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And tonight I'm going to talk 
about the topic of rebirth. 

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And the reason I want to talk 
about this is because very often

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this is like a controversial 
topic in Buddhism. 

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And often people disagree on 
whether it's necessary to 

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actually have confidence or 
believe in rebirth in Buddhism. 

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Or whether in fact it's possible
to just discard rebirth and say 

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it's not really important in the
Buddhist teachings. 

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It's not something that we need 
to believe in. 

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It doesn't really matter whether
there's rebirth or not. 

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You can still be a Buddhist. 
And one of the things that I've 

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often found is when I read books
about Buddhism, that sometimes 

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you come across statements like,
a rebirth is not actually a 

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Buddhist belief. 
Rebirth is a pre-Buddhist belief

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which Buddhism took on board 
when it emerged in ancient 

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India. 
In other words, it existed. 

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It was a cultural thing in India
which already existed. 

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And then when Buddhism came, it 
just took on this cultural thing

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which already existed in India 
at the time. 

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So this is always an important 
question. 

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Because if rebirth is not a 
Buddhist belief, then there are 

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good grounds maybe to reject it 
as not being so important. 

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And then finally I want to talk 
about this. 

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Well, what have given all the 
evidence about rebirth? 

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What should our attitude be 
towards rebirth? 

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Should we believe in it or 
should we not believe in it? 

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And how, not least, how should 
we believe in rebirth? 

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So the first thing is then to 
understand whether rebirth in 

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fact is important in Buddhism. 
And to get a grasp of this, I 

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want to tell a little bit of the
part of the Buddha's story 

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himself before he was 
enlightened. 

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And the Buddha's search for 
enlightenment. 

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Because this search in itself 
sheds a lot of light on the 

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importance of rebirth in 
Buddhism or whether it's not 

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important. 
And as many of you know, many of

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you already will know the 
Buddha's story. 

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I can start from when he was 
still a layperson before he even

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went forth, before he became an 
ascetic who practiced in the 

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forest like other ascetics at 
the time. 

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And everybody knows, most people
know who are Buddhist, that the 

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Buddha enjoyed a very privileged
life before he became an 

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ascetic. 
He had all the pleasures that 

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people can have or had in those 
days two and a half thousand 

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years ago. 
And, and, and, he, it was only 

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when he realized the dangers in 
life, the dangers of, 

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particularly of old age, death, 
and also sickness, and he saw 

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the potential suffering in life,
not only the potential 

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suffering, the real suffering in
life, and the kind of suffering 

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that he also would have to go 
through later on, that he 

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decided that he would give up 
all those pleasures that he had 

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in great abundance compared to 
most people at the time. 

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So that's how the Buddha started
his, his life by, or started his

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kind of search, if you like, 
search for something beyond, 

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something more than just 
ordinary sensual life of most 

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people. 
The first thing the Buddha did 

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after he left his home life was 
to search for teachers, search 

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for other teachers who could 
tell him, show him the path 

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towards something more than just
enjoyment of sensual pleasures. 

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And this is natural, we all, you
know, want to, want to find the 

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easy way, and the easy way is 
obviously to have a teacher. 

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Rather than actually discovering
everything for ourselves. 

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That's exactly what the Buddha 
did. 

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And the first two teachers that 
the Buddha had, and this is all 

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found in the discourses and the 
sutras that the Buddha taught 

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two and a half thousand years 
ago. 

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These two teachers, one was 
known as Alara Kalama, one was 

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named as Udaka Ramaputa, and 
they taught a path of 

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meditation. 
So he followed this path of 

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meditation, and he gained some 
very powerful and deep states of

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meditation, by following their 
advice. 

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But then, when he actually 
gained those states, and he 

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reflected on them, he realized 
that these states only lead to 

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rebirth. 
They lead to rebirth in that 

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particular realm, which those 
states correspond to. 

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So this is interesting, if for 
no other reason, than to realize

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that certainly rebirth was a 
very prevalent idea at the time 

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of the Buddha. 
You see that the Buddha 

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automatically, he actually 
wasn't the Buddha yet at this 

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point, he was the Bodhisattva, 
but he automatically thought in 

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terms of rebirth. 
And he rejected this particular 

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path precisely, because it only 
led to rebirth. 

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So this was not enough for him. 
And you realize that when you 

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read the discourses of the 
Buddha, it's full of rebirth 

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everywhere. 
I'm not talking about, for 

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example, if you read about some 
of the other ascetics at the 

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time of the Buddha, they would 
always talk in terms of rebirth.

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They would talk about 
purification by rebirth. 

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Or you had the Brahmins who 
would talk about, the ideal of 

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the Brahmins was to actually get
rebirth together with Brahma in 

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the future. 
So the whole Indian scene at the

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time was about rebirth, 
basically. 

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And the Buddha obviously also 
thought in the same way. 

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So this is the first point to 
hear, the importance of rebirth 

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at the time of the Buddha. 
But then, of course, the Buddha 

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rejected that, because he saw 
the danger of rebirth. 

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It always leads to old age. 
It always eventually leads to 

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death. 
And for that reason, it is not 

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satisfactory. 
It is fraught with suffering and

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problems. 
So the Buddha then left these 

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teachings, and he decided to go 
out of his own, and practice 

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what at that time was considered
the most important spiritual 

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practice, which was asceticism. 
So he practiced asceticism to an

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extreme degree, to the point 
where he realized, if I take 

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this asceticism any further, I 
am going to die. 

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He did things like extreme 
fasts, like eating a single rice

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grain a day, like torturing the 
body, like we often see even 

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today in India, we see all this 
torturing of the body going on. 

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And he took it to the point 
where he, if he went any 

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further, he would die. 
So he realized, well, I have 

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taken this path to his 
conclusion, I can't go any 

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further, so maybe I am going the
wrong way. 

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At that point he reflected that,
well, I have tried, I have set 

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this path, but this isn't to its
extreme. 

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I have lived the life of a 
householder with great 

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pleasures, which is the other 
extreme. 

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Could there be another path to 
enlightenment? 

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Something which is neither 
sensual pleasures, nor the 

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opposite of sensual pleasures, 
which is the mortification of 

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the physical body. 
At this stage the Buddha 

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realized that, yes, he recalled 
his experience as a young boy 

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when he had a deep state of 
meditation, and he realized 

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that, yes, this, this deep state
of meditation I had as a boy, 

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this is the path to 
enlightenment, this deep samadhi

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state, known otherwise as the 
jhanas, this is the way. 

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It avoids sensual pleasures, it 
avoids sensual pain, it is known

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as the middle way between those 
two. 

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And then, having understood 
this, he practiced this deep 

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state of meditation. 
And when he practiced those deep

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states of meditation, his mind 
gained this incredible power, 

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incredible bliss, which then was
the causal condition for 

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allowing him to penetrate the 
profound truths of reality. 

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Now once he had attained these 
states of meditation, the first 

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thing he did at that point was 
to ask himself, well, is this 

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idea of rebirth, is it true? 
Does it actually exist? 

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And you can see why he would ask
this thing. 

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He realized that rebirth was a 
very big part of Indian culture 

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at the time. 
And obviously he also realized 

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that the idea of rebirth is 
spiritually extremely 

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significant. 
Whether there is rebirth or not 

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has incredible great bearing on 
spiritual practice. 

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Because that will decide how 
we're going to practice, how 

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we're going to relate to future 
lives, what we should do about 

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these matters. 
So because of that, the first 

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thing that the Buddha did, 
understanding that this was an 

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important spiritual question, 
was to direct his powerful mind,

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this deep Samadhi mind, towards 
recalling his past lives. 

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This is what the Buddha did at 
this stage. 

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He started recollecting his past
lives and thinking backwards, 

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step by step, recalling who he 
was in his most previous life, 

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whether he was of a particular 
clan, a particular family, what 

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his name was, what kind of 
happiness and suffering he 

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experienced, what kind of food 
he was eating, all these details

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of his past lives he would 
recall at this stage. 

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And he would go back and back 
and back in time, recalling life

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after life after life after 
life. 

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I'm sure you can straight away 
see how incredibly significant 

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this is. 
Because what this shows, of 

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course, is that the Buddha did 
not just take on board a 

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particular belief system at the 
time, which was present at the 

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time in India. 
He discovered this for himself. 

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And this is what we would 
expect. 

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The Buddha always taught the 
path of inquiry, of asking 

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questions, of finding out for 
ourselves what the truth is. 

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So we would expect the Buddha 
also to not just take on board 

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particular belief systems or 
cultural systems, but actually 

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investigate these things for 
himself. 

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And here is that discovery of 
the Buddha, the discovery of the

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reality of rebirth. 
So from a Buddhist point of 

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view, this is not just a 
cultural thing, this is a 

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reality. 
And this is what this particular

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thing shows. 
Not only is it a reality, it's 

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an integral part of the Buddha's
awakening. 

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It's an integral part of the 
enlightenment experience, if you

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like. 
It's not something which is 

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separate from that. 
So it's a very powerful thing. 

