Death and Rebirth - A Buddhist View

[Positive Change]

I came across this wonderfully written essay by Ven. Thich Nguyen Tang which was presented at the conference Dying, Death and Grieving a cultural Perspective, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria on the 22nd and 23rd March 22, 2002.

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As a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, working as a Buddhist chaplain at several of Melbourne's hospitals and as well as Melbourne assessment prison, I have witnessed many personal tragedies faced by the living and of course the very process of dying and that of death and many of these poor people faced their death with fear, with misery and pain before departing this world. With the images of all these in my mind, on this occasion, I wish to share my view from the perspective of a Buddhist and we hope that people would feel far more relaxed in facing this inevitable end since it is really not the end of life, according to our belief.

Death and the impermanence of life

In the teaching of the Buddha, all of us will pass away eventually as a part in the natural process of birth, old-age and death and that we should always keep in mind the impermanence of life. The life that we all cherish and wish to hold on.

To Buddhism, however, death is not the end of life, it is merely the end of the body we inhabit in this life, but our spirit will still remain and seek out through the need of attachment, attachment to a new body and new life. Where they will be born is a result of the past and the accumulation of positive and negative action, and the resultant karma (cause and effect) is a result of ones past actions.

This would lead to the person to be reborn in one of 6 realms which are; heaven, human beings, Asura, hungry ghost, animal and hell. Realms, according to the severity of ones karmic actions, Buddhists believe however, none of these places are permanent and one does not remain in any place indefinitely. So we can say that in Buddhism, life does not end, merely goes on in other forms that are the result of accumulated karma. Buddhism is a belief that emphasizes the impermanence of lives, including all those beyond the present life. With this in mind we should not fear death as it will lead to rebirth.

The fear of death stemmed from the fear of cease to be existent and losing ones identity and foothold in the world. We see our death coming long before its arrival, we notice impermanence in the changes we see around us and to us in the arrival of aging and the suffering due to losing our youth. Once we were strong and beautiful and as we age, as we approach our final moments of life  we realize how fleeting such a comfortable place actually was.

Grieving

It is natural to grieve the loss of family members and others we knew, as we adjust to living without their presence and missing them as part of our lives. The death of a loved one, or even someone we were not close to, is terribly painful event, as time goes on and the people we know pass away along the journey of life, we are reminded of our own inevitable ends in waiting and everything is a blip of transience and impermanent.

At a certain moment, the world seems suddenly so empty and the sense of desperation appears to be eternity. The greater the element of grief and personal loss one tends to feel sorry for oneself.
 
Some of us may have heard the story of the women who came to the Buddha in great anguish, carrying her dead child pleading him to bring the child back to life. The Buddha said Bring to me a mustard seed from any household where no-one had ever died and I will fulfill your wish. The woman's attempt to search for such seed from houses were in vain and of course she could not find any household in which no-one had ever died and suddenly she realized the universality of death.
 
Karma

According to Buddhism, our lives and all that occurs in our lives is a result of Karma. Every action creates a new karma, this karma or action is created with our body, our speech or our mind and this action leaves a subtle imprint on our mind which has the potential to ripen as future happiness or future suffering, depending on whether the action was positive or negative.

If we bring happiness to people, we will be happy. If we create suffering, we will experience suffering either in this life or in a future one.

This is called the Law of Karma, or the Law of Cause and Effect. Karmic law will lead the spirit of the dead to be reborn, in realms which are suitable appropriate to their karmic accumulations.

According to His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, that to cultivate the good karma, our good actions are an excellent way prepare for our death. Not performing evil deeds, keeping our heart and mind pure, doing no harm, no killing, sexual misconduct or lying, not using drugs or alcohol has very positive merit which enable us to die as we have lived.

The way we pass reflects the way we lived our lives, a good death putting a good stamp on a good life. As Leonardo Da Vinci once wrote in his notebook; Just as a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings a happy death. If we have lived a life of emotional turmoil, of conflict selfish desire unconcerned for others, our dying will be full of regrets, troubles and pain. It is far better to care for the lives for all around us rather than spending a fortune in prolonging life or seeking ways to extend it for those who can afford it, at the expense of relieving suffering in more practical ways. Improving the moral and spiritual quality of life improves its quality for us all rather than the selfish individualism that benefits the elite few who draw most resources.

Preparing for death and Buddhist rituals associated with dying

Buddhist clergy often remind their followers about closeness of death, emphasize the importance in getting to know death and take time to prepare for their own demise.

