The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c40.s10.93

v2.c40.s10.93

Another of the many contradictions involved in the theory arises from the view that on the departure of the soul on death it is accompanied by its recognition of the past, that is, that it retains a real personality. The difficulty of disposing of the fact that in practice the soul has no such recollection in its new birth of this previous experience is met by the statement that the child in the womb in its ninth month of existence possesses this knowledge, but through the pangs of birth is deprived of it.⁶ The Buddhist view admits that the Buddha enters with complete memory and intelligence into the womb,⁷ but in his case his miraculous birth prevents the loss of his supreme powers.