Buddhism holds that there is no “self”, ultimately; however, it also holds that people are reincarnated… so what is it that is being reincarnated? I’m sure there is an apology for this somewhere, but the only explanation I’ve read made less sense than the question.
Well, we have the answer to that one from science: “incarnations” come from seeds which come from parents. So: part of you potentially lives on beyond your own death, Also, part of you is very old—and contains wisdom from your ancestors.
Buddhism identified some of these puzzle pieces, but then made a mess of assembling them. It identified karma as what gets reincarnated—whereas today, we would say that it is DNA that is the immortal essence that potentially gets to live forever.
Well, we have the answer to that one from science: “incarnations” come from seeds which come from parents. So: part of you potentially lives on beyond your own death, Also, part of you is very old—and contains wisdom from your ancestors.
Buddhism identified some of these puzzle pieces, but then made a mess of assembling them. It identified karma as what gets reincarnated—whereas today, we would say that it is DNA that is the immortal essence that potentially gets to live forever.