Rebirth and the Western Buddhist - Khamkoo

Buddha Taught Rebirth ~5
Bodhisattva; they are also taught in many places (e.g.
the Siimaiiiiaphala-sutta 7 ) as members of a group of five
superknowledges (abhijiiii), which any practitioner can
attain once he has achieved the fourth dhyiina.
Rebirth is also frequently mentioned in the sutras
when the Buddha explains present events in terms of
karma of distant lives, and when he teaches the results of
actions and the necessity for practice. For example, in the
Pravrajyiintariiya-sutra:
If, Mahanama, a householder is given to four
modes of behaviour, he [will have to endure]
adverse conditions: he will be born again and
again, born either blind, dull-witted, dumb, or
as an outcaste, always living in misery, always
a victim of abuse. He will become a hermaphrodite
or a eunuch, or be born into lifelong
slavery. He [may also] become a woman, a dog,
a pig, an ass, a camel or a poisonous snake, and
[thus] be unable to put the Buddha's teachings
into practice. 8
(The four modes are obstructing beings who are bent on
following the Path, obstructing the ordination of members
of his family, not trusting the holy Dharma, and
aversion to virtuous ascetics and brahmins.) Besides rebirth
as an animal or a preta, numerous sutras of both the
Hinayana and Mahayana teach that rebirth in the hells
will result from actions ranging from lechery 9 and eating
meatl 0 to criticising the Perfection of Wisdom. 11
Furthermore, disbelief in rebirth and in the laws of karma
and result are frequently mentioned as wrong
views; 12 the classification of Arya beings taught in the
Prajiiii-piiramitii-sutras 13 involves the number of rebirths
they must undergo; and so on. Altogether, rebirth is a
virtually inseparable part of Buddhist thinking. It is quite
impossible to compress the richness of the Buddhist