Relation to oneself· Existence
Rebirth
Axis: After death — Does something of us survive death?
Death is not an end but a relay: something continues from life to life, inheriting the deeds done. No creator is required for this law to operate, memory does not usually accompany the passage, and what is reborn need not be a soul: this life inherits from previous ones and prepares the next.
- Descriptive QuestionWould it still be me?
A soul without memory, a re-created body, a stream reborn in another form: under what conditions would the survivor be me, and not someone else who resembles or continues me?
the survivor - DescriptiveReborn without a soul?
If no substantial self travels from life to life, what is reborn, and in what sense do my present deeds concern the one who will inherit their fruit? Is the flame that lights another the same flame or another?
what is reborn - DescriptiveBelieving what we hope?
Survival is what we have most reason to desire and least means to verify: is a consoling belief thereby suspect, or does the origin of a hope say nothing about its truth?
belief in survival