The early Buddhist path of practice has right view as its forerunner. Whereas right view does not necessarily require accepting rebirth on mere faith, it does require maintaining an open attitude to what is beyond the sphere of one’s direct verification and avoiding the adoption of a firm position that flatly denies rebirth.

The doctrine of rebirth is an integral and essential component of early Buddhist thought and cannot be reduced to a talking over of popular notions from the ancient Indian background. Tradition considers rebirth and its working mechanics to have been verified by the Buddha himself on the night of his awakening. Rebirth is also intrinsically intertwined with the different levels of awakening recognized in early Buddhist thought.

Right view functions as the precursor to the noble eightfold path that according to the early Buddhist scheme of mental training needs to be undertaken in order to reach liberation. This need not be taken to imply, however, that rebirth must be accepted on blind faith in order to be able to embark on this path, since alternative modes of describing right view exists. One of these is the exact opposite of wrong view and thus affirms rebirth and the results of karma. Another definition instead speaks of insight into the four noble truths. Although the four noble truths build on the notion of rebirth, the basic attitude and practices they convey can be put to use without affirming rebirth.