- "Rebirth in Buddhism refers to the teaching that the actions of a sentient being lead to a new existence after death, in an endless cycle called saṃsāra."
The belief in Buddhism that after death, a person's soul is reborn into a new body to continue their journey towards enlightenment.
Karma: The concept of cause and effect, where actions have consequences that affect a person's future lives.
Samsara: The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that souls go through in the Buddhist belief system.
Nirvana: The ultimate goal of Buddhism, where an individual is liberated from the cycle of samsara.
Eightfold Path: The path to achieve enlightenment in Buddhism, which includes right mindfulness, right speech, right livelihood, and other principles.
Four Noble Truths: The foundational principles of Buddhism, which address the nature of suffering and the path to overcome it.
Bodhisattva: The ideal of a person who is committed to achieving enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
Meditation: The practice of quieting the mind and cultivating mindfulness, which is central to Buddhist practice.
Enlightenment: The state of awakening that is achieved through the practice of Buddhism, where one can see the true nature of reality.
Rebirth: The belief that after death, a person's consciousness is carried forward into a new life.
Buddhist Cosmology: The underlying worldview of Buddhism, which includes the concept of different realms of existence and different stages of spiritual development.
Mahayana Buddhism: A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes compassion and the ideal of the Bodhisattva.
Theravada Buddhism: A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes the individual's path to enlightenment through personal effort.
Zen Buddhism: A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes the practice of meditation and direct experience over doctrine.
Tibetan Buddhism: A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes the use of ritual and meditation to achieve enlightenment.
Pure Land Buddhism: A branch of Buddhism that emphasizes devotion to the Amitabha Buddha as a pathway to enlightenment.
Devas: Celestial beings who live in a heavenly realm and are characterized by great beauty, wealth, and longevity.
Asuras: Deities who are often at war with the devas and are characterized by their aggression, envy, and constant struggle for power.
Humans: Beings who are born into the world and are subject to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
Animals: Creatures that possess instinct but lack self-awareness and the capacity for spiritual growth.
Hungry Ghosts: Beings who are plagued by insatiable craving, desire, and a sense of lack. They are depicted as having huge bellies and tiny mouths, unable to satisfy their hunger and suffering greatly as a result.
Hell Beings: Beings who are trapped in the worst of the six realms, suffering from extreme torment and punishment as a consequence of past karma.
- "This cycle is considered to be dukkha, unsatisfactory and painful."
- "The cycle stops only if Nirvana (liberation) is achieved by insight and the extinguishing of craving."
- "Rebirth is one of the foundational doctrines of Buddhism, along with karma and Nirvana."
- "Rebirth was a key teaching of early Buddhism along with the doctrine of karma."
- "Rebirth, as stated by various Buddhist traditions, is determined by karma, with good realms favored by kushala karma (good or skillful karma), while a rebirth in evil realms is a consequence of akushala karma (bad karma)."
- "Rebirth takes place in one of the six realms of samsara, the realms of gods, demi-gods, humans, the animal realm, the ghost realm and hell realms."
- "Much of traditional Buddhist practice has been centered on gaining merit and merit transfer, whereby one gains rebirth in the good realms and avoids rebirth in the evil realms."
- "The rebirth doctrine has been a subject of scholarly studies within Buddhism since ancient times, particularly in reconciling the rebirth doctrine with its anti-essentialist anatman (not-self) doctrine."
- "Some Buddhist traditions assert that vijñana (consciousness), though constantly changing, exists as a continuum or stream (santana) and is what undergoes rebirth."
- "Some traditions like Theravada assert that rebirth occurs immediately and that no 'thing' (not even consciousness) moves across lives to be reborn."
- "Other Buddhist traditions such as Tibetan Buddhism posit an interim existence (bardo) between death and rebirth, which may last as long as 49 days."
- "This belief drives Tibetan funerary rituals."
- "A now defunct Buddhist tradition called Pudgalavada asserted there was an inexpressible personal entity (pudgala) which migrates from one life to another."