[MilenaJaf]

It seems that the purpose of belief in death & rebirth is to expand our perceptions... to begin expanding beyond the limitation we impose with our thoughts or egos or whatever. Esp. in Buddhism where the teaching of no-self co-exists with the idea of rebirth... it's a total paradox! Someone once said that a paradox is a truth standing on its head... Zen Buddhists and Taoists both seem to use paradoxes to facilitate insight.

To me the concept of death & rebirth in Buddhism is pointing to the same thing as the Zen Koan, "What did your face look like before your parents were born?" When rebirth is not seen as dogma, it is a total paradox of anatta, but that does not mean we should throw it out. It means it has something to teach us. I think that when we begin to understand death & rebirth in an experiential way, then we begin to experience anatta. We begin to know the meaning of the koan. As in:

You cannot describe it or draw it,
You cannot praise it enough or perceive it.
No place can be found in which
To put the Original Face;
It will not disappear even
When the universe is destroyed.
— Mumon


quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face