kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( Keith Evans) (10/16/90)
>Suppose we accept that there is a soul, and that we are reincarnated. At >some time, therefore, the soul must enter the body (since it comes >intact from a previous life). When does it do this? Before we are born? >After? At the same time? Are there any references in religious texts (please >give them) on this? > >If we accept there is a soul, but no reincarnation, then this problem >can be explained away. We can (as one line of argument) say that the soul >``grows with'' the body during gestation, in accordance with those who believe >that all matter has some form of consciousness; so the developing foetus has >developing consciousness, which could lead to the soul. Sorry, I didn't do this yesterday, my car was in the shop and I didn't make it to work which is why I'm in on Saturday. Karma: Shakyamuni Buddha, in the last 8 years of his life, taught the Lotus Sutra. Many thought (and he himself said so, many times) that he had gained enlightenment at age 30 under the Bodhi tree in India. In the Lotus Sutra, he revealed the lenght of his life, that actually he had gained enlightenment many lifetimes ago in the distant past. He had always been in the world teaching the Law. He also proclaimed that the Lotus Sutra is the highest he "has preached, i preaching and will preach" and all the other sutras are provisional. Basically, the reality of life is life and death. Once born, everything must die. We kill plants and animals to eat. Our fingernails are dead skin. Life is eternal, beginningless and endless. We've already had so many lifetimes that we couldn't count them. But all the causes (thoughts, words, and deeds) that we made in those past lives return to us as an effect based on cause and effect. Some of these causes may not become manifest until some future life. Why are some people born black? Or yellow? Or white? Or handicapped? Or into rich (or poor) circumstances? It is based on previous causes. In Nichiren Shoshu, this law is called Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, as a result of Nichiren Daishonin's (1222-1282) study of the Buddha's teachings. In this way we choose our parents in the next life, based on the causes that are made in the present (and past) lives. When one dies, he becomes one with the law of the universe (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo). There is no spiritual realm that one goes to as spiritual and material are one. Shakyamuni Buudha said (right before teaching ther Lotus Sutra) that "all wisdom and truths come from one law" and Nichiren confirmed this by writing the "Rissho Ankoku Ron" (Securing the Peace of the Land Through the Propagation of true Buddhism" thseis) to the Emperor of Japan (1261). He said that the basic cause of all suffering and misery is belief in incorrect religious doctrines and false ideologies. The point is when one dies, not believing in the true law, he will be reborn in avichi hell. The hell is the circumstances that one is reborn in. This will last for aeons. Maybe one would be aborted, if even fortunate enough to be born a human being. Maybe they (an individual) won't be reborn again for a long time. But if one dies believing in the true law, then they gain enlightenment and are reborn instantly in the good circumstances. One's rebirth is started at conception. Its hard not to think of karma as similar to a soul by the way we talk about it, but I believe that that is an incorrect interpretation. Karma is all the causes one has made in the past. For instance, a star explodes (dies) and is scattered throughout th solar system. At first it was just hydrogen and helium. But it created other elements, especially in its dising gasp (supernova). Eventually, due to gravity it comes back together and forms another star (or many). This star is metal-rich as it has more than just hydrogen and helium. You could say it was "reborn". But it always existes, so how could you say that it died? This was written in analogy to human life. The question is whether your life is latent (dead) or manifest (alive). The point is that you can't change your life (and make it better) when you're dead. Only while you are alive can you do that. So when one dies, his past live(s) are reviewed ("My life flashed before my eyes!") and then your next circumstances are determined right there and you can't change them. -- Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Respectfully, Keith Evans kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov
courtney@inmet.inmet.com (10/18/90)
could you tell the us a little of DA KALKI. I know nothing about him, the tradition he comes from, or his teachings. Thanks dc