How do we prepare for death? It is really simple, just behave in a manner which you believe is responsible, good and positive for yourself and towards others. This leads to calmness, happiness and an outlook which contributes to a calm and controlled mind at the time of death.
 
Through this positive and compassionate outlook of life, always being aware of the impermanence of life and having a loving attitude towards all living things in this transient existence we will be free of fear in opposite to grasping selfishly to life due to not having experienced happiness in life.

Having lead a responsible and compassionate life and have no regrets when death approaches enables us to surrender without a struggle to the inevitable and in a state of grace which need not be as uncomfortable as we are led to believe. A dying Buddhist person is likely to request the service of a monk or nun in their particular tradition to assist in this process further, making the transitional experience of death as peaceful and free of fear as can be possibly achieved.

Before and at the moment of death and for a period after death, the monk, nun or spiritual friends will read prayers and chants from the Buddhist Scriptures. In Buddhist traditions, this death bed chanting is regarded as very important and is ideally the last thing the Buddhist hears. Buddhists believe that we can actively assist and bring relief to the dying members through assisting the dying through the process of dying.

Through Buddhist doctrine we are told by Buddhist masters that the final moment of our consciousness is paramount, the most important moment of all. If the ill person is in hospital and the diagnosis is grim that the person cannot possibly survived, the family should call in the Buddhist priest to pray for the loved one so that at the final moment, the right state of mind has been generated within the person and they can find their way into a higher state of rebirth as they leave the present lives.

The nurses and family members are not supposed to touch the corpse, having to wait 3-8 hours after breathing ceases before touching the body for any preparation after the death. We Buddhists believe that the spirit of a person will linger on for sometime and can be affected by what happened to the corpse. It is important that the body is treated gently and with respect and that the priest can help the spirit continues its journey calmly to higher states, not causing the spirit to becoming angry and confused and may be more likely to be reborn into the lower realms.

In the Mahayana Buddhism, especially, Vietnamese tradition we pray for the dead for 49 days after passing away, 49 being the estimated time it takes for the spirit to be reborn again into a new life. Some spirits are reborn 3 days, 21 days, 49 days or 100 days after death, and in some cases even 7 years.
 
Rebirth

The concept of rebirth or reincarnation has become more popular in the west in recent years due to the influence of Tibetan Buddhism, especially, the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (by Sogyal Rinpoche, 1992) became a best seller in the USA and has been widely read throughout the developed countries by new generations who are concerned with alternative thinking and eastern cultural perspectives. Naturally people concern with life beyond death was stimulated by the ideas contained in such philosophies and beliefs.
 
Nirvana

The supreme aim of Buddhism is to obtain nirvana or enlightenment. This translated means a state of liberation or illumination from the limitations of existence. It is the liberation from the cycle of rebirth through countless lives up and down the 6 states of existence. It is obtained through the extinction of desire.

Nirvana is a state that is obtainable in this life through the right aspiration, purity of life, and the elimination of egotism. This cessation of existence as we know it, the attainment of being, as distinct from becoming. The Buddha speaks of it as unborn, un-originated, uncreated, unformed, contrasting it with the born, originated, created, and formed phenomenal world. Those who have obtained the state of Nirvana are called Buddhas.  Gautama Siddhartha had obtained this state and had become a Buddha at 35. However it is now believed that it was only after he had passed away that he reached such a place of perfect tranquility, because some residue of human defilement would continue to exist as long as his physical body existed.

According to Buddhism if a human does not obtain nirvana or enlightenment, as it is known, the person cannot escape the cycle of death and rebirth and are inevitably be reborn into the 6 possible states beyond this our present life, these being in order from the highest to lowest;
 
Heaven. In Buddhism there are 37 different levels of heaven where beings experience peace and long lasting happiness without suffering in the heavenly environment.

Human life.  In Buddhism we can be reborn into human life over and over, either wealthy or poor, beautiful or not so, and every state between and both as it it is served up to us.  Anything can happen, as is found in human life and society all around us as we are familiar with in the day to day human world in is myriad of possibilities.  What we get is a result of our Karma of what we have dragged with us from previous existences and how it manifests in our temporary present lives.

Asura. A spiritual state of Demi-Gods but not the happy state experienced by the gods in the heavens above this state.  The Demi-Gods are consumed with jealousy, because unlike humans, they can clearly see the superior situation of the gods in the heavens above them. They constantly compete and struggle with the gods due to their dissatisfaction with their desires from the others.

