Signs of future rebirth
- mechashivaz
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- Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:50 pm
Signs of future rebirth
Are there any texts in English that deal with how one could know of their next rebirth? I've heard stories of lamas being able to tell people where they'll be reborn and where to look for their next incarnation. Or similarly, how do those searching for a recently reborn tulku know where to look? thanks!
Re: Signs of future rebirth
Reach the 8th bhumi and you'll be able to choose your next rebirth.
"I have never encountered a person who committed bad deeds." ― Ven. Jìngkōng
- FiveSkandhas
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Re: Signs of future rebirth
You might find this of interest:
How to become a tulku
https://palisuttas.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... e-a-tulku/
.
How to become a tulku
https://palisuttas.wordpress.com/2013/0 ... e-a-tulku/
.
"One should cultivate contemplation in one’s foibles. The foibles are like fish, and contemplation is like fishing hooks. If there are no fish, then the fishing hooks have no use. The bigger the fish is, the better the result we will get. As long as the fishing hooks keep at it, all foibles will eventually be contained and controlled at will." -Zhiyi
"Just be kind." -Atisha
"Just be kind." -Atisha
- Losal Samten
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Re: Signs of future rebirth
This sutra goes over the various delineations of the realms and the causes that make one take birth there. It's quite detailed.
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh287.html
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh287.html
Lacking mindfulness, we commit every wrong. - Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
འ༔ ཨ༔ ཧ༔ ཤ༔ ས༔ མ༔
ཨོཾ་ཧ་ནུ་པྷ་ཤ་བྷ་ར་ཧེ་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།།
ཨཱོཾ་མ་ཏྲི་མུ་ཡེ་སལེ་འདུ།།
Re: Signs of future rebirth
Nice.Losal Samten wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 3:16 am This sutra goes over the various delineations of the realms and the causes that make one take birth there. It's quite detailed.
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh287.html
- PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Signs of future rebirth
Keep in mind, everything is conditional.
Suppose you could look into a magic mirror of crystal ball and see the specific details, the place and parents and so on, of your next rebirth.
But, if you were to then look into that same mirror or crystal ball a month from now, the details of your rebirth would be different than before. Maybe slightly different, and maybe very different.
It’s like fishing in a lake. Each day, same lake, same fishing spot, same type of bait, but maybe a different kind of fish each day. There are a lot of variables!
A good analogy story to the process of rebirth is that of two wagons, each carrying the same amount of lumber (wood), driving on a bumpy road that runs along side of a river.
The lumber in the first wagon is loose. Just a lot of wood boards stacked in the back. It runs over a very big bump, topples over, and all of the wood boards fall into the river and are scattered, washing up here and there on the river banks downstream. Most of the wood is never found.
The lumber in the second wagon is tied together. That wagon also hits a bump, tips over, and it’s contents spills into the river. However, because the wood is bundled together with strong rope, it becomes like a raft and floats down stream until it washes up on the “other shore” of the river bank. But it is easy to find.
In this analogy, the wood represents the composites qualities of the mind of the person who dies. The wood falling into the river symbolizes the death of the person. The strong rope represents one’s meditative practice and the discipline and control of one’s mind. The force of the river which carries the wood downstream refers to karma.
For most people, death is like the story of the first wagon. Rebirth is unpredictable. Our qualities basically scatter, and depending on the karma, can resurface anywhere. Animal realm, ghost realm, any number of situations in human realm, etc.
However, for lamas, yogis and those who have trained their minds, when they die, it is like the wood tied together with strong rope. Their qualities do not dissipate. They are reborn, you might say, “intact”.
Keep in mind, there is no ultimate thing which is a “self” that is reborn. When one takes rebirth, it is actually the various qualities which are reborn again. It’s like carrying dozen eggs home from the grocery store. Yes, they are all in a single carton, but really, it is twelve separate eggs. If you can keep them from breaking, then you will have the same carton of eggs intact when you get home.
I think the link posted previously, referencing Berzin, is very good. There needs to be a conscious effort, a strong conviction about it. Perhaps, close to the moment of death, one can foresee the conditions for one’s rebirth. But I think this takes a lot of meditative practice.
Suppose you could look into a magic mirror of crystal ball and see the specific details, the place and parents and so on, of your next rebirth.
But, if you were to then look into that same mirror or crystal ball a month from now, the details of your rebirth would be different than before. Maybe slightly different, and maybe very different.
It’s like fishing in a lake. Each day, same lake, same fishing spot, same type of bait, but maybe a different kind of fish each day. There are a lot of variables!
A good analogy story to the process of rebirth is that of two wagons, each carrying the same amount of lumber (wood), driving on a bumpy road that runs along side of a river.
The lumber in the first wagon is loose. Just a lot of wood boards stacked in the back. It runs over a very big bump, topples over, and all of the wood boards fall into the river and are scattered, washing up here and there on the river banks downstream. Most of the wood is never found.
The lumber in the second wagon is tied together. That wagon also hits a bump, tips over, and it’s contents spills into the river. However, because the wood is bundled together with strong rope, it becomes like a raft and floats down stream until it washes up on the “other shore” of the river bank. But it is easy to find.
In this analogy, the wood represents the composites qualities of the mind of the person who dies. The wood falling into the river symbolizes the death of the person. The strong rope represents one’s meditative practice and the discipline and control of one’s mind. The force of the river which carries the wood downstream refers to karma.