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So this is the first thing to 
realize, that rebirth is very, 

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very Buddhist indeed. 
And it's at the very heart of 

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Buddhism. 
Now after the Buddha had 

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realized and seen these past 
lives, his second question was, 

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well, what is the causal 
experience, the causal 

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connection that gives rise to 
these past lives? 

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How do these rebirths actually 
come about? 

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Is there any reason for these 
things? 

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And how is it that one gets 
reborn now in a good state, now 

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in a state of suffering? 
And at this point he saw beings,

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various types of beings, dying 
and getting reborn. 

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And through that seeing how 
beings died and got reborn, he 

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was able to understand the law 
of kamma or karma, that we all 

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pass on in accordance with our 
actions, with what we do or what

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we don't do. 
And this is the linkage that 

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links us from life to life, and 
life and life again, so on 

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almost forever backwards. 
And now is the interesting part,

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because at this point the Buddha
had discovered two of what is 

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known as the three, three true 
knowledges in Buddhism. 

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He had discovered the fact of 
past lives. 

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He had discovered how these past
lives come about. 

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And now at the very last thing 
for him to discover, the third 

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of the last knowledge, is the 
knowledge of full enlightenment.

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And it is very interesting to 
actually consider this for a 

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second. 
Why is it that the Buddha 

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actually recalled these past 
lives and understood the law of 

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kamma before he attained his 
full enlightenment? 

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And this is another way of 
showing the importance of past 

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lives in Buddhism. 
And the reason is very clear 

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when you think about it. 
When you understand and when you

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see that you have been reborn 
again and again and again in the

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past, doing the same stupid 
things over and over again. 

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Imagine that, it's terrible. 
Going through the same 

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experiences life after life. 
Sometimes going through much 

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worse experiences, not going 
through really, really terrible 

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experiences, a lot of times 
going through happy experiences.

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But generally just the tedium of
doing this thing hundreds, maybe

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thousands, maybe millions of 
times, suddenly becomes just 

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unbearable basically. 
And then when you understand the

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causal connection of kamma, that
basically you are not in charge,

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this all happens according to 
cause and condition, and you 

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cannot really control what's 
happening here, it starts to 

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become very frightening as well.
Surely we don't want to just be 

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at the kind of mercy of this law
of kamma, throwing us one day 

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one way, another life another 
way, moving around in this thing

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called samsara, birth and death,
without any clear direction 

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whatsoever. 
It's frightening. 

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And of course the Buddha saw 
this, he saw the danger in this.

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And it's only when he realized 
this that he was able to turn 

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his mind towards enlightenment 
and towards the ending of this 

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whole thing called birth and 
death. 

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So birth and death, rebirth and 
death, is the cause which made 

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it possible for the Buddha to 
attain enlightenment. 

228
00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,320
Because only then when he saw 
that was he able to turn his 

229
00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:33,770
mind away from samsara, rebirth 
and death, and towards 

230
00:13:33,770 --> 00:13:37,520
enlightenment, towards nibbana, 
if you like. 

231
00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:44,632
So from what I've said so far, 
you can see that rebirth is an 

232
00:13:44,632 --> 00:13:47,520
extremely important part of the 
Buddha's teaching. 

233
00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,855
It's not something you can just 
throw out and say, I can be a 

234
00:13:50,855 --> 00:13:52,520
Buddhist without believing in 
rebirth. 

235
00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,378
I can reject rebirth 100% as a 
stupid, non-scientific doctrine 

236
00:13:56,378 --> 00:14:00,520
and still be a Buddhist. 
It doesn't quite work that way. 

237
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,807
You can still take on board some
Buddhist principles, but if you 

238
00:14:03,807 --> 00:14:07,188
throw away rebirth completely, 
you've thrown away such an 

239
00:14:07,188 --> 00:14:11,770
important and essential part of 
Buddhism here, that it is, you 

240
00:14:11,770 --> 00:14:15,520
are in a sense, in my opinion, a
kind of partial rebirth. 

241
00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:20,320
Not 100% Buddhist. 
But I want to inquire a little 

242
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,092
bit further maybe on how 
important rebirth is in 

243
00:14:24,092 --> 00:14:28,020
Buddhism. 
And the first thing I want to 

244
00:14:28,020 --> 00:14:33,895
show is that because the Buddha 
actually realized rebirth, then 

245
00:14:33,895 --> 00:14:36,520
rebirth for a Buddhist becomes a
reality. 

246
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:38,520
It's something which actually is
out there. 

247
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,520
It's not just a doctrine or an 
idea. 

248
00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,520
It's a reality. 
Just like gravity is a reality, 

249
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,920
and the laws of physics are a 
reality, so rebirth is a 

250
00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,020
reality. 
And because it is a reality, it 

251
00:14:53,020 --> 00:14:57,520
means that there's something 
called right view in Buddhism. 

252
00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,520
Because it is a reality, if we 
are going to look at the world 

253
00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:04,920
in the way the world actually 
is, then we are going to have to

254
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:08,520
take on board the doctrine of 
rebirth. 

255
00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:13,120
So right view in Buddhism, among
other things, means to have some

256
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,092
faith, some acceptance, some 
acceptance of the idea of 

257
00:15:17,092 --> 00:15:19,920
rebirth. 
Without that acceptance, one 

258
00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:23,520
does not really fulfill this 
thing called right view. 

259
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:28,320
So right view in Buddhism is 
nothing except the aligning of 

260
00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:32,378
one's ideas, the straightening 
out of one's ideas in accordance

261
00:15:32,378 --> 00:15:36,020
with the reality of Buddhism, 
with the reality that the Buddha

262
00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:39,520
himself taught. 
That's all it really is. 

263
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:44,187
And this right view thing is 
actually very important, you may

264
00:15:44,187 --> 00:15:46,270
think. 
It might not be very obvious to 

265
00:15:46,270 --> 00:15:49,520
you why right view is such an 
important matter. 

266
00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,720
But right view is actually the 
very first factor on the 

267
00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:57,520
Buddhist Eightfold Path. 
And of course the Eightfold Path

268
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:02,188
is the basic scheme in Buddhism 
for how one practices, how one 

269
00:16:02,188 --> 00:16:05,520
starts off and practices all the
way to full enlightenment. 

270
00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:08,520
Right view is the beginning of 
that thing. 

271
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,855
Because when you have right 
view, then it becomes natural 

272
00:16:11,855 --> 00:16:15,520
that you want to practice the 
spiritual life. 

273
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,520
From that right view comes right
intention. 

274
00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,120
If you believe in rebirth, you 
will tend to want to live a 

275
00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:25,076
moral life because you 
understand that not living a 

276
00:16:25,076 --> 00:16:28,187
moral life is going to lead to 
suffering, particularly for 

277
00:16:28,187 --> 00:16:30,520
yourself, but also for others, 
obviously. 

278
00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,895
And moreover, you also get the 
intention that you want to get 

279
00:16:34,895 --> 00:16:38,664
out of this whole idea of 
samsara, this whole idea of 

280
00:16:38,664 --> 00:16:40,520
rebirth and death. 
You had enough of it. 

281
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,720
You want to get out of it. 
And for that reason, it leads to

282
00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,020
right intention. 
Right intention then moves over 

283
00:16:48,020 --> 00:16:51,395
into right action. 
Because you have the intention 

284
00:16:51,395 --> 00:16:55,770
to be kind, to be good, to be 
moral, and to end this whole 

285
00:16:55,770 --> 00:16:58,520
cycle of rebirth, you start to 
act accordingly. 

286
00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:03,300
You act with kindness, you speak
with kindness, and you have a 

287
00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:05,520
kind livelihood towards other 
beings. 

288
00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,520
Once your moral life is 
established, then you want to 

289
00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,270
straighten out your mind. 
You also want to have a moral 

290
00:17:12,270 --> 00:17:14,704
mind. 
So you want not to think 

291
00:17:14,704 --> 00:17:16,520
thoughts which harm other 
beings. 

292
00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,770
You don't want to have a defiled
mind with all kinds of strange 

293
00:17:19,770 --> 00:17:22,619
defilements in there. 
Instead, you want to have a mind

294
00:17:22,619 --> 00:17:26,854
of loving kindness, of 
compassion, of peace, of 

295
00:17:26,854 --> 00:17:29,187
tranquility. 
This part is called right 

296
00:17:29,187 --> 00:17:31,340
effort. 
Right effort is the overcoming 

297
00:17:31,340 --> 00:17:36,520
of the defilements of the mind, 
making the mind pure, making the

298
00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,854
mind beautiful. 
Then, with that pure mind, you 

299
00:17:39,854 --> 00:17:43,236
are able to practice meditation.
Meditation is called right 

300
00:17:43,236 --> 00:17:47,520
mindfulness in Buddhism, also 
known as satipatthana practice. 

301
00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,520
Essentially, now you are 
starting to become very peaceful

302
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,520
and have a very beautiful mind 
at this point. 

303
00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,410
And that meditation then leads 
to this deep state called the 

304
00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:01,520
jhanas, or samadhi states, if 
you like. 

305
00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,520
So you can see here how 
important right view is. 

306
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,920
Right view is a foundation stone
which allows the entire 

307
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,520
practice, the entire Eightfold 
Path to take off. 

