Model Essay: Examine the influence of the belief in rebirth on Buddhist individuals and communities

 

Model Answer: Examine the influence of belief in rebirth on Buddhist individuals and communities (10 marks - AQA)

In his first sermon after gaining enlightenment Gautama, the Buddha, taught his followers the way to escape from suffering. This was through perfecting Magga, the Noble Eightfold Path, which will eventually lead a follower to arhatship (enlightenment with the help of the Buddha’s teachings) and achieving nirvana – a realisation of the true nature of things. Whilst the Buddha was alive, he taught all Buddhists to strive for Nirvana, so it is the final goal in Theravada Buddhism, even if this takes many lifetimes for a follower to achieve. The Buddha taught people to eventually escape Samsara through an understanding of the consequences of their actions, and trying to minimise negative consequences and maximise morality in their everyday lives. This is because one day they hope not to be reborn again, to escape the constant dukkha that existence causes through attachment to impermanent aspects of life.  

The Buddha taught all Buddhists that life if governed by karma, which literally means ‘action’, but refers to the universal law of cause and effect. This means that all Buddhists, whether Mahayana or Theravada, strive to perform actions that have good karmic consequences, and work hard to avoid immoral actions with bad karmic consequences. Theravada follow 5 moral precepts that govern their daily life, for example they vow to abstain from killing animals, which means that they will work hard to respect human and animal life and not cause physical harm. Even though some Buddhists eat meat, none would choose to be butchers or hunters as their profession, as their livelihoods must be morally correct to reflect their commitment to Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhists also work to create good karma over many lifetimes, this is because their final goal is to become a Buddha for the benefit of all beings. This is known as the ‘Bodhisattva goal’. Mahayana Buddhists also follow 6 perfections of ‘paramitas’ which help them to become compassionate for all beings, therefore a Mahayana Buddhist’s life is governed by being compassionate to others. Creating bad karma could lead in a negative rebirth in a hell or animal realm, which would in turn incur more negative karma, which it may take a being many lifetimes to overcome. Therefore even lay Buddhists would aim to perform karmically good actions so that they could be reborn in a heavenly realm or again as a human where they could continue to practise Buddhism. Gautama taught that the best possible rebirth is a human rebirth because only as a human can humans escape Samsara.

Buddhist communities often work together to help Buddhists in their eventual goal of becoming arhats or bodhisattvas. For example, joining the Buddhist sangha shows that an individual is committed to this eventual goal, and may even want to achieve it within their current lifetime. Monks will live austere lives that focus on study, meditation and mindfulness to minimise the bad karma that they create. The Buddha demonstrated that mediation is a way for Buddhists to gain Bodhi, so often communities will meditate together to help Buddhists progress through the 4 jhanas (stages of meditation). For example, the Wat Phra Dhammakaya movement is a modern Thai movement that encourages corporate meditation.

For Buddhists, good karma creates punya, which means ‘merit’. Merit is somewhat like a currency that helps people to improve their rebirth in Samsara. It is common in some South Asian Buddhist countries for people to transfer their merit to others, for example young children may join the sangha as novice monks as a way of transferring punya to a recently deceased relative. This is to help them in their future life. Buddhists also perform puja, which is worship of the image of the Buddha or Bodhisattva’s such as Avalokiteshvara. Mahayana Buddhists in particular will worship images of Avalokiteshvara and ask for his help in difficult situations, because they believe that he has unlimited punya to transfer to others to help them in following the Buddhist path. This shows that Buddhists actions are always mindful of the teachings on rebirth – striving for a better rebirth to help them as they follow Buddhist morals.

Nirvana and Samsara: Ultimate Reality in Buddhism

 

Nirvana

·        Nirvana is the state that one reaches when they attain Bodhi and become enlightened. It is possible for one to enter nirvana whilst they are alive and live a completely “other” existence on earth, where they are truly aware of the true nature of things. It may be more accurate to view “nirvana” as a verb, as one becomes “nirvanaed” rather than nirvana being a specific place that one goes to. The most accurate definition of nirvana is ‘total understanding of the true nature of things.’

·        Nirvana during life is impossible to describe, but in this state one cannot create more bad karma as at death they will leave Samsara. Whilst one may still experience physical suffering such as an illness, having total awareness of the true nature of things brings people into the awareness that this suffering will pass.

