Ask the Buddhist!

Do you believe that you have been reincarnated, and if so, do you have any memory of a past existence?
 
mom4 said:
Do you believe that you have been reincarnated, and if so, do you have any memory of a past existence?


Theravada Buddhism actually only deals with this life, none others, and not the afterlife therefore many Theravada Buddhists do not necessarily believe in reincarnation. At least not in the same way that Mahayana or Tibetan Buddhists would.

I personally believe in reincarnation but as above not in the way that Mahayana or Tibetan Buddhists believe in it. I do not know if I have been reincarnated in the past, nor do I think anybody can know as memories of previous lives would only be available either upon reaching Nirvana, or upon death where I believe that a spirit chooses their next life according to lessons needed to take the next steps on the Path.

I also believe that reincarnation is not necessarily along a linear timeline. That one may choose lives in the past as well as the future, while not knowing necessarily every step that the life may take, but necessarily an understanding of some of the trials that the next life may face.
 
Nuc said:
no1,

In an attempt to revive this thread, do you know if any of our major (US) politicians are practicing Buddhists?

I know of none, nor of an easy way of finding out. In a Christian nation a Buddhist would likely be listed as unaffiliated religiously rather than as a Buddhist in order to keep the alienation to the minimum.
 
I read a book on the eight-fold path when I was younger, but it didn't take. The first step on the path is "give up all earthly possessions." I couldn't do it. That Kucinich is kind of a fruitbat huh?
 
Hagbard Celine said:
I read a book on the eight-fold path when I was younger, but it didn't take. The first step on the path is "give up all earthly possessions." I couldn't do it.

That sounds like something that would be required of a monk. The Buddhist establishment doesn't expect anything like that from laymen. Reinvestigate, starting with the Dhammapada.
 
Hagbard Celine said:
I read a book on the eight-fold path when I was younger, but it didn't take. The first step on the path is "give up all earthly possessions." I couldn't do it. That Kucinich is kind of a fruitbat huh?

That is not the middle path. I don't know what you read but it is unlikely to be an accurate book on the Eight-Fold Path.
 

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