What reincarnates in Buddhist philosophy?

Buddhists say that it is the karmic bundle which reincarnates, sometimes described as the "very subtle mind". Is the "very subtle mind" related to a Universal Consciousness? What is your opinion?

[declan]

Originally Posted by seekerscientist

Buddhists say that it is the karmic bundle which reincarnates, sometimes described as the "very subtle mind". Is the "very subtle mind" related to a Universal Consciousness? What is your opinion?

When" Thought" has ceased , what is left is "very subtle mind".The" will or desire to live" is the cause of reincarnation.Your karma decides the circumstances of your rebirth.
Universal Consciousness is a concept and can mean different things to different people. A "Universal Truth"is more definite ,however it can only be properly understood by enlightened minds.

[Samana]

"Reincarnation" is exclusively a Tibetan Buddhist concept and not a word used by the Buddha .

Other Buddhist traditions speak of 'rebirth'.

This essay "Anatta and Rebirth" by Ajahn Buddadasa might be of interest to serious seekers/practitioners :


http://das-buddhistische-haus.de/pag...nd_Rebirth.pdf


with kind wishes to all,

S.

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Originally Posted by Samana

"Reincarnation" is exclusively a Tibetan Buddhist concept and not a word used by the Buddha .

Other Buddhist traditions speak of 'rebirth'.


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I have heard that a lot but surely reincarnation and rebirth are English words. Is there an equivalent distinction made in Sanskrit/Pali/Tibetan etc? Reincarnation means "to go into the flesh again" and rebirth means "to be born again". I am not sure if there is a distinction of that kind made in Buddhism.

In my understanding, a collection of habits are reborn. If I have the habit of anger now, that habit or tendency to be angry will be reborn. If I have the habit of loving-kindness now, that habit or tendency to love unselfishly will be reborn. These are what carry forward to the next life.

Originally Posted by oliness

I have heard that a lot but surely reincarnation and rebirth are English words. Is there an equivalent distinction made in Sanskrit/Pali/Tibetan etc? Reincarnation means "to go into the flesh again" and rebirth means "to be born again". I am not sure if there is a distinction of that kind made in Buddhism.

In my understanding, a collection of habits are reborn. If I have the habit of anger now, that habit or tendency to be angry will be reborn. If I have the habit of loving-kindness now, that habit or tendency to love unselfishly will be reborn. These are what carry forward to the next life.

That is what I would have said if I had the time.

[Samana]

Desire, anger and delusion are reborn from one moment to the next. Its also known as "becoming".

In my opinion it is best to pay attention to what's happening in the here and now, why speculate about the future? Act appropriately in the present to have positive future outcomes.


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[JaysonR]

This isn't exactly, "Buddhist", but I look at it like the ocean.
We see a wave. It forms in the ocean and lands on the shore.
It starts off small, swells in growth, and then falls to the shore where it then recedes back to the ocean.
When it recedes, it disperses into its constituents.

The current that brought it there will occur again, due to force and density, and so another wave will come later like unto the first.

There may be other waves in between them which are different, but eventually a wave like the first will arrive again.

However, when the wave arrives again, it will not be the exact wave.
The sun glinted on the first wave slightly differently than it glints on this iteration of the wave happening now.

But I know the same current is taking place.

If I am that wave, then I say that my action, that which is the motion of my wave, is caused from the current under the flow heading back to produce the cognitive understanding from perception and conscience once again.

Or, the actor has changed, but the character is once again.
Or, karma punarjanam in samsara.

In my perspective, it is atman that is different each time, not manas; and I see the atman as finitely once.
In fact, specifically, I personally consider each fraction of time in one person to be a different atman than the next fraction of time in the same person.

One of the ways I like to think about it is to say that today is the child of yesterday, tomorrow is the child of today. So each moment is like the child of the previous moment, and this moment is the parent of the next moment.

We can speak of rebirth and "something" that is getting reborn/reincarnated. From a Buddhist perspective that is neither entirely true nor entirely false - it is a conventional truth. It is valid from a certain point of view but it is only true if we choose to conceive things in that way.

Another way of conceiving things is to say that nothing survives from one moment to the next, but each moment gives birth to the next moment. Are you the same person today as yesterday? From this viewpoint no, you are the child of the person yesterday. You are the result of the actions performed up to this point. If you think back to when you were little (say 5 years old), you have changed so much since then that you are not the same person. In a sense, that person at 5 years old has died. But it has left behind you, as you are now.

So between lives, between years, or between days the "self" of that time dies and bears its offspring. Each moment is "dying" and bringing forth the next moment. But crucially, what happens in each moment conditions the next moment. If there is anger in this moment, then the next is likely to be angry and future moments will be affected by that anger. If there is love in this moment, that love will affect future moments. So what we do now with our minds and our lives is vital, because it determines what shall be experienced in the future.

Therefore rebirth is not so much about finding what survives as creating the inheritance we pass on to our children, who shall inherit the mindstream that we cultivate right now. If we are loving and kind now then a future baby will be born with a loving mind, and will be more likely to grow up to be a good person. But if we are hateful now, then a future baby will be born with a hateful mind, and will likely grow up to be an evil person. We cannot survive in our present form anymore than a child of 5 can survive in its present form, but we can absolutely determine what is experienced by the future sentient beings who will inherit our mindstream.

And thus we must always act with body, speech and mind as well as we can, with love and wisdom, because it is not just for this current life but for the future generations yet to be born.