M.J. Rose

A reader posted a question regarding the post “The Urban Monk Says…” from 6/11. I’d like to share our correspondence. Belief in reincarnation requires plenty of faith and on the flip side of that faith is what seems like an endless array of mind-boggling philosophical questions… many of which I’d love to eventually touch on in this blog. Any suggestions?

Our reader commented –

“If Buddhism doesn’t support the concept of reincarnation, then why all the tales of figuring out which child is the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama?”

The Reincarnationist replied –

“This is my question exactly. It’s very mysterious that zen buddhism would have the idea that the buddha was not a believer? … i wonder if this is widespread in zen or if it is just this monk’s interpretation? i’d like to read more about it. often religions stray over time from the original teachings, could this be the case in tibetan buddhism with the dalai lama and reincarnation? or is zen just so stripped bare that they’ve removed all belief whatsoever?”

Our reader commented again –

“I emailed him and asked the same question. This is the response:

‘It’s just that – a bunch of tales. His Holiness said on Larry King about six years ago that the more he learned about science, the more skeptical he became about the superstitious elements of the Tibetan tradition (which has less to do with Buddhism than with the magical beliefs that Tibetans already had when Buddhism arrived).

That’s why I say it’s the biggest misconception – because it’s something that many people identify as an integral part of Buddhism that is in fact quite contradictory to Buddhism.

In dynamic peace,
Rev. Dogo Nanshin Barry Graham Sensei'”

The Reincarnationist replied –

“Thank you, this is very interesting stuff re: superstition and magical thinking versus the core of a tradition. Reincarnationists must ask ourselves, is it the EGO that wants to believe I will be born again? Is this belief of ours fueled by FEAR? And the urban monk has a good point which is certainly worth some pondering: which version of ourselves is the reincarnating self?

Ultimately one religion/tradition is not going to solve such a riddle for any of us, particularly those of us who tend to believe in life after death because blind faith is what is needed here. Buddhists strive to find peace by not believing in ‘things’ and by going with the flow so to speak whilst not ‘attaching’ to any one aspect of the ‘flow’ – that is their wonderful tool for existing in this ever-changing, often painful physical reality. So then, what is the the tool for the Reincarnationist? What will help us keep an even keel on the long journey our souls have embarked on?”

Again, our reader –

“It has ever been thus that all religions have been ‘accused’ as stemming from magical thinking by an assortment of other groups. Belief and Faith may be the ultimate magical thinking.

Ontologically I don’t see a necessary conflict between fundamental teachings of Buddha and reincarnation.

Going with the flow as you put it whilst not attaching to any one aspect of the flow could easily fit into the concept of an ‘eternal life force’ flowing from one corporeal form to another and each one has the opportunity to consume fully the notion of “be-here-now” and attain an Enlightenment breaking such a cycle, yes?”

You can see all comments on this post (and add your own) here:

(image source)

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.
~Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, 1734

(Image source: Christina Saj)

No society is worse at long term thinking than ours. Our technology is hardly purchased before it’s out of date, and we often become grumpy waiting in line for groceries when it wasn’t very long ago we humans would have had to wait for our baby greens to grow before harvesting them for a salad with feta cheese that we would have had to make ourselves from the milk of sheep we’ve raised for years! You see my point.

Long term thinking is something reincarnationists do all the time when we imagine who or what we may have been or lived in the past, and what will become of us in the future. But this perspective does not come naturally for many Westerners immersed in modern culture – the quick zap of the remote control, the ease of email, the near-instant gratification of high speed global travel – it’s all so quick and so easy and so very second nature.

Long term thinking was not always a rarity: Some believe that the Izapa civilization was the transitional culture between the older Olmec civilization and the emerging Maya, and it was these ancient Izapa who are thought to have created what we call the Long Count Calendar or the Mayan Calendar. For almost a thousand years the Long Count Calendar was recorded by the Izapa, marking the mudane goings-on of their society as well as mythological events that occurred at the very beginning of the current “World Age” that we are living in now and which, according to the calender, is soon coming to an end…

…and this is how the date December 21, 2012 comes into being. We’ve all heard that an ancient calendar has predicted that the world is going to end in 2012, and few of us are able to shrug it off as easily as we’d like, afterall, the ancients were mysteriously competent in many remarkable ways. However, it may be more “reincarnationist” of us to consider that perhaps the calendar marks less the End of the world, and instead marks an opening for a new Beginning?

Perhaps the world itself is due for a reincarnation?

According to an excellent article I found on edgarcayce.org “2012 was thought of by the Maya as a creation or recreation of the world, possibly during a time of war, conflict, and dominance of the Underworld and the Lords of the Underworld…the end of the Mayan Calendar is simply the end of the present World Age. And, important to us, it simply marks the beginning of the next cycle of rebirth, renewal.” Read the full article here.

For an example of modern long term thinking visit the Long Now Foundation and find out how great thinkers of our own time are considering the long view (and are building a clock that tells time for the next 10,000 years!)…

(This is a photograph of the first working prototype of the Orrery, or planetary display for the 10,000 Year Clock or, “The Clock of The Long Now“)