Hungry Ghost. This spiritual realm of those who committed excessive amounts of evil deeds and who are obsessed with finding food and drink which they cannot experience and thus remain unsatisfied and tortured by the experience. They exhaust themselves in the constant fruitless searching.

Animals. This realm is visible to humans and it is where spirits of humans are reborn if they have killed animals or have committed a lot of other evil acts.  Animals do not have the freedom that humans would experience due to being a subject constantly hunted by humans, farmed and used in farming, also as beasts for entertainment.

Hell. This realm is not visible to humans. It is a place where beings born there experience a constant state of searing pain and the various types of hell realms reads like a variety of horrific torture chambers. Those with a great deal of negative Karma can remain in such places for eons of time.
 
To conclude, as already mentioned, none of us can avoid death and if we are not free from the vicious cycle of death and rebirth, we are doomed to the endless cycles of life and death and its paradoxical nature of suffering, of happiness and sadness, youth and ageing, healthiness and sickness, pain and death, all because we are so attached to the existence in the first place.

The Buddha urged us to prepare for death, to prepare for that journey by cleansing the mind and not being so attached to things, to be able to let go and release ourselves for needing to be, from needing to have. Through this we will not suffer so much as we pass through the final stage of the present life, we can let go, be grateful for what we had but not clutch to it, not try to ensure permanency and cause ourselves to suffer more than we need to. This way we can end the cycle and leave forever, obtaining nirvana and release from the cycle of death and rebirth.

[buddhalovely]

"Humans prepare for the future all their lives, yet meet the next life totally unprepared."

And there is a very good reason to 'be prepared or death', as His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains:

"From a Buddhist point of view, the actual experience of death is very important. Although how or where we will be reborn is generally dependent on karmic forces, our state of mind at the time of death can influence the quality of our next rebirth. So at the moment of death, in spite of the great variety of karmas we have accumulated, if we make a special effort to generate a virtuous state of mind, we may strengthen and activate a virtuous karma, and so bring about a happy rebirth."

And as Sogyal Rinpoche mentions in 'Glimpse of the Day':

"Looking into death needn't be frightening or morbid. Why not reflect on death when you are really inspired, relaxed, and comfortable, lying in bed, or on vacation, or listening to music that particularly delights you? Why not reflect on it when you are happy, in good health, confident, and full of well-being? Don't you notice that there are particular moments when you are naturally inspired to introspection? Work with them gently, for these are the moments when you can go through a powerful experience, and your whole worldview can change quickly. These are the moments when former beliefs crumble on their own, and you can find yourself being transformed."

[RedLantern]

What is rebirth?The Buddha taught that,ignorance,produces desires.Unsatisfied desire is the cause of rebirths.
When all unsatisfied desire is distinguished,then rebirth ceases.To stop rebirth is to distinguish all desires.To extinguish desire,it is necessary to destroy to destroy ignorant.
How does rebirth takes place?
When the physical body is no more capable of functioning,energy do not die with it,but continue.Rebirth takes place as long as craving for existence and craving for sensual pleasures or attachment exist in the mind.Those who cannot reduce their craving and attachment must be prepared.
There are 3 types of consciousness in a dying man's consciousness.The last moment of a man's present life the rebirth linking consciousness arises,having the 3 signs as it's objects.
A Buddhist faces death not as a crisis in life but as a normal event,for he knows that whoever is born must suffer,decay and ultimately die.

[vajrastorm]

From the Buddhist point of view, death will lead to a rebirth. Death only ends this life, the life of our body. However, our mind goes on to endless rebirths in this cycle of existence called 'samsara'. Thus, as the Dalai Lama and many Lamas remind us, it is important to prepare the mind for death. The state of mind at the point of death will influence the type and quality of rebirth.

It is thus important to cultivate a peaceful and compassionate mind, which will generate strong virtuous thoughts at moment of death. This mind will activate good throwing karma to assure a good rebirth. My Spiritual Guide constantly reminds us of Death and the need to meditate on Death, so as to prepare our minds for death when it comes.

Looking around me, I am saddened by the way in which the passing of loved ones is sometimes not given the correct focus. Instead of blindly hoping that prayers and pujas will bring about a miraculous  recovery, there should be a preparation of that loved one for the inevitable and the 'paving of the way' for their good rebirth.

[bambi]

It used to be scary to always think of death. How can 1 be so morbid and always talk about death? I am still young, I don't want to leave so many loved ones behind. But in the end, death is inevitable. Everything is impermanent! I am so grateful to know that from the teachings that I have attended and read. Yes, I understand how important it is to know that I have done my best in this precious human life.


