You wrote:
"I think DC's answers are often pretty complete, but terse. I
interpreted his answer as pretty applicable to all of us, not just
beginners.
-Frank"
Please accept my apologies, if what I write is terse. Thank you very much having mettaa on me.
Let me amplify a little bit on what I said about two meaningless words "reincarnation" and "rebirth".
Both these words are connected with the 'atta' (Sk. aatman) concept. It is also 'self', ego. I, psycho-physical personality and so on. They have a meaning only in theistic religions in those doctrines
The vision of the Buddha is that the 'world' in impermanent (anicca); hence dukkha--(I dare not translate this for fear of misunderstanding); and hence anatta (no atta).
Thus terms like 'reincarnation' 'rebirth' are just meaningless sounds ot symbols as far as Buddha Dhamma is concerned.
You have been reading DN 1. Of course the sutta is one of the most difficult in the canon. But the beginning of the sutta gives some very interesting advice, of course by the Buddha, about how to carry out a dhamma discussion. I am sure you would have read it. Even if you have read it, please read it once again.
With mettaa,
D. G. D. C. Wijeratna
P.S. Mettaa is not a ritual word. It comes from Indo-Iranian 'mitta'. It is just being sincerely friendly.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]