A question about an interpretation of karma and reincarnation
So yesterday I was reading on Wikipedia about karma and reincarnation in Buddhism because these are the only things that don't fully resonate with me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma_in_Buddhism
And I read that:
In early Buddhism no explicit theory of rebirth and karma is worked out (...)
In early Buddhism, rebirth is ascribed to craving or ignorance.
In later Buddhism, the basic ideas is that intentional actions,[44] driven by kleshas ("disturbing emotions"),[web 3] cetanā ("volition"),[21] or taṇhā ("thirst", "craving")[45] create impressions,[web 4][note 8] tendencies[web 4] or "seeds" in the mind. These impressions, or "seeds", will ripen into a future result or fruition.
I'm not sure if I'm interpreting this right. Would this mean that unvirtuous behaviour, like following a craving or treating someone with animosity, leaves imprints on the mind that lead us to repeat those behaviour more often, thus rebirth would mean the new state of the mind that is more or less prone to those behaviour, and when you achieve nirvana you're free from rebirth because you let go of your self, and are permanently virtuous?
With this the part of karma and rebirth make perfect sense to me, because it's like a metaphor that can be used to explain this mechanism to non-buddhist and convince them to behave virtuously.
And another thing that I read was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatta#Anatta_and_moral_responsibility
Buddha criticized the materialistic annihilationism view that denied rebirth and karma, states Damien Keown.[47] Such beliefs are inappropriate and dangerous, stated Buddha, because they encourage moral irresponsibility and material hedonism.
So it makes me feel as he's not treating these as hard truths, but just as a better life philosophy.
[link] [comments]
from Buddhism https://ift.tt/2qUooXz
Post a Comment