308
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,854
Without that right view, your 
practice is going to be much, 

309
00:18:16,854 --> 00:18:19,187
much weaker. 
If you have completely wrong 

310
00:18:19,187 --> 00:18:22,520
view, you won't be practicing at
all. 

311
00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:25,520
So for this reason, again, 
rebirth is very important 

312
00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,520
because it allows the path to 
happen. 

313
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:35,020
Now, once you have attained that
deep samadhi, which is the end 

314
00:18:35,020 --> 00:18:38,520
of the Eightfold Path, then that
is when your mind is equipped. 

315
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,920
It's equipped to actually 
penetrate the truth itself, for 

316
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,806
you to become awakened, for you 
also to become enlightened, for 

317
00:18:45,806 --> 00:18:49,020
you to understand the same 
reality as the Buddha 

318
00:18:49,020 --> 00:18:51,395
understood. 
And what happens when you 

319
00:18:51,395 --> 00:18:54,521
understand that reality? 
What happens when you see what 

320
00:18:54,521 --> 00:18:57,188
the Buddha saw? 
And the interesting thing is 

321
00:18:57,188 --> 00:19:01,120
that in the suttas, in the 
discourses of the Buddha, it is 

322
00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:05,395
always said that the first thing
you say or you realize when you 

323
00:19:05,395 --> 00:19:08,235
become an arahat, somebody who 
is fully awakened or 

324
00:19:08,235 --> 00:19:12,770
enlightened, is that you 
understand that birth has been 

325
00:19:12,770 --> 00:19:15,620
destroyed. 
There is no more coming to any 

326
00:19:15,620 --> 00:19:20,520
kind of existence. 
This is my last birth. 

327
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:24,187
Now this you will see again and 
again and again in the 

328
00:19:24,187 --> 00:19:26,854
discourses. 
It is a standard and a very 

329
00:19:26,854 --> 00:19:29,520
common description of somebody 
who is fully enlightened. 

330
00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:33,520
They understand that rebirth has
come to an end. 

331
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:38,092
So the whole purpose of 
Buddhism, ultimately, there is 

332
00:19:38,092 --> 00:19:41,187
of course many other purposes, 
many lesser purposes if you 

333
00:19:41,187 --> 00:19:43,520
like, which also are very 
valuable and important. 

334
00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:47,395
But the ultimate purpose of 
Buddhism is to end this whole 

335
00:19:47,395 --> 00:19:50,520
thing called rebirth. 
This is what it is all about. 

336
00:19:50,520 --> 00:19:52,520
This is what it all comes down 
to. 

337
00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,632
So how can rebirth not be 
important if this is what the 

338
00:19:56,632 --> 00:19:59,520
path is all about? 
In fact, it is fundamental. 

339
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:04,520
It is the core thing that we are
seeking to overcome in this 

340
00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:07,664
Buddhist practice. 
So it becomes like the 

341
00:20:07,664 --> 00:20:10,520
all-important feature of the 
Buddhist path. 

342
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:17,236
So these are just some 
reflections on the importance of

343
00:20:17,236 --> 00:20:20,520
rebirth in Buddhism. 
I will give you some background 

344
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:22,520
on how Buddhism talks about 
these things. 

345
00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,520
And I could go on for much more 
about this thing called rebirth 

346
00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:28,520
because it is everywhere to be 
found in the suttas. 

347
00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:31,806
I just wanted to bring out some 
of the more important statements

348
00:20:31,806 --> 00:20:33,520
of the Buddha about these 
things. 

349
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,520
And as you can see, it is 
essential in Buddhism. 

350
00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,520
It is a very core part of the 
Buddha. 

351
00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,520
It is a very important part of 
the Buddhist practice. 

352
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:45,664
And for that reason, I will say 
again that you cannot really be 

353
00:20:45,664 --> 00:20:49,520
100% Buddhist if you reject 
rebirth out of hand completely. 

354
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:53,520
This is impossible. 
This cannot be the case. 

355
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,920
So how then do we gain, how do 
we come to accept this thing 

356
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,320
called rebirth? 
I mean, fair enough that the 

357
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,743
Buddha taught these things. 
How do we gain confidence that 

358
00:21:03,743 --> 00:21:05,520
there actually is such a thing 
as rebirth? 

359
00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:09,520
Because it is not very obvious. 
And if the Buddha taught so, 

360
00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:11,770
that does not necessarily mean 
that we ourselves should believe

361
00:21:11,770 --> 00:21:14,270
in this thing. 
Why should we believe in it just

362
00:21:14,270 --> 00:21:17,020
because the Buddha said so? 
And of course, the first thing 

363
00:21:17,020 --> 00:21:20,378
is that if you know what the 
Buddha taught and you have 

364
00:21:20,378 --> 00:21:23,743
respect for the Buddha, you have
respect for his teachings, and 

365
00:21:23,743 --> 00:21:26,612
you know that his teachings work
for yourself, then it becomes 

366
00:21:26,612 --> 00:21:29,520
natural to take on also his 
other teachings. 

367
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,854
If you have taken on part of his
morality, his meditation 

368
00:21:33,854 --> 00:21:37,120
teachings, and you practice them
for yourself, and you realize 

369
00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:40,020
that they have made your life 
better, you have understood the 

370
00:21:40,020 --> 00:21:44,520
wisdom of these teachings, then 
it becomes natural to at least, 

371
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:48,854
if you like, take on these ideas
of rebirth as a hypothesis in 

372
00:21:48,854 --> 00:21:51,520
your life and use them in that 
sense. 

373
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,340
Because when you respect 
somebody, you will tend to also 

374
00:21:55,340 --> 00:21:57,520
accept the way they teach 
things. 

375
00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,520
And this is what it is all about
to go for refuge. 

376
00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:04,855
In Buddhism, we talk about going
for refuge, the triple gem, the 

377
00:22:04,855 --> 00:22:09,092
Buddha, Dhamma, and the Sangha. 
And what this means, going for 

378
00:22:09,092 --> 00:22:12,920
refuge, means that when we have 
some questions in our life, when

379
00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,854
we have some uncertainties about
how to deal with the world, what

380
00:22:17,854 --> 00:22:22,068
to do, we have a place to go. 
We have a place where we can 

381
00:22:22,068 --> 00:22:25,720
actually ask the questions, so 
to speak, from the Buddha, by 

382
00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:30,120
going to the suttas, or by going
to somebody who is the Buddha's 

383
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:33,664
representative, if you like, 
somebody you trust who knows 

384
00:22:33,664 --> 00:22:35,378
those teachings. 
And we can ask the questions 

385
00:22:35,378 --> 00:22:38,520
there, and we can find solutions
to our problems in life. 

386
00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:40,520
And that is what going to refuge
means. 

387
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,520
It means that we have a place to
go when there are difficulties, 

388
00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:49,520
when there are problems, and 
when there are questions about 

389
00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:53,520
spiritual practice. 
And because we take that refuge,

390
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:58,949
it also means that we at least 
don't reject the idea of rebirth

391
00:22:58,949 --> 00:23:01,520
100%. 
Because by rejecting it, we are 

392
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,520
not taking that refuge 100%, 
basically. 

393
00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:14,145
So that's the first way why and 
how we gain confidence in 

394
00:23:14,145 --> 00:23:17,020
Buddhism. 
Another way we can get 

395
00:23:17,020 --> 00:23:21,320
confidence in this idea of 
rebirth is by, at least for me 

396
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,770
this is a very important way, is
that sometimes you meet people 

397
00:23:24,770 --> 00:23:27,270
who say, well, I've actually 
experienced these things for 

398
00:23:27,270 --> 00:23:29,235
myself. 
I have seen this thing called 

399
00:23:29,235 --> 00:23:31,620
rebirth. 
I know that there is such a 

400
00:23:31,620 --> 00:23:33,520
thing as rebirth. 
When I meet somebody, 

401
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,855
particularly as a monk you meet,
occasionally you meet other 

402
00:23:36,855 --> 00:23:40,920
monks who say these things, and 
very often these monks are 

403
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,020
people of incredible integrity, 
people of boundless kindness and

404
00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:47,854
goodness, people who it's very 
difficult to think that they 

405
00:23:47,854 --> 00:23:51,220
would lie to you or they would 
say something which is not the 

406
00:23:51,220 --> 00:23:53,158
case. 
It becomes very hard to dismiss 

407
00:23:53,158 --> 00:23:57,520
that thing out of hand when they
say, I've seen it, it's there. 

408
00:23:57,520 --> 00:24:00,520
There can be no doubt that these
things exist. 

409
00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:02,520
And for me that certainly 
becomes a very powerful reason, 

410
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:07,120
a very powerful reason to have 
confidence that there are such 

411
00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:09,235
things. 
Of course it's not an absolute 

412
00:24:09,235 --> 00:24:13,120
confidence, but it certainly is 
a very good reason for believing

413
00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,395
in these things. 
So these are just some of the 

414
00:24:16,395 --> 00:24:21,520
ways in which one gains 
confidence in these teachings. 

415
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:25,410
Another thing which is also 
interesting, and I've just been 

416
00:24:25,410 --> 00:24:28,520
reading a book quite recently 
called, what's called a 

417
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:31,520
cross-cultural study of kamma, 
karma and rebirth. 

