The answer to the question of rebirth is found in the Pali Nikayas. But it is incumbent on the beginner who decides to come to the Dharma to at least become familiar with some of the major tenets of Buddhism, one being the notion of rebirth.
It may come as a shock to some who are looking at Buddhism for the first time but there is no negation of rebirth made by the Buddha. When the beginner comes across a passage like this, logically, the Buddha is talking about rebirth,
“Therefore, with the breakup of the body, the fool fares on to another body. Faring on to another body, he is not freed from birth, aging, and death; not freed from sorrow, lamentation, pain, displeasure, and despair; not freed from suffering, I say” (SN 12:19).
Good scholars who are familiar with the Buddhist canon know what fares on to another rebirth, it is samsaric consciousness — not to be confused with self (ātman/attā). A typical beginner's mistake is a misunderstanding of rebirth.
The teaching of the Buddha could not care less if a beginner does not believe in rebirth. It is a fact for those who are enlightened. Nevertheless, the best students must have full faith in such teachings as rebirth.
Buddhism is a very deep and, mystically, profound religion. There is more to it than some beginner visiting a Buddhist or Zen temple and sitting with some monks.
All the texts mean nothing if the beginner is a materialist who is uncomfortable with the idea of rebirth or the fact that consciousness is the transmigrant from one life to another. Buddhism is a path (mārga) for those who like to think out of the box (typically, the mystic). Its path is not a visible one but rather a spiritual one.
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