Atheist: You have no soul. you begin from nothing and end up becoming nothing
Abrahamic Theists: You have a soul that begins at your birth. You begin from nothing and end up eternally in Hell or Heaven
Hindus: You have a soul. Your soul is eternal and unchanging and you are reincarnated over and over again the way you slip into different clothes while yourself is intact
Buddhist: You do not have a soul. Your mental state 'lives'(arises) and 'dies' (cease) moment to moment based on principle of dependent origination and so does your physical body .
The combination of mental and physical states give one the illusion of a 'self' and thus the erroneous view of a soul or ghost in the machine.
As there is no soul, buddhists believe in 'rebirth' in opposed to 'reincarnation' . Rebirth is illustrated with the analogy of using the flame of one candle to light up the next - the flame is not the same flame, yet is a result of the previous flame.
First 2 views conflict with the law of conservation of energy.
Third view conflicts with the theory of change - since an eternally unchanging soul means there is no possibility of cultivation and development of the soul, since the soul is eternal and cannot be changed.
The buddhist view refutes the fallacy that Karma means there is such a thing as fate or destiny that cannot be changed.
Buddhists believe that the universe is in a constant flux of changes and everything is impermanent. Hence cultivation and personal salvation is possible through hardwork and abstinence in doing evil - i.e. you can change your own destiny.
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