418
00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:34,949
And it's fascinating how many 
places around the world that 

419
00:24:34,949 --> 00:24:37,520
this idea of rebirth actually 
exists. 

420
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,520
And also the idea of karma 
actually exists. 

421
00:24:40,520 --> 00:24:44,520
It's incredible how many places 
this is the case. 

422
00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,949
And particularly this book 
talked about tribes, Indian 

423
00:24:48,949 --> 00:24:52,664
tribes in North America for 
example, which had ideas of 

424
00:24:52,664 --> 00:24:56,092
karma and rebirth. 
It talks about many people in 

425
00:24:56,092 --> 00:24:59,854
Africa, African indigenous 
cultures, have ideas of rebirth 

426
00:24:59,854 --> 00:25:02,664
and karma. 
Tribes in Siberia which have 

427
00:25:02,664 --> 00:25:05,920
these ideas. 
Tribes in Melanesia like 

428
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,520
Indonesia and some of the other 
Pacific islands. 

429
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:14,520
You find it spread out almost 
evenly around across the globe. 

430
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:18,520
You find that these ideas of 
rebirth actually exist. 

431
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:25,187
Very fascinating that it exists 
so almost universally around the

432
00:25:25,187 --> 00:25:26,920
globe. 
And then you start to look at 

433
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,920
the different religions and you 
find again that almost all the 

434
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:34,520
major religions have some sort 
of idea of rebirth in them. 

435
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,520
Obviously Buddhism is one, 
Hinduism is one. 

436
00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:41,520
But then you go to the more 
western religions. 

437
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,520
Take for example Christianity 
for one. 

438
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:47,820
And it's very interesting that 
Christianity had an idea of 

439
00:25:47,820 --> 00:25:50,520
rebirth for a long time in its 
early history. 

440
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:54,120
It was only at a certain 
council, I can't remember the 

441
00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:57,793
details, but a council in year 
400 or something like that, when

442
00:25:57,793 --> 00:26:01,320
it was decided that rebirth was 
not going to be an official 

443
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,020
doctrine of Christianity. 
But until that time there were 

444
00:26:04,020 --> 00:26:07,220
many people in the Christian 
church and many of the early 

445
00:26:07,220 --> 00:26:10,520
gospels which actually taught 
rebirth. 

446
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,520
And you find the same thing in 
Islam. 

447
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,520
There are parts of Islam even to
this day who believe in rebirth.

448
00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:18,520
You find the same thing in 
Judaism. 

449
00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,520
So it's an incredibly universal 
thing. 

450
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:27,520
And also very interesting is 
that if you ask people today, 

451
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:31,522
you take random interviews, 
they'll say, for example in 

452
00:26:31,522 --> 00:26:34,854
Europe or even the United 
States, places which often are 

453
00:26:34,854 --> 00:26:37,270
very atheistic, which don't 
actually have any religion at 

454
00:26:37,270 --> 00:26:41,520
all, you actually find that very
large percentages of the 

455
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,395
population believe in rebirth. 
30-40% of the population believe

456
00:26:45,395 --> 00:26:48,120
in these things. 
Atheists believe in these 

457
00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:51,520
things. 
Agnostics, Christians, Muslims, 

458
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,188
basically everybody. 
And this of course doesn't prove

459
00:26:56,188 --> 00:26:59,520
anything about rebirth. 
But it's very fascinating that 

460
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:04,744
if there is such a reality as 
rebirth and it's possible to tap

461
00:27:04,744 --> 00:27:07,612
into that reality occasionally, 
occasionally there will be 

462
00:27:07,612 --> 00:27:11,020
people who maybe remember their 
past lives, or in some other way

463
00:27:11,020 --> 00:27:14,770
you tap into that reality, then 
you would expect that there 

464
00:27:14,770 --> 00:27:18,720
would be a large number of 
people around the globe 

465
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,378
scattered everywhere that had 
this belief, that actually 

466
00:27:21,378 --> 00:27:24,520
understood this as a reality. 
That's what you would expect. 

467
00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:27,520
And that is indeed also what you
find. 

468
00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,378
It's not a proof, but it 
certainly is, in my opinion, a 

469
00:27:31,378 --> 00:27:36,520
supporting factor in this 
rebirth business. 

470
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:42,020
So that is the Buddhist side of 
things, and it's also some of 

471
00:27:42,020 --> 00:27:46,187
the reasons why I think it is 
perfectly good to have a strong 

472
00:27:46,187 --> 00:27:48,520
confidence and a good confidence
in rebirth. 

473
00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:52,254
But I also want to talk a little
bit about the negative side of 

474
00:27:52,254 --> 00:27:54,188
this. 
What are the reasons we 

475
00:27:54,188 --> 00:27:56,770
shouldn't believe in rebirth? 
Because I think it's important 

476
00:27:56,770 --> 00:28:01,445
to be open about all these 
matters, and not kind of lock 

477
00:28:01,445 --> 00:28:05,339
ourselves away in a Buddhist 
kind of cocoon and pretend that 

478
00:28:05,339 --> 00:28:07,520
everything is, that's all there 
is to it. 

479
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,520
There's of course much more to 
it than that. 

480
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,645
And the first thing that I want 
to just point out is that the 

481
00:28:14,645 --> 00:28:17,520
Buddha, when he became 
enlightened, he actually 

482
00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:20,520
discovered rebirth. 
He saw it for himself. 

483
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:25,020
And of course, once you see this
thing for yourself, it becomes a

484
00:28:25,020 --> 00:28:27,187
knowledge. 
It becomes something which is 

485
00:28:27,187 --> 00:28:29,522
undeniable. 
You cannot deny it anymore once 

486
00:28:29,522 --> 00:28:33,320
you have seen it for yourself. 
But for most of us, the 

487
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,120
situation is very different. 
We haven't actually seen 

488
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:38,235
rebirth. 
We don't know that there is 

489
00:28:38,235 --> 00:28:40,966
rebirth. 
We may have confidence, we may 

490
00:28:40,966 --> 00:28:43,854
believe that the Buddha was very
wise, very enlightened, and all 

491
00:28:43,854 --> 00:28:46,744
these things. 
But because we haven't actually 

492
00:28:46,744 --> 00:28:51,068
seen it for ourselves, we have 
reasons to at least acknowledge 

493
00:28:51,068 --> 00:28:54,984
that we don't know, at least 
acknowledge that it is just a 

494
00:28:54,984 --> 00:28:58,520
matter of confidence or faith at
this stage. 

495
00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:00,520
It's not something that we know 
already. 

496
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:05,854
So, because we don't know it, 
there is good reasons not to go 

497
00:29:05,854 --> 00:29:09,520
around proclaiming that this 
thing is a certain matter. 

498
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:14,520
And this shows us a difference, 
in my opinion, between belief 

499
00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:19,720
and confidence and faith in the 
Buddhist religion and what is 

500
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:22,520
faith and belief in many other 
religions. 

501
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,020
And this is important because 
sometimes we take words like 

502
00:29:26,020 --> 00:29:30,855
faith and belief, and these 
words are certainly very 

503
00:29:30,855 --> 00:29:34,520
powerful in Christianity and 
also in Islam, as far as I know,

504
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,520
and then we use them in 
Buddhism. 

505
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:39,270
But we have to be careful 
because sometimes when we do 

506
00:29:39,270 --> 00:29:43,854
that, we also take Christian 
attitudes and Christian ideas or

507
00:29:43,854 --> 00:29:46,520
Muslim ideas or whatever it is 
into Buddhism. 

508
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:53,521
So we have to be careful not to,
so to speak, paint Buddhism with

509
00:29:53,521 --> 00:29:55,520
a Christian brush. 
Right? 

510
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,520
So as to give, put Christian 
ideas into Buddhist teaching. 

511
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,988
We have to be very clear about 
what Buddhism is all about in 

512
00:30:02,988 --> 00:30:05,855
these cases. 
And the point I'm trying to make

513
00:30:05,855 --> 00:30:10,020
here is that in Christianity, 
faith and belief often are 

514
00:30:10,020 --> 00:30:12,520
tantamount to certainty, as far 
as I understand. 

515
00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,520
I'm not a specialist in this 
area. 

516
00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:16,520
I could be wrong, but that is my
impression. 

517
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:20,720
If you ask a Christian about, do
you believe in God, he might 

518
00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:23,920
obviously say yes. 
And then you ask him, well, does

519
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:26,520
that mean that maybe God exists,
maybe he doesn't exist? 

520
00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,520
He will say, no, no, no, God 
definitely exists. 

521
00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,120
That's my general understanding 
of how most Christians would 

522
00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,300
reply. 
So belief in many religions, 

523
00:30:36,300 --> 00:30:41,022
faith in many religions, has 
this sense of certainty about 

524
00:30:41,022 --> 00:30:43,520
it, that this is definitely 
true. 

