Reincarnation

Religions tend to encourage belief in supernatural, unprovable, or unobservable concepts to direct followers' actions towards specific ends. Christianity's heaven and hell act as reminders to behave morally at all times. Judaism's concept of god brings weight to the teachings laid out by its founders. Some, however, lack an apparent purpose, and seem to be remnants from days when the world was understood differently. Shinto's belief in powerful spirits that can cause prosperity via offerings steeps the religion with an ancient, supernatural feeling. For some, the mystic nature of beliefs like these can be foundations for faith; they provide ideas that cannot be conclusively disproved by the methods of science. For others, they are meaningless traditions accepted only because followers from previous generations believed in them.

As I learn more about Buddhism, I find that belief in reincarnation is an accepted principle and is rarely questioned. Each being has been reborn an essentially limitless number of times in all possible arrangements, primarily due to actions in previous lives. At first, I thought that the idea was just another purposeless anachronism -- an imaginative tradition adapted from prevailing beliefs in India at the time of the Buddha. However, upon further reading, I discovered at least two possible purposes. The more obvious application is to encourage good, compassionate behavior so that one might be re-born in a better situation. This concept lacks weight for two reasons: proof of rebirth dependent on actions is lacking (thus reducing its efficacy as a motivator), and, more subtly, by implying that being reborn in better circumstances is highly desirable, it defies the essential Buddhist teaching that one's inner condition is not dependent on external circumstances, but is fully dependent on one's own (improvable) mindset.

Personally, I think the more exciting purpose relates to compassion. Patrul Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist master, tells of one clever application of belief in reincarnation. To strengthen our compassion for others, we should remember that each being -- whether animal or human, friend or enemy -- has been our mother, father, or child in a previous life. We should therefore be concerned for the wellness of each being to the same degree as we are for our dearest family members.

I find this idea particularly empowering because it provides a concrete foundation from which to develop my compassion for strangers, enemies, and even animals. Even though I don't think reincarnation as described by the Buddhists could be possible, when I imagine that the person passing me on the street was my father in a previous life, I'm immediately filled with a sense of love and caring for him. It's much more effective than simply trying to draw up some abstract concept of love and cast it on a stranger; there is simply too much confusion as to how I should think, and how I should apply it, leaving little mental room for me to actually express the emotion. But, Buddhism skillfully uses reincarnation, the idea that we were all relatives in past lives, to harness the unfaltering, unquestioned, and naturally effusive love that exists between family members, and helps us apply it to all beings.

Cool.