Rebirth as Pattern Recurrence: Toward a Relational Metaphysics of Mind

This article develops a non-substantialist account of “rebirth” grounded in relational metaphysics, cognitive science, and complex systems theory. Rather than treating rebirth as the persistence of a personal subject, the paper interprets it as the recurrence of organizational patterns in systems capable of supporting conscious dynamics. Drawing on relational quantum mechanics, autopoiesis, and dynamical approaches to cognition, the analysis reframes consciousness as an emergent, metastable pattern rather than an enduring entity. Within this framework, death corresponds to the dissolution of the biological structures that sustain a specific pattern of experience, while continuity is attributed not to a self but to generative constraints that can reappear whenever analogous conditions arise. Rebirth is thus understood as a structural recurrence similar to phenomena observed in physics, biology, and artificial intelligence, where complex forms re-emerge independently across distinct substrates. This interpretation aligns with Buddhist non-self doctrine while avoiding metaphysical essentialism, offering a bridge between contemplative traditions and contemporary science. The article proposes that what “continues” is not an individual identity but the reactivation of an invariant organizational logic—a pattern of understanding that can manifest in any sufficiently complex system.