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Buddhism: Matters of Life and Death

Buddhist teaching on death, rebirth and the afterlife

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1

Overview

Rebirth rather than reincarnation, the flame image, the Wheel of Life and the Divyavadana on why it was first painted, remembered lives and finding a tulku, paranormal claims, logic, reward and reunion.

What you need to know

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Key term

What do Buddhists believe happens after death?

Key term

Why do Buddhists speak of rebirth rather than reincarnation?

Key term

How does the image of a flame explain rebirth without a self?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What do Buddhists believe happens after death?

    Model answer

    Buddhists believe that death is followed by rebirth unless a person has reached nibbana. The realm of rebirth depends on the person's kamma.

  2. 2

    Why do Buddhists speak of rebirth rather than reincarnation?

    Model answer

    Reincarnation suggests a soul moving into a new body, but Buddhism teaches anatta. Rebirth is the continuation of a changing stream of consciousness and kamma.

  3. 3

    How does the image of a flame explain rebirth without a self?

    Model answer

    One candle can light another, so the new flame is neither the same flame nor a different one. A new life is linked to the old by cause and effect in the same way.

  4. 4

    How does the Wheel of Life support belief in life after death?

    Model answer

    The Wheel of Life shows beings reborn into different realms according to their kamma. The wheel keeps turning through countless lives until nibbana is reached.

  5. 5

    What does the Sahasodgata Avadana in the Divyavadana tell about the Wheel of Life?

    Model answer

    The Sahasodgata Avadana tells how the Buddha ordered a wheel of rebirth to be painted at a monastery gateway. A monk was to stand by it and explain the realms to visitors.

  6. 6

    Why was the Wheel of Life first painted, according to the Divyavadana?

    Model answer

    The disciple Maudgalyayana could visit other realms and warn people what he saw there. The Buddha had the wheel painted so that everyone could learn the same lesson.

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