculation) that going from the earth to a worm wouldn’t be such a bad thing. It seems to fit in with a “circle of life” theme. Could you expand on why you think Westerners don’t quite have the right thinking? I’m interested to learn the differences. (or even if you reference a book). Thanks!
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Let me do a little research today and I’ll get back to you
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I went through my books this morning and couldn’t find any discussion of reincarnation. I found this though, hope it helps: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/reincarnation.htm
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I just found this and thought I’d pass it on: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/reincarnation.htm
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Thank you, I like what you’re saying here: ‘…rebirth is also a cycle of consciousness. Rebirth can be within a lifetime.’ Any other kind of rebirth in the future may be speculation – we do need to pay attention to the here-and-now…
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and thank you for commenting, Tiramit. and I agree that “any other kind of rebirth/afterlife in the future may be speculation”. There are many stories of afterlife/rebirth and even I speculated on my own but still, it is only speculation.
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I see a real benefit to reducing suffering in my life right now in the present moment. I know that my future self will also benefit from any new perspectives I can gain by examining my present suffering, so that thought motivates me too. Maybe because of this, I don’t feel a need to also consider my reincarnated selves in my present life actions. I have no idea what will happen to me after I die, except that my memory will live on in the hearts and minds of those who love me. In the end, we’re all each others projections and exist mostly in each others minds (ex: My parents are in the house with me right now, but not in the same room as me, so where do they exist? In my mind.). I guess I see less difference between life and death when I look at the world this way. I felt the presence of my grandmother in a butterfly once when I was in college and her love for me filled my heart. Who knows what we may become one day? I enjoy the mystery of it all and I’m glad that Buddhism makes allowances for all perspectives on the matter. Thanks for the thoughtful post!
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Nice to see your post, Becky. Hope your father is doing better. Instead of “reincarnated”, would the term “Reinventing” be better suited? Or are we just like a fine wine that improves as it ages?
It’s true, after we die, we will only live in the hearts and minds of those who love us. 100-200 years after death, we may only be a name written on a family tree or perhaps a name that is written on a book. Our existence is temporary and I’d like to think I made the most of it. and I can relate with finding your grandmothers presence in a butterfly, I often think of family members who I have lost while hiking in the woods. Equally, after someone dies, I have planted a tree (or bush) in their honor. Thanks for sharing your story, I’ve been meaning to email you and share the things that I can relate with you with.
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As a Zen follower I dont concern myself with concepts such as rebirth after physical death. What is important is leading a life now trying to do good and as little harm as possible. You may be interested in my post about being spiritual without being religious.
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