The disadvantages of not meditating on death

The disadvantages of not meditating on death are numberless but can be summarized under the following six headings:

If you do not meditate on death you will not be mindful of your Dharma practice. All of your time will be lost in mundane pursuits. One of the early Kadampa geshes said, “If you do not meditate on death upon waking in the morning, your entire morning will be wasted; if you do not meditate on death at noon, your entire afternoon will be wasted; and if you do not meditate on death in the evening, your entire night will be wasted.” In this way most people waste their entire life.

Although you may practice some Dharma your main practice will be procrastination. Many Tibetans told their gurus that they would soon do retreat but, having meditated insufficiently on death, put it off year after year and died before managing to do so.

Your practice will become impure. It will become mixed with worldly ambitions, such as the eight worldly dharmas. Many practitioners fix their eyes more on becoming scholars or celebrities than on attaining spiritual realization. Jowoje (Atisha) was once asked, “If someone wishes for the happiness of this life alone, what shall he gain?” Jowoje answered, “Just what he wishes for!” “And what shall he gain in future lives?” the disciple asked. “Rebirth in the hell, hungry ghost or animal realms,” was the reply. It is said that in order to practice perfectly, this life must be abandoned. What does that mean? Not that you must abandon your present lifestyle, home, possessions or position, but that you must give up the eight worldly dharmas: wishing to experience wealth, fame, praise or happiness and to avoid poverty, notoriety, slander or discomfort. To differentiate between a true spiritual practitioner and a non-practitioner is simple. A practitioner is one who has abandoned the eight worldly dharmas; a non-practitioner is one who is controlled by them. Geshe Potowa once asked Lama Dromtönpa, “What is the line between Dharma and non-Dharma?” Lama Drom replied, “That which contradicts the beliefs of samsaric people is Dharma; that which does not, is non-Dharma.”

Your practice will lack stamina. Although you take up a practice, at the first setback you’ll give it up. A small thorn bush grew outside the cave of Kadampa Geshe Karag Gomchung. Every time he entered or went from the cave its thorns would rip his flesh but that bush remained there until he died because this great meditator practiced with such intensity that he never wanted to waste the few moments necessary to cut it down. Geshe Karag Gomchung had realized the fruits of meditating on death.

You will continue to create negative karma. Without continual awareness of death, attachment to the things of this life persists. Friends and relatives are held as more worthy of love than are strangers and beings who bring you discomfort. This emotional imbalance gives rise to an endless string of mental distortions, which in turn results in the generation of infinite negative karmas. In this way, you lose the happiness of this life and that of all future lives as well.

You will die in a state of regret. It is certain that death will come. If you do not live in mindfulness of it, it will come as a surprise. At that crucial moment you will realize that all the materialistically oriented attitudes that you have cultivated all your life are of no value and that your wealth, family and power are similarly useless. When death comes, nothing but spiritual realization is of value but, having neglected to practice death awareness, you have neglected to practice Dharma and now stand empty-handed, regret filling your mind.

In his Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Shantideva writes:
When grasped by death’s agents,
What value are friends,
What value are relatives?
At that moment, the only protection
Is the force of goodness,
But to that I never attended.

Kadampa Geshe Kamaba once remarked that we should fear death now while there’s still time to act and at the time of death be fearless. Worldly beings are the opposite. While strong and healthy they never give death a thought, but when death comes they clutch at their breasts in terror. Most practitioners never really begin to practice but procrastinate day after day. Then, lying on their deathbed, they pray for just a few more days of life, but it’s too late: they are now between the jaws of the Lord of Death and the time for practice is but a memory—like a piece of meat that we held in our hands but did not eat, dropped, and is now in the belly of a dog and cannot be brought back. Although regret is pointless, regret arises.

The advantages of meditating on death

The advantages of meditating on death are also numberless but again can be summarized under six headings.

Your life will become purposeful. In the Sutra of Buddha’s Passing Away (Mahaparinirvana Sutra), it is said: “Of all footprints, that of the elephant is the largest; of all mindfulness meditations, that on death is supreme.” If you practice the death meditation properly, your mind will yearn to seek a deeper understanding of life. You can see this in the biographies of the saints. Buddha himself was turned away from attraction to mundane existence by seeing first a sick man, then an old man and lastly a corpse. The yogi Milarepa was inspired to renounce black magic and search for a more purposeful path by witnessing his magic teacher’s reaction to the death of a patron.

