The Buddhist tradition argues that there is no ātman or self. They believe that concept of a self binds a person to the corporeal world and prevents them from reaching nirvāṇa. In the Buddhist tradition what people believe to be the self is really a collection of the five aggregates. These aggregates are the senses which we experience the world through and they give us a false sensation of individuality. If a person lets go of these aggregates they can achieve nirvāṇa and leave the cycle of rebirth. However, Buddhists do believe that something survives after death. This is reflected is the Buddhist belief that when someone dies they become reincarnated in one of the six realms based on their past karma. The soul however is not what is reincarnated; rather there is a stream of consciousness between one life to the next. The reincarnated being is neither completely the same nor totally different. The Buddha taught that a middle ground must be followed between eternalism and annihilationism.
Outside of the Buddhism the belief in an eternal self or a soul is a fairly common, this is called eternalism. Many religions including Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity believe in an eternal soul. This belief is in fact a central idea in their practitioners’ belief system. Without an eternal soul a Hindu cannot follow the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, a Christian cannot go to Heaven or Hell and a Muslim cannot go to Jannah or Jahhanam.
Another belief is that of annihilationism. The idea behind annihilationism is that upon death nothing survives. Both the body and the soul are destroyed and there is no form of rebirth or reincarnation. Annihilationism is a belief held by both materialists and some Christians. Materialists believe that noth...
... middle of paper ...
...and you still retain your identity therefore something must be providing that identity. This does argument does a good job of disputing Nagasena’s argument for no self. My argument counters that one by showing that something without a soul retains its identity despite losing one of its parts, this reinforces Nagasena’s argument. Something’s self is fabricated upon impermanent traits that do not transcend death.
Nagasena’s argument follows the Buddhist belief system by maintaining a middle ground between the eternalist view of the soul and annihilationism. Neither does the soul exist nor is it impossible for the stream of consciousness between individuals in the cycle of rebirth to occur. Since consciousness is one of the five aggregates following Nagasena’s argument still allows for the Buddhist concept of reincarnation through a stream of consciousness to be true.
“In the West, we think of each human life as solid and discrete, beginning at conception and ending at death. The Buddhist view is of waves appearing and disappearing endlessly on a great ocean of life energy. When cause and effect combine in a certain way, a wave arises, appearing...
The five Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto have some similarities when it comes to the their beliefs on death. Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in karma and reincarnation, while Daoism and Shintoism revolve their beliefs around nature. Confucianism chooses not to focus on things we do not know, so their beliefs on death are limited. In deciphering the different beliefs on death associated with each religion, it is important to understand the different belief systems and their origins. While some religions merged the views of the other religions, some came from the views of an originating founder. Each religion has their own view on life after death and whether or not their followers should be concerned
When analyzing the big picture, Hinduism and Buddhism seem to have similar beliefs concerning ultimate spiritual fulfillment, but they still differ fundamentally. For example, both belief systems strive to liberate their followers from the perpetual cycle of reincarnation, which they
Buddhism does not look at death as a continuation of the soul but as an awakening. Dying and being reborn has been compared by some Buddhist as a candle flame. When the flame of one lit candle is touched to the wick of an unlighted candle, the light passes from one
Throughout the history of humankind, man has always searched to find answers to the many existential questions. Numerous different religions and denominations have developed around the world over time. Though, most wonder about the origin and purpose of our existence. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama about 2,600 years ago in India. After he had experienced that everyone was subject to “birth, sickness, death, and old age”, he tried to find a way to break from the cycle of rebirth (Bloom).
Yes I believe there is such thing as soul how else would you explain heaven and hell. It survives outside the body because our bodies are not yet dead. Just like when you go to bed at night and have a dream about a dead relative that you two are fishing. It’s like your spirit meeting with that person just like if you went to visit a friend.
Death in Different Religions Death has a great impact on people's lives in such a way that they learn to value life, or even live it to the fullest. But what happens to us after we die? Many religions have answered this question for us, according to their faiths. Buddhism is a religion where Buddhists believe in the concept of death and reincarnation or rebirth.