525
00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,688
Whereas in Buddhism, faith and 
belief have more of their 

526
00:30:47,688 --> 00:30:50,605
original meaning. 
The original meaning of belief, 

527
00:30:50,605 --> 00:30:54,855
of course, is that you believe 
something, and it means maybe 

528
00:30:54,855 --> 00:30:58,340
it's true, maybe it's not. 
You have faith in something, 

529
00:30:58,340 --> 00:31:02,020
maybe it's true, maybe it's not.
And that's why sometimes it's 

530
00:31:02,020 --> 00:31:05,520
nice to call this confidence, 
rather than faith or belief, 

531
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,950
because then we distinguish 
ourselves a little bit from the 

532
00:31:08,950 --> 00:31:11,187
other religions. 
We don't cause so much 

533
00:31:11,187 --> 00:31:13,060
confusion. 
If you're confident about 

534
00:31:13,060 --> 00:31:16,520
something, it means maybe it's 
true, maybe it isn't. 

535
00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:19,520
Have you got confidence that the
bus will arrive in five minutes?

536
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,306
Yes, I've got confidence it will
arrive, but I'm not sure it will

537
00:31:22,306 --> 00:31:24,520
arrive. 
There's uncertainty there. 

538
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,688
This is the attitude that we 
should have towards something 

539
00:31:28,688 --> 00:31:31,523
like rebirth. 
We should have an attitude of 

540
00:31:31,523 --> 00:31:34,520
confidence, but not firm and 
absolute faith and belief, 

541
00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:39,704
simply because we don't know. 
We cannot be 100% sure, at least

542
00:31:39,704 --> 00:31:43,270
not at this stage. 
So this is the first thing to 

543
00:31:43,270 --> 00:31:44,976
remember. 
The attitude towards rebirth 

544
00:31:44,976 --> 00:31:47,520
should be something like 
confidence about it. 

545
00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,988
Now the second thing I want to 
talk about, which I think is 

546
00:31:50,988 --> 00:31:55,520
very important, and that is the 
scientific outlook on rebirth. 

547
00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,430
I always feel uncomfortable if 
somebody calls me an 

548
00:32:00,430 --> 00:32:05,020
anti-scientific Buddhist who 
does not want to take into 

549
00:32:05,020 --> 00:32:10,380
account scientific facts, who is
maybe a kind of Luddite, who is 

550
00:32:10,380 --> 00:32:14,235
not really up to scratch in 
what's happening in the modern 

551
00:32:14,235 --> 00:32:15,520
world. 
I always find that unfortunate, 

552
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,522
and I think it's important. 
For me, one of the reasons that 

553
00:32:18,522 --> 00:32:21,188
I've always felt very confident 
about Buddhism is precisely 

554
00:32:21,188 --> 00:32:24,949
because I always felt that there
wasn't so much conflict between 

555
00:32:24,949 --> 00:32:29,236
science and Buddhism, as there 
was maybe between science and 

556
00:32:29,236 --> 00:32:33,188
certain other faiths. 
That was why I felt this was the

557
00:32:33,188 --> 00:32:36,856
right thing for me. 
I felt that I didn't have to 

558
00:32:36,856 --> 00:32:39,520
compromise any of my other 
principles so much. 

559
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,290
And for that reason, it is of 
course important to take into 

560
00:32:42,290 --> 00:32:46,520
account what science says about 
this thing called rebirth. 

561
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,521
And very often when we read 
scientific journals, when we see

562
00:32:50,521 --> 00:32:54,215
what scientists say, very often 
they dismiss this idea of 

563
00:32:54,215 --> 00:32:56,520
rebirth out of hand, pretty 
much. 

564
00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,520
At this stage, we have to be 
careful, and we have to look at 

565
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:06,066
why is it that these scientists 
dismiss this thing called 

566
00:33:06,066 --> 00:33:08,368
rebirth. 
And I have always found that 

567
00:33:08,368 --> 00:33:12,920
when I have read journals and 
articles about the mind, about 

568
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,920
consciousness, usually the best 
people in the field of mind 

569
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:22,520
studies, of consciousness 
studies, they admit that they 

570
00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:24,520
have no idea what these things 
actually are. 

571
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,188
They admit that the 
understanding and the knowledge 

572
00:33:27,188 --> 00:33:30,520
of this particular field is 
still in its infancy. 

573
00:33:30,520 --> 00:33:32,520
People don't really understand 
consciousness. 

574
00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:37,163
It's a very profound thing, and 
very, very hard to get a grasp 

575
00:33:37,163 --> 00:33:39,270
on. 
So that is the first thing to 

576
00:33:39,270 --> 00:33:42,145
understand, that although 
science has a position on 

577
00:33:42,145 --> 00:33:45,854
rebirth, it hasn't got an 
understanding of the mind, which

578
00:33:45,854 --> 00:33:49,378
is very sophisticated as yet. 
It's working on it, but it 

579
00:33:49,378 --> 00:33:51,520
doesn't really understand the 
mind. 

580
00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:55,020
And if you don't understand the 
mind, you cannot understand 

581
00:33:55,020 --> 00:34:02,066
rebirth, because the precursor 
for believing in rebirth is that

582
00:34:02,066 --> 00:34:06,664
there can be such a thing as a 
mind which is separate from the 

583
00:34:06,664 --> 00:34:10,270
material body, that the mind 
has, in a sense, a life of its 

584
00:34:10,270 --> 00:34:13,068
own. 
It is not 100% dependent on the 

585
00:34:13,068 --> 00:34:18,020
body for its existence. 
So for this, it's important to 

586
00:34:18,020 --> 00:34:20,520
remember that we need to realize
this. 

587
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,632
So when science often rejects 
rebirth, in my opinion, as far 

588
00:34:23,632 --> 00:34:29,020
as I can see, it's often without
having the firm evidence which 

589
00:34:29,020 --> 00:34:33,853
is required for rejecting it. 
So why is it then that science 

590
00:34:33,853 --> 00:34:37,145
rejects rebirth? 
And I think that the thing of 

591
00:34:37,145 --> 00:34:40,187
rebirth is often considered a 
religious thing in scientific 

592
00:34:40,187 --> 00:34:42,520
circles. 
And because science and religion

593
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:46,092
has often been at loggerheads 
over many centuries, and science

594
00:34:46,092 --> 00:34:49,520
has been saying one thing, one 
thing, one thing, one thing, 

595
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,853
science has tended to dismiss 
religious beliefs as just 

596
00:34:52,853 --> 00:34:56,187
beliefs, and for that reason 
hasn't really taken them 

597
00:34:56,187 --> 00:34:59,092
seriously. 
But, of course, just because 

598
00:34:59,092 --> 00:35:02,520
something is a religious belief 
does not mean that it's wrong. 

599
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:06,920
And in this particular case, it 
is my conviction that science 

600
00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:10,920
just hasn't yet arrived at a 
point where it can take a 

601
00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,520
meaningful position on this 
thing called rebirth. 

602
00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:17,950
So, and I also remember that, 
what I find very fascinating 

603
00:35:17,950 --> 00:35:20,520
about science, I remember when I
was in, I can't remember whether

604
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:24,020
it was high school or at 
university or what it was, I 

605
00:35:24,020 --> 00:35:26,520
remember reading about 
scientific revolutions. 

606
00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:30,807
And I remember in very 
particular, I remember reading 

607
00:35:30,807 --> 00:35:34,020
about this English physicist 
called Martin Rutherford, I 

608
00:35:34,020 --> 00:35:37,520
think his name was. 
And I remember he was saying, 

609
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,720
this was towards the end of the 
19th century, and this was at 

610
00:35:40,720 --> 00:35:44,236
the time when physics was 
advancing very, very fast, and 

611
00:35:44,236 --> 00:35:47,520
they were describing the atomic 
models with protons and neutrons

612
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:51,020
and all this sort of stuff. 
And he said that, well, 

613
00:35:51,020 --> 00:35:54,020
everything is now coming 
together so beautifully in 

614
00:35:54,020 --> 00:35:55,950
physics. 
The periodic table has been 

615
00:35:55,950 --> 00:35:58,744
sorted out. 
We understand how all these 

616
00:35:58,744 --> 00:36:01,950
atoms are made up. 
We understand how molecules are 

617
00:36:01,950 --> 00:36:04,120
made up. 
And it's only a matter of a few 

618
00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:08,236
years now before everything is 
sorted out, before we have full 

619
00:36:08,236 --> 00:36:11,431
understanding of physics. 
And then, of course, a few years

620
00:36:11,431 --> 00:36:14,520
after he said that, came Albert 
Einstein along with the theory 

621
00:36:14,520 --> 00:36:19,664
of relativity, and then soon 
after that, you got this idea of

622
00:36:19,664 --> 00:36:22,236
quantum mechanics. 
And this turned physics 

623
00:36:22,236 --> 00:36:25,620
completely upside down. 
And I think today they are just 

624
00:36:25,620 --> 00:36:29,520
as far away from finding the 
final solution to these things 

625
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:34,920
as they were at the time of this
Martin Rutherford 120, 10, 20 

626
00:36:34,920 --> 00:36:38,020
years ago. 
And this is because science goes

627
00:36:38,020 --> 00:36:40,520
through revolutions every now 
and again. 

