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Reincarnation, What Is... | The Buddhist Concept of Reincarnation
According to the scriptures, the Buddha taught a concept of rebirth that was distinct from that of any known contemporary Indian teacher. This concept was consistent with the common notion of a sequence of related lives stretching over a very long time, but was constrained by two core Buddhist concepts: annatta, that there is no irreducible atman or "self" tying these lives together; and anicca, that all compounded things are subject to dissolution, including all the components of the human person and personality. At the death of one personality, a new one comes into being, much as the flame of a dying candle can serve to light the flame of another.
Since, according to Buddhism, there is no permanent and unchanging self (identity) there can be no transmigration in the strict sense. Buddhism teaches that what is reborn is not the person but that one moment gives rise to another and that this momentum continues, even after death. It is a more subtle concept than the usual notion of reincarnation, reflecting the Buddhist concept of personality existing (even within one's lifetime) without a "Self". Instead of a fixed entity, what is reborn is an evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness, whose quality has been conditioned by karma.
Buddhism suggests that samsara, the process of rebirth, occurs across five or six realms of existence. It is said in Tibetan Buddhism that it is very rare for a person to be reborn in the immediate next life as a human. This depends on the karmic potentialities (or "seeds") they have created with their actions and upon their state of mind at the time of death. If we die with a peaceful mind, this will stimulate a virtuous seed and we shall experience a fortunate rebirth; but if we die with a disturbed mind, in a state of anger, say, this will stimulate a non-virtuous seed and we shall experience an unfortunate rebirth. This is similar to the way in which nightmares are triggered by our being in an agitated state of mind just before falling asleep.
If you do feel the urge to investigate on your own.. down below a list of literature on Reincarnation
Reincarnation, What Is... | General Summaries on Reincarnation
Karl Muller Reincarnation, based on facts [1970]
David Christie-Murray Reincarnation. Ancient Beliefs and Modern Evidence [1981]
Marcia Moore & Mark Douglas Reincarnation. Key to Immortality [1968]
Alexander Cannon The Power of Karma [1936]
Manley P. Hall Reincarnation. The Cycle of Necessity [1939]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Argumentation pro and contra Reincarnation
Benjamin Walker Masks of the Soul [1981]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Rejection of Reincarnation
Daniel Cohen The Mysteries of Reincarnation [1975]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Reincarnation and Modern Physics
Ruth Reyna Reincarnation and Science [1975]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Reincarnation History and it's spreading...
Head & Cranston The Phoenix Fire Mystery [1977]
Dr. Ed. Bertholet La Reincarnation [1949]
A. Des Georges La Reincarnation des Ames selon les Traditions Orientales et Occidentales [1966]
Emil Bock Wiederholte Erdenleben [1932]
James M. Pryse Reincarnation in the New Testament [1900]
W.W. Atkinson Reincarnation and the Law of Karma [1908]
K.A. Eckhart Irdische Unsterblichkeit [1937]
Alexandra David Neel Immortalite et reincarnation [1961]
Lynn A. De Silva Reincarnation in Buddhist and Christian Thought [1968]
Francis Story The Case for Rebirth [1975]
Rato Khyongla Nawang Losung My life and lives. The story of a Tibetan Incarnation [1977]
Manley P. Hall Reincarnation. The Cyle of Necessity [1939]
Maria Penkala Reincarnation en preexistentie [1973]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Soul-body Thoughts in Primitive Cultures
Poortman Ochema [1954]
Poortman Vehicles of Consciousness [1978]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Theosophical Visions on Reincarnation
Helena P. Blavatsky Isis Unveiled [1877] The Secret Doctrine [1888]
A.P. Sinnet Esoteric Buddhism [1883]
Walker Reincarnation, based on facts [1970]
Jerome A. Anderson Reincarnation. A Study of The Human Soul in its Relation to Re-Birth, ...
Annie Besant Man, Whence, How and Wither [1913]
C.W. Leadbeater The Soul's Growth Through Reincarnation [1949-1950]
Arthur E. Powell The Etheric Double and Allied Phenomena [1925]
H. Snowden Ward Karma en Re-Incarnatie
Irving Steiger Cooper The Hope Of The World [1972]
C. Jinarajada How We Remember Past Lives [1915]
H.J. van Ginkel Leef men meer dan eenmaal op aarde ? [1917]
H.K. Challoner The Wheel of Rebirth. Some Memories of an Occult Student.
