Pro Side Reincarnation is the belief that the soul, upon death of the body, returns to life in another body or form. This idea comes from many Indian religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Buddhism. It is believed that even though those who believe in reincarnation cannot see their past lived and future lives through logical reasoning they can be discovered. Such as in Buddhism they believe that if you believe in Buddha’s teaching you will be taught about your past lives. Buddhist have Yogis that have gained their ability to remember their own and others past lives. Eventually our minds can be trained and we will gain that same concentration. There are 5 ways that we know of ancient lives: understanding the mind, considering the story behind …show more content…
This shows how all religions are built on about the same principles. Buddhism is a religion that was popular among merchants, then spread along trade routes (Cooke 71). A popular question when it comes to reincarnation is ‘What happens to our bodies?’ “The rationalist answers this query by proclaiming that since we are nothing more than a collection of cells and our brains simply tissue encased within a mantle of bone, nothing can happen to us when we die.” (Danelek) “Sikhism teaches a doctrine of reincarnation based on the Hindu view but in tradition holds that, after the last judgment, souls-which have been reincarnated in several existences-will be absorbed in God” (Encyclopedia Britannica). This is something that shows for all the different religions besides Christianity believe that there will be a last judgment. Hindu is another religion that doesn't technically mean that there is a last judgment, but they have multiple gods, the first greatest god is ‘Krishna’ then the second greater god is ‘Vishnu’
Hinduism as a similar belief the only difference seems to be for you to reincarnate you have to go down a very long tunnel to do so. Like christianity islam also has a hell. Heaven has seven different levels the higher the level the better you were, hell also has seven levels the lower the level the worse you were in the afterlife. To be honest I really don’t believe in the afterlife I think once when you die nothing happens after that.My belief has both pros and cons the pros being to live life to the fullest because there I think there is no afterlife I am not going to have another chance. The main con of my belief is that I will never see anyone of my dead friends or family in another
Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions such as Christianity and Islam believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different idea about death. Both of these religions originated in India. Buddhists and Hindus believe that death is not final. They believe that a person comes back after he or she dies. This process is known as reincarnation, and it provides opportunities for people to enter the world multiple times in different forms. Buddhists and Hindus want to reenter the world as humans, and they want to improve their status through reincarnation. In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnation, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people such as infant mortality. He carefully looks at the lives of people who have been left behind by deceased loved ones, and he pays careful attention to customs and traditions surrounding death. Tibetan Buddhists view death as a means of reaching spiritual perfection, and they seek to reach this level of spiritual perfection through living spiritually meaningful lives....
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
The concept of reincarnation is related to karma, karma deals with a system of rewards and punishment based on the actions of the individual (Oxtopy & Segal 266). Due to bad karma by the individual, it takes many lifetimes for the karma to be worked out; reincarnation also known as samsara in Hinduism is an ongoing cycle of death and rebirth. To be released from the cycle of samsara, to achieve moksha one must reach enlightenment (Oxtopy & Segal 266-267). In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, an incarnation of the ultimate deity as a personal god in the Hindu religion, explains three ways to moksha: the way of action, the way of knowledge, and the way of devotion. The Gita also made it clear that one should strive for moksha in everyday of our life as long as we act without attachment (Oxtopy & Segal 274). Reincarnation a concept widely receive by Hindu’s around the world, there are evidence to support the truth of this concept.
It is comparable to the belief in reincarnation. Reincarnation is the belief that a person is born innocent and perfect. If during life if perfection is not achieved, birth and rebirth will continue until it is ultimately accomplished. This is similar to grief. When tragedy strikes it leaves heartbreak, and so a person begins the grieving and healing process and it is similar to life in reincarnation. A person becomes imperfect and has flaws as they grieve. Depression and anger will surface before peace and understanding is achieved. By the time the healing process is complete, the original person has died and is reborn into a stronger, more perfect person because of the journey grief took them
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
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). Siddhartha Gautama experimented with a number of methods to find the cause of suffering which led him to what he called the Middle Way – a path between “licentiousness and extreme mortification” (Bloom). Once he achieved enlightenment, he turned into ‘the Buddha – the enlightened or awakened one’. Christianity is one of the largest and most prevailing religions of the world and largely based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians trust that Jesus was sent by God to save humanity. Therefore, the faith of the followers of the Christian belief is primarily based on the preaching of Jesus and later the spreading of those by his disciples. Although Buddhism and Christianity show several parallels, their three key differences are that Buddhists do not believe in one divine being, and have different views about both the purpose of life and the concept of afterlife.
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.
Buddhism places a high value on finding the truth. This fundamental principal allows for an acceptance of science, as it is seen as a modern truth to most. Furthermore, Buddhists believe in the evolution of human consciousness—this evolution, along with the truth presented from science, allows for an over arching acceptance of biological evolution. Even more interesting is that in the Agganna Sutta, a sacred Buddhist text, Buddha explains the world as having evolved over time. Though there is no mention of biological evolution, there is still an emphasis of evolution as a whole—both physically and spiritually. Tibetan Buddhism is known as the branch of Buddhism that has the largest emphasis on reincarnation, which is the most relevant to this research. Reincarnation is driven by the decisions made in each life and is basically the knowledge that one’s spirit travels between material beings over different lives. The spirit evolves as one becomes closer and closer to Nirvana, or perfection. Karma, too, influences the lives of the reincarnated as this idea causes the consequences of both good and bad deeds from each past life to be brought over to the current life. Overall, Tibetan Buddhism and evolution flow very well together as various Buddhist beliefs in spiritual evolution and karma, and the search for truth lead to the acceptance of science and evolution.
Murray, David Christie. Reincarnation, Ancient Beliefs and Modern Evidence. London, England: David & Charles, 1981
Other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism proclaim the idea of reincarnation, where our bodies are just vessels to our spirits that will move to another vessel upon the demise of the prior. Immortality in the case of these religion, does not bring about the same suffering. When the spirit leaves a vessel, the memories are forgotten creating a full rebirth of itself within a new entity. However, there are still problems with
Reincarnation is an important belief in the Hindu religion that occurs when a person’s soul moves from “…body to body on earth until it becomes perfect and reunites with its Source. During this process the soul enters many bodies, assumes many forms, and passes through many births and deaths…and upon the death of the body, comes back to earth in another body or form" (http://www.hinduwebsite.com). In contrast, Christianity has an important belief called Resurrection that is defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as, “The rising of Christ from the dead or…the rising again to life of all the human dead before the final judgment or…the state of one risen from the dead” (https://www.merriam-webster.com). Scholars have varying opinions in regard
Reincarnation is the concept that at the point of death only the body is lost. The soul or spirit lives on and is reborn into a new body. " All things, on both the microcosmic level of humankind and the macrocosm itself are subject to this cyclical nature of existence, so what is born must die and what dies must be reborn" (Fowler. 1999. p208). Hinduism tells us that a spirit is not reborn into a random body, the karma and jivatman decide on an appropriate womb. This means that a sport oriented person will always be reborn into a family who have sport orientated lives.
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.