Mindfulness of death is an extremely powerful opponent to delusion. The strongest opponent to delusion is realization of emptiness but awareness of death is a close second. If you recollect death whenever attachment or aversion arise in your mind, that delusion is instantly destroyed, just as the blow of an iron hammer crushes a stone. The yogis and mahasiddhas of ancient India ate their food out of bowls made from human skulls and blew trumpets made from human thighbones. Similarly, monks painted human skulls on the doors of their toilets. This was not done to scare people but to maintain awareness of death. Even nowadays almost every temple hangs a painting of the Lord of Death holding the whole of conditioned existence in his mouth beside its main entrance; not as a decoration, but to instill the thought of death in all who visit. In tantric practice, we visualize cemeteries filled with corpses and so forth surrounding the mystic mandala.

Meditation on death is important in the beginning of your practice because it inspires you to practice and practice well.

Meditation on death is important in the middle of your practice because it inspires you to exert yourself both intensely and with purity.

Meditation on death is important at the end of your practice because it causes you to perfect and complete your practice. Thus, meditation on death causes you to begin, continue and accomplish your practice. Some people, soon after contacting Dharma, develop a very heavy sense of renunciation and enter into retreat, but after some months their enthusiasm has waned and they yearn to return home. However, they feel forced to stay and complete their proposed retreat because they fear being ridiculed were they to break their practice. They end up cursing their renunciation, which they consider to have been nothing but a source of trouble for them.

You will die happily and without regret. By maintaining awareness of death while alive, your life will spontaneously incline towards virtue and Dharma practice. Death will not come as a surprise and will bring neither fear nor regret. It is said that the best practitioner dies in a state of bliss, the mediocre practitioner dies happily, and even a poor practitioner has neither regret nor dread at the time of death. We should aim at least to be like the most inferior of these. Milarepa declared, “Terrified of death, I fled to the mountains, where I realized the ultimate nature of the mind. Now I’m no longer afraid.” If we practice as intensely as Milarepa did, there’s no reason why we should not attain an equal level of realization. We have the same kind of body and mental capacity as he did, and the various methods that he applied have come down to us in a pure, unbroken stream through the various lineage gurus. In a way, our opportunity to become enlightened is even greater than his, because a number of oral transmissions not available to Milarepa are now available to us.

[Tenzin K]

From the earliest of times, men have speculated on the question why we are born and why we die. In ancient times, phenomena such as rain and fire were attributed to gods associated with them.
There was a creator god responsible for birth and another for destruction. With the passage of time, there developed the concept of one God, all powerful and omnipotent, who is responsible for our birth and who would judge our life at death and reward or punish us for our good and harmful actions, respectively.

The answer in Buddhism for our birth is that we are caught in a cycle of births and deaths called Samsara, whose beginning is inconceivable. The Buddha declared that it is because of our delusion of the true nature of things, that we have the desire for life at the moment of death where ordinary people grasp for life. Consequently, we are re-born and continue our journey in Samsara with all its unsatisfactory features characterized by Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta — impermanance, unsatisfactoriness and absence of a permanent, unchanging, eternal, self or soul.


 Man consists of mind and body and from a Buddhist standpoint what happens at death is that the physical body ceases to function. But what happens to the mind which is the other part of man? The mind is a flow of thoughts. It has no location in the physical body and the Buddha did not indicate where the mind is actually located. With the death of the physical body, the mind does not cease nor the mental forces and energies. In fact, in Buddhism, it is said that the will, the desire, the thirst to live is the greatest force and the greatest energy in the world and does not stop with death but continues to manifest itself in another form, producing re-existence which is called re-birth.
Presented differently, the most precious thing for all living beings is their own lives. They would fight to the last or run away to save their lives. Proceeding from the known to the unknown, it could be presumed that at the moment of death although man is physically weak to resist death, he would mentally attempt to survive and is unlikely to face death with calm resignation. The desire for life is so strong that man will mentally grasp (upadana) another viable place such as the fertile ovum in a mother's womb since the present body can no longer support his life. Thus, the psychological process of life (bhave) will continue in the newly found place and birth (jati) would soon follow. This is the process explained in the Buddhist Law of Dependent Origination. Conditioned by craving, grasping arises; conditioned by grasping, becoming arises; conditioned by becoming, birth arises; conditioned by birth, old age, disease and death arise.

The first mental strings of the new being in the womb of the mother will be the first thought. The process continues with the last thought of the previous life followed by the first thought of new life. The distance between the place one has died and the new place of birth is of no consequence. Once the Buddha in reply to a question said that to think of two cities, one close and other far away, takes the same time. Similarly, the time taken for the new birth, which follows the last thought of the previous life is the same, irrespective of distance.

