The commonly known idea of reincarnation, as it's understood in many discussions in current age, I think, is probably not accurate interpretation from what it was talked about in the past. E.g Did Buddha really mean some soul passing form body to body?
Here, I'm just trying to make an honest attempt to see if we can get to it's conceptual idea.
We'll start with acknowledging the idea that there is no everlasting "self" or "soul".
If that's so, we wonder what is it that's being reincarnated and transferred from body to body?
I like to use the analogy of an eddy in a stream, a tiny whirlpool forming behind a rock or log in the water. (source)
[Note: Eddies form when flowing water hits an obstruction, such as a rock or a log, and slows down. As the water slows down, it creates a mini whirlpool. Fish feed in this "whirlpool" because it collects a lot of food]
Now, we can regard this eddy as something distinct from the rest of the stream.
It has a life, it has behaviors.
It is born and it passes away.
We could even give it a name if we wanted to. Ed would be appropriate.
The thing about Ed is, there's nothing in particular about him that makes him fundamentally different from the rest of the stream. Can we reach into the stream and pull Ed out? No. Ed depends on the stream,
Eddie is just a manifestation of energy concentrated in a particular region of the stream.
Let's say the rock is moved and Ed ceases to exist. Where did Ed go?
It's sort of silly question. Because to ask where Ed went presumes that there is something particular about Ed that it can "go somewhere".
Ed wasn't anywhere in particular to begin with. It was just a concentration of energy.
Further, we can't even say that the water that once was Ed is now somewhere else, really, because the water was constantly passing through Ed.
Now let's say we put the rock in another spot in the stream. Another eddy forms. We'll name this one Flo.
Is Flo a reincarnation of Ed?
Maybe some of the water that moved through Ed now moves through Flo. Maybe they behave similarly. Hell, it's the same rock that gave rise to them both.
The problem in asking this question, again, is the assumption there's something particular about Ed or Flo that we can identify as being the "essence" of them, something distinct from the stream.
This is the idea of reincarnation we are talking about. Reincarnation is just the manifestation of the universe in various forms.
Does reincarnation exist? Surely YES. It's just a way of describing the movement of energy. No supernatural mechanisms needed.
Here, I'm just trying to make an honest attempt to see if we can get to it's conceptual idea.
We'll start with acknowledging the idea that there is no everlasting "self" or "soul".
If that's so, we wonder what is it that's being reincarnated and transferred from body to body?
I like to use the analogy of an eddy in a stream, a tiny whirlpool forming behind a rock or log in the water. (source)
[Note: Eddies form when flowing water hits an obstruction, such as a rock or a log, and slows down. As the water slows down, it creates a mini whirlpool. Fish feed in this "whirlpool" because it collects a lot of food]
Now, we can regard this eddy as something distinct from the rest of the stream.
It has a life, it has behaviors.
It is born and it passes away.
We could even give it a name if we wanted to. Ed would be appropriate.
The thing about Ed is, there's nothing in particular about him that makes him fundamentally different from the rest of the stream. Can we reach into the stream and pull Ed out? No. Ed depends on the stream,
Eddie is just a manifestation of energy concentrated in a particular region of the stream.
Let's say the rock is moved and Ed ceases to exist. Where did Ed go?
It's sort of silly question. Because to ask where Ed went presumes that there is something particular about Ed that it can "go somewhere".
Ed wasn't anywhere in particular to begin with. It was just a concentration of energy.
Further, we can't even say that the water that once was Ed is now somewhere else, really, because the water was constantly passing through Ed.
Now let's say we put the rock in another spot in the stream. Another eddy forms. We'll name this one Flo.
Is Flo a reincarnation of Ed?
Maybe some of the water that moved through Ed now moves through Flo. Maybe they behave similarly. Hell, it's the same rock that gave rise to them both.
The problem in asking this question, again, is the assumption there's something particular about Ed or Flo that we can identify as being the "essence" of them, something distinct from the stream.
This is the idea of reincarnation we are talking about. Reincarnation is just the manifestation of the universe in various forms.
Does reincarnation exist? Surely YES. It's just a way of describing the movement of energy. No supernatural mechanisms needed.
