sn12.35:2.1 “What is rebirth, sir, and who does it belong to?”
sn12.35:2.2 “That’s not a cogent question,” said the Buddha. “You might say, ‘What is rebirth, and who does it belong to?’ Or you might say, ‘Rebirth is one thing, who it belongs to is another.’ But both of these mean the same thing, only the phrasing differs.
sn12.35:2.3 Mendicant, if you have the view that the soul and the body are one and the same, there is no living of the spiritual life.
sn12.35:2.4 If you have the view that the soul is one thing, the body another, there is no living of the spiritual life.
sn12.35:2.5 Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One teaches by the middle way:
sn12.35:2.6 ‘Continued existence is a requirement for rebirth.’”