What do Buddhists believe about life after death and what is Nirvana?
The Buddhist concept is simple – but hard to understand. So you will find a lot of variation in the way it is put across to make it acceptable/accessible to the various cultures in which Buddhism thrives. A major concept in Buddhism is “anatta” (or “anatman”) – there is nothing that can be found that can be called an individual’s Self or Soul. When we die something carries on BUT it is not a soul or self. Just as the physical elements of the body are recycled, then the energies we have created will be transferred into other life forms and will affect others in the future. One analogy I read recently is a lava-lamp – each blob leaves the mass at the bottom, behaves as a separate blob and then returns to rejoin the main mass at the bottom of the lamp. Nirvana is not well defined – the Scriptures tell us what it is not, rather than what it is. It is achieved by totally letting go (not rejecting) the illusion of Self and all the selfishness that goes with it. Buddhists believe in Rebirth.
