Rebirth and the Western Buddhist - Khamkoo

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78 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist present, any educated person in the West automatically rejects many traditional Buddhist teachings as superstition. All reject such doctrines as the flat Earth and spontaneous generation of insects, but many extend the rejection not only to all forms of ritual, monasticism, and deity practices, but also to the teachings on rebirth, and thus can accept most of Buddhist doctrine only in terms of weak, symbolic interpretations. It is therefore necessary that scientific method be absorbed into the Dharma, and Buddhist doctrines be submitted to scientific test where possible. While many picturesque theories will certainly have to be discarded or modified as a result, the Dharma can only gain in strength and universality by openminded, impartial research -research which is neither credulous nor dogmatically sceptical. We have seen that rebirth is a fact of experience, now open to scientific investigation. The beginnings of such investigation are sketched in Chapter Six, showing that we should not reject out of hand the possibility that we can be reborn in non-human states, even if it is less likely than traditionally taught, and that using hypnotic regression, we should be able to build up a more realistic picture of what we experience in the intermediate existence between human lives. Buddhists surely cannot neglect this technique, which promises to be so valuable not merely as a means of research into areas formerly accessible only to accomplished yogins, but as a direct aid to individual practice. Whether Buddhists participate or not, scientific research into rebirth and such related areas as parapsychology, religious experience, out-of-the-body experiences and near-death experiences is bound to continue and grow into a body of religious science acceptable to people the world over, as Physics and Chemistry are
Conclusions 79 today. It will certainly contribute to the great blossoming of spiritual awareness which is gradually gathering momentum. May this article too play its part in this awakening.
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Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
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First published in 1984 Second edit
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Preface to the Second Printing We a
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10 Rebirth and the Western Buddhist
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2 Buddha Taught Rebirth Throughout
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Buddha Taught Rebirth ~5 Bodhisattv
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3 Observational Evidence for the Fa
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Observational Evidence for the Fact
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