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'{{other uses|Samsara (disambiguation)}} {{Buddhist term | fontsize=30% | title=saṃsāra | pi= saṃsāra | sa= saṃsāra, sangsara ([[Devanagari|Dev]]: संसार) | bn=সংসার (sôngsarô) | en= cycle of existence, endless rebirth, wheel of suffering | bo=འཁོར་བ་ | bo-Latn=khor ba | ja=[[:ja:輪廻|輪廻]] | ja-Latn=rinne | ko=[[:ko:輪迴（윤회）|윤회]], [[:ko:生死流轉（생사유전）|생사유전]] | ko-Latn=Yunhoi, Saengsayujeon |km=សង្សារ , សង្សារវដ្ដ , វដ្ដសង្សារ<br>(Sangsa, Sangsaravord, Vordsangsa) | mn=ᠣᠷᠴᠢᠯᠠᠩ, орчлон (orchilang, orchlon) | my=သံသရာ | my-Latn=θàɴðajà | th=[[:th:วัฏสงสาร|วัฏสงสาร]] | vi=[[:vi:輪迴Luân hồi|Luân hồi]] | zh=生死, [[:zh:輪迴|輪迴]], 流轉 | zh-Latn=shēngsǐ, lúnhuí, liúzhuǎn | si=[[:si:සංසාරය|සංසාරය]] (sansāra) |}} {{buddhism | terse=1}} '''Saṃsāra''' (Sanskrit, Pali; also ''samsara'') in [[Buddhism]] is the beginningless cycle of repeated [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|birth]], mundane existence and dying again.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=58, '''Quote:''' "Buddhism shares with Hinduism the doctrine of Samsara, whereby all beings pass through an unceasing cycle of birth, death and rebirth until they find a means of liberation from the cycle. However, Buddhism differs from Hinduism in rejecting the assertion that every human being possesses a changeless [[soul]] which constitutes his or her ultimate identity, and which transmigrates from one incarnation to the next.}} Samsara is considered to be ''[[dukkha]]'', unsatisfactory and painful,{{sfn|Wilson|2010}} perpetuated by desire and ''[[Avidyā (Buddhism)|avidya]]'' (ignorance), and the resulting [[karma]].{{sfn|Juergensmeyer|Roof|2011|p=271-272}}{{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=172, 240}}{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2012|p=18–19, chapter 1}} Rebirths occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, ghosts, hellish).{{refn|group=note|name=realms2|Earlier Buddhist texts refer to five realms rather than six realms; when described as five realms, the god realm and demi-god realm constitute a single realm.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=711-712}}}} Samsara ends if a person attains [[nirvana]],{{refn|group=note|name=nirvanakc}} the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into [[anicca|impermanence]] and [[anatta|non-self]] reality.{{sfn|Buswell|Gimello|1992|p=7–8, 83–84}}{{sfn|Choong|1999|p=28–29, Quote: "Seeing (''passati'') the nature of things as impermanent leads to the removal of the view of self, and so to the realisation of nirvana."}}{{sfn|Rahula|2014|p=51-58}} ==Characteristics== In Buddhism, ''saṃsāra'' is the "suffering-laden, continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end".{{sfn|Wilson|2010}}{{sfn|Laumakis|2008|p=97}} In several suttas of the [[Samyutta Nikaya]]'s chapter XV in particular it's said "From an inconstruable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on".<ref>http://suttacentral.net/en/sn15.3 - SN 15.3 Assu-sutta</ref> It is the never ending repetitive cycle of birth and death, in six realms of reality (''gati'', domains of existence),{{sfn|Bowker|1997}} wandering from one life to another life with no particular direction or purpose.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}}{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|pp=37-38}}{{refn|group=note|name="realms"|Samsara is the continual repetitive cycle of rebirth within the six realms of existence: * Damien Keown: "Although Buddhist doctrine holds that neither the beginning of the process of cyclic rebirth nor its end can ever be known with certainty, it is clear that the number of times a person may be reborn is almost infinite. This process of repeated rebirth is known as saṃsāra or 'endless wandering', a term suggesting continuous movement like the flow of a river. All living creatures are part of this cyclic movement and will continue to be reborn until they attain nirvana."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle locations 702-706}} * Ajahn Sucitto: "This continued movement is [...] what is meant by samsāra, the wandering on. According to the Buddha, this process doesn't even stop with death—it's like the habit transfers almost genetically to a new consciousness and body."{{sfn|Ajahn Sucitto|2010|pp=37-38}}}} Samsara is characterized by ''[[dukkha]]'' ("unsatisfactory," "painful").{{refn|group=note|Samsara is characterized by ''dukkha'': * Chogyam Trungpa: "Samsara arises out of ignorance and is characterized by suffering."{{sfn|Chogyam Trungpa|2009|p=137}} * Rupert Gethin: "This precisely is the nature of saṃsāra: wandering from life to life with no particular direction or purpose."