The law of karma and rebirth is one of the bedrock teachings of the Buddha. It is also one of the most problematic ones. To some, karmic rebirth seems like outdated superstition. It ruins the image of Buddhism as a rational philosophy of life. Within the Buddhist tradition too, karma and rebirth raise difficult questions. If the Buddha taught only the no-self doctrine or karma and rebirth, everything would’ve been fine. But he insisted both that all things are without self and that there is karma and rebirth. Now, if there is no self, what gets reborn? And if there are no selves, how can you or I, or anyone have karma? And how does karma pass over from one life to the next? And does karma suggest our lives are predetermined – that there is no free will? If so, why does the Buddha teach us to put effort into improving our lives?

#buddhism #buddha #philosophy #religion #spirituality #dharma #dhamma

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📚 Recommended Reading

▶ James P. McDermott: Karma and Rebirth in Early Buddhism
▶ Damien Keown: Karma, Character, and Consequentialism
▶Matthew MacKenzie: Enacting Selves, Enacting Worlds: On The Buddhist Theory of Karma
▶ Luis O. Gomez: Some Aspects of the Free-Will Question in the Nikāyas
▶Bhikkhu Analayo: Rebirth In Early Buddhism
▶Lynken Ghose: Karma and the Possibility of Purification
▶ Walpula Rahula Thero: What the Buddha Taught
▶ Thich Nhat Hanh: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching
▶ Rupert Gethin: Foundations of Buddhism

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/nyanatiloka/wheel394.html#ch2

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_46.html

Free access to Early Buddhist scripture:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/ebook_index.html

Access 100 scholarly articles for free every month by creating a JSTOR account (I am not affiliated with them, it's just a good resource): https://www.jstor.org/

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🎶 Music used

▶ original S2S score by @RMSounds
▶ YouTube Audio library and various Public Domain recordings
▶Healing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1200048
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
▶Unfoldment, Revealment, Evolution, Exposition, Integration by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/reappear/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

Check out the amazing beats by RM Sounds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecEIcMibwc4&ab_channel=RMSounds
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⌛ Timestamps

01:50 karma definition
03:53 karma = law of nature
07:28 bright vs dark karma
10:24 rebirth & no-self
14:07 desire creates existence
16:15 karma vs free will
18:34 karma & rebirth summary
20:50 where is karma stored?
23:13 early Buddhist unconscious
25:59 personal karma without a person
28:09 human existence is a precious opportunity
30:15 freeing yourself from the cycle of rebirths
33:50 enlightenment, nirvāṇa
36:37 the law of karma = unfalsifiable
38:54 Buddhism & faith
40:21 benefits of believing in karma & rebirth

You can read the script of this video here: https://www.seekertoseeker.com/buddhist-karma-rebirth-explained/