IS REBIRTH OR REINCARNATION TRUE?
Posted on March 7th, 2011
Shripal Nishshanka Fernando
For the last hundreds of years the world has profoundly witnessed thousands of rebirth or reincarnation stories all around. Many of those have been thoroughly investigated by recognized institutions and universities and also have authentically recorded for reference.
Whatever the fact is, the truth has been successfully suppressed by several media which have been controlled by many religions for the sake of their survivals. Even though these rich and powerful media could hide and cover-up the real facts of rebirth and reincarnation, to a certain extend ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ they cannot destroy the Truth forever.
Day by day real incidents of rebirth and related stories are emerging from all over the world and the innovated technology has taken a bold move to capture them and convey the message to the world.
In near future rebirth will not be a doubtful myth anymore but a fact to be believed in the same manner we know today that the Earth is a globe and not a two dimensional plate and the day and night are caused by not anybodyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wish but because of the rotation of the Earth around the sun.
This attached video can be recognized as an eye-opener for the rebirth and reincarnation;
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ http://www.fox8.com/wjw-reincarnation-txt,0,1190900.story
March 7th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
Very true and timely reminder. Darwin’s evolution theroy was given so much marketing, yet no one came up and said he was a monkey 500000 years ago. No one involved in Rama – Sita storey too did not compe up yet. Most westerners believe rebirth now. Why not make a dtad base with all the evidence and settle this matter , which will kill stupidness forever?
March 8th, 2011 at 3:20 am
The video clip is interesting. Scientists and people such as Arthur Charles Clarke have investigated rebirth without finding verifiable evidence. One of the problems scientists face is how is the information that is transmitted from one person to the next coded, stored, transmitted and received ? Can DNA retain all the info claimed by those experiencing rebirth ? Some experts in the forum can help ? On the other hand some people may attempt to benefit from an ancient Indian/Hindu myth.
March 8th, 2011 at 6:26 am
What is the Thing that keeps each of us alive ? Certainly the Breath (emphasized so well in Buddhism), plays its part. Without the Breath, we die. What keeps the Breath going in each of us ? What leaves us when we stop breathing and die ? No one can measure this Thing that keeps us Alive. That is what presumably gets reborn, along with prior birth information/experiences, lessons learnt, etc. No one is reborn in the same shape and circumstances, but does seem to carry past lessons learnt, talents and experiences, however vaguely it is felt as a sixth sense.
In mathematics, in certain problems that seem insolvable, we can assume a whole lot of possibilities which leads to the most probable solution to a problem (hypothesize). Rebirth is just like that, we think. Amazing records of children’s recollections of
past lives (such as in the selection of the Dalai Lama), reaffirms rebirth.
March 8th, 2011 at 8:22 pm
DNA of monkey and human are close but so different creatures. If Ben Silva is born as a monkey only 99% DNA can transfer. His questions prove Ben is not a Buddhist but a Muslim or other agent trying to break Sinhala- Buddhist link.
March 9th, 2011 at 11:28 am
Most of the time reincarnation stories are told by people who die young in the previous birth.
March 9th, 2011 at 4:15 pm
This is what our Lord Buddha preached. The problem is within this universe where people tries to deviate from the truth in order to keep faith in their religions . Egoism takes a lead on this matter. It is sad to see that people from other religions refuse to accept the facts when its proved beyond reasonable doubt. As a result wars will be going on till everyone perishes. If people wake up and realize the truth I am sure that all of us will be happy and live a very peaceful life.
March 11th, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Sanath,
As scientifical knowledge become more and more, rebirth is secretly trusted in the western society- no doubt in that. Rebirth is accepted by all inteligent people all over the world. Unfortunately in Sir Lanka ( a country with very strong faith) , more and more pundits ( who are actually fools) try to argue and invent Buddhism. They should know that Buddhism was never invented, it is uncovered only by Buddhas ( not even by Sangha). What did Buddhas discovered ? 4 noble truth. If 4 noble truth is harmful to any nation why should Buddhas endure all the trouble to discover it ? Buddhism has nothing to do with violence,war,racism and politics but there is advise with compassion to violent people, lazy people,foolish people,kings and even politicians ( or kings). Basic Buddhism does not make people foolish and lame but intense,energitic, straight and wise.
