Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research Hardcover – 30 April 2018
by Bhikkhu Analayo (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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Join a rigorous scholar and Buddhist monk on a rich tour of rebirth, from ancient doctrine to contemporary debates.
German Buddhist monk and university professor Bhikkhu Analayo had not given much attention to the topic of rebirth before some friends asked him to explore the treatment of the issue in early Buddhist texts. This succinct volume presents his findings, approaching the topic from four directions.
The first chapter examines the doctrine of rebirth as it is presented in the earliest Buddhist sources and the way it relates to core doctrinal principles.
The second chapter reviews debates about rebirth throughout Buddhist history and up to modern times, noting the role of confirmation bias in evaluation of evidence.
Chapter 3 reviews the merits of current research on rebirth, including near-death experience, past-life regression, and children who recall previous lives.
The chapter concludes with an examination of xenoglossy, the ability to speak languages one has not learned previously, and
chapter 4 examines the particular case of Dhammaruwan, a Sri Lankan boy who chants Pali texts that he does not appear to have learned in his present life.
Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research brings together the many strands of the debate on rebirth in one place, making it both comprehensive and compact. It is not a polemic but an interrogation of the evidence, and it leaves readers to come to their own conclusions.
Hardcover : 296 pages
Publisher : Wisdom Publications,U.S. (30 April 2018)
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Customer Reviews: 4.4 out of 5 stars 15 ratings
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"Bhikkhu Analayo moves effortlessly from an illuminating presentation of classical Buddhist conceptions of birth and death to a meticulous investigation of intriguing, though inconclusive, paranormal reports. In so doing this erudite and intellectually generous monastic scholar offers sound historical and philological instruction, while at the same time bringing home essential Buddhist wisdom about our calling to face death mindfully and with serene hope. A fascinating study."--Carol Zaleski
"From his unique perspective as an academic scholar and a monastic, Bhikkhu Analayo provides a thorough explanation of the early Buddhist doctrine of rebirth and the debates about it in ancient India and early imperial China, as well as a judicious analysis of various phenomena that some people have taken to be evidence for rebirth. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in these fascinating topics."--Evan Thompson, author of Waking, Dreaming, Being: Self and Consciousness in Neuroscience, Meditation, and Philosophy
"Bhikkhu Analayo offers a detailed study of the much-debated Buddhist doctrine of rebirth and a survey of relevant evidence. He also investigates the Pali chantings of Dhammaruwan, who at a very young age would spontaneously chant ancient and complex Buddhist suttas. I first met Dhammaruwan when he was seven years old, when my teacher, Anagarika Munindraji, and I visited him and his family in Sri Lanka. Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research illuminates a complex topic with great clarity and understanding."--Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
"Bhikkhu Analayo's book Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research is a refreshing breath of fresh air. While drawing on the most authoritative sources in the Buddhist canons to explain the Buddha's unique insights into rebirth and karma, the author also cites current research into the continuity of consciousness from one life to the next. This book points to the principle of conservation of consciousness, analogous to the conservation of mass-energy, as one of the fundamental truths of the natural world."--B. Alan Wallace, president, Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies
About the Author
Bhikkhu Analayo was born in 1962 in Germany and ordained in 1995 in Sri Lanka, where he completed a PhD on the Satipatthana-sutta in 2000. He next completed a habilitation research in Germany in 2007, in which he compared the Majjhima-nikaya discourses with their Chinese, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, and Tibetan counterparts. At present Bhikkhu Analayo is a professor of Buddhist Studies; his main research area is early Buddhism, with a particular focus on the topics of the Chinese Agamas, Buddhist meditation, and women in Buddhism. Besides his academic pursuits, he regularly teaches meditation. He presently resides at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies in Massachusetts, where he spends most of his time in silent meditation retreat.
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Richard Hayes
5.0 out of 5 stars Even-handed and clear-eyed analysis of a controversial topic
Reviewed in the United States on 21 June 2018
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Bhikkhu Analayo is a very respected monk in the Sri Lankan tradition. He combines both impeccable academic credentials with a very active meditation practice and so is essentially in a unique position to write scholarly and wise books about Buddhist subjects.
Probably no idea in Buddhism has met with more resistance from Western converts (like me) than has the idea of rebirth. Both believers and skeptics will get something from this even-handed, fair overview of the canonical view of rebirth as well as current research in the field.
I hope this book goes a little way toward reducing the heat of the arguments on both sides of this issue. There is really no reason for anything like the kind of debates about this topic which I have seen on the internet forums devoted to Buddhism. There seems like a lot of "self-ing" in those discussions and a lot of hard-edged views which are being clung to. Not a lot of listening and considering.
The best way to evaluate this book is to decide whether or not reading it has made it any easier to live one's life according to the Four Noble Truths and to practice the Eight-fold Path. For me, it has. I hope the same will be true for you. If not, then please consider donating the book to your local library or meditation center.
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14 people found this helpful
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Alan
5.0 out of 5 stars Rigorous and useful excursion into Early Buddhist teachings.
Reviewed in the United States on 13 May 2018
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I thought this book presented the Early Buddhist (pre-Theravada) teachings on rebirth clearly and accurately. The later sections were a bit weaker, almost by necessity. Reviewing the different types of evidence for rebirth as well as the limitations of that evidence, would each take a book. His discussion of Buddhist debates on rebirth is especially valuable in framing the context in which the Buddha came to his understanding of rebirth. Many Buddhists don't realize that materialism was alive and well during the Buddha's life and was explicitly denied by the Buddha himself. The debates on Rebirth of Later Buddhism were new to me and I found those especially valuable.
Well worth reading if you wish to understand rebirth from an Early Buddhist perspective. The Buddha's discovery of how karma works (the primacy of intent over ritual and determinism) as well as his direct experience of rebirth are at the heart of Early Buddhism.
20 people found this helpful
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Anthony
5.0 out of 5 stars The most informative book I have read concerning the early Buddhist teachings about rebirth
Reviewed in the United States on 4 December 2018
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I have read much of the Sutta Pitaka as translated from Pali by Maurice Walshe (The Long Discourses) and by Bikkhu Bodhu (most of the remaining material). Bikkhu Analayo is one of my other trusted sources, especially for comparative translations in multiple languages. His explanation of rebirth in early Buddhism is more lucid than anything else I have encountered.
6 people found this helpful
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Phil Calandra
3.0 out of 5 stars Scientific Inquiry and Study into Reincarnation
Reviewed in the United States on 5 March 2020
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"Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research" is a very scholarly and detailed study into the doctrine of reincarnation through the use of paranormal reports of Near Death Experiences, Past Life Regression, and Childrens' Memories of Past Lives. Although there are logical and scientific explanations for many of these reports, it seems rather improbable that all of these cases can be considered bogus and products of fantasy. However, it should be noted, that a main tenet of Buddhism is that nothing should be accepted other that through one's experience but one should always be open to the possibility of a given phenomena.
One person found this helpful
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Silly Pete
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and accessible
Reviewed in the United States on 6 July 2018
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I always enjoy Analayo's work and this book is no exception. Analayo has a way of making incredibly deep concepts accessible to me and his exploration of rebirth and specifically the links of dependent origination in this book helped me a great deal. I wish it was longer because I wasn't ready to finish exploring this with Analayo but I guess a book that ends too quickly is far superior to one that outstays its welcome.
3 people found this helpful
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