Rebirth: Difference between revisions

From Theosophy Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "'''Rebirth''' is frequently used as a synonym of the term reincarnation, meaning the re-embodiment of consciousness after it left a previous body at the time of death. The [...")
 
No edit summary
 
(2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 8: Line 8:




[[Category:Buddhist terms]]
 
[[Category:Buddhist concepts]]

Latest revision as of 19:22, 11 June 2012

Rebirth is frequently used as a synonym of the term reincarnation, meaning the re-embodiment of consciousness after it left a previous body at the time of death.

The Buddhist teachings refuse the existence of a fixed reincarnating entity and postulate that it is a stream of consciousness (Pali: viññana-sotam, Sanskrit: vijñāna-srotām, vijñāna-santāna, or citta-santāna) what, upon death, takes a new birth. This consciousness is neither identical nor entirely different from that in the previous rebirth, but the two form a causal continuum or stream. Some English-speaking Buddhists prefer the term "rebirth" or "re-becoming" (Sanskrit: punarbhava; Pali: punabbhava) to "reincarnation" as they take the latter to imply a fixed entity that is reborn.[1]

Notes

  1. "Reincarnation in Buddhism: What the Buddha Didn't Teach" By Barbara O'Brien, About.com