People like Ben Silvas ( although their foolishness argue against) assume they are Buddhas and end up being Devadattas. We should be compassionate towards them.
March 13th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
Dham says ‘Buddhism makes intense,energitic, straight and wise’ If this is the case how did many Buddhists ended up in rivers of blood, Buddhism got wiped out from many Buddhist countries, Buddhist countries ended up poor. Dham need to brush up knowledge on history. I like to return compliments: Pity Dham does not have any brain cells. . If he had, he could contribute to the discussion rather than hurl insults.
March 14th, 2011 at 6:08 am
Dear Ben : I would like to address these sentences: ” If this is the case how did many Buddhists ended up in rivers of blood, Buddhism got wiped out from many Buddhist countries, Buddhist countries ended up poor”.
(1) Re words “rivers of blood ..”: In the 20th Century, it were the western countries that lost over 32 Million Christians (almost all were young male Caucasians), in WW II alone, plus some 12 Million Jews. WW II set the stage for the arms culture of the west which is evident to this day. Does this mean that Christianity & Judaism failed ? We are posing this question to Ben who states that Buddhism caused failure of Asian nations.
Prior to WW II, Lanka and other Asian countries were taken over by the various western trading countries, viz. the Portuguese, the Dutch, British, and for other parts of Asia, the French too. These ‘take overs’ were done for Trade routes, a servile work force, and other benefits to the conquering nations which were Christian/Catholic/Muslim.
Question to Ben : How on earth did Christian/Catholic/Muslim nations become so aggressive ?
(2) So, “Buddhism got wiped out from many Buddhist countries ..” ? Can Buddhism, which is the absolute Truth be wiped
out ? Can the Laws of Truth/God be wiped out ?
Some people embracing the religion of conquering nations, does not mean that Buddhism was wiped out of those countries. Embracing the religion of the conquerers means that such conversions were done out of FEAR or for FAVOR – this is no true conversion at all, as Conversion done out of FEAR, is a most negative human emotion. Of late, Conversions are done for Favors such as jobs, education, etc. which again is no true Conversion.
* Did the desecration of the Bahmian Buddha statues wipe out Buddhism ? On the contrary, it has brought world wide attention to the statues and Buddhism itself, and examination of those who partially destroyed these beautiful statues throwing the perpetrators in a negative light.
* Did not the Vietnamese fight the might of the American fighting forces with sharpened sticks and booby traps ?
The list is endless of Buddhist people striving for self preservation through fair means.
Conclusion : It was neither Buddhism, Christianity or Islam that brings the down fall of nations in war, east, west or mid-west. It is the non-practice of the Core Truths of these religions that brings the downfall of nations. All religions should address only the Spiritual Needs of people. Our Material Needs should be addressed through our thinking abilities, guided by the Core Spiritual Values of the religions of the world, using technology wherever possible to preserve the Environment and all life on this planet.
Addressing Lanka problems, we would recommend that Buddhist Associations be much more assertive and widen their scope to include peoples social needs of the day. Transparency in accounting for moneys donated, and taking on viable projects only, would make such Associations flourish. Such Associations should be run like businesses, only be non-profit.
We also recommend that Family Planning be implemented in Lanka and in every over populated country. Rewards should be given to the small family through the tax system.
Buddhist countries must maintain a sense of balance in Spiritual and Material needs of people, with permanent armed forces for protection.
Above written with good intent.
March 14th, 2011 at 6:11 am
P.S.: I would like to add that some Buddhist countries ended up ‘poor’ because they saw that any wealth they created would be plundered by invaders. In those days, they did not have guns to protect themselves.
March 14th, 2011 at 10:29 am
To answer Fran: My apologies if I was not clear. There are many things I agree with Fran and Fran has contributed to the discussion. I was referring to Buddhists in the Silk route that got killed by Muslims, iBuddhists in Malaysia that got killed by Cholas, Sinhala Buddhists that got killed by Tamils, Sinhala Buddhists that got killed by Portuguese etc. In the recent past Buddhist sat the Kent & Dollar Farm, Buddhists pilgrims and also young Buddhist monks got killed by Tamils. Did these Buddhists get any ‘intense,energitic, straight and wise’ from Buddhism ?. If they got any energy or wisdom, they could have escaped death from invaders. In the case of Nalanda Buddhhists, they did not fight back or run away. Clea.rly Buddhism did not give them energy or wisdom to escape death from invaders. If we do not learn from history, we are bound to make the same mistakes.
