Reincarnation (ritual, Earth, tradition, Buddhism, experience)

[Engyo]

October -

I cannot speak with certainty about this; I can tell you what the teaching is.....

At least for those who are practicing Bodhisattvas, the Lotus Sutra states that yes, we did *in general* choose our circumstances. We did this in order to assist other beings to find the Way and teach them how to end their suffering. Because there are so many billions of beings here on earth with millions of different circumstances, examples or role models are needed in every conceivable type of circumstances in order to assist others in similar circumstances. I would have to look to find you specific chapter refernces and passages; I am not as well studied as I should be.

We are also taught that the people we are close to have been and will be connected to us in various ways throughout eternity. Those who we meet and interact with are in our lives for a variety of reasons; some of those are karmic effects, and some of these are new opportunities.

Please note that this is a very simplistic explanation and is not in any way complete or comprehensive; I am just trying to thumbnail the ideas.

[OctoberTheHottie]

Yeah, that is basically what I read before, but it is good to deepen that mental path to absorbing it, lol... I am trying to understand the basics of reincarnation and karma (if possible) because I know there are a great many religions (opposite how I was raised) that believe in reincarnation, it is just so foreign to me. I have read mostly paganism books that explain it and I just can't get my old christian mind to wrap around it fully.

It kinda sounds the way you were describing it that we come in contact with these people to help them become enlightened, but I was thinking it was so they could help me, or does it go hand in hand maybe??

[OctoberTheHottie]

Yeah, that is basically what I read before, but it is good to deepen that mental path to absorbing it, lol... I am trying to understand the basics of reincarnation and karma (if possible) because I know there are a great many religions (opposite how I was raised) that believe in reincarnation, it is just so foreign to me. I have read mostly paganism books that explain it and I just can't get my old christian mind to wrap around it fully.

It kinda sounds the way you were describing it that we come in contact with these people to help them become enlightened, but I was thinking it was so they could help me, or does it go hand in hand maybe??

[anders]

At the very start of this topic, I based my question on Theravada Buddhism thought. There is no "self" or "I". The way I interpret this tradition, there is no entity which chooses a new existence. "We" consist of collections of aggregates, which at our death are set free, separated, united with the total amount of available aggregates in the universe, reshuffled and redistributed, and finally, some aggregates get together in a "being".

I want to stress again, that this is a simplified version of what I think is meant in one, Buddhist tradition.

[anders]

At the very start of this topic, I based my question on Theravada Buddhism thought. There is no "self" or "I". The way I interpret this tradition, there is no entity which chooses a new existence. "We" consist of collections of aggregates, which at our death are set free, separated, united with the total amount of available aggregates in the universe, reshuffled and redistributed, and finally, some aggregates get together in a "being".

I want to stress again, that this is a simplified version of what I think is meant in one, Buddhist tradition.

[Engyo]

October -

In my current level of understanding, they do go hand-in-hand.


Anders -

These concepts are very hard to discuss in english; we don't really have agreed-upon terms to describe the particular part of the 5 aggregates which contains the seeds of karma, and which is (roughly) the I/we indicated in my previous post to October.

I also don't know the interaction between the 8 or 9 conciousness levels and the 5 aggregates; I need to do some more studying. Thanks for the push!

[Engyo]

October -

In my current level of understanding, they do go hand-in-hand.


Anders -

These concepts are very hard to discuss in english; we don't really have agreed-upon terms to describe the particular part of the 5 aggregates which contains the seeds of karma, and which is (roughly) the I/we indicated in my previous post to October.

I also don't know the interaction between the 8 or 9 conciousness levels and the 5 aggregates; I need to do some more studying. Thanks for the push!

[OctoberTheHottie]

Hmm, it kinda seemed to me that this topic of buddhist outlook on reincarnation did not exactly fit with my view on it and I wasn't sure if my post would be exactly relevant, but knowing so little on the subject I wasn't sure. Is there a better place to post??

I am looking at and trying to understand reincarnation without a religios standing, if that is possible, is it a concept that stands on it's own or is it only in relation to religion. If so I know I do not closely relate to buddism, and the post in paganism seemed to be confusing to me too. I will start my own post if I need to, but is it common to view reincarnation 'generally', will I be able to learn about it that way??

In the other post someone gave me some links to egyptian sites that talk about it... really confusing, lol. I have read about it on my own, so I understand the basic concept, but I am really interested in talking to people and understanding how it applies to everyday life. Thanx for all your help guys....

[OctoberTheHottie]

Hmm, it kinda seemed to me that this topic of buddhist outlook on reincarnation did not exactly fit with my view on it and I wasn't sure if my post would be exactly relevant, but knowing so little on the subject I wasn't sure. Is there a better place to post??

I am looking at and trying to understand reincarnation without a religios standing, if that is possible, is it a concept that stands on it's own or is it only in relation to religion. If so I know I do not closely relate to buddism, and the post in paganism seemed to be confusing to me too. I will start my own post if I need to, but is it common to view reincarnation 'generally', will I be able to learn about it that way??

In the other post someone gave me some links to egyptian sites that talk about it... really confusing, lol. I have read about it on my own, so I understand the basic concept, but I am really interested in talking to people and understanding how it applies to everyday life. Thanx for all your help guys....