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}}}} Every rebirth is temporary and impermanent. In each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with one's own karma.{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=74-75}} It is perpetuated by one's ''[[Avidyā (Buddhism)|avidya]]'' ("ignorance"), particularly about ''[[anicca]]'' and ''[[anatta]]'',{{sfn|Keown|2004|pp=81, 281}}{{sfn|Fowler|1999|p=39–42}} and from craving.{{refn|group=note|name="Ignorance and craving"|Ignorance and craving: * John Bowker: "In Buddhism, samsāra is the cycle of continuing appearances through the domains of existence (gati), but with no Self (anātman, [ātman means the enduring, immortal self]) being reborn: there is only the continuity of consequence, governed by karma."<ref group=web name=nalanda1>John Bowker. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2012 [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Sasra.html "Saṃsāra."];<br>{{cite book|author=John Bowker|title=God: A Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Te9wBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-870895-7|pages=84–86}}</ref> * Chogyam Trungpa states: "Cyclic existence [is] the continual repetitive cycle of birth, death, and [[bardo]] that arises from ordinary beings' grasping and fixating on a self and experiences. (...) Samsara arises out of ignorance and is characterized by suffering."{{sfn|Chogyam Trungpa|2009|p=137}} Note that Chogyam Trungpa's description includes a reference to the ''bardo'', or intermediate state, that is emphasized in the Tibetan tradition. * Huston Smith and Philip Novak state: "The Buddha taught that beings, confused as they are by ignorant desires and fears, are caught in a vicious cycle called samsara, freedom from which—nirvana—was the highest human end."{{sfn|Smith|Novak|2009|loc=Kindle Location 2574}}}} Samsara continues until moksha is attained by means of insight and [[Nirvana (Buddhism)|nirvana]].{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle locations 702-706}}{{refn|group=note|name=nirvanakc|Ending samsara: * Kevin Trainor: "Buddhist doctrine holds that until they realize nirvana, beings are bound to undergo rebirth and redeath due to their having acted out of ignorance and desire, thereby producing the seeds of karma".{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62–63}} * Conze: "Nirvana is the ''raison d’être'' of Buddhism, and its ultimate justification."{{sfn|Conze|2013|p=71}}}} the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into [[anicca|impermanence]] and [[anatta|non-self]] reality.{{sfn|Buswell|Gimello|1992|p=7–8, 83–84}}{{sfn|Choong|1999|p=28–29, Quote: "Seeing (''passati'') the nature of things as impermanent leads to the removal of the view of self, and so to the realisation of nirvana."}}{{sfn|Rahula|2014|p=51-58}} ===Mechanism=== The Saṃsāra doctrine of Buddhism asserts that while beings undergo endless cycles of rebirth, there is no changeless soul that transmigrates from one lifetime to another - a view that distinguishes its Saṃsāra doctrine from that in [[Hinduism]] and [[Jainism]].{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=58, Quote: "Buddhism shares with Hinduism the doctrine of Samsara, whereby all beings pass through an unceasing cycle of birth, death and rebirth until they find a means of liberation from the cycle. However, Buddhism differs from Hinduism in rejecting the assertion that every human being possesses a changeless soul which constitutes his or her ultimate identity, and which transmigrates from one incarnation to the next.}}<ref name=naomiappleton76>{{cite book|author=Naomi Appleton |title=Narrating Karma and Rebirth: Buddhist and Jain Multi-Life Stories |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AhT7AgAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-91640-0|pages=76–89 }}</ref> This no-soul (no-self) doctrine is called the ''[[Anatta]]'' or ''Anatman'' in Buddhist texts.<ref name=britannicaanatta>[http://www.britannica.com/topic/anatta Anatta Buddhism], Encyclopædia Britannica (2013)</ref><ref name=anatta3sources>[a] {{cite book|author=Christmas Humphreys|title=Exploring Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3rYtmCZEIEC |year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-22877-3 |pages=42–43 }}<br>[b] {{cite book|author=Brian Morris |title=Religion and Anthropology: A Critical Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PguGB_uEQh4C&pg=PA51 |year=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-85241-8|pages=51 }}, '''Quote:''' "(...) anatta is the doctrine of non-self, and is an extreme empiricist doctrine that holds that the notion of an unchanging permanent self is a fiction and has no reality. According to Buddhist doctrine, the individual person consists of five skandhas or heaps - the body, feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness. The belief in a self or soul, over these five skandhas, is illusory and the cause of suffering."