Question of truth: The truth depends on the believer and by how much the mind has been influenced by the belief system. Christians, Muslims and a few others believe that the truth is ’God created the earth’. Some Muslims even believe that it is the truth that if they kill infidels, thay can go to heaven. There is a very good discussion on truth in Wikepedia..There is also an interesting article on how the belief system affects the mind in http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/MindVirus.html
Please read these two articles.
Buddhism no longer exist or practiced in general, in countries in the Silk route, Malaysia and Indonesia etc. The question is is Buddhism as a religion is still there in those countries or has it been wiped out. One can safely say, if it is not there any more and that it has been wiped out for what ever reason, killing or conversion.
March 14th, 2011 at 11:56 am
Ben : I agree with you that Sinhala Buddhist people are generally trusting & may be naive in regard to other groups of people.
They had no idea what the social structures were/are in Tamil Nadu, and that Tamil people of low caste or no caste (Dalits) were coming into Lanka to get away from caste issues of Tamil Nadu. The British brought in over a Million Tamils of low caste, and the Dutch about half a Million of them, all as indentured labor. Many thousands of Tamils came in as illegal migrants. It is only now that the Sinhala Buddhists are aware of Tamil Nadu issues, and the resultant problems in Lanka. At present, we all know that all illegal migration into Lanka must be stopped at all costs.
Ben, I have no idea just how many Buddhists died in the Silk Route or converted to other religions for safety. I also have no idea how many Buddhists died at the hands of Cholas in Malaysia & Lanka. Or just how many Sinhala Buddhists were killed by the Portuguese. All these are historical events. They are sad events and certainly are lessons in survival for us. Just as we in Lanka have learnt our lessons on survival at some cost, the other Buddhists elsewhere have to learn their lessons in survival.
However, what happened to the Buddhists of this world is nothing compared to the numbers of Christians/Catholics who have died in the various European wars, especially WW I&II.
Historically speaking, some Buddhists have disappeared from some areas, but at the same time Buddhism has sprung up elsewhere. What the net growth numbers are, I have no idea. According to some analysts, Buddhists are the fourth largest group in the world, so matters can’t be that bad. Please correct me if I am wrong here.
I agree with Ben that Buddhists must be vigilant about their safety. What I keep saying is that all Buddhist Organisations all over Lanka (and the world, perhaps), should definitely widen their scope of action and play a wide role in the daily lives & needs of Buddhist people, quite apart from the role of the Buddhist Temple. That way, they can take over the role others are playing in the lives of Buddhists, and stop conversions, etc. Even security can be part of Buddhist Organisations in the form of Neighborhood Watches which can work in liaison with the Police & armed forces.
March 14th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
There are over 50 religions in the world, all claiming to be true. The world religion map http://maps.howstuffworks.com/world-religions-map.htm gives some idea of the distribution. My view is to move away from religion and move towards science, then our mind cannot be fooled easily. If you have not read it it, religion mind virus is worth reading. http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/MindVirus.html
March 14th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
See what happened during WW II – Einstein had misgivings when he saw the possibilities of atomic energy, and his discovery was used (misused) to end WW II by bombing of Hiroshima & Nagasaki in Japan. Japan, however, had nothing to do with the start of WW II – it started due to German fascism and was really a European war, but Japan caught the main end of the flack ! Science, applied without the mitigating effects of religion, can make up a crazy world full of sorrow and robots.
Ben, in a Science Only world, we may have a Central Computer controlling us all ! It may make a good Sci-Fi film, but we would any day prefer a human leader who is well educated and has a good Heart. There are a number of Sci-Fi films where science has ruled the world through a computer – not nice !
Personally I am not against the Core Teachings of any religion, but there are errors of perception in most of them which should be corrected.
