Conclusion 

In conclusion, let us recall that this concept of pre-existence and re-existence though accepted in Buddhism as an empirical fact, observable by developed minds, and also regarded in Buddhism as a wholesome view that encourages good living, it is not an essential dogma of Buddhism; nor is it the basis of Buddhist ethics, nor even the basis of the life of renunciation. In fact, this belief is a hindrance to enlightenment. Therefore, it is wiser not to be dogmatic about it. Genuine Buddhism which is independent of time (akalika) focuses only on suffering (dukkha) and its cessation here and now. 


“One thing alone do I teach, monks, suffering and the cessation of suffering.”

(Anguttara Nikaya) 

The Buddha sums up his teaching about existence, both pre-existence and re-existence, and even present existence, in the Sabbasava Sutta of the Majjima Nikaya: 

O disciples, an uneducated normal individual who is quite ignorant of supernormal individuals, and who is unfamiliar and unskilled in the supernormal philosophy and practice, pays unwise attention to what is inappropriate, but does not pay wise attention to what is appropriate. His unwise attention is as follows: 

“Did I exist in the past, or did I not? If I existed, how did I exist in the past? From what form to what form did I change in the past? Will I exist in the future, or will I not? If I will exist in the future, how will I exist, or what will I be in the future? From what form to what form will I change in the future? He would even be concerned about the present. Do I exist now, or do I not? If I exist now, how do I exist? What am I? Where did I come from? Where will I go? 

When he attends unwisely in this way, one of six views arises in him: 

1. I exist as a self 

2. I do not exist as a self 

3. The self perceives the self 

4. The self perceives no self 

5. The no self perceives the self 

6. It is this ‘self’ that thinks, speaks, acts, and experiences the consequences of good and bad deeds. This ‘self’ is permanent, everlasting, eternal, not subject to change, and it will endure as long as eternity. 

This, O disciples, is the thicket of views, the wilderness of views, the distortion of views, the confusion of views, the fetter of views. Fettered by this fetter of views, the uneducated, normal individual is not freed from birth, aging, and death; from grief, lamentation, pain, distress, and exhaustion; he is not freed from the insecurity of life, I say. 

O disciples, an educated individual who is cognizant of the supernormal ones, and is conversant with the supernormal philosophy and practice pays wise attention to what is appropriate, and does not pay unwise attention to what is inappropriate. His wise attention is as follows: 

1. He focuses attention on the insecurity of life. 

2. He focuses attention on the cause of the insecurity 

3. He focuses attention on the end of the insecurity of life 

4. He focuses attention on the way to end the insecurity of life 

When he attends wisely in this way, three fetters that bind him to existence are eliminated in him. 

1. Personality perspective, (sakkaya ditthi) 

2. Cognitive dissonance, (vicikicca) 

3. Heteronomous morality, (silabbata paramasa) 

This way one reaches the first level of the process of awakening, from the dream of existence, which is called “Stream Entrance” (sotapanna); the stream being the Supernormal Eightfold Way, which leads to the cessation of the insecurity of life.

This Sabbasava Sutta points out very clearly that thinking about karma and rebirth can become an obstacle to progress on the spiritual path, as taught by the Buddha. This seems to be the original Buddhist perspective on the concept of pre-existence and re-existence. 

An unanswered question still remains, however, which is, “How does paying attention to the problem of the insecurity of life eliminate the notion of ‘self’?” The answer is that this happens only when one begins to understand that the “notion of self” is not a rational concept, but an emotional feeling, and that this emotional feeling is the cause of the insecurity of life.