09/17/2026
🪔 A Lamp That Lights Another Lamp — A Teaching on Rebirth
Have you ever wondered:
If there is no permanent soul or self that travels from one life to another, how can rebirth happen? And if no one “travels” into the next life, how can kamma continue to bear its results?
There is a beautiful conversation about this question in the Milindapañha, known in Sinhala as මිළිඳු රාජ ප්රශ්නය.
What is the Milindapañha?
The Milindapañha, meaning “The Questions of King Milinda,” is a well-known Buddhist text presented as a dialogue between King Milinda and the wise Buddhist monk Venerable Nāgasena.
King Milinda was a thoughtful and questioning king. He asked Nāgasena many difficult questions about the Buddha's teachings—about the self, kamma, rebirth, wisdom, meditation, and Nibbāna.
Rather than simply giving short answers, Nāgasena often used everyday examples and careful reasoning to help the king understand profound Dhamma teachings.
One of the most beautiful discussions concerns rebirth.
🪔 “Does anyone travel from one body to another?”
King Milinda asked Nāgasena:
“Venerable Nāgasena, is there a being who goes from this body to another body?”
Nāgasena replied:
“No, Great King.”
The king was puzzled.
“If no one goes from one body to another,” he asked, “then how can the results of kamma continue? Would a person not be free from the consequences of their actions?”
Nāgasena explained:
“If there were no rebirth, there would be no future existence in which those results could arise. But because rebirth occurs, kamma can continue to bear its results.”
The king then asked the question that makes this teaching so interesting:
“How can there be rebirth if nobody travels from one body to another?”
Nāgasena replied with an example.
🪔 The Lamp
Imagine one oil lamp burning brightly.
You take that flame and light another lamp.
Now the second lamp is burning.
Did the flame from the first lamp physically travel into the second lamp?
No.
Yet without the first lamp, the second lamp would not have been lit in that particular way.
There is a connection.
There is continuity.
But there is no permanent flame traveling from one lamp to the other.
Nāgasena says:
“In the same way, there is no one who travels from one body to another, yet rebirth takes place.”
🌱 A deeper reflection
This teaching invites us to look beyond two extremes.
It is not saying:
“There is a permanent soul that travels from life to life.”
Nor is it saying:
“There is absolutely no connection between one life and another.”
Instead, it points to causal continuity.
What we do, think, and cultivate has consequences. Conditions give rise to further conditions.
Just as one lamp can light another without a permanent flame traveling between them, one life can condition another without a permanent self moving from one body to another.
This is one reason the Buddha's teaching of anattā — not-self is so profound.
We do not need to imagine an eternal, unchanging “I” moving through existence in order to understand continuity, responsibility, and the results of kamma.
🪔 One simple sentence to remember
The flame does not travel, but the light continues.
In the words of the *Milindapañha:
Na ca saṅkamati, paṭisandahati ca.
“There is no transmigration, yet rebirth occurs.”
Sometimes a single lamp can illuminate a very large room.
And sometimes, a simple question asked with sincerity can illuminate something very deep within the mind.
May we continue to question wisely, understand deeply, and walk the path with compassion and wisdom.
Namo Buddhaya. 🙏
With gratitude and mettā,
Green Mountain Monk