March 15th, 2011 at 1:11 am
Morality and values are as important as science. I supported science as it works on theories and evidence rather than blind belief. Buddhism has good things on morality such as the precepts. Also it has good things such as meditation, middle path and Kalama sutra. For any one or any org. to succeed in the modern world, it should have clear aims and objectives. Nirvana, seeking extinction is probably a misjudgement that got mixed up with ancient Hindu Nirvana idea. Certainly Nirvana is very harmful to the Sinhalese and has no evidence of existance of Nirvana. Many have the opinion, including Einsten that morality and values could be taught, without resorting to religion. Buddhism in Lanka should be protected due to our heritage and cultural values but our thinking should be linkd to science.
March 15th, 2011 at 6:04 am
Two more points to consider before I close this chapter :
(1) We think that Science is fine when applied toward MATERIAL NEEDS of mankind. Even then there has to be checks and balances, Laws must be put in place and institutions created to check so called entrepreneurs using Scientific ideas in practice. Take for an instance the simple food item, margarine. It is a food item created in a lab somewhere. It is a fat for human consumption, that is artificially altered and supposed to be better for good health than fats like butter. We have told so by so called scientific people, so we believe them. But, is this true ?
This is what is revealed about margarine, also scientific :
“There is something called trans fats we now believe contribute to cancer, heart, and other life-threatening diseases. Trans fats are now considered worse than animal fats. Trans fats may lower HDL (good) cholesterol, but it makes it more difficult for arteries to dilate and raise the risk of diabetes. Most stick margarine has more trans or saturated fat than tub margarine. The trans fat helps stick margarine retain its shape”.
Again : ” For one, margarine contains partially hydrogenated oils (trans fat) which is pretty much the worst thing you can put in your body short of poison! These oils clog your arteries. Another reason is that margarines are full of chemicals. Read the ingredients one day and you’ll see. If you don’t know what it is, you probably shouldn’t put it in your body. Another reason is that margarine is empty calories. There are no vitamins/minerals to speak of, they’re just fat calories. And of course, too much fat of any kind is not good for your heart”.
On the other hand, ghee is a natural food, made naturally and has been around for thousands of years. Ghee does not break down under high heat and can be safely used for cooking. So is cold pressed (sekkuwa pressed) coconut oil. Of course, too much fat of any type is bad for our circulatory systems. Less fat the better, for any age group.
Now, we can see that scientifically lab produced marg is definitely not better than old fashioned natural ghee, butter or coconut oil.
However, the science lab can be used for producing analyses of any food. So, in anything, it is HOW we use science. Science can be used for life supportive or life destructive purposes.
(2) Re: SPIRITUAL NEEDS : Same with Religion. Take the good, obviously life supportive parts, and let the rest just be.
Dear Ben, you say “keep Buddhism as a Heritage”. Yet, the Core Teachings of Buddhism is far more than a Heritage. It is the Truth, it is Alive, and therefore must be cherished and safeguarded, to be passed on to future generations to come. Also, would the others treat their religions as a ‘Heritage’ only ? Has not Jesus & Mohammed taught the same values as the Core Teachings of Buddhism ?
You say “Buddhism in Lanka should be protected due to our heritage and cultural values but our thinking should be linkd to science”. We say that Science cannot produce morality & ethics. However, RATIONAL THINKING might produce morality & ethics. The field of Science does not own Rational Thinking. Rational Thinking is the right of any human being. I would like to add that almost all Rational Thinking will end up in agreement with the Core Teachings of Buddhism (and the Core Teachings of any other religion).
I agree with Ben that at this point in time in Lanka, we should put our survival needs in the forefront first. But, we should find solutions to our problems whilst doing our very best to keep to the Core Teachings of the Buddha (Jesus & Mohammed), whilst using Science as a tool for our material needs.
August 30th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Fran Diaz’s comments are rational and are unbiased. In my opinion, in this day and age where majority of the people are open minded with only a few radicals in every religion or philosophy, should concentrate on harmony and compassion. It is absurd to keep tabs on whose who or which religion or philosophy is better. I am a Sinhalese Christian living in Toronto, Canada, for the past 40 years find it amazing to see how peoples of various nationalities and religions live in absolute harmony. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be happening in Sri Lanka. Now that the war with the LTTE is finally over, all Sri Lankans irrespective of their religious or ethinic differences should strive to live in peace. Remember, wars and conflicts of any nature are destructive, it impedes progress and prosperity. It is time to take off from your memory bank what the European Colonial masters did to our island.