The Buddha’s teachings offers
the most satisfactory explanation of where man came from and where
he is going. When we die, the mind, with all the tendencies,
preferences, abilities and characteristics that have been developed
and conditioned in this life, re-establishes itself in a new being.
Thus the new individual grows and develops a personality
conditioned both by the mental characteristics that have been
carried over from the previous life and by the new environment. The
personality will change and be modified by conscious effort and
conditioning factors like education, parental influence and society
but once again at death, it will re-establish itself as life in a
new being. This process of dying and being reborn will continue
until the conditions that cause it, the mental factors of craving
and ignorance, cease. When they do, instead of being reborn, the
mind attains a state called Nirvana
How does the mind go from one body to
another?
When a person is dying, he
begins to lose conscious control of his mental processes. There
comes a time when his actions and habits locked away in his
memories are released. In many instances, there arises in his mind
a mental image. This image is totally involuntarily and is produced
by his karma or past actions. Thus depending upon the nature of the
particular karma that produces this image, the person may see dark
shadowy figures, frightening images, or he may see his relatives or
perhaps visions of scenic beauty. Quite often, he will cry out at
these visions or remark about them to his visitors. Even though the
physical body may be weak these thought units are very strong as
death approaches. When the body finally breaks down at the point of
death these energies are released as mental energy. As energy
cannot be destroyed they have to re-establish themselves in a new
body thus causing the phenomenon of rebirth.
Think of it being like radio
waves which are not made up of words and music but energy at
different frequencies, which are transmitted, travel
instantaneously through space, are picked up by the receiver from
where the radio produces them as words and music. It is the same
with the mind. At death, mental energy travels through space, is
picked up by the fertilized egg of the future mother, is reborn as
a new being and manifests as a new personality.
Thus it is important that a
dying person is comforted and reminded of his good deeds. He should
not be made confused and visitors should not overtly grieve in his
presence. Neither should unfamiliar ideas like a new religion be
introduced to him. The Buddha advises that when one is fearful, he
should recall to mind the Buddha, the
Dhamma and the Sangha.
Is one always reborn
as a human being?
No, there are several realms
into which one can be reborn. Some people are reborn in heavenly
planes, some are reborn in hell planes, some may be reborn as
ghosts and as animals. Heaven is not a place but a state of
existence where one has a subtle body and where the mind
experiences mainly pleasure. Some religions strive very hard to be
reborn in a heavenly existence mistakenly believing it to be a
permanent state. But it is not. Like all conditioned states, heaven
is impermanent and when one's life span there is finished, one
could well be reborn again as a human. Hell, likewise, is not a
place but a state of existence where one has a subtle body and
where the mind experiences mainly anxiety and distress. Being a
ghost, again, is a state of existence where the body is subtle and
where the mind is continually plagued by longing and
dissatisfaction. So heavenly beings experience mainly pleasure,
hell beings and ghosts experience mainly pain and human beings
experience usually a mixture of both. So the main difference
between the human realm and other realms is the body type and the
quality of experience.
"Those who
imagine evil where there is none, and do not see evil where it is
-- upholding false views, they go to states of woe. Those who
discern the wrong as wrong and the right as right -- upholding
right views, they go to realms of bliss. ~ Dhammapada
318,319"
What decides where we will be reborn?
The most important factor, but
not the only one, influencing where we will be reborn and what sort
of life we shall have, is karma. The word karma
means 'action' and refers to our intentional mental actions. In
other words, what we are is determined very much by how we have
thought and acted in the past. Likewise, how we think and act now
will influence how we will be in the future. Just as radio waves
will be picked up by a radio tuned to its particular frequency, the
mental energies released at the time of death will naturally be
re-established in a new material body that most suits it. Thus, the
gentle, loving type of person shall be reborn in a heavenly realm
or as a human being in a comfortable environment. The anxious,
worried or extremely cruel type of person is reborn in a hell
realm, or as an animal, or as a human being born in extremely
difficult environment.
Not only is there scientific
evidence to support the phenomena of rebirth, it is the only
after-life theory that has any evidence to support it. During the
last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that
some people have vivid memories of their former lives. Professor
Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia's Department of
Psychology has described dozens of cases of this type in his books.
He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year study of people who
remember former lives is very strong evidence for
rebirth.
Following is the link :
http://www.parami.org/buddhistanswers/when_we_die.htm