<br>[c] {{cite book|author=Richard Gombrich|title=Theravada Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jZyJAgAAQBAJ|year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-90352-8|page=47}}, '''Quote:''' "(...) Buddha's teaching that beings have no soul, no abiding essence. This 'no-soul doctrine' (anatta-vada) he expounded in his second sermon."</ref> The early Buddhist texts suggest that Buddha faced a difficulty in explaining what is reborn and how rebirth occurs, after he innovated the concept that there is "no self" (''Anatta'').<ref name="Kalupahana1975p115">{{cite book|author=David J. Kalupahana|title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOYGAAAAYAAJ|year=1975|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|isbn=978-0-8248-0298-1|pages=115–119}}</ref> Later Buddhist scholars, such as the mid-1st millennium CE Pali scholar [[Buddhaghosa]], suggested that the lack of a self or soul does not mean lack of continuity; and the rebirth across different realms of birth – such as heavenly, human, animal, hellish and others – occurs in the same way that a flame is transferred from one candle to another.<ref>{{cite book|author=David J. Kalupahana|title=Causality: The Central Philosophy of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GOYGAAAAYAAJ|year=1975|publisher=University Press of Hawaii|isbn=978-0-8248-0298-1|page=83}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=William H. Swatos |author2=Peter Kivisto |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6TMFoMFe-D8C |year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-8956-1|page=66}}</ref> Buddhaghosa attempted to explain rebirth mechanism with "rebirth-linking consciousness" (''patisandhi'').<ref>{{cite book|author=Bruce Mathews|editor=Ronald Wesley Neufeldt|title=Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iaRWtgXjplQC|year=1986|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-87395-990-2|pages=123–126}}</ref><ref name="Doniger1980p168">{{cite book|author=James McDermott|editor=Wendy Doniger|title=Karma and Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WZTj3M71y0C&pg=PA169|year=1980|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-03923-0|pages=168–170}}</ref> The mechanistic details of the Samsara doctrine vary within the Buddhist traditions. [[Theravada]] Buddhists assert that rebirth is immediate while the [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan]] schools hold to the notion of a [[bardo]] (intermediate state) that can last up to forty-nine days before the being is reborn.{{sfn|Robert Buswell|Donald Lopez|2013|pp=49-50, 708-709}}<ref>Macmillan ''Encyclopedia of Buddhism''. Vol. 1, p. 377</ref><ref>The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Translator. Wisdom Publications. Sutta 44.9</ref> ==Realms of rebirth== [[File:Traditional bhavachakra wall mural of Yama holding the wheel of life, Buddha pointing the way out.jpg|thumb|A [[thangka]] showing the [[bhavacakra]] with the ancient five cyclic realms of saṃsāra in Buddhist cosmology. Medieval and contemporary texts typically describe six realms of reincarnation.]] {{See also|Desire realm|Bhavacakra|Ghost Festival}} Buddhist cosmology typically identifies six realms of rebirth and existence: gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hells.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Patrul Rinpoche|author2=Dalai Lama|title=The Words of My Perfect Teacher: A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40i38mGQ6aAC&pg=PA61|year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-9027-7|pages=61–99}}</ref> Earlier Buddhist texts refer to five realms rather than six realms; when described as five realms, the god realm and demi-god realm constitute a single realm.{{sfn|Buswell|2004|p=711-712}} The six realms are typically divided into three higher realms (good) and three lower realms (evil).{{sfn|McClelland|2010|pp=40, 107}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bryan J. Cuevas |author2=Jacqueline Ilyse Stone |title=The Buddhist Dead: Practices, Discourses, Representations |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1dkea_IgJUC |year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-3031-1 |pages=118–119 }}</ref> The three higher realms are the realms of the gods, demi-gods, and humans; the three lower realms are the realms of the animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings.{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1992|pp=5-8}}{{sfn|Patrul Rinpoche|1998|pp=61-99}} The six realms are organized into thirty one levels in east Asian literature.