Q.I attempt to sincerely practice the Dharma but have never been able to accept the idea of re-birth either in principle or as a matter of faith. I accept that the nature of reality is not limited by my capacity to comprehend, but I cannot make sense of the idea that we are reborn or experience re-becoming. Do you think this is likely to undermine my efforts to practice and my spiritual progress? Should I just ‘sit with it and see’?

A. I don’t think you have to make a problem out of it and feel that you are not practising properly. Practice is about dealing with where your feet are at this very moment, and therefore you could say that is all that is necessary. From my own experience of getting to know myself over the years of practice, it became obvious that, with all goes that to make me up, with my strong habits and powerful attachments, it would be quite absurd to imagine that they just materialised out of nothing at birth. You could argue these days that genetics may be an answer, but there is a lot in me that cannot be applied to that simple idea. And besides, what creates the genetic map in the first place?

In my own personal practice the idea of being born over and over again in the lottery of rebirth and suffering has always been a prime motivation to practice because of the consequences of my actions taught by Buddhism if I chose to ignore them. To believe that life is a one off seems to me to negate the whole motivation for Dharma cultivation. Yes, we could be motivated to do good for others and humanise our own conduct, but if it all comes to nothing in the end why should we put the extra effort into changing ourselves that Dharma practice demands?

Definitely ‘sit with it ‘, and if you are still enough you may well get to see the principle of becoming being created and acted out inside your own mind and body, and the continuous accumulation of karma which demands becoming sooner or later. In the time that you have to wait for this understanding to show, take the leap and make room within yourself for the indispensable act of faith. Faith in the Buddha, the teachings, and all the great sages that have arisen throughout the ages, who have continually reaffirmed this law. Allow this to support you in your practice.