How do Buddhists respond to the claim that belief in an afterlife is just a comfort?

Rebirth is not comforting, because it means more suffering, old age and death. Buddhists hope to escape rebirth, not to enjoy it for ever.

How do Buddhists respond to fraudulent accounts of contact with the dead?

Buddhists agree that fraud happens and reject it firmly. The monastic rules expel a monk who falsely claims superhuman powers.

How do Buddhists respond to the claim that belief in an afterlife is a form of social control?

The Buddha challenged the priests of his day who used religion to keep people in their caste. Kamma is a natural law that no priest can control or sell.

What is the Brahmajala Sutta?

The Brahmajala Sutta, the "Supreme Net", is the first discourse of the Digha Nikaya. The sutta catches sixty-two wrong views, as a fisherman's net catches every fish in a pond.

Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B 1RB0

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Buddhism: Matters of Life and Death

Buddhist responses to arguments against life after death

3 things to know
Paper 1

Overview

Evidence, comfort, fraud and social control objections with Buddhist replies, the Brahmajala Sutta on death as the end, the middle way between eternalism and annihilationism, materialism, and whether all Buddhists take rebirth literally.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Evaluation

How do Buddhists answer materialist and Humanist arguments against life after death?

Key term

Why do some non-religious people argue against life after death?

Key term

How do Buddhists respond to the claim that there is no evidence for life after death?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
Why do some non-religious people argue against life after death?
Model answer
Many atheists and Humanists say there is no reliable evidence that consciousness survives the death of the brain. Humanists believe this life is the only one we have.
2
How do Buddhists respond to the claim that there is no evidence for life after death?
Model answer
Buddhists point to remembered lives and the insight of enlightened teachers such as the Buddha. The Buddha invited people to test his teachings through their own practice.
3
How do Buddhists respond to the claim that belief in an afterlife is just a comfort?
Model answer
Rebirth is not comforting, because it means more suffering, old age and death. Buddhists hope to escape rebirth, not to enjoy it for ever.
4
How do Buddhists respond to fraudulent accounts of contact with the dead?
Model answer
Buddhists agree that fraud happens and reject it firmly. The monastic rules expel a monk who falsely claims superhuman powers.
5
How do Buddhists respond to the claim that belief in an afterlife is a form of social control?
Model answer
The Buddha challenged the priests of his day who used religion to keep people in their caste. Kamma is a natural law that no priest can control or sell.
6
What is the Brahmajala Sutta?
Model answer
The Brahmajala Sutta, the "Supreme Net", is the first discourse of the Digha Nikaya. The sutta catches sixty-two wrong views, as a fisherman's net catches every fish in a pond.

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