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|pp=35-40}} Buddhist texts describe these realms as follows:{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1992|pp=5-8}}{{sfn|Patrul Rinpoche|1998|pp=61-99}} * '''Gods realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} the gods ([[Deva (Buddhism)|deva]]s){{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} is the most pleasure-filled among six realms, and typically subdivided into twenty six sub-realms.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=35}} A rebirth in this heavenly realm is believed to be from very good karma accumulation.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} A ''Deva'' does not need to work, and is able to enjoy in the heavenly realm all pleasures found on earth. However, the pleasures of this realm lead to attachment (''[[Upādāna ]]''), lack of spiritual pursuits and therefore no nirvana.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=37}} The vast majority of Buddhist lay people, states Kevin Trainor, have historically pursued Buddhist rituals and practices motivated with rebirth into Deva realm.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}}{{Refn|group=note|Other scholars<ref>{{cite book|author=Merv Fowler |title=Buddhism: Beliefs and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7UKjtA0QDwC |year=1999|publisher=Sussex Academic Press |isbn=978-1-898723-66-0 |page=65}}, '''Quote:''' "For a vast majority of Buddhists in Theravadin countries, however, the order of monks is seen by lay Buddhists as a means of gaining the most merit in the hope of accumulating good karma for a better rebirth."</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Gowans|title=Philosophy of the Buddha: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EbU4Hd5lro0C|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-46973-4|page=169}}</ref> note that better rebirth, not nirvana, has been the primary focus of a vast majority of lay Buddhists. This they attempt through merit accumulation and good ''karma''.}} The ''Deva'' realm in Buddhist practice in southeast and east Asia, states Keown, include gods found in Hindu traditions such as [[Indra]] and [[Brahma]], and concepts in Hindu cosmology such as Mount Meru.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|pp=37-38}} * '''Demon, Anti-god or Demi-god realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} the demi-gods ([[Asura (Buddhism)|asura]]s){{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} is the second realm of existence in Buddhism. ''Asura'' are notable for their anger and some supernormal powers. They fight with the ''Devas'' (gods), or trouble the ''Manusya'' (humans) through illnesses and natural disasters.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} They accumulate karma, and are reborn. * '''Human realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} called the ''[[Human beings in Buddhism|manuṣya]]'' realm.{{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} Buddhism asserts that one is reborn in this realm with vastly different physical endowments and moral natures because of a being's past karma. A rebirth in this realm is considered as fortunate because it offers an opportunity to attain nirvana and end the Saṃsāra cycle.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}}{{Sfn|Keown|2013|pp=36-37}} * '''Animal realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=63}} is state of existence of a being as an animal ([[Animals in Buddhism|tiryag]]).{{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} This realm is traditionally thought to be similar to a hellish realm, because animals are believed in Buddhist texts to be driven by impulse and instinct, they prey on each other and suffer.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=36}} Some Buddhist texts assert that plants belong to this realm, with primitive consciousness.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=63}} [[File:Hungry Ghosts Scroll Kyoto 5.jpg|thumb|Hungry Ghosts realm of Buddhist samsara, a 12th-century painting from Kyoto Japan]] * '''Hungry ghost realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} hungry ghosts and other restless spirits ([[preta]]){{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} are rebirths caused by karma of excessive craving and attachments. They do not have a body, are invisible and constitute only "subtle matter" of a being. Buddhist texts describe them as beings who are extremely thirsty and hungry, very small mouths but very large stomachs.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=36}} Buddhist traditions in Asia attempt to care for them on ritual days every year, by leaving food and drinks in open, to feed any hungry ghosts nearby.