In the western world, a dominant belief is that after life, a person’s soul is sent to a place of eternal bliss, heaven, or a place of eternal damnation, hell. To Buddhists, this concept is not the norm. Buddhists believe that a person is reincarnated into another life form, either human or animal. What life form a person is reincarnated as is determined by the person’s karma. The concept of karma not only affects reincarnation, but also what path a person’s life takes. While much of the concept of karma is believable and comprehensible by a person of any denomination, some aspects are dependant upon a belief in reincarnation and that a person will eventually be punished for his sins or rewarded for his good deeds, whether in this life or the next. At the same time, in order to believe in how reincarnation works, a person must understand the idea of karma.
India’s three primary religions; Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism are all responses to the Aryan religion of Brahmanism. The Aryans came into power in Indian around 1000 B.C.E., and as their political influence spread, their religious beliefs followed in its wake. Two fundamental beliefs of Brahmanism are samsara and karma. Samsara deals with the cyclical nature of the soul and how death only brings rebirth into a new form. Depending upon the tally of a person’s good and bad deeds, which is considered karma, determines whether or not the next reincarnation will be an improvement or a disappointment. However, if one were able to completely understand that life was actually an illusion and that the only way to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation was to realize that reality is unchanging one could ascend above the endless cycle of birth, life and death. According to the Aryan priests, those that transcend the cycle of life will become one with Brahman and enter into an eternity of blissful non-being.
"In Hinduism, salvation is achieved through a spiritual oneness of the soul, atman, with the ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman. To achieve this goal, the soul must obtain moksha, or liberation from the samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. As a result of these basic teachings, Hindus believe in reincarnation, which is influenced by karma (material actions resulting from the consequences of previous actions), and dharma (fulfilling one's duty in life)"(Teachings and Beliefs, 2004, par. 1).
There are two major religious beliefs on the soul, and though they may seem diametrically opposed, we must remember that our ideas on the soul exist only because of the conditioned acceptance of these religiou...
Christians, for example, believe that souls that have lived by the words of their God will exist eternally in heaven as divine beings themselves. This conception of an afterlife is generally what we people who are residents of the Unitied States hold to be true. For American culture has its roots in Europe and European culture was and is still influenced by Christian faiths. Similar to Christianity, the Hinduism also eases the fear of death by presenting a life after death. Disimilarities present themselves in the two faiths concerning exactly what kind of afterlife is lived. Believers of the Hindu faith expect to be reincarnated after their demise, either as an animal or human being depending on the manner in which their lives were carried out.
Eastern enlightenment religions have been gaining popularity throughout the western world for the past few decades, with many people attracted to a "different" way of experiencing religion. As with many other enlightenment religions, Buddhism requires disciples to understand concepts that are not readily explainable: one such concept is that of no-self. In this essay I shall discuss the no-self from a number of modern perspectives; however, as no-self is difficult to describe I shall focus on both the self and no-self. Beginning with psychological aspects, and neurophysiological research on transcendental meditation, I shall discuss the impact of modern brain science on our understanding of the self and transcendence. Next I will outline the relationship between quantum physics and non-locality, as this gives a western scientific explanation for no-self. Returning to the original source of Buddhism, I will briefly outline the discussion between Siddhartha and Vaccha regarding atman, then discuss the mind and no-self and their relationship to liberation. Finally I will summarize a few issues that the western mindset may face approaching this topic.
All the six orthodox schools of Indian philosophy admit in thinking of the soul as not only immortal but also as endless. The reasoning of the materialists like Charvakas amount to this that, however consciousness is unseen in external objects, it develops i...
A self is some sort of inner being or principle, essential to, but not identical with, the person as whole. It is that in a person that thinks and feels. The self is usually conceived in philosophy as that which one refer to with the word “I”. It is that part or aspects of a person that accounts for personal identity through time. In spite of all the ways one can change with time, the self is invariably same through time. A self is what is supposed to account for the fact that an individual is same person today as he/she was at the age of five, given that all his characteristics have changed over time. For instance, compared to his childhood, this individual is stronger, taller, and smarter; he has different aspirations and dreams, different thoughts and fears, his interests and activities are remarkably different. Yet, he is still the same ...