Christmas Humphreys Karma and Rebirth [1943]
Geoffrey Hodson Reincarnation. Fact of Fallacy? [1951]
James Scudday Perkins Through Death to Rebirth [1961]
Leoline L. Wright Reincarnation [1977]
Viriginia Hanson Karma. The Universal Law Of Harmony [1975]
Joseph Head & S.L. Cranston Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery [1977]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Anthroposophical Visions on Reincarnation
Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe - 24 delen [1909] Esoterische Betrachtungen...
Friedrich Rittelmeyer Widerverkorperung in Lichte des Denkens, der Religion, der Moral [1931]
Emile Bock Wiederholte Erdenleben [1932]
Gunther Wachsmuth Die Reinkarnation des Menschen als Phanomen der Metamorphose [1933]
Eugen Kolisko Reincarnation and other Essays [1940]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Medium Insights on Previous Lives
Karl E. Muller Reincarnation, based on facts [1970]
Hugh Lynn Cayce Edgar Cayce Series [1964]
Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce on Atlantis [1968]
Gina Cerminara The World Within [1967]
Noel Langley Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation [1967]
Mary Ann Woodward Edgar Cayce's Story of Karma [1972]
I.C. Sharma Cayce, Karma & Reincarnation [1975]
Violet M. Shelley Reincarnation Unnecessary based on the Egdar Cayce Readings [1979]
Joan Grant Winged Pharao [1938]
Arthur GuirdhamThe Cathars and Reincarnation [1970]
Ruth Montgomery A World Beyond [1971]
Jane Roberts Seth [1971]
Campbell Praed Nyria [1930]
Marjorie Livingstone The New Nuctemeron [1930]
Elizabeth Haich Inwijding. Priesteres in Egypte [1978]
Harriet A. Boswell The Boy Who Saw True [1961]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Spiritist Literature on Reincarnation
Marcus Knight Spiritualism, Reincarnation and Immortality [1950]
Harriet A. Boswell Master Guide to Psychism [1969]
Maria Penkala Reincarnation en preexistentie [1973]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Spontanious Memories on Previous Lives
Ian Stevenson Cases of the Reincarnation Type [1975]
Hall Fielding The Soul of a People [1898]
Margot Klausner Reincarnation [1975]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Methodical Regression to Previous Lives
Albert de Rochas Les Vies Successives [1911]
John Bjorkhem De Hynostika Hallucinationerna [1942]
L. Ron Hubbard Heeft u al eens eerder geleefd [1950]
Morey Bernstein The Search for Bridey Murphy [1956]
Arnall Bloxham Who was Ann Ockenden [1958]
G.M. Glaskin Windows of the Mind [1974]
Peter Underwood & Leonard Wilder Lives to Remember [1975]
Dick Sutphen Past lives. Future Lives [1978]
Thorwald Dethlefsen Terug naar vorige levens [1977]
Peter Moss & Joe Keeton Encounters with the past. How Man Can Experience and Relive History [1979]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Birth-experiences and before
Helen Wambach Life before Life [1979]
Morris Netherton & Nancy Shriffin Past Lives Therapy [1978]
Joan Grant & Denys Kelsey May Lifetimes [1967]
Allen Kardec Le Livre des Esprits [1857]
Karl E. Muller Reincarnation, based on facts [1970]
Marcia Moore & Mark Douglas Karmic Astrology [1970]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Death-experiences and after
Dr. Robert CrookallThe Supreme Adventure [1961]
Raymond A. Moody Leven na dit leven [1975]
Johann Christoph Hampe Sterben ist doch ganz anders [1975]
Dave Wheeler Journey To The Other Side [1977]
Dr. W.H.C. Tenhaeff Het Spiritisme [1936]
Joan Grant & Denys Kelsey Many Lifetimes [1967]
Reincarnation, What Is... | Unusual experiences: The Long-forgotten Past
Ron L. Hubbard Have you lived before this life? [1950]
Marcia Moore Reincarnation. Key to Immortality [1968]