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} When their bad karma demerit runs out, these beings are reborn into another realm. According to McClelland, this realm is the mildest of the three evil realms.{{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=114, 199}} According to Yangsi Rinpoche, in contrast, the suffering of the beings born in the realm of the hungry ghosts is far more intense than those born in the animal realm.<ref>{{cite book|author=Yangsi Rinpoche|title=Practicing the Path: A Commentary on the Lamrim Chenmo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wjM6AwAAQBAJ |year=2012|publisher=Wisdom Publications|isbn=978-0-86171-747-7|page=122}}</ref> * '''Hell realm:'''{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=63}} beings in hell ([[Naraka (Buddhism)|naraka]]){{sfn|McClelland|2010|p=136}} enter this realm for evil karma such as theft, lying, adultery and others. The texts vary in their details, but typically describe numerous hellish regions each with different forms of intense suffering, such as eight extremely hot hellish realms, eight extremely cold, being partially eaten alive, beating and other forms of torture in proportion to the evil karma accumulated.{{sfn|Trainor|2004|p=62}} These beings are reborn in another realm after their evil karma has run its course, they die, and they get another chance.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=36}} This realm is not similar to afterlife hell in Christianity, states Damien Keown, because in Buddhism there is no realm of final damnation and existence in this realm is also a temporary state.{{Sfn|Keown|2013|p=36}} ==Cause and end== Samsara is perpetuated by one's karma, which is caused by craving and [[Avidyā (Buddhism)|ignorance]] (''avidya'').{{sfn|Keown|2004|pp=81, 281}}{{sfn|Fowler|1999|p=39–42}}{{refn|group=note|name="Ignorance and craving"}} ===Karma=== {{Main|Karma in Buddhism}} Samsara is perpetuated by karma.{{refn|group=note|The driving force behind rebirth in the six realms of samsara is karma: * Peter Harvey: "The movement of beings between rebirths is not a haphazard process but is ordered and governed by the law of karma, the principle that beings are reborn according to the nature and quality of their past actions; they are 'heir' to their actions (M.III.123)."{{sfn|Harvey|1990|p=39}} * Damien Keown: "In the cosmology [of the realms of existence], karma functions as the elevator that takes people from one floor of the building to another. Good deeds result in an upward movement and bad deeds in a downward one. Karma is not a system of rewards and punishments meted out by God but a kind of natural law akin to the law of gravity. Individuals are thus the sole authors of their good and bad fortune."{{sfn|Keown|2000|loc=Kindle Location 794-797}} * Sogyal Rinpoche states: "The kind of birth we will have in the next life is determined, then, by the nature of our actions in this one. And it is important never to forget that the effect of our actions depends entirely upon the intention or motivation behind them, and not upon their scale."{{sfn|Sogyal Rinpoche|2009|p=97}} * Rupert Gethin: "What determines in which realm a being is born? The short answer is karma (Pali kamma): a being’s intentional ‘actions’ of body, speech, and mind—whatever is done, said, or even just thought with definite intention or volition. In general, though with some qualification, rebirth in the lower realms is considered to be the result of relatively unwholesome (akuśala/akusala), or bad (pāpa) karma, while rebirth in the higher realms the result of relatively wholesome (kuśala/kusala), or good (puṇya/puñña) karma."{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}} * Paul Williams: "short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma; this endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath is ''Saṃsāra''."{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=74-75}}}} Karma or 'action' results from an intentional physical or mental act, which causes a future consequence.{{refn|group=note|Aṅguttara Nikāya III.415: "It is "intention" that I call karma; having formed the intention, one performs acts (karma) by body, speech and mind.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p= 120}}}} Gethin explains: {{quote|Thus acts of body and speech are driven by an underlying intention or will ([[cetanā]]), and they are unwholesome or wholesome because they are motivated by unwholesome or wholesome intentions. Acts of body and speech are, then, the end products of particular kinds of mentality. At the same time karma can exist as a simple 'act of will', a forceful mental intention or volition that does not lead to an act of body or speech.