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Introduction
Controversy stirs whenever a religious group claims to have a true understanding and explanation about life after death. Various religious beliefs have explanations regarding the fate of human beings after death. However, their convictions are based on the practices, beliefs and traditions of those who went before them. Buddhists believe that there are various transitional stages in life and human beings must pass through most of these depending on how they lived. This paper examines Buddha’s response to speculation about life after death.
Buddha’s Response to Speculation about Life after Death
Buddha has two meanings and the first one refers to the founder of Buddhists. Buddha Shakyamuni was a religious leader who believed in life after death and claimed that anybody that has seen the light understands issues from a spiritual point. Today, Buddhism refers to Buddha as any individual who lives a spiritual life and is enlightened. The person is considered clean and holy and this means that the individual must have reached the highest level of spiritual enlightenment (Evans-Wentz 77).
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso explains that “A Buddha is a person who is completely free from all faults and mental obstructions” (Ho 51) Buddha offers the following responses to the speculation about life after death.
First, Buddha believes that life is not static and this means that it has an end. Most critics questioned Buddha and wanted to know if this religion believes in life and death as part of the transitional stages that human beings must go through. Buddha acknowledged that life has an end that is marked by death. Contrary to public opinion, Buddha did not believe in having supreme power over death. This religion does not resist the belief of life as an eternity. It recognises death as a mandatory stage in life and every person must die. Buddha said that death is a path to living an eternal life. He believed that the years an individual lives are just like dust and this world is like a star at dawn (Evans-Wentz 132).
This means that it is just a transition stage that lasts very few years. Therefore, all individuals must be prepared for death and nobody can avoid this stage. Buddha’s response to the speculation as to whether death marks the end of life is explained by referring to death as a rite of passage to another stage and not the end of living.
Secondly, Buddha responded that there is life after death and that people do not die and disappear. Reincarnation (transmigration) is a phase where the human soul is brought back to the world in different forms (Ho 71). Buddha explained that people should live pious lives so that when they die they will come back in a different form that is acceptable and enjoyable. His Annatta Doctrine describes reincarnation in a more succinct way that enables his critics to understand how the body transforms after death (Simons 97).
This doctrine explains that life is endless and when people die they come back in different forms. The body decomposes and disappears but the soul never dies. He believed that the soul is immortal and nothing can destroy it. Buddha used the example of a candle lighting others to explain how reincarnation works. He did not deny that life is endless but explained that people do not go anywhere different apart from this earth (Evans-Wentz 155).
This means that human life started and continues in this world and will never depart from here. He referred to reincarnation as transmigration because he believes that the bodies are different but they take the same soul at different stages just like how a candle can light other candles. Buddha believed that people’s actions determined their new bodies. He used the concept of Karma to explain that individuals who lived ungodly lives were given bodies of animals that are hated in the society. For instance, thieves, murderers, rapists and prostitutes came back as dogs, bats or pigs. On the other hand, those who lived pure lives came back as pets and other animals that are liked by most people in the society.
Lastly, Buddha believed in Nirvana, which is a state of final liberation of the human soul from the cycle of death and rebirth (Ho 87). This stage marks the end of suffering associated with the physical body. Nirvana means to extinguish; therefore, this stage eliminates all the suffering associated with physical life. The goal of all Buddhists is to reach Nirvana where there is no pain or suffering. Members who are pure and lived holy lives are allowed to proceed to this stage. Buddha responds to speculations regarding the non-existence of this stage as propaganda spread by those who know they cannot achieve purity in their lives (Evans-Wentz 172). Moreover, he argued that this phase is incomprehensible and inconceivable unless an individual experiences it.
Conclusion
Buddha gave few responses regarding speculation about life after death. He explained that life does not have an end and even death is just but a transitional stage. His argument was that life after death is influenced by Karma and people came back in different forms depending on how they lived before death. Nirvana is the final stage of life and it is achieved by individuals who lived pure lives. Buddha argued that people have the freedom of choosing what they want to become after death.
Works Cited
Evans-Wentz, Walter Yeeling. The Tibetan Book of the Dead: Or the After-death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, According to Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup’s English Rendering. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
Ho, David YF. “Selfhood and identity in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism: contrasts with the West.” Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 25.2 (1995): 115-139. Print.
Simons, John. Understanding Buddhism and Life after Death: Controversies and Truths. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2014. Print.
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