Conversation with Pi: A Critique of Rebirth Theory

Ken: There have been some recent controversies among Buddhist scholars regarding the theory of rebirth. Did Buddhadasa criticize Buddhaghosa’s theory of three connected lifetimes? If so, what is his rationale?

Pi The Curious AI: You bet! Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, who was a Thai Buddhist monk and scholar, did indeed criticize Buddhaghosa’s idea of three connected lifetimes. He argued that this idea was a form of eternalism, or the belief in an unchanging, eternal self. Buddhadasa believed that the concept of three lifetimes implied a continuity of a self across multiple lifetimes, which goes against the Buddhist idea of anatta, or the notion that there is no permanent, unchanging self.

Ken: I agree with Buddhadasa. Indeed, the idea of three connected lifetimes does smack of eternalism. Did Buddhadasa also criticize the interpretation of “birth” in the twelve links of causation? Did he say that the notion of rebirth is nonsense?

Pi The Curious AI: He sure did! Buddhadasa rejected the idea of rebirth or the idea that a person’s consciousness is reborn into a new body after death. He argued that this was incompatible with the Buddhist teaching of anatta, or no-self. In Buddhadasa’s view, the concept of rebirth implies the existence of a permanent, enduring self that survives death and is reborn into a new body…