628
00:36:40,520 --> 00:36:44,378
And maybe one day, I think it's 
quite possible, that science 

629
00:36:44,378 --> 00:36:47,885
will go through the revolution 
when it will realize that 

630
00:36:47,885 --> 00:36:51,520
actually there is such a thing 
as a mind which is a part, and 

631
00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:56,664
can be a part, from materiality.
At the moment, science cannot 

632
00:36:56,664 --> 00:36:59,320
see that. 
But I think it's quite possible 

633
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:02,520
that this will change over the 
years. 

634
00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:04,520
Maybe it won't. 
Maybe it will. 

635
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:07,520
But I certainly think it is 
possible. 

636
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:15,020
So that is the scientific, in a 
sense, rejection of rebirth, 

637
00:37:15,020 --> 00:37:17,950
most generally speaking. 
But it's also very fascinating 

638
00:37:17,950 --> 00:37:21,187
to understand and to realize 
that there are some very 

639
00:37:21,187 --> 00:37:24,520
interesting signs going on in 
the area of rebirth. 

640
00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:26,520
And this is what I want to talk 
about next. 

641
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,520
This is the scientific, in a 
sense, evidence for rebirth. 

642
00:37:30,520 --> 00:37:34,720
And the most interesting of this
scientific evidence is a man who

643
00:37:34,720 --> 00:37:38,521
died only a few months ago, a 
man called Ian Stevenson, who 

644
00:37:38,521 --> 00:37:42,187
used to teach at the University 
of Virginia in the United 

645
00:37:42,187 --> 00:37:43,855
States. 
It's quite a prestigious 

646
00:37:43,855 --> 00:37:45,520
university in the U.S., 
actually. 

647
00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:50,320
And he taught there, and he 
studied what he called past life

648
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:54,092
memories in children. 
And he studied this over several

649
00:37:54,092 --> 00:37:56,076
decades. 
And this is some of the best 

650
00:37:56,076 --> 00:37:58,520
scientific evidence which is 
available for rebirth. 

651
00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:03,854
And it has made quite an impact 
in many ways, I think, in the 

652
00:38:03,854 --> 00:38:07,520
scientific world, although, of 
course, it's not been accepted. 

653
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:10,920
And what he did, he traveled 
around the world because there 

654
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:15,520
was a phenomenon everywhere 
around the world whereby small 

655
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:18,520
children tend to recall past 
lives. 

656
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:21,522
They tend to say something. 
Sometimes they go up to their 

657
00:38:21,522 --> 00:38:23,855
mother and say to their mother, 
You're not my mother. 

658
00:38:23,855 --> 00:38:27,770
My mother lives over there. 
And very often the mother gets 

659
00:38:27,770 --> 00:38:29,675
very upset. 
Of course I'm your mother. 

660
00:38:29,675 --> 00:38:31,520
I know more about that than you 
do. 

661
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:34,520
So you shouldn't be so sure 
about that. 

662
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:37,807
But often the child is very 
insistent that it has some 

663
00:38:37,807 --> 00:38:40,145
memory of something else. 
He lived somewhere else because 

664
00:38:40,145 --> 00:38:42,520
he was there. 
He lived somewhere else before. 

665
00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:46,320
And he would point to a house, 
point to a village, talk about 

666
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,520
people which the parents have 
never heard about. 

667
00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:53,187
And this is a global phenomenon 
according to this Dr. Ian 

668
00:38:53,187 --> 00:38:56,188
Stevenson. 
He did research in the United 

669
00:38:56,188 --> 00:39:00,794
States, in Europe, in large 
parts of Asia, in Africa, in the

670
00:39:00,794 --> 00:39:03,187
Middle East. 
And everywhere he found these 

671
00:39:03,187 --> 00:39:05,520
children who remembered past 
lives. 

672
00:39:05,520 --> 00:39:09,020
And of course, I'm sure you can 
imagine what his methodology 

673
00:39:09,020 --> 00:39:12,092
was. 
His methodology was to ask these

674
00:39:12,092 --> 00:39:16,120
children in great detail about 
those memories and then check it

675
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,664
up, check out whether that 
village, that house that they 

676
00:39:19,664 --> 00:39:23,270
were talking about, those people
that they mentioned, those names

677
00:39:23,270 --> 00:39:27,520
that the children were talking 
about, do they actually exist? 

678
00:39:27,520 --> 00:39:32,188
Are there such places? 
And he came up with some 

679
00:39:32,188 --> 00:39:33,520
extraordinarily fascinating 
results. 

680
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:38,520
And some of those cases he had 
were just not explainable in any

681
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,520
scientific way. 
Apart from assuming that there 

682
00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:45,120
must be something called 
rebirth, some reason why these 

683
00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,520
children actually could remember
these things. 

684
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:50,520
Very, very powerful evidence as 
far as I can see. 

685
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:54,520
And very difficult to refute. 
And I have not heard of anybody 

686
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:57,520
who has really successfully 
refuted this evidence. 

687
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,855
Some of the other things that he
showed, he showed, for example, 

688
00:40:01,855 --> 00:40:06,020
also spoke to certain children 
who had birthmarks in particular

689
00:40:06,020 --> 00:40:08,520
places. 
And these were children who had 

690
00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:13,320
remembered dying, for example, a
very painful death, for example,

691
00:40:13,320 --> 00:40:17,092
through being shot. 
And of course, because they were

692
00:40:17,092 --> 00:40:20,794
shot, that birthmark they had 
corresponded to the place they 

693
00:40:20,794 --> 00:40:22,855
were shot. 
And then by investigating 

694
00:40:22,855 --> 00:40:26,704
whether such a person existed 
who was shot, he would often 

695
00:40:26,704 --> 00:40:30,187
find that that particular person
that this child remembered did 

696
00:40:30,187 --> 00:40:32,235
exist. 
And they died in exactly that 

697
00:40:32,235 --> 00:40:34,520
way. 
And the child had the 

698
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,520
corresponding birthmark in this 
life. 

699
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:40,188
Again, it's very, very, very 
powerful evidence and very 

700
00:40:40,188 --> 00:40:43,235
powerful in my opinion. 
And it's very hard to really 

701
00:40:43,235 --> 00:40:46,895
understand how such a causal 
connection could happen unless 

702
00:40:46,895 --> 00:40:51,920
it is through some sort of 
mechanism like the idea of 

703
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,395
rebirth. 
But of course, just because 

704
00:40:55,395 --> 00:40:59,248
there is evidence or one person 
has come up with a lot of 

705
00:40:59,248 --> 00:41:02,270
evidence does not mean that the 
scientific community is going to

706
00:41:02,270 --> 00:41:05,520
jump onto that and say, yes, 
this must be true. 

707
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:08,920
It takes much more than that. 
I just want to show that there 

708
00:41:08,920 --> 00:41:11,520
is some evidence that is really 
true. 

709
00:41:11,520 --> 00:41:14,520
And so the scientific community 
is, if you like, at least 

710
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,521
slightly split. 
There is something also on the 

711
00:41:17,521 --> 00:41:21,949
side of rebirth. 
So what then should our attitude

712
00:41:21,949 --> 00:41:25,949
be? 
How should we then look at 

713
00:41:25,949 --> 00:41:28,854
rebirth? 
There is the negative side that 

714
00:41:28,854 --> 00:41:30,520
science doesn't believe in 
rebirth. 

715
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,520
And we have to take that 
seriously. 

716
00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:36,854
We cannot, as modern people, 
reject the scientific viewpoint 

717
00:41:36,854 --> 00:41:39,520
of things. 
That would be silly to say. 

718
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:42,950
But there is something to do. 
Science and Buddhism should, in 

719
00:41:42,950 --> 00:41:46,520
my opinion, go together as far 
as possible unless science 

720
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:50,395
itself oversteps the bounds. 
And if there are certain 

721
00:41:50,395 --> 00:41:53,966
doctrines in Buddhism which turn
out to be wrong, well, okay, 

722
00:41:53,966 --> 00:41:57,520
then maybe we have to accept 
that, that certain things are 

723
00:41:57,520 --> 00:42:00,020
actually wrong. 
And maybe these are things which

724
00:42:00,020 --> 00:42:03,520
weren't taught by the Buddha in 
the first place anyway. 

725
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:07,120
The other side of the story is 
that the Buddha did teach 

726
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,966
rebirth. 
And because people who are 

727
00:42:09,966 --> 00:42:13,188
Buddhists and have faith in this
thing have to take what the 

728
00:42:13,188 --> 00:42:17,188
Buddha said extremely seriously,
we cannot reject rebirth 

729
00:42:17,188 --> 00:42:21,770
outright either. 
So the way to look at rebirth is

730
00:42:21,770 --> 00:42:25,187
to take a kind of middle way, 
the famous middle way in 

731
00:42:25,187 --> 00:42:29,120
Buddhism, neither to reject it 
outright nor to go around 

732
00:42:29,120 --> 00:42:31,520
proclaiming it as an absolute 
truth. 

733
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:35,744
But somewhere in the middle 
there is where people who are 

734
00:42:35,744 --> 00:42:37,520
Buddhists should find 
themselves. 

