The Buddhist attitude towards death is fundamentally conditioned by a belief in reincarnation. ＿＿（12）＿＿ Hindus, Buddhists believe that, after death, the soul is reborn in another body. The kind of body and the station of life into which the individual is reborn ＿＿（13）＿＿ upon the kind of life he or she led previously. Those who led virtuous lives and attained merit are reborn into conditions that allow them to practice even greater virtue and to achieve a yet more ＿＿（14）＿＿ incarnation. The ＿＿（15）＿＿ also holds true; those who lead depraved lives can suffer a series of rebirths, each lower and more wretched than the last. This process is not endless, however. The soul seeks the upward path, and after innumerable incarnations can, through meditation and contemplation, become aware of the universal meaning of things. The Buddha is released from the cycle of death and rebirth, ＿＿（16）＿＿ the forms and changes of the material universe, and dwells forever in a timeless, formless, and unchanging state known as Nirvana.