In Buddhism if there is no surviving soul then how do you recollect your past lives and karmas ?

That is not as easy to understand as you may expect.

The idea of no soul in Buddhism is a rejection of the atman (usually translated as soul) as was posed in Hinduism in the days of the Buddha. The atman in Hinduism is/was generally seen as a permanent thing, it does not change. What the Buddha taught is that such an unchanging, permanent soul does not exist.

What does exist in Buddhism is often called a mind-stream; this is a continuation of awareness. Just like a river which is always moving, the mind is a continuously changing awareness, and a very subtle part of our awareness is said to continue after death into a next life. This mind-stream also carries the karma-seeds that we have collected, and this mind-stream will experience the results of that karma.

This process of experiencing karma can only be stopped when we reach Nirvana or the full enlightenement of a Buddha. But even then, the ever-changing mind-stream continues.

when you're asleep, is your soul asleep too? when you say there is soul, then you must declare what soul does...

if there is soul and awake, how can you sleep? is the soul outside or inside the body when its body is asleep?

once you bring soul into existence, you have to think all contrasting conflicting situations.

so you better know Buddhism doesn't have soul which lasts or everlasting. there is nibbanna (nirvana) and soul is not compatible for peace.

memory is far from actual explanation. but consider how a CD can keep the records in it and how it can deliver its records to different CDs. that's how the nature works. you don't need soul as CDs just don't need. memory is recorded in the universe which you can get access - and it's all about kamma (karma) as well.

Just consider why some people have better intelligence. are their souls better ones? without souls, people can learn and gain higher mental capability - but you have to attempt and achieve to know how that works. Just think about the taste of durian - it's bitter sweet and unique. but before you eat it with your own mouth and taste it with your own tongue, you cannot know. that's how reality of the nature works. to understand about memory, it's up to your own effort.

that's how people can recall their past lives too.

some remember naturally but some have to achieve that nature by hard-work.

Not soul, but an Awareness. You know when you become enlightened.

A soul in itself is another finer body which houses the "Id" and which is our seventh consciousness; according to the Yogacara School, when we died, so do all of our six consciousnesses. These consciousnesses are inclusive of all of our five senses, plus our mental functions- the brain, will die with our body.

Seventh Consciousness will die with the body as well, but the 7th consciousness being our sub-conscious, a mind which thought it is the master of this body, and not knowing it is merely the messenger for the 8th Consciousness (the Alaya Consicousness), and it will struggle to survive and will confuse the 8th Consciousness and form an intermediate body, which many people thought this is the soul.

This intermediate body or misnomer as soul will last only for 49 days, upon which it will be dissipated and the Primordial Awareness will carry the karma and be reincarnated into a new life form of one of the six paths.

The most important thing about this Awareness, it is neither in your body nor out of your body, an intrigue phenomenon.

There IS a surviving soul but there isn't a surviving body or recollection (mind.)

What's with this "recollecting and sorting out the karmas" (plural?)

Does the concept of "karma" even have a plural?

Karma is not a file of past happenings, it is the CURRENT SITUATION that one finds oneself in due to past happenings.

This is not a matter of a learning curve, it is a matter of "do it again until you get it right" (without any outside input.) All you have to work with is the initial state of the soul at birth and your current situation.

Past lives are gone.

Think of karma as a bank account that somebody else opened in "your soul's" name.

You never get a bank statement indicating what the current balance is!

The end objective is to close out the account.

Deeds incurring bad karma are deposits made to your account.

Deeds incurring good karma are withdrawals made from your account.

Although you are not even aware that the account is out there, it still has a running daily balance.

The end balance from your previous life is the opening balance in this life.

The bank decides when it is time to close out the account.

That will be when you have an end-life balance of zero.

Which means that you do not need to reincarnate.

Accounts are only reviewed at the end-life cycle.

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Karma is about "What goes around, comes around" meaning. If you beat someone up, eventually it'll come back and bite you in the *** (meaning something bad will happen to you.)

Is this a stupid Buddhism question? Never seen one before. I have plenty, if yours get's answer then I'll try.