I applaud the efforts and knowledge of those who have posted in this thread. IME, the one thing which tends to hang up non-religious people when first learning about Buddhism is the idea of re-incarnation. This idea seems to have entered buddism as a part of Guatma's childhood religion - hinduism. I have found that re-incarnation is not needed for Buddha's teaching to hold water, however, he used re-incarnation as part of his teachings, so it is sometimes difficult to explain his messages while still avoiding the idea of karma RE: reincarnation. Karma can exsist in its basic form within a persons own life, reincarnation need not occur for it's effects to be seen. A violent man will find himself living in violence. Other items also apply, though, karma is not a law, it's a guide of events based on prior occurances. Anyway, karma, enlightment, samsara- all of these things are in truth from Hinduism, not from Buddism itself. Buddism is in many ways, a method for Hinduist enlightenment, seeing as the theology behind the practice comes from Hindu origens That said, it's all my opinion. I don't feel enlightened, and based on the vedas, if I were enlighted, I'd know it. SO, please disagree with me. ;))