Thus, from a Buddhist standpoint, one is born not at the time that the mother delivers the baby but at the time that mental activity in a rudimentary form commenced in the womb. Experiments have shown that if the mother is tense and worried during pregnancy, it has an adverse impact on the baby. It is also said that if the mother listens to a particular music frequently during the pregnancy period, sometimes when the same music is played after birth, there appears to be an element of recognition of that music by the baby.

There is another interpretation of re-birth called Gandhabba where it is argued that at death, the deceased looks for a suitable place to be re-born. However, this position does not appear to be consistent with the doctrine of Kamma, an important part of the Dharma. One’s birth and existence in the new life is largely determined by one’s Kamma, both in the previous life and the lives before and the last thought of the previous life. One does not have a choice regarding the next birth. If there was a choice even a person who has led a life of villainy and extreme selfishness would desire a re-birth in a comparatively favourable environment. In this connection, it should be noted that there is a possibility of one being born as a spirit whose existence is very brief between one human life and another. Such a case is mentioned by well-known Buddhist scholar, Francis Story in his book “Re-birth as Doctrine and Experience”. In such a case, there is no interruption in the flow of thoughts from one life to another. The spirit life is a recognized plane of existence among the 31 planes of existence mentioned by the Buddha.

It is also said in the Dharma with regard to re-birth that one’s character is conditioned not only by one’s parents and the environment in which one lives, but also by past actions of previous lives. The past actions of previous lives, both wholesome and unwholesome, are recorded in the mind and they influence one’s character and talents in this life. One’s knowledge, skills and spiritual progress developed in one life could be carried to the next life. It is indicated in the Dharma that the Buddha at a tender age engaged in the meditation on the breath (Anapana Sati) adopting the correct posture. He was not trained to do so in that life but that was a skill developed in previous lives. This is why some children reveal talents at a very early age not gathered in that life. We notice some children take to music, swimming or meditation with alacrity which could be attributed to talents developed in previous lives.It is also mentioned in the Dharma that the last thought of this life plays a crucial role regarding the next place of birth. If one has made a serious effort to develop and maintain a purified mind then in all probability a wholesome thought would be the last thought. The development of wholesome thoughts is an important ingredient in the practice of the Dharma.
According to the Dharma all living-beings, humans, animals and others, are subject to death. The Arahats or even the Buddha Himself are not exempt from this law of nature.

According to Buddhism, the cause of death is birth. Once born, one has to die. It is like a bullet fired from a gun. Once fired, the bullet has to find its destination. The only way to avoid death is not to be born; and the only way not to be born is to overcome the desire for sense pleasures and life. The Arahats who have totally eradicated the desire for sense pleasures and life and possess a fully purified mind will never be born again. The explanation of the Buddha in this regard as indicated in Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 43, is as follows:

“How is there no re-birth in the future? By the cessation of delusion; by the arising of knowledge (Vijja) by the cessation of craving, there is thus no re-birth in the future”.

So long as man is attached to existence through delusion and craving, death is not his end. He will continue his career in the rough waters of Samsara with its painful nature. It is only through the eradication of delusion and craving for sense pleasures and existence, the will to live, that the cycle of existence ceases.

[Tammy]

Thank You Positive Change for sharing this simple and yet very important article. This is one of the best piece of write uto be shared with people who is not very familiar with basic Buddhism.

It is also a good piece to remind ourselves, however much we think we know and we have learned about dharma, we still have to remember the basics.

[ratanasutra]

Thank you for the clear article of death and rebirth.
Buddhist believe in life after life and what we can take with us after death is our karma which mean our actions when we still alive.

Many lamas do death meditation daily and teach their students about in hope that their students will realize how impermanent of life and do something about it by become selfless, less attachment, anger, and think more about other.

[Amitabha]

Thank you for the clear article of death and rebirth.
Buddhist believe in life after life and what we can take with us after death is our karma which mean our actions when we still alive.

Buddha Shakyamuni appeared then was clarifying and eliminated the misconception to the practitioners who experienced the karma existence of life after life. The Word Buddha ‘Budh’ is a title, not a name. Its origins are Sanskrit, the classical language of India. ‘Budh’ is ‘to know’ or ‘one who is awake’ in the sense of having ‘woken up to reality.’  And anyone who is enlightened one or awakened. Enlightenment on the truth of karma and its rationale and its reality of the perfect freedom from unconditioned existence.