For most people, death is like the story of the first wagon. Rebirth is unpredictable. Our qualities basically scatter, and depending on the karma, can resurface anywhere. Animal realm, ghost realm, any number of situations in human realm, etc.
However, for lamas, yogis and those who have trained their minds, when they die, it is like the wood tied together with strong rope. Their qualities do not dissipate. They are reborn, you might say, “intact”.
Keep in mind, there is no ultimate thing which is a “self” that is reborn. When one takes rebirth, it is actually the various qualities which are reborn again. It’s like carrying dozen eggs home from the grocery store. Yes, they are all in a single carton, but really, it is twelve separate eggs. If you can keep them from breaking, then you will have the same carton of eggs intact when you get home.
I think the link posted previously, referencing Berzin, is very good. There needs to be a conscious effort, a strong conviction about it. Perhaps, close to the moment of death, one can foresee the conditions for one’s rebirth. But I think this takes a lot of meditative practice.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
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Re: Signs of future rebirth
Hi Padma, great analogies. Can you explain a little bit further what you mean by this?PadmaVonSamba wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 11:24 am For most people, death is like the story of the first wagon. Rebirth is unpredictable. Our qualities basically scatter, and depending on the karma, can resurface anywhere. Animal realm, ghost realm, any number of situations in human realm, etc.
However, for lamas, yogis and those who have trained their minds, when they die, it is like the wood tied together with strong rope. Their qualities do not dissipate. They are reborn, you might say, “intact”.
Keep in mind, there is no ultimate thing which is a “self” that is reborn. When one takes rebirth, it is actually the various qualities which are reborn again. It’s like carrying dozen eggs home from the grocery store. Yes, they are all in a single carton, but really, it is twelve separate eggs. If you can keep them from breaking, then you will have the same carton of eggs intact when you get home.
I mean, undoubtedly in Buddhism single and unique consciousness is taught, no?
Re: Signs of future rebirth
If you consider afflicted aggregates qualities...PadmaVonSamba wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 11:24 amWhen one takes rebirth, it is actually the various qualities which are reborn again. It’s like carrying dozen eggs home from the grocery store.
Re: Signs of future rebirth
Try to look into: The Tibetan Book of the Dead, trans. by Elio Guarisco, foreword by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu: "At the moment of death, signs occur that indicate, in which realm the deceased is going to be reborn. The Tantra Great Secret Union of the Sun and Moon describe these signs as follows: If the heat ebbs from the head and right hand quivers, these signs indicate that the dying person will be born as a god"....
Moreover, from the same source, "Moreover, from the fourth week (in the bardo of becoming) onward propensities from the karma of past actions, that will determine the rebirth of the deceased become stronger and visions and impressions connected with them will become more intense.."
Moreover, from the same source, "Moreover, from the fourth week (in the bardo of becoming) onward propensities from the karma of past actions, that will determine the rebirth of the deceased become stronger and visions and impressions connected with them will become more intense.."
- PadmaVonSamba
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- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am
Re: Signs of future rebirth
What is experienced can be either original unborn mind, which is single and unique, or else the various kleshas and karmic baggage, imprints on the alaya Vijñana and so forth, and all of that which is all composites.Brunelleschi wrote: ↑Fri May 07, 2021 7:07 pmin Buddhism single and unique consciousness is taught, no?
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Re: Signs of future rebirth
If you want to know what you did in your last life, look at where you ended up in this one. (Cleary we all did ok because we were born as humans and met the dharma: but we weren’t particularly clever or diligent, because we didn’t achieve liberation in that lifetime or in the bardo afterwards.) And if you really want to know where you will end up in the next life, look at what you’re doing with this one.
- mechashivaz
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- Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:50 pm
Re: Signs of future rebirth
I've heard it takes much longer to attain liberation in a pure land, so wouldn't it be better to take rebirth in a realm like our current one?
Re: Signs of future rebirth
been there, done that.mechashivaz wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 4:22 pmI've heard it takes much longer to attain liberation in a pure land, so wouldn't it be better to take rebirth in a realm like our current one?
/magnus
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
Re: Signs of future rebirth
heart wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 8:01 pmbeen there, done that.mechashivaz wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 4:22 pmI've heard it takes much longer to attain liberation in a pure land, so wouldn't it be better to take rebirth in a realm like our current one?
/magnus
But did you get the t-shirt?
Re: Signs of future rebirth
yeahMalcolm wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 9:05 pmheart wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 8:01 pmbeen there, done that.mechashivaz wrote: ↑Sat May 08, 2021 4:22 pm
I've heard it takes much longer to attain liberation in a pure land, so wouldn't it be better to take rebirth in a realm like our current one?
/magnus
But did you get the t-shirt?
"We are all here to help each other go through this thing, whatever it is."
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
~Kurt Vonnegut
"The principal practice is Guruyoga. But we need to understand that any secondary practice combined with Guruyoga becomes a principal practice." ChNNR (Teachings on Thun and Ganapuja)
- PadmaVonSamba
- Posts: 9511
- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am
Re: Signs of future rebirth
Personally, I have a real intention on returning to, let’s say, ‘...continue where I left off...” at the point when I die.
I don’t know at all if that will happen or not, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to make that aspiration.
I don’t know at all if that will happen or not, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to make that aspiration.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.