Who believes in rebirth?
What exactly is rebirth? For many people, Buddhist philosophy stands with rebirth as a unity. The knowledge about the philosophy of the Indian prince is thin, but buzzwords like "rebirth", "karma" and "nirvana" have made their way into the language.
Buddhists "know" that there is no "I" in the proper sense, but the illusion of an I fits well with rebirth, because if "I" can be reborn, then the I must have some value, right?
If the cycle of birth, old age, illness and death goes on and on, then we must be born again, otherwise it would not be possible to take the karma with us, and Nirvana could only be reached in the first attempt, right?
Who believes in the karma, believes necessarily also in the rebirth, because how should we otherwise "grow", wake up, where we have already wasted the chances in this life, there we just hope for the next incarnation. There we will make up for everything, there we will be a really "good" person.
Followers of Chan-(Zen)-Buddhism are not completely in agreement with the absolute transitoriness of the present existence (the self with its personality), which is due to the duality of the events, but also due to the beliefs of our ancestors, which have been handed down over many centuries, and which have also been adopted to a good extent in the forms of Buddha's teachings.
Whoever thinks about this will notice that already in some small children a hearty and strong personality is present. The question is, where does this come from?
My father used to say, "To believe is to know nothing; to know nothing is to be stupid." So who believes in rebirth, who can specifically remember past lives?
Chan (Zen) Buddhism is about enlightenment in this life, not the next or the one after that. Chan followers focus on reaching that moment, on getting there, less on what comes after, which is why little is read or heard on "reincarnation." However, Chan Buddhists are not averse to the matter either, so there is a basic acceptance on the subject in any case.
The words of the teacher of all teachers were recorded only many hundred years after his passing away, we know how a history can change already within only one week, what happens only over several centuries? In the sutras it says about the enlightened people who can "remember" the past lives and future lives, "know" about them.
The way seems to be the most important goal!
Who understood that with becoming then there is birth, and for everything that once became, there is old age, illness and death?
- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero
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