For some reason, I’ve had the eastern philosophies on my mind lately. One thing occupying my mind the most is the Buddhist idea of reincarnation. I think that Siddhartha Gotama may have been on to something with this idea; however, I think he also got it completely wrong if he really meant that a part of us would literally become another distinct being after we died. I do think that to some extent, every living thing does become a part of other living things when it dies. It’s really not a new or difficult concept, and I’m sure most would agree. When a being dies, its body decomposes (or is burnt) and helps to feed things like plants, bacteria, and fungi which in turn help feed things like animals and insects. In that sense, we really do become a part of other living beings. So, in a strange and very convoluted way, I guess you could say that we are reincarnated after we die. We just become many different beings rather than one discrete being. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with Karma or how well we conformed to someone else’s moral code of conduct, so again… not completely accurate by my counts.
Anyway, I am now going to attempt to go where I was actually intending to go when I started writing this post. As you may guess from the previous paragraph, I do not believe in literal reincarnation after death. I think that the Buddhist philosophy teaches some valuable lessons, but this is one of the areas where I feel it comes up short. There are some that claim to have proof of reincarnation and many of them have some very interesting stories to tell, but I would have to just let those continue to be what they are… stories (You can do a search on Google for “proof of reincarnation” if you’d like to see some of them. I’d rather not link to any particular site). Anyway, I do think that the idea of reincarnation is an interesting idea. However, I think it’s even more interesting to think of a reincarnation of self which happens while one is still alive. Some would say that one is reinventing themselves rather than reincarnation. They may be correct when thinking in terms of the semantics of the English language, but that just isn’t quite as interesting now is it? Besides, what I’m talking about here isn’t necessarily the voluntary act of changing one’s personality in an attempt to improve one’s life. What I’m referring to is the involuntary changes that one goes through as a result of living life as time passes by.
We humans pass through several phases in our lives. As some would say, there are many chapters to the book of life. With each phase (or chapter), we gain a new perspective, a new point of view on life. No matter how hard we may try not to, we grow and so does our mind. Sometimes these changes are so drastic that our very consciousness seems to have been replaced. The only difference from the Buddhist idea of reincarnation is that, technically, we still have the same body (although some would even argue that point, but that’s another post entirely). But are we really still the same person? I don’t mean in the literal and physical sense. Using that type of criteria, we will always be the same person. On a philosophical level, however, when we think of the term “self” – Is a grown man, a father and husband, really the same person he was when he was a child? Well, of course not. Or should I say, hopefully not. Put another way, as one transitions from one phase of life to the next, their self (or at least a part of their self) dies as their new self is born from the pieces that remain. Now, put into this context, one may very well reach some sort of metaphorical Nirvana where they no longer need to change their self. You may even be able to call this enlightenment (more likely, though, we’d just call it old age). Of course, I have to think that life might be pretty boring if I ever reached that point. Of course, I also tend to think that the idea of heaven is pretty boring, too.
Anyway, I think there is a subtle lesson to all of this (Although, I doubt that it’s the lesson Buddha was trying to teach). The first thing to remember is that the only constant is change. Who we are now is not who we were. As an adult, the person you once were as a child is now dead. All that remains of you is the you that is you right now. In other, less morbid words, we are as we are now and not as we were. Try as we might, we will never be that same person again. Therefore, we should not think of ourselves are we once were. Rather, we should leave the past where it belongs… in the past. Sure, learn from your past mistakes, but realize that the past is gone as is the old you. This is one of the easiest lesson to learn yet is often the absolute hardest to implement.
