| The doctrine of reincarnation is an unavoidable part of | | | | state. All that karma is like throwing logs on a great |
| Indian religious thought, it really is the starting point of | | | | fire. And it burns constantly, changing from one |
| any further reflection. All the goals that religions seek | | | | moment to the next. |
| are related in one way or another to this doctrine. | | | | When death occurs, the previous physical body |
| Hindu religion view reincarnation in a certain way. When | | | | disintegrates, and the last moment of consciousness, |
| a person dies, the Atman, the essence of that person, | | | | like the last flicker in a candle flame, sets another |
| goes out of the body that died and looks for another | | | | candle flame in motion. It kindles another candle flame |
| body to be reborn in. The Atman could be what we | | | | in another body and carries with it that causal |
| call in the West the soul. It is the real identity of that | | | | continuity that establishes some connection between |
| person that is carried from one life to the next. | | | | one life and the next. Obviously, Buddhists would like to |
| Buddhists reject the idea of Atman. They have a very | | | | assert some kind of identity from one moment to the |
| different idea. They believe in the doctrine of no-self. | | | | next, but it shouldn't be an identity that ties them down |
| What is this? They believe that nothing has a | | | | too much. It shouldn't assert any kind of permanence. |
| permanent identity. Nothing has a permanent identity | | | | Because this permanence dissolves as the personality |
| that endures from one moment to the next. Our | | | | changes. |
| personality is constantly changing, is evolving all the | | | | When we say that it is the same flame what we |
| time. In big ways, in subtle ways, it is constantly moving. | | | | really mean is that there is a causal connection that |
| There isn't an Atman that survives those changes, | | | | links the flames. It is not identical, the gases themselves |
| every minute we are a different person. | | | | burn, something has changed. |
| If this is true, what is that is reborn when we die? | | | | Ultimately speaking, it is not the same flame. And I am |
| Hindus believe that the Atman is what is reborn in a | | | | not the same person. I have no identity that endures |
| new body. How do we know that "I" will be reborn in | | | | from one life to the next. The ultimate Buddhist claim |
| another body? | | | | about the nature of the self is that it is transient and |
| Let's use a metaphor Buddhist often use to explain | | | | constantly changeable. This is the fundamental |
| their theory of personality. They compare the | | | | Buddhist insight about the nature of the world. There is |
| personality to a flame of fire. It is a fire that we fuel by | | | | no permanent identity that moves from one moment |
| all the Karma that we produce, all the actions that we | | | | to the next. |
| perform to achieve a certain goal or to avoid a certain | | | | |