When a person dies, the flow simply continues. The feeling or idea that a particular person died is an illusion—at least from the point of view that there is no “I am” or self. To say that the person has substantially changed when dead would be like saying that a wave rising and falling is a distinct wave and that it is substantially different when it reenters the ocean. Where does that wave (person) begin and end? The wave, like a human life, is a fluid flow, and to try to answer the question is an important exercise in seeing the truth of non-self. Once the truth claim that there’s no self has been thoroughly examined, it becomes nonsensical to say that a person’s life began and ended at precise moments.
Ask yourself these questions to investigate the self for yourself:
- What elements do you believe make you a separate and definable form?
- What is the property of “self”?
If you’re like me, you have an extremely strong intuition that says, “Of course I have a self! What else would I be?” But Buddhism asks us to question that notion. How often do you not fit the image you have of yourself? You may say, “I’m a good person.” That may be true most of the time, but you aren’t a good person all the time. What inputs to your self can you take credit for? I would argue none. You can’t control your next thought. You can’t control the next sound you will hear. You didn’t choose your DNA or environment. You didn’t choose the physical laws of this world. So, what did you do that is independent of any other input that created your self?
You may say we are born with certain personality traits, and that may be true, but those traits don’t last a lifetime. People change, and that is completely normal and expected! People change because they are a flow of inputs from the world, a flow in the series of causation. We are just one of the many manifestations in a long unbroken chain of cause and effect.
Our skin makes us feel we are distinct from other humans or forms, but when examined closely, either under a microscope or with your mind, it becomes clear there is no distinct line between the molecules that make up your skin and the surrounding air. When the skin is magnified to an extreme degree, it appears that the molecules are very far apart and not touching at all.
How do the concepts of non-self and rebirth work together?
I read somewhere about the idea of self described as a river. We can name and point to the river as an object, but the water that makes up the river is constantly in a state of change, and the same can be said about the concept of self. We can name ourselves and point to ourselves, but upon close inspection, everything that makes up the self is in a continual state of flow. Nothing is permanent.
Rebirth is the continuation of this flow. So what is reborn if a “solid” self is an illusion? I think you’d have to attempt to define what makes a person a person. What is permanent about them that could continue after death? I believe the Buddha would say there is no thing that is permanent that makes up a person. So then what could possibly be reborn? I think, at this point in my understanding, that it could be that the person’s energy rejoins the universal energy that will arise to another manifestation of life. The person was part of the current state of the universe and will continue to be part of the flow even after death. The wave (a person’s life) continues to be a part of the ocean—not much has changed. Cause and effect processes will continue to happen to that “person” even after death, just as cause and effect processes shaped them during their time alive.
So what is reborn?
I believe nothing is reborn in the way we use the word “born”. I don’t think a person’s consciousness leaps to another life in such a cartoonish manner. I think the universe is in a current state and you, me, everything contributes to that state whether alive or dead. It’s out of this universal state that conscious lives bubble up and exist and pass away. Your death will be part of the state of the universe as the next consciousness arises. Will that next life with conscious experience retain memories of the past? I don’t believe so. But the Buddha talked of remembering past lives. Was he mistaken? Perhaps he was peering into the connection that we all share with the universe and was actually able to “see” past these artificial divisions and perceive the total plane of existence and experience.
It is also good to remember that the goal of Buddhism is to not be reborn at all. At this stage in my journey, I believe that Buddha understood that the idea of birth and death are boundaries that we imbue with special meaning when a deeper understanding of reality reveals an uninterrupted flow of the universe that does not acknowledge these bright-line distinctions.
Near the Buddha’s death, his attendant and dear friend Ananda was grieving the impending loss of the Buddha. The Buddha gently chastised him, saying that Ananda should understand that distinctions of birth and death are illusory. Hanging onto the concepts of birth and death is yet another cause of suffering through ignorance.
Christianity, Buddhism, And Death
Allow me to present my experiences with Christianity and Buddhism as a way to explore death and rebirth.
My grandfather and grandmother, both very dear to me, recently passed away. When I think of them and realize that I can no longer talk with them or visit them, I understand that their consciousnesses are no longer present. However, their energy and molecules have continued their journey of causation in the flow of the universe. Everything continues to be a part of everything, no matter the state. That is my Buddhist perspective on their deaths.
My grandparents held tightly to deep Christian beliefs throughout their lives. Among other tenets, these Christian beliefs depend on the following three concepts:
- The reality of a self
- The ability for individuals to make free-willed decisions
- The permanent nature of a soul
In a Christian belief system, it is the actions of the free self that determine whether a permanent soul gets to go to heaven or hell. Essentially, a free self must accept Jesus as savior in order to go to heaven.
Without delving too far into the freewill debate, as I understand Buddhist philosophy, the Buddha would essentially take the opposite stance on every topic:
- Humans are not individuals with independent selves.
- No action is truly of “freewill” because every action and circumstance is a product of an endless chain of cause and effect.
- There is no soul, and there certainly is not a permanent soul—a core belief of Buddhism is that of impermanence.
The Christian and Buddhist systems offer ways to process the ubiquitous human experience of death. The differences between these two systems can be stark. In the case of my grandparents, they died believing I would be going to hell and that I am leading my children down the same path. When my grandfather believed his last breath was near, he called me and told me one of his biggest regrets or sufferings in life was that I am not a Christian. They died believing that a grandson who committed suicide is in hell. Christianity can look good when you are on the “right” side, but it gets pretty dark for anybody who’s not on board.
Buddhism, on the other hand, treats everyone and every being as a part of the universal whole. People’s lives come and go without the need for explanation. When innocent children are killed by the hands of mankind or a natural disaster, a Christian wriggles and strains and eventually must say, “It must be God’s plan, and we can’t understand His ways.” Whereas a Buddhist need not struggle to explain—a natural disaster was caused by the state of the weather and nothing more. A hurricane is not an act of God or retribution from an angry God; it is simply a state of weather.
Christians certainly believe in rebirth, just in a very specific kind. Many times Christians are “reborn” when they accept Jesus as savior. They believe, in a very real way, that they are starting another life.
As one might expect, I prefer the Buddhist view. I don’t just like the Buddhist view because I think it sounds nice or because it aligns with my experience. I gravitate to this view because I see it as testable through examination and experience. It is a view that does not have to be taken on faith.
Non-self in Death and Life
In the seamless flow of existence, where the wave returns to the ocean, we discover the profound truth of non-self. The Buddha reminds us that clinging to the notions of birth and death is to invite suffering through ignorance. Instead, let us embrace the flow, understanding that in this endless dance of causation, nothing is ever truly lost. The Buddha teaches us that the self is an illusion, a fleeting ripple in the boundless sea. As we let go of the rigid boundaries of identity, we find peace in the understanding that we are part of an eternal continuum. Rumi’s words resonate deeply here: “You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.”
Thich Nhat Hanh beautifully said, “Birth and death are only notions. They are not real. The Buddha taught that there is no birth, there is no death; there is no coming, there is no going; there is no same, there is no different; there is no permanent self, there is no annihilation.”
Embrace the impermanence, the interconnectedness for in this acceptance lies the true essence of our being.