Reincarnation or heaven and hell?

Hello,

I was wondering is it better to believe in reincarnation or heaven and hell because if you beleive in reincarnation it is almost as if you have multiple chances to improve your life and even if you are a bad person your life gets worse in the next lifetime and you have less chances to do horrible things so your life can only improve after that point.

If you believe in heaven and hell you have only one shot in life to make it to all your dreams being discovered but atleast you know you don't have to go through with the trails and tribulations of life over and over again.

I don't believe in either but If I had to choose one it would be the heaven and hell option so I wouldn't have to suffer because of everything happening in the world once I die, I am naturally a compassionate person.

First of all, I don't think anyone should be nicer or more of an ass to others just for the fact that it would affect their next life. If you try others good or be charitable it should be because you want to, and if you're an ass to others it should because that's your nature. Technically, reincarnation should be "real"...considering that you decompose once you die and organisms eat one another in the food each other and you'll probably end up back in the food of a pregnant woman and part of a baby sooner or later.

As for heaven and hell, some part of me do believe in it. You folks can start saying spaghetti monster and whatever you want. Still, all I'm aiming for is not going to hell if it exists. If I end up stuck on Earth doing the Almighty's dirty work that's still better than hell where the wifi connection is bad and probably no cable television.

religiously: all three (Buddhist)
personally: I have no concrete vision of an afterlife and don't think it affects "me" all that much as, reguardless of the outcome, I will have lost all memory of being "myself"... it's essentially the same as ceasing to exist altogether.

I'm a Christian so of course I'm going to give you the aanswer of the heaven and hell belief. I personally would think it better to die and live for enternity happily(if you meet the standards) and remember life on Earth, then to have to keep living and not knowing of my other lives and having so many lost memories.

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Originally Posted by Billum256

I'm a Christian so of course I'm going to give you the aanswer of the heaven and hell belief. I personally would think it better to die and live for enternity happily(if you meet the standards) and remember life on Earth, then to have to keep living and not knowing of my other lives and having so many lost memories.

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The most basic truth of Buddhism is that the world = suffering. The highest reward in Buddhism is escape from that cycle: ie. no more reincarnation. Reincarnation is both a system of reward and punishment. You move up or down on the scale through your merit. If you do enough good in enough lifetimes: your reward is getting out of the system altogether.

So to a Buddhist: memories of earth aren't necesarily a good thing... nor is, necessarily, a lifetime in heaven or hell as an immortal (which does happen). The reason Buddhism is compatable with so many other religions (at least from Buddhism's side) is that it assumes the existance of a multitude of Gods, Goddesses, demons and devils... and that the Gods and Goddesses of other religions are among them.

Thing is: it's theoretically possible to become one if you accumulate enough positive karma.

And that isn't necesarily the best possible outcome: since it's far more difficult to remain focused on the ultimate goal of escaping the cycle when you're an incredibly powerful player in it. Most Buddhists believe that man is the most positive incarnation: as he feels/witnesses suffering most keenly and is the most likely to reach enlightenment.

Well me being a Christian of course i believe in heaven and hell concept, with a little twist though. I believe if you go to heaven and your soul is pure enough you will be given the chance to be born again. The downside is you lose all your memories.

If it helps my answer at all my parents are buddhist and they really want me to be one but having faith in something or following teachings of another person are painful to the inquistive mind so I choose to experince and face my trials later in life.

By the way Tsurara you have an understanding of the world that is refreshing in all your posts you are consistent and for that I respect you.

I persanly think there is a Heaven and a Hell but at the same time I believe that reincarnation fits in there as well. Here is my best example of what I think in a nut shell.

When you die and you have been the best persan you can be. All be it no one is a pure saint and your going to be pissed off and or an ass and do something bad at some point in time. As long as the good you did out ways the negitive then you go to Heaven. There you can live in bliss or how ever people see it as or have the choice of having another life.

Now if its the other way around an you was a big time jerk and a total ass for the most part of you life and really didnt care for the well beings of other to get what you want or just because you felt like beating the snot out of some one because they were there and took advantage of people in other ways. And the possitive you did was over shadowed by the negitive then your going to hell and spend the rest of your life in... Well... A hell hole. (SUCKS TO BE YOU!!)

Now if what you did was about equle, in that you were not the best person but then again you were not the worst, I can see some one pushing the reaset button on your life and you have to start all over again in a new one.

I can go in more detail but that would be waaaay to long.