I too have always found the idea of reincarnation to be rather vain. For all the rejection of dogma, Buddhism seems to want to find an inescapable argument to compel its followers: you're around forever, fella, so if you act like a prat it's just going to build in your account until you come back as mosquito. Also, you need to adhere to our teachings, or the same fate shall befall you because you're Just Not Paying Attention.
Grumble. Mutter.
I figure a perfectly good way to approach this is to say, "You know, there is no afterlife of any sort. You die, and you take your history with you. Nobody there to judge, nobody there to tally up your deeds and misdeeds. So all you have is your current lifetime; make of it what you will. May I suggest that embracing a nihilist I-can-do-what-I-want-and-ain't-nobody-gwanna-stop-me is indeed a viable approach, but one that will likely leave you kind of miserable and wanting. May I further suggest that you try making happiness your way of life, and give some consideration to those who have made true, palpable happiness the focus of their lives. Good stuff, without which you are likely to descend into the pointless, empty consumerist hell that is slowly applying its cloying grasp to contemporary culture. Really, take your choice: bliss, or malaise."
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Date: 2005-04-17 12:49 pm (UTC)I too have always found the idea of reincarnation to be rather vain. For all the rejection of dogma, Buddhism seems to want to find an inescapable argument to compel its followers: you're around forever, fella, so if you act like a prat it's just going to build in your account until you come back as mosquito. Also, you need to adhere to our teachings, or the same fate shall befall you because you're Just Not Paying Attention.
Grumble. Mutter.
I figure a perfectly good way to approach this is to say, "You know, there is no afterlife of any sort. You die, and you take your history with you. Nobody there to judge, nobody there to tally up your deeds and misdeeds. So all you have is your current lifetime; make of it what you will. May I suggest that embracing a nihilist I-can-do-what-I-want-and-ain't-nobody-gwanna-stop-me is indeed a viable approach, but one that will likely leave you kind of miserable and wanting. May I further suggest that you try making happiness your way of life, and give some consideration to those who have made true, palpable happiness the focus of their lives. Good stuff, without which you are likely to descend into the pointless, empty consumerist hell that is slowly applying its cloying grasp to contemporary culture. Really, take your choice: bliss, or malaise."
-- bq, writing from, of all places, Times Square