735
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:41,520
So if you find that you are 
somewhere in the middle there, 

736
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:45,020
then that is a very good 
starting point for being a 

737
00:42:45,020 --> 00:42:47,187
Buddhist. 
So whether you have 90% 

738
00:42:47,187 --> 00:42:50,632
confidence that there is 
rebirth, or maybe you only have 

739
00:42:50,632 --> 00:42:53,520
20 or 30% confidence, you are 
somewhere on the scale. 

740
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:58,020
And you can definitely on that 
basis, I would say, count 

741
00:42:58,020 --> 00:43:02,092
yourself as a Buddhist. 
I myself, I have very strong 

742
00:43:02,092 --> 00:43:04,520
conviction that there is such a 
thing as rebirth. 

743
00:43:04,520 --> 00:43:07,664
But at the same time, I'm also 
open to the possibility that 

744
00:43:07,664 --> 00:43:10,187
there isn't rebirth. 
I haven't seen rebirth for 

745
00:43:10,187 --> 00:43:12,520
myself. 
This is the truth. 

746
00:43:12,520 --> 00:43:17,187
And because of that, I'm open to
the possibility that there isn't

747
00:43:17,187 --> 00:43:19,520
rebirth. 
And I ask myself the question, 

748
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:23,770
what will happen if science one 
day came up with evidence that 

749
00:43:23,770 --> 00:43:27,720
was so powerful, so strong 
against rebirth, that I couldn't

750
00:43:27,720 --> 00:43:30,520
reject it, that I had to accept 
it? 

751
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:33,520
What would I do myself, being a 
Buddhist monk? 

752
00:43:33,520 --> 00:43:36,520
And the truth is, I don't think 
it's going to happen. 

753
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:40,187
I think it's extremely unlikely.
I'm certainly open to the 

754
00:43:40,187 --> 00:43:42,806
possibility. 
But if that were to happen, I 

755
00:43:42,806 --> 00:43:46,620
realize I would have to disrobe,
or at least very likely I would 

756
00:43:46,620 --> 00:43:50,320
have to disrobe, because the 
Buddhist path, and particularly 

757
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:55,520
the monastic path, is so 
completely intertwined and so 

758
00:43:55,520 --> 00:43:59,520
completely mixed up with this 
idea of rebirth. 

759
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:03,520
Take it away, and essentially it
loses its meaning. 

760
00:44:03,520 --> 00:44:09,976
So that is my position on that. 
And it is not as if I'm about to

761
00:44:09,976 --> 00:44:14,420
disrobe anything, because I have
very, as I said, I have very 

762
00:44:14,420 --> 00:44:16,520
strong confidence in this thing 
called rebirth. 

763
00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:19,320
And I think it's extremely 
unlikely that science is going 

764
00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,521
to show it to be untrue. 
I think rather the contrary is 

765
00:44:22,521 --> 00:44:25,520
much more likely, that science 
itself is going to come around 

766
00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:29,120
and slowly go through a 
revolution whereby it starts to 

767
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:34,520
understand that there is more to
the scientific worldview than is

768
00:44:34,520 --> 00:44:41,020
presently acknowledged to her. 
So that is just a talk on 

769
00:44:41,020 --> 00:44:51,854
rebirth for you. 
So if you have any questions or 

770
00:44:51,854 --> 00:44:55,520
any ideas of your own or 
anything you want to discuss, 

771
00:44:55,520 --> 00:44:57,520
this is a good time to bring it 
up. 

772
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:04,145
Any particular issues that you 
want to talk about concerning 

773
00:45:04,145 --> 00:45:10,520
rebirth, or anything else maybe?
Okay, that's very easy. 

774
00:45:10,520 --> 00:45:15,187
Nobody has any questions? 
Usually this is a controversial 

775
00:45:15,187 --> 00:45:18,520
topic, usually it's something 
people want to have a say about.

776
00:45:18,520 --> 00:45:22,520
Are you all convinced there is 
rebirth? 

777
00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:32,520
Yes? 
Well, that's a very good point. 

778
00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,120
And of course, according to 
Buddhism, of course that's the 

779
00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:36,520
case. 
If you don't believe in rebirth,

780
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:38,520
it doesn't really help you at 
all. 

781
00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:41,720
All it means is that you have 
wrong view and you're going to 

782
00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:44,410
act maybe against the Buddha's 
teachings, you're going to do 

783
00:45:44,410 --> 00:45:47,298
all kinds of stupid things, and 
then you end up having a bad 

784
00:45:47,298 --> 00:45:49,520
rebirth on top of having a 
rebirth at all. 

785
00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:53,235
So it's bad news. 
Yes, it doesn't matter what you 

786
00:45:53,235 --> 00:45:57,520
believe, because it's a reality.
It's like the laws of physics. 

787
00:45:57,520 --> 00:46:00,188
Whether you believe in the laws 
of physics or not, they're still

788
00:46:00,188 --> 00:46:02,720
going to affect you. 
If you jump, you're going to 

789
00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:04,520
come down again, right? 
Gravity. 

790
00:46:04,520 --> 00:46:05,520
It's the same thing with 
rebirth. 

791
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:08,520
It's a reality. 
No? 

792
00:46:08,520 --> 00:46:10,520
Yeah? 
Good. 

793
00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,520
Okay. 
Yes? 

794
00:46:12,520 --> 00:46:14,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

795
00:46:14,520 --> 00:46:16,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

796
00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:18,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

797
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:20,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

798
00:46:20,520 --> 00:46:22,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

799
00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:37,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

800
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:39,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

801
00:46:39,520 --> 00:46:41,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

802
00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:44,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

803
00:46:44,520 --> 00:46:46,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

804
00:46:46,520 --> 00:46:48,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

805
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

806
00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:52,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

807
00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:54,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

808
00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:56,520
Yes. 
Yes. 

809
00:46:56,520 --> 00:46:58,689
Yes. 
Yes I think the main thing about

810
00:46:58,689 --> 00:47:00,950
Buddhism is it's a teaching 
which doesn't talk about any 

811
00:47:00,950 --> 00:47:02,770
particular beginning. 
It doesn't actually have a 

812
00:47:02,770 --> 00:47:04,784
beginning as such. 
So it actually goes on. which 

813
00:47:04,784 --> 00:47:08,468
are a bit like the Big Bang, and
then you have the big crunch 

814
00:47:08,468 --> 00:47:11,770
after the big bang, and then the
big bang again after that, one 

815
00:47:11,770 --> 00:47:14,664
after the other. 
And this is essentially the 

816
00:47:14,664 --> 00:47:17,085
Buddhist cosmology. 
The Buddhism doesn't really have

817
00:47:17,085 --> 00:47:20,520
all that much to say about 
evolution on earth as such. 

818
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:25,665
There are certain creation 
suttas or discourses that were 

819
00:47:25,665 --> 00:47:30,710
possibly taught by the Buddha, 
but it's difficult to know 

820
00:47:30,710 --> 00:47:34,209
whether these are mythological 
or whether they actually 

821
00:47:34,209 --> 00:47:37,431
describe a reality. 
I don't really want to get maybe

822
00:47:37,431 --> 00:47:40,711
too much into that. 
But as far as I'm concerned, I 

823
00:47:40,711 --> 00:47:43,520
don't see any contradiction 
between the ideas of evolution, 

824
00:47:43,520 --> 00:47:47,092
which is basically essentially 
creatures coming out of the sea 

825
00:47:47,092 --> 00:47:49,855
and becoming on land. 
I don't see any essential 

826
00:47:49,855 --> 00:47:52,254
contradiction between evolution 
and Buddhism as far as I'm 

827
00:47:52,254 --> 00:47:55,520
concerned. 
They're compatible theories. 

828
00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:19,020
Yeah. 
Right. 

829
00:48:19,020 --> 00:48:23,806
Yeah. 
Sure. 

830
00:48:23,806 --> 00:48:26,950
I think that's a good point. 
But there's always a problem 

831
00:48:26,950 --> 00:48:28,378
with interpretation. 
It's not just a matter of 

832
00:48:28,378 --> 00:48:29,520
interpretation. 
It's a matter of the reality. 

833
00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:31,354
Because the suttas were taught 
two and a half thousand years 

834
00:48:31,354 --> 00:48:32,885
ago. 
When the Buddha talks about 

835
00:48:32,885 --> 00:48:35,664
expansion and contraction of the
world, that's what basically, if

836
00:48:35,664 --> 00:48:38,520
you want to translate it 
literally, that's what it means.

837
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:40,520
It's not exactly clear what it 
means. 

838
00:48:40,520 --> 00:48:43,520
Does it mean a big bang or does 
it mean something else? 

839
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:46,722
It's very convenient to think 
it's a big bang because it fits 

840
00:48:46,722 --> 00:48:48,808
with modern theories. 
But it's very hard to actually 

841
00:48:48,808 --> 00:48:50,520
be absolutely sure that's what 
it's all about. 

842
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:53,520
So there's always going to be 
some uncertainty there. 

843
00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:56,020
But personally, I think there's 
very good grounds for believing 

844
00:48:56,020 --> 00:48:57,520
he was talking about precisely 
that. 

