The Meaning of Incarnation

Incarnation which literally means embodied in flesh, refers to the conception and birth of a sentient creature (generally a human) who is the material manifestation of an entity or force whose original nature is immaterial.

In its religious context the word is used to mean the descent of a divine being or the Supreme Being (God) in human form on Earth. While Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism are perhaps the most widely-known traditions to employ this concept within the context of their respective belief systems, they are by no means the only ones to do so.

In the Buddhist tradition, an incarnation is a person believed to be the rebirth of someone previously deceased, in most cases a lama or other important master/teacher. This concept differs from reincarnation in Hinduism, however, since the Buddhist teaching of anatta (non-self) implies that there is no fixed soul that could move from one life to another.