nonreincarnate

Nonreincarnate is an adjective used to describe beings or persons that do not undergo reincarnation—the belief that a soul or essence is reborn into a new body after death. The term is most often encountered in discussions of belief systems that include a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, known as samsara in several Eastern traditions.

In religious traditions that teach liberation from samsara, a nonreincarnate state refers to release from rebirth. This is described as moksha in Hinduism, nirvana in Buddhism, and liberation in Jainism; in these frameworks, a nonreincarnate being does not continue to be reborn after death.

Outside doctrinal discussion, nonreincarnate can appear in secular or fictional writing to describe a person who has never experienced rebirth or who possesses immunity from reincarnation, or to describe deities or beings believed to be exempt from the cycle. In traditions that do not include reincarnation, such as many Christian or Islamic contexts, the term is uncommon because reincarnation is not a standard belief there.

See also: reincarnation, samsara, moksha, nirvana, afterlife.