Question: “Hello. My partner is a Theravada Buddhist. She says I’m closer to Buddhism than she ever was. After doing my research, I’d say that the Buddhist philosophy is very close to that of my own. The Zen branch of Mahayana in particular got me curious and I even started practicing 座禅 (zazen). That’s mostly because I study Japanese and it was easier for me to access some texts. And then came a problem. You see, I was raised in a very secular environment and always have been a skeptic. She believes in 輪廻 (samsara) and all that. I’m afraid to tackle this with her, but I can’t accept supernatural concepts like this intellectually. So I guess my question is: Can a purely naturalistic Buddhism even be? The eightfold path is a priority in Theravada and I know it’s somewhat important to her, but I always joke around “You can always reach nirvana the next time, when you’re not with me.”
Reincarnation, or Samsara, is a tough topic for a lot of people, but at the same time you should ask yourself: “Why has Zen (or Zazen) come so easy for me? Why am I really good at one thing and not so great at another? Why was I born into this family and not another?” If you do a simple YouTube search for “child genius,” “prodigy child,” or “talented children” you’ll stumble upon hundreds of children, literally kids that are barely old enough to talk, playing the piano or drums as if they were adults playing their whole lives!
There are even documentaries and stories of children remembering their past lives in almost-scary detail. How is it possible that a six year old is able to play Mozart? It is cases like these that we can literally see some past life talent through the present life.
There are many factors that determine our rebirth and the consequences (both good and bad) of our lives, karma of course being one of them. Our past and present karma determine our present and future outcomes. If you are fortunate to live and grow up in a comfortable and content life, then your past deeds must have been good! If we’ve grown up in unfortunate circumstances, then we’re reaping our bad karma.
Karma is fortunately not fixed. It can be changed. With determination, discipline and diligence, we can cultivate good deeds for the sake of our present and future lives.
You don’t have to necessarily believe in Samsara if you’re not a practicing Buddhist and just meditating, but you should respect your partner’s beliefs (which I’m sure you do) and help and encourage her on her path.
Smile and be well!