Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research
Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.

German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions. 
1126683926
Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research
Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.

German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions. 
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Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

by Bhikkhu Analayo
Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research

by Bhikkhu Analayo

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Overview

Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a brisk tour of rebirth from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.

German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions. The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles. The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence. Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives. The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions. 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781614294627
Publisher: Wisdom Publications MA
Publication date: 04/23/2018
Sold by: SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format: eBook
Pages: 296
File size: 5 MB

About the Author

Bhikkhu Analayo is a scholar of early Buddhism and a meditation teacher. He completed his PhD research on the Satipatthanasutta at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, in 2000 and his habilitation research with a comparative study of the Majjhima Nikaya in the light of its Chinese, Sanskrit, and Tibetan parallels at the University of Marburg, Germany in 2007. His over five hundred publications are for the most part based on comparative studies, with a special interest in topics related to meditation and the role of women in Buddhism.

Table of Contents

Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama ix

Foreword Bhante Gunaratana xiii

Acknowledgments xvi

Abbreviations xvii

Introduction 1

I The Early Buddhist Doctrine of Rebirth 5

Introduction 5

1 Dependent Arising 6

The Twelve Links 7

Consciousness and Name-and-Form 9

Dependent Arising and Rebirth 12

Rebirth and the Underlying Tendencies 15

2 Recollection of Past Lives and the Intermediate Existence 18

The Buddha's Preawakening Recollection of Past Lives 18

The Buddha's Preawakening Witnessing of the Rebirth of Others 19

The Intermediate Existence 20

3 The Principle of Karma 22

Karma and Its Fruit 23

Karma and Right View 25

4 The Significance of Right View 27

The Denial of Rebirth 28

Different Types of Right View 30

Speculation and Direct Knowledge 32

Summary 34

II Debates on Rebirth 37

Introduction 37

1 The Undeclared Questions 37

Right View and Speculative Views 37

The Poisoned Arrow of Speculative Views 39

The Reason for Setting Aside Speculative Views 41

The Destiny of an Awakened One after Death 42

2 Debating Rebirth in Ancient India 44

Misunderstandings of the Teaching on Rebirth 44

Experiments to Prove the Materialist Position 45

Continuity without an Unchanging Agent 48

3 Discussions on Rebirth in China during the Early Imperial Period 50

Arguments against Rebirth and Karma 51

Defending the Rebirth Doctrine 53

Near-Death Experiences in Ancient China 55

4 Debates on Rebirth in Modern Times 56

Misinterpretations of Karma and Rebirth 56

Confirmation Bias 60

Summary 62

III Evidence Considered Supportive of Rebirth 65

Introduction 65

1 Near-Death Experiences 66

From Ancient to Contemporary Reports of Near-Death Experiences 67

The Case of Pam Reynolds 72

Verified Information Apparently Obtained During Near-Death Experiences 74

Children and the Blind 77

2 Past-Life Regression 80

The Workings of Memory 81

Therapeutic Benefits 83

Verified Information Apparently Obtained from Past-Life Regression 85

3 Children's Memories of a Past Life 89

Specific Information Recalled and Behavioral Continuities 91

Cases Documented Before Verification Attempts 99

Birthmarks and Birth Defects 108

4 Xenoglossy 113

Recitative Xenoglossy 113

Responsive Xenoglossy 114

Summary 116

IV Case Study in Pali Xenoglossy 119

Introduction 119

1 The Case History 119

Personal Contacts 119

The Present-Life Story 120

The Past-Life Story and a Verification of the Recordings 122

2 The Chanted Texts and Their Background 125

The Transmission of the Pali Canon 125

Textual Memory 126

The Chanted Texts 127

3 Errors and Variants 129

Memory Errors 130

Minor Variants 136

Major Variants 144

4 Omissions and Additions 148

Loss of Text 148

The Brain in the Listing of Anatomical Parts 151

The Devas' Acclaim of the Buddha's First Sermon 154

Summary 162

Conclusion 163

Transcriptions 167

Introduction 167

DN 15 Mahanidana-sutta 168

DN 16 Mahaparinibbana-sutta 174

DN 22 Mahasatipatthana -sutta 179

SN 22.59 Anattalakkhana-sutta 209

SN 46.14 Gilana-sutta (1) 213

SN 46.15 Gilana-sutta (2) 214

SN 46.16 Gilana-sutta (3) 215

SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta 216

AN 10.60 Girimananda-sutta 222

Khp 5 / Sn 258-69 (Maha-)mangala-sutta 226

Khp 6 / Sn 222-38 Ratana-sutta 228

Khp 9 / Sn 143-52 Metta-sutta 232

Dhp Dhammapada 234

References 237

Index 273

About the Author 281

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