Expert: Justin Choo - 5/13/2006

Question
I have a question which is hard to explain . I hope you can try  your best to understand it and help me to clear my confusion .

The scenario in my question is this that a man wants to practise Dharma and good merits with the intention to gain good rebirth in the human realm .
Below is the question :

In Buddhism , we believe one is reborn endlessly.(beginlessly and endlessly ). Most human don't believe in past lives simply because they cannot recall his previous lives. If one could not recall what he had done (good or bad )in previous lives, no motivation is there for him to practise Dharma  for a better reborn in human realm.
Just as i tell a kid to study hard in school so that he can be successful in future .But once he achieves his success in future , the memories of his hard work during school times will be gone and he could never recall it .Then what is the meaning of success because we don't know where the success comes from and  the truth of the success .
Likewise , what is the meaning of good or bad lives when we couldn't recall where they come from . What had we done previously so that we live the lives we are living now
Thank you very much.

Answer
Hi Poh,

Thank you for asking me.

Let us not forget that the main purpose of practising the Buddha's teachings is to gain truth and experience inner peace.  Whether we believe in past lives or not is irrelevent.  What we want is experiencing peace and happiness, here and now.  We can experience here and now the good and bad results of our present actions.  Knowing that, it is just common sense that if we want to be happy and at peace with ourselves, we have to conduct our lives wisely, by following the 5 precepts. If we are foolish and lead our lives irresponsibly, then we asking for trouble.

With these comments, I think we can proceed further if you need more clarifications.  Please come back, if need be.

Smile from justinchoo :-)