·        After death, one enters pari-nirvana, there are different interpretations of Nirvana after death – Theravada Buddhists believe that one leaves samsara, becoming inaccessible to the beings that are within the wheel, and that this state is impossible for humans to know about or truly understand. Mahayana Buddhists view pari-nirvana as a splendid heavenly paradise which lasts forever as it is outside of Samsara, but those who enter it are still accessible to beings in Samsara.

·        Nirvana is a state that is difficult to describe, even the Buddha struggled to describe it to his followers, and this struggle was later documented in the Questions of King Milinda in the 80^th Dilemma of the Pali Canon (the Milindapanda). The monk Nagasena tells King Minlinda that it is impossible to describe nirvana through an analogy, as nothing is like nirvana. However, he is able to provide analogies for some of the effects of nirvana, for example it is said to be like a cooling drink of water that assuages one’s thirst. There are strengths in this approach as it presents a realistic picture of a difficult religious concept, but it is also problematic as followers are left unable to truly understand nirvana and this may prevent them from progressing on the path to enlightenment.

·        There is debate in Buddhism as to whether one should aim to become nirvanaed or if it is better to aim for a good rebirth. This entirely dependent on which stage of life a Buddhist is in – it is probably more unrealistic for a lay Buddhist to aim for nirvana in their lifetime if they do not plan on renouncing the world and becoming a monk. They should instead aim for a better rebirth by performing good karmic deeds, which will ensure a good rebirth as a human or God, where they can either focus on nirvana or on creating good punya through good actions. However, for monks it may be more realistic for them to aim for nirvana, which is the final goal of Theravada Buddhism. Buddhists acknowledge that it takes many lifetimes for one to be ready to reach nirvana, the Buddha was said to remember over 100,000 past lives on the night of his enlightenment.

The Arhat Goal

·        Most Theravada Buddhists aim to become an arhat, one who gains enlightenment through the help of someone else. Arhat literally means “worthy one” as it is someone who has become worthy of achieving the difficult goal of enlightenment.

·        The first arhats were the Buddha’s ascetic companions who converted to Buddhism after hearing the Buddha’s First Sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath.

·        As someone progresses through the Buddhist path, they may acquire supernatural powers through mastering meditation practices, but there are strict guidelines about how one should use these, and this should never be their intention – they should aim for nirvana, not to gain supernatural powers like the ability to fly and read minds.

·        It is a grave sin in Theravada Buddhism to falsely claim that you have become enlightened.

·        Arhats are treated with respect by Theravada Buddhists because they have undertaken the great feat of becoming nirvanaed – this is one of the reasons why the laity supports the sangha by giving donations. However, arhats should not be worshipped, as this could cause attachment.

Samsara

·        Samsara is often visually depicted as a wheel, as it represents the constant cycle of death and rebirth that all beings are caught up in. Samsara has many realms: heavenly realms such as those of the Gods and demi-Gods, and hell realms and animal realms, where people go to suffer and produce more bad karma. One’s rebirth is dependent on one’s past karma.

·        Karma is the universal law of cause and effect that governs samsara. It is a universal law like gravity, and is not controlled by any external authority. Karma is seen as the invisible force that drives the wheel of Samsara – good karma results in a good rebirth and bad karma results in a bad rebirth. Karma is also responsible for determining one’s form, status and gender in the next life, amongst other things. Buddhists aim to perform actions which create good karma and avoid actions which cause bad karma. This is because they wish to have a better rebirth as a human (to be able to gain nirvana and escape samsara) or as a God (where it is harder to gain bad karma and one lives a long and happy life).

·        Samsara is linked with the concept of paticassamuppada – this is known as the ‘chain of dependent origination’ and suggests that actions cause other actions in a constant chain. This chain can only be broken by achieving nirvana and escaping Samsara after death.

       Most Buddhists understand Samsara in the literal sense – this suggests that the wheel is real, it is how the cosmology of the universe is really organised, and the realms are real places where people have real experiences. However a minority of people interpret samsara in a purely psychological way. They suggest that instead of one being reborn into different states, one’s behaviour creates mental states which are compared to the realms in a metaphorical way. For example, someone may have a very animalistic state of mind because of their past behaviour, rather than literally being reborn as an animal. Mark Epstein suggests that Samsara is indicative of “neurotic suffering” and different states of mind