PreBirth Experience (PBE),Remembering Birth,Past Lives

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Akashad
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Re: PreBirth Experience (PBE),Remembering Birth,Past Lives

Post by Akashad »

Garrib wrote: Sun Oct 07, 2018 7:02 pm Some people having near death experience report beings made of light coming to "guide them" across - I think that sometimes they recognize these beings as departed family members, or as Jesus/Bodhisattva etc...I think the critical point is that kamma is what is creating the major part of our experience, although we cannot explain how. For example, if you have the kamma to become wealthy - Of course, the money is going to have to come from somewhere! We will earn it at a job, win it in the lottery, someone gives us the money, we find some buried treasure etc...In any case, we could explain our experience in terms of the more immediate, apparent cause. If someone asks us how we became wealthy, we will say "I won the lottery" or whatever. But at a deeper level, we have the karmic causes to become wealthy and without those, we would never have won the lottery. Sorry for the longwinded detour, but this is also how I am thinking about the "guides". If we have the kamma to be born into this human realm and encounter the Buddha's teachings, then it will happen - perhaps in some cases when you come to this or some other realm, there are beings who help you make the difficult transition (like we might help a wounded animal we find in the forest). But deep down it is still your kamma that is determining the experience, not these other beings.
Thank you Garrib.I am finding more luck with Mahayana,Tibetan buddhism they mention things like choosing wombs,parents,births,and also being guided or counseled in the Bardos.They also mention lights which most of us see during prebirth.This is a transitory state.Theravada don't believe in transitory state after death..
chownah
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Re: PreBirth Experience (PBE),Remembering Birth,Past Lives

Post by chownah »

Akashad wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:41 am Theravada don't believe in transitory state after death..
There are, I think, many theravada buddhists who believe in that stuff but they are not likely to post much on this forum because on this forum people mostly stick to what the buddha (gotama) taught as documented in the pali canon.....and none of this stuff appears there from what I have seen.
chownah
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Ceisiwr
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Re: PreBirth Experience (PBE),Remembering Birth,Past Lives

Post by Ceisiwr »

I always wonder why no one ever remembers being a slug on some alien planet, or a average joe living in the 1830's or even being in hell. It always seems to be lofty when people claim to remember past lives, these days at least.
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
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Aloka
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Re: PreBirth Experience (PBE),Remembering Birth,Past Lives

Post by Aloka »

clw_uk wrote: Wed May 08, 2019 3:25 pm I always wonder why no one ever remembers being a slug on some alien planet, or a average joe living in the 1830's or even being in hell. It always seems to be lofty when people claim to remember past lives, these days at least.
"Will I be reborn as a worm?"

https://www.amaravati.org/audio/will-i- ... as-a-worm/



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