Question asked by Ng
Hi, a Christian friend asked me this. He said that it doesn't make sense about reincarnation. Because the number of people in the world is increasing. If some people reach buddhahood and stay there, why is the population in the world increasing? I understand that humans can be from any beings. So the humans may be from an insect or an animal from previous lives. But how can a mosquito for instance, do good things to earn good karma and merit to get a better rebirth? I get that it might be from past lives but at some point in time, there must be a zero point. Where a being is created without any bad karmas or merits. Like, is there a finite number of beings? If so, why are there more and more people in the world? I hope you understand my question because I'm really confused.
Dear Ng,
I’ll try to answer your questions from the Buddhist point of view as best I can. First, why is the population in the world increasing? Lama Yeshe (a great Tibetan master) explained the population explosion in the following way: “Like modern science, Buddhism talks about the existence of billions and billions of galaxies. The consciousness of a person born on earth may have come from a galaxy far away, drawn here by the force of karma, which connects that person’s mental energy to this planet. On the other hand, the consciousness of a person dying on this earth may at the time of death be karmically directed to a rebirth in another galaxy, far from here. If more minds are being drawn to earth, the population increases; if fewer, it declines. That does not mean that brand new minds are coming into existence. Each mind taking rebirth here on earth has come from its previous life – perhaps in another galaxy, perhaps on earth itself, but not from nowhere – in accordance with the cyclic nature of worldly existence.”
Secondly, a mosquito, before it became a mosquito, had already accumulated good as well as bad karma in past lives. When its bad karma to be born as a mosquito is finally exhausted, it might be reborn in a higher realm if its previously acquired good karma ripens at the time of death. Animals, birds, insects that have the good fortune to see a Buddha image or circumambulate a Buddha statue, can be reborn as humans and practice Dharma. Beings in the lower realms can create good karma through acts of compassion towards other beings. Animals have been seen to be kind to other animals and humans. Evidence? Just go to Tsem Rinpoche’s Blog here. Even hell beings have kind thoughts towards other hell beings etc. One’s karma, whether positive or negative, is not permanent. Thirdly, is there a being created without any bad karma or merits? No being born in samsara from an uncontrolled rebirth is free of karma, good or bad. Only an enlightened being who can control his rebirth is considered to be free of karma. A Buddha has no karma. I suggest you read up on Buddhism to understand more so that you won’t get confused when your Christian friends ask you questions.