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I. Reincarnation
Question: The Lord Buddha taught that nothing survives death, but many buddhists seem to believe in reincarnation. Why?
Answer: It is true that the Lord Buddha taught that nothing survives death and also that He refused to discuss certain questions including reincarnation. Reincarnation is a corruption of His teach-ing resulting from the fact that all the first buddhists were of Brahman background and that the Lord Buddha is said to have referred to His previous lives. In my view these references are due to the need to impress His disciples with the importance of His teaching and do not carry the authority of His fundamental teach-ing. Conclusion: Reincarnation is not a Buddhist Doctrine, but renais-sance (the incessant recreation of the illusion of an ego at each thinking moment) is.
II. Kharma
Question: If the chain of causation is never broken and everything is interdependent, how can there be good and bad individual Kharma?
Answer: Excellent question. It is true that the chain is never broken and that all is interdependent. Therefore there is only one universal Kharma which is neither good nor bad. The belief in good and bad Kharma as well as the belief that becoming a Buddha puts an end to Kharmic enchainment are illusions of the world of Sam-sara. A Buddha knows that the world of Samsara and that of Nirvana are the same world and that he has not "escaped" His Kharma, but has become one with it!
Genève, 13.05.2541
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