Buddhist Notions of Reincarnation What

Buddhist Notions of Reincarnation

What happened when we die? Is our soul immortal, and if so, where does it go? Several prominent religions posit different ideas regarding what happens to the individual soul after the death of the body. In Buddhism, the common belief is that it is reborn within the context of a different body.

Yet the nature of this rebirth greatly depends on the nature of the life lived by the individual prior to death. As seen in the movie Little Buddha, after the death of a prominent person, they will be reincarnated into a human or better state than what they had encountered in their previous life. However, the same goes for the other extreme. If an individual life a bad life, they stand the chance of being reincarnated into a lesser or more primitive form. This is not an ever-ending process, despite the image it might be. An individual soul goes through various number of reincarnation until he or she reaches a certain level of maturity and enlightenment.

Thus, reincarnation becomes a learning environment which aims to teach every individual different aspects of enlightenment necessary to attain Nirvana, or spiritual freedom. One must learn certain lessons, and these lessons cannot be given on a concise schedule. Rather, the individual learns them at appropriate times which coincide with the number and nature of reincarnations. Each new life stands to teach the individual a new lesson, or reinforce a lesson which did not last in the previous life. Along with this idea, each individual must learn particular lessons in order to move to a higher level of life within the context of his or her next reincarnation. And so, life as we know it in terms of its physical limitations, actually proves to be a classroom in which particular lessons are learned and explored. Graduation then, is the death which allows the individual to move on to the next level of testing and ultimately the next epiphany. At the end of the arduous cycle is the ultimate reward. Full enlightenment comes with the end of the cycle of birth and death -- Nirvana, where the individual soul can rest. It allows for the filtering of souls which have not earned the right to relax and enjoy the spiritual realm. It also allows those individuals who have earned their spiritual freedom to enjoy an existence not plagued by the limitations of a physical body.

Thus, reincarnation solely depends on the level of morality exhibited by a particular individual during a particular life. If one chooses to act immorally, and therefore not learn the lessons presented within the context of that life, that individual is punished with being forced to live a future life at a lower level than previously attained. And so it becomes imperative that each souls lives a moral life, as to fully take advantage of the lessons presented along with securing a better state within the context of one's next life.