845
00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,920
So, yes, I agree with you. 
And this is exactly what I was 

846
00:49:01,920 --> 00:49:04,320
talking about before. 
You start reading the suttas of 

847
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:06,520
the Buddha, his discourses. 
You start getting understanding 

848
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:08,520
of what he taught. 
And you find that actually 

849
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:11,120
there's so much wisdom there. 
There's so many beautiful 

850
00:49:11,120 --> 00:49:13,270
teachings. 
And you can't just throw it out 

851
00:49:13,270 --> 00:49:16,395
of the window, you know. 
There's something you can lead 

852
00:49:16,395 --> 00:49:19,368
your life by. 
And you find that you actually 

853
00:49:19,368 --> 00:49:22,520
gain in happiness, you gain in 
peace, you gain in all these 

854
00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:25,520
beautiful things that you want. 
So something is working there. 

855
00:49:25,520 --> 00:49:28,190
Something is right. 
And then, of course, precisely 

856
00:49:28,190 --> 00:49:31,520
as you say, you gain in 
confidence in these teachings. 

857
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:34,136
And even those things you don't 
know for yourself, you're no 

858
00:49:34,136 --> 00:49:37,520
longer willing to just throw 
them out and call them rubbish 

859
00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:40,187
because you realize there's 
something beautiful going on 

860
00:49:40,187 --> 00:49:43,520
here. 
Yes? 

861
00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:48,950
Okay. 
This is actually a very 

862
00:49:48,950 --> 00:49:51,020
important question. 
And this is something I thought 

863
00:49:51,020 --> 00:49:53,720
maybe I would touch on tonight. 
But sometimes you can just touch

864
00:49:53,720 --> 00:49:55,520
on too many topics and you sort 
of lose completely the thing. 

865
00:49:56,520 --> 00:49:58,520
And that's the thread of the 
discussion. 

866
00:49:58,520 --> 00:50:02,076
But according to Buddhism, and 
this is a very profound teaching

867
00:50:02,076 --> 00:50:06,020
of Buddhism, that there isn't 
actually anything being reborn 

868
00:50:06,020 --> 00:50:08,620
again. 
And this is what is so strange 

869
00:50:08,620 --> 00:50:12,187
in a sense because most other 
ideas of rebirth around the 

870
00:50:12,187 --> 00:50:15,722
world have an idea of a soul or 
some kind of permanent entity 

871
00:50:15,722 --> 00:50:18,520
inside of us which goes from 
birth to birth. 

872
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:22,520
In Buddhism, what essentially 
gets reborn again is the mind. 

873
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,520
The mind moves on from one life 
to another. 

874
00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:29,235
But the mind in Buddhism is not 
like the soul in any other 

875
00:50:29,235 --> 00:50:30,854
religion. 
It's not a permanent entity in 

876
00:50:30,854 --> 00:50:33,664
its own right. 
It's an ever-changing reality of

877
00:50:33,664 --> 00:50:35,632
the mind. 
So it is this ever-changing 

878
00:50:35,632 --> 00:50:39,145
reality called the mind which 
gets reborn from one life to 

879
00:50:39,145 --> 00:50:43,235
another. 
And this is a very profound 

880
00:50:43,235 --> 00:50:45,620
teaching. 
And this is what we call a 

881
00:50:45,620 --> 00:50:48,520
non-self in Buddhism, this idea 
of anatta. 

882
00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:51,220
It's called in the Pali 
language, the ancient Buddhist 

883
00:50:51,220 --> 00:50:53,520
language. 
And it's a non-self idea. 

884
00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:56,378
And it's a bit like sometimes 
it's accepted, it's explained a 

885
00:50:56,378 --> 00:50:59,235
bit like a candle. 
If you have a candle, for 

886
00:50:59,235 --> 00:51:02,520
example, and you light one 
candle with another candle, 

887
00:51:02,520 --> 00:51:05,520
well, did anything go across 
from one candle to another one? 

888
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:09,522
And the answer is nothing really
went across, but somehow the 

889
00:51:09,522 --> 00:51:12,520
flame was transferred from one 
to the other one. 

890
00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:16,520
And in a similar way, you can 
maybe picture rebirth. 

891
00:51:16,520 --> 00:51:20,520
It is a continuity. 
There is a mind which continues,

892
00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,520
but there's nothing permanent 
there which goes on. 

893
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:25,520
Make sense? 
Kind of, yeah? 

894
00:51:25,520 --> 00:51:37,920
Okay, yes? 
Yes, it does, because the thing 

895
00:51:37,920 --> 00:51:41,520
about Buddhism is that you don't
just believe in the human realm.

896
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:44,854
You believe in beings in many 
realms, particularly animal 

897
00:51:44,854 --> 00:51:47,368
realm. 
So rebirth is much more than 

898
00:51:47,368 --> 00:51:49,520
just being reborn as a human 
being. 

899
00:51:49,520 --> 00:51:51,520
It's also being reborn as an 
animal. 

900
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:54,520
And in fact, according to 
Buddhism, you can be reborn in 

901
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:58,092
all kinds of different states. 
And because there are so many 

902
00:51:58,092 --> 00:52:01,794
possibilities, you know, human 
beings can come from all these 

903
00:52:01,794 --> 00:52:04,520
various realms and then get 
reborn as humans. 

904
00:52:04,520 --> 00:52:08,213
And then when you die, you can 
either become a human being 

905
00:52:08,213 --> 00:52:10,520
again or you can be reborn as 
something else. 

906
00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:13,520
All according to your kamma, all
according to your actions. 

907
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:15,520
So depending how you live this 
life. 

908
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:18,906
If you live a good life, 
generally speaking, you get a 

909
00:52:18,906 --> 00:52:21,368
good rebirth. 
If you live a bad life, 

910
00:52:21,368 --> 00:52:23,520
generally speaking, you get a 
bad rebirth. 

911
00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:43,520
Yes? 
I think there's a lot to be said

912
00:52:43,520 --> 00:52:46,711
for that idea, actually. 
And I know that those people who

913
00:52:46,711 --> 00:52:49,920
really know the discourse of the
Buddha very well, there actually

914
00:52:49,920 --> 00:52:52,950
is a lot of evidence in those 
discourses that there is such an

915
00:52:52,950 --> 00:52:56,952
in-between state. 
So in a sense, you die, the mind

916
00:52:56,952 --> 00:53:00,594
goes off to this in-between 
state, and it takes a while 

917
00:53:00,594 --> 00:53:02,920
before your kamma, your actions 
from the past life, actually 

918
00:53:02,920 --> 00:53:06,520
ripen and then give effect to a 
particular rebirth. 

919
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:09,965
And this is actually a very 
controversial topic because 

920
00:53:09,965 --> 00:53:13,920
according to the orthodox 
Theravada point of view, there 

921
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:16,920
is no in-between state. 
And yet, when you look at what 

922
00:53:16,920 --> 00:53:19,320
the Buddha taught, it seems to 
be very clearly implied in his 

923
00:53:19,320 --> 00:53:21,520
teaching that there is such a 
thing. 

924
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:27,059
So I am certainly in favor of 
the existence of an in-between 

925
00:53:27,059 --> 00:53:30,020
state. 
So you can continue celebrating 

926
00:53:30,020 --> 00:53:42,520
Halloween and having good fun. 
Okay, so let's just pay respects

927
00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:45,520
to the... 
Okay, one more question here. 

928
00:53:51,520 --> 00:54:00,270
What is the meaning of the word,
and what is the meaning of the 

929
00:54:00,270 --> 00:54:03,664
word, in the sense of the word? 
Essentially, yes, because the 

930
00:54:03,664 --> 00:54:06,520
whole point here is that there 
is a continuity, right? 

931
00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:09,720
If you think about how you are 
in this life, there is basically

932
00:54:09,720 --> 00:54:12,137
continuity here. 
You know, who you are today is 

933
00:54:12,137 --> 00:54:13,520
pretty much who you were 
yesterday. 

934
00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:17,022
There is a continuity there. 
And because it is the mind which

935
00:54:17,022 --> 00:54:19,854
continues from one life to the 
next, there is a similar kind of

936
00:54:19,854 --> 00:54:22,984
continuity across lives, and 
that is precisely why it is so 

937
00:54:22,984 --> 00:54:26,520
important to develop the mind, 
to be a good person. 

938
00:54:26,520 --> 00:54:29,966
Because by developing the mind, 
by being a good person, you are 

939
00:54:29,966 --> 00:54:32,770
in a sense lifting up the mind, 
you are making the mind 

940
00:54:32,770 --> 00:54:35,808
beautiful and pure, and then you
will carry that beautiful and 

941
00:54:35,808 --> 00:54:38,520
pure mind into the next life. 
That is how it works. 

942
00:54:38,520 --> 00:54:42,412
And that is why a beautiful and 
pure mind will get reborn in a 

943
00:54:42,412 --> 00:54:45,187
beautiful and pure place. 
It is like magnetic attraction 

944
00:54:45,187 --> 00:54:47,520
almost. 
That is the way it works. 

945
00:54:47,520 --> 00:54:50,950
So yes, you tend to take things 
with you, the way you are in 

946
00:54:50,950 --> 00:54:53,020
this life. 
Your character traits carry on 

947
00:54:53,020 --> 00:54:58,520
from life to life usually. 
It is a good reason to practice.