Upvote:1
Instead of relations of beings by constant atman, as in some other religions, in Buddhism the relation is causal. So, new being's birth is causally related with past lives. What is carried on to new life is merit and demerit of past actions.
Additionally, in Mahayana's philosophy of Yogacara there is additional consciousness, called alaya-vijnana, which support transmigration.
Upvote:2
Forget death! Nothing goes from this moment to the next, even when you are alive. Hold one end of a spoon with your left hand and tap at the other end with your right.Your left hand will feel the vibrations as you tap. Now, do you think you felt it because the atoms at the right side of the spoon travelled to the left? Or is it because the particles at where you tapped vibrated 1st and caused the adjacent particles to vibrate as a result and that caused the next set of particles to vibrate and so on? Likewise, life/death/rebirth are just causes and effects. Nothing goes from preset to the future. .
Upvote:2
There is neither not self nor self.
The five aggregates; form, sensation, perception, mind formations and consciousness; disperse at death.
Consciousness is life-force. By itself it is without physical form, all types of mental habits, thoughts, ideas, prejudices, compulsions, decisions, familiarity and judgement as to whether an object is pleasant, unpleasant or neutral.
The stream of consciousness passes from one life to another; during this process it is not entirely the same nor entirely different. With the cessation of consciousness samsara ceases.