Each time you choose one course of action over another, you’re making a wager as to the consequences of your choice. This is especially true if the choice is between something easy that promises pleasant short-term rewards, and something hard that promises great rewards but only after a long time. Will the harder choice be worth the effort? Will the easier one be irresponsible in the long run? As a person embedded in time, there’s no way you can know for sure.

Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates. German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions.

"What was the historical context for the Buddha's teachings on rebirth? What is reborn? Do all Buddhist traditions agree about what happens after death? Is it necessary to believe in rebirth to consider oneself a Buddhist? All these questions will be addressed in this short, reliable, and accessible introduction to Rebirth across Buddhist history and traditions. The book will also cover contemporary refutations of rebirth in secular Buddhist contexts as well as western scientific attempts to document reincarnation in conversation with Buddhist beliefs"--

Science tells us that on this earth there is no such phenomenon called as ‘Rebirth’ and medical science tells us that there is another life after this birth. Most of the religions to support this phenomenon, but it is still impossible to tell as though how can a person take a rebirth after dying once. According to Hindu religion principles of rebirth are very important. It tells us that before this birth we already have taken infinite births and passed through this cycle of death and rebirth. This world of the cycle of rebirth keeps a dense meaning about it. Though everyone is aware of the word cycle of rebirth many do not know the actual meaning of the word. Generally, everyone takes it as world and worldly things. According to Hindu religion, we come in this world again and again and afterward we pass into more minute and a bigger world. This way we die and take birth again and again. If we believe in the Hindu mythology then according to them the soul travels in the atmosphere visits places such as hell and heaven but in the end, it has to enter its body again. The astrologers also believe this and thus most of their predictions resolve in this matter. According to them we are rewarded or punished according to our deeds, we either get it in our lifetime or in our next birth. Our deeds form our stars and we take birth according to our stars. This process can take years or even decades. The Hindus strongly believe in it. Before becoming a human being our soul has entered almost a thousand bodies. The word ‘universe’ has very deep meaning to which not everyone is known. Everybody knows the word but not the meaning and significance behind it. A common man may describe it as the world in which we live but the Hindu mythology believes that there are different worlds in which we go according to our deeds. In this way, we take several births and even die several times. Saint Shankaracharya has explained this in his hymns in the book ‘Bhaj Govindam’ as ‘Rebirth and Redie’ in other words again and again die and take birth again and again. This circle of life and death is referred to as the universe. It is not only the Hindus that believe in this process but also the other religions, though they have their separate explanations and thus, they try to please their ancestors by praying to them on a particular day in this way or the other way. The scientists don’t believe in hell, heaven and rebirth; but what evidences they have got cannot also be said to be untruths or simply nothing. One such thing is that what is the thing which enters a person's mind after his death and fills it with memories of his past life? To answer this question even the scientists have to believe in such things.

Understanding Karma and Rebirth A Buddhist Perspective Rebirth and reincarnation are generally accepted realities in the East and have been since ancient times. What the next life will be is usually the question rather than whether it will be. In the West, on the other hand, we have our own religious and secular beliefs which usually do not include living another life, or at least not in this world or in this way. A common idea amongst Westerners is that annihilation is an unavoidable fact: 'When you're dead you're dead ' But unless one wakes up to the truth of it - East or West - one is caught in cultural conditioning and personal beliefs. Buddhism is about becoming aware of what life actually is rather than being blinded by beliefs and conditioning. The Buddha saw life as a changing procession of conditions, events, and circumstances, one thing leading to another without beginning or end, timeless and limitless. And he recognised that the part of ourselves which is aware, which sees and knows, is never born and never dies. He spoke of a direct 'seeing' into the nature of existence beyond words, beyond the intellect. Understanding the cause and effect process - the nature of karma and rebirth - and what lies behind it is the underlying message of this book. Diana St Ruth points out that Buddhism is a personal journey of discovery which involves seeing through one's own delusions. She leads us by degrees to a place of awareness, clarity of mind, and understanding.

Cases of responsive xenoglossy thus add to the evidence concerning the survival of human personality after death.

“A terrific introduction to the Buddha’s teachings.” —Paul Blairon, California Literary Review This indispensable volume is a lucid and faithful account of the Buddha’s teachings. “For years,” says the Journal of the Buddhist Society, “the newcomer to Buddhism has lacked a simple and reliable introduction to the complexities of the subject. Dr. Rahula’s What the Buddha Taught fills the need as only could be done by one having a firm grasp of the vast material to be sifted. It is a model of what a book should be that is addressed first of all to ‘the educated and intelligent reader.’ Authoritative and clear, logical and sober, this study is as comprehensive as it is masterly.” This edition contains a selection of illustrative texts from the Suttas and the Dhammapada (specially translated by the author), sixteen illustrations, and a bibliography, glossary, and index. “[Rahula’s] succinct, clear overview of Buddhist concepts has never been surpassed. It is the standard.” —Library Journal

MORE THAN 3 MILLION COPIES IN PRINT • “A stunningly honest, engrossing account . . . Shirley MacLaine’s discovery of a new sense of purpose, joy, energy, and love will touch and astonish you.”—Literary Guild Magazine An outspoken thinker, a celebrated actress, a truly independent woman, Shirley MacLaine takes us on an intimate yet powerful journey into her personal life and inner self. An intense, clandestine love affair with a prominent politician sparks Shirley’s quest of self-discovery. From Stockholm to Hawaii to the mountain vastness of Peru, from disbelief to radiant affirmation, she at last discovers the roots of her very existence . . . and the infinite possibilities of life. Shirley opens her heart to explore the meaning of a great and enduring passion with her lover Gerry; the mystery of her soul’s connection with her best friend David; the tantalizing secrets behind a great actor’s inspiration with the late Peter Sellers. And through it all, Shirley’s courage and candor opens new doors, new insights, new revelations—and a luminous new world she invites us all to share.

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." --Dalai Lama That's easy for the Dalai Lama to say--but for the rest of us, understanding this mysterious, multilayered faith can be very difficult. With this updated and revised edition of the classic Buddhist primer, you can delve into the profound principles of nonviolence, mindfulness, and self-awareness. From Tibetan Buddhism to Zen, you'll explore the traditions of all branches of Buddhism, including: The life of Buddha and his continuing influence throughout the world A revealing survey of the definitive Buddhist texts What the Sutras say about education, marriage, sex, and death Faith-fueled social protest movements in Tibet, Burma, and elsewhere Buddhist art, poetry, architecture, calligraphy, and landscaping The proven physiological effects of meditation and other Buddhist practices The growing impact of Buddhism on modern American culture In this guide, you'll discover the deceptively simple truths of this enigmatic religion. Most important, you learn how to apply the tenets of Buddhism to your daily life--and achieve clarity and inner peace in the process.