Buddhism rejects the idea of reincarnation and instead teaches the concept of rebirth. Rebirth refers to the evolving stream of consciousness that arises from one life to the next within the same person, rather than a soul migrating from one body to another. Each individual is unique and while lives may be connected through past karma, one is neither identical to nor completely different from their past lives. Ultimately, all things exist in interdependence and are subject to constant change according to their conditions and causes, like a flame being passed from one candle to another.

1. No Reincarnation, only Rebirth
Buddhism rejects the term ‘transmigration’ or ‘reincarnation’ altogether, but
why? Literally, ‘trans-’ is a prefix meaning through or across. And transmigration
denotes the movement or conveyance from place to place. If we mention that a
soul would transmigrate from a body to another new body, it means the same
‘unchanging’ soul does the movement or conveyance throughout the time stream
(past, present and future).
However, in the conventional reality, no ‘unchanging’ soul would transmigrate
from one body to another and on this pretext, Buddhism upholds the term
‘rebirth’ or ‘re-arising.’ The Buddha sees in no transmigration of all things or
matters but instead, in the constant and continuous transformation of all things or
matters via the process of permeation (diffusion). Just like the orientation of
energy in the cosmos i.e. energy would only transform - to transform is to change,
to change is to become, and to become is to reborn. So energy is ever ‘reborn’
all the time in the dependent nature. By understanding well and observing
thoroughly into the characteristics of energy, one could gain insight into the nature
and its orientation.
In the case of rebirth, an individual soul does not migrate from a physical body into
another one. No, it just won’t fit at all. Every individual or thing that exists would
not be the same - it could only be in a similar condition e.g. twins are similar but
never the same individuals (likewise, no two minds are the same). Every individual
is unique respectively and no individuals would be the same even though they do
share some sort of the same genes before time. For example, you may have heard
in various stories whereby a spirit or ghost has the ability to possess into the body
of an individual but it never absolutely overtakes the soul of the possessed
individual. This is because one cannot simply exchange the soul at one’s whim
and fancy. Even individuals with the most powerful magic charm could not perform
this feat. Another example will be the human organ transplant cases, whereby the
new recipients need to take immunosuppressive drugs to treat any transplant
rejections – live long.
In Buddhism, rebirth refers to evolving consciousness or stream of consciousness
of a person (upon death) and the new consciousness arising in the same person (in
the new person) is neither identical to, nor entirely different from, the old
consciousness, but forms part of a causal continuum or stream with it. The basic
cause for this persistent re-arising of personality is the abiding of consciousness
in ignorance; when ignorance is uprooted, rebirth ceases. For example, a flame is
transferred from one candle to another, or a fire spreads from one field to another.
In the same way that it depends on the original fire, there is a conditioned

2. relationship between one life and the next; they are not identical but neither are
they completely distinct.
And it is possible for rebirth to take place from a single source into different
identities at any various point of time, just like how the genetic lineage works for
generations. This is how we explain the destiny of being siblings, being life
partners, being close friends in one’s lifetime. Somehow or somewhere before
time, the so-called relevant individuals are inherited from the similar sources of
predecessor. Thus in the present lifetime one has the opportunity to meet and
know with the relevant beings and not the other non-relevant beings (as per the
law of attraction).
Ultimately, it is the wonder of nature that every created object or thing is neither
identical to, nor entirely different from each other. This is how the conventional
reality works i.e. not in-linear but in inter-dependence, inter-woven and inter-
relation since the dawn of time in a very comprehensive and complicated network
of existence. At the end of the day, the inter-connectedness of all things or
matters in the nature is what the principle of emptiness is all about - as per the
teachings of the Buddha.