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rupert Gethin|title=The Foundations of Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUwSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA120|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-289223-2|page=120}}</ref>}} In the Buddhist view, therefore, the type of birth one has in this life is determined by actions or ''karma'' from the previous lives; and the circumstances of the future rebirth are determined by the actions in the current and previous lives.{{refn|group=note|Padmasambhava: "If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions."{{sfn|Sogyal Rinpoche|2009|p=97}} }} ===Craving and ignorance=== Inconsistencies in the oldest texts show that the Buddhist teachings on craving and ignorance, and the means to attain liberation, evolved, either during the lifetime of the Buddha, or thereafter.{{refn|group=note|See:<br>* Erich Frauwallner (1953), ''Geschichte der indischen Philosophie'', Band ''Der Buddha und der Jina'' (pp. 147-272)<br>* Andre Bareau (1963), ''Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Sutrapitaka et les Vinayapitaka anciens'', Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient<br>* Schmithausen, ''On some Aspects of Descriptions or Theories of 'Liberating Insight' and 'Enlightenment' in Early Buddhism''<br>* K.R. Norman, [http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Articles/The%20Four%20Noble%20Truths_Norman_PTS_2003.pdf Four Noble Truths'']<br>* Tilman Vetter, [http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/The%20Ideas%20and%20Meditative%20Practices%20of%20Early%20Buddhism_Vetter.pdf ''The Ideas and Meditative Practices of Early Buddhism, by Tilmann Vetter'']<br>* {{cite book|author=Richard F. Gombrich |title=How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQOAAgAAQBAJ |year=2006|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-19639-5}}, chapter four<br>* {{Citation | last =Bronkhorst | first =Johannes | authorlink = Johannes Bronkhorst | year =1993 | title =The Two Traditions Of Meditation In Ancient India | publisher =Motilal Banarsidass Publishers}}, chapter 7<br>* {{Citation | last =Anderson | first =Carol | year =1999 | title =Pain and Its Ending: The Four Noble Truths in the Theravada Buddhist Canon | publisher =Routledge}}}} According to Frauwallner, the Buddhist texts show a shift in the explanation of the root cause of samsara.<ref>Erich Frauwallner (1953), ''Geschichte der indischen Philosophie'', Band ''Der Buddha und der Jina'' (pp. 147-272)</ref> Originally craving was considered to be the root cause of samsara,{{refn|group=note|Frauwallner (1953), as referenced by Vetter (1988),{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi}} Flores (2009),{{sfn|Flores|2009|p=63–65}} and Williams, Tribe and Wynne (2012).{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2012|p=33-34}}}} which could be stilled by the practice of ''dhyana'', leading to a calm of mind which according to Vetter ''is'' the liberation which is being sought.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi-xxxvii}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=93-111}} The later Buddhist tradition considers [[Avidyā (Buddhism)|ignorance]] (''avidya'') to be the root cause of samsara.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi}}{{sfn|Keown|2004|pp=81, 281}}{{sfn|Fowler|1999|p=39–42}} Avidya is misconception and ignorance about reality, leading to grasping and clinging, and repeated rebirth.{{sfn|Edelglass|2009|p=3-4}}{{sfn|Laumakis|2008|p=136}} According to Paul Williams, "it is the not-knowingness of things as they truly are, or of oneself as one really is."{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2012|p=46–47}} It can be overcome by insight into the true nature of reality. In the later Buddhist tradition "liberating insight" came to be regarded as equally liberating as the practice of ''dhyana''.{{sfn|Gombrich|1997|p=99-102}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=93-111}} According to Vetter and Bronkhorst, this happened in response to other religious groups in India, who held that a liberating insight was an indispensable requisite for ''moksha'', liberation from rebirth.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxxii, xxxiii}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=54-55, 96, 99}}{{refn|group=note|Tillmann Vetter: "Very likely the cause was the growing influence of a non-Buddhist spiritual environment·which claimed that one can be released only by some truth or higher knowledge. In addition, the alternative (and perhaps sometimes competing) method of discriminating insight (fully established after the introduction of the four noble truths) seemed to conform so well to this claim."{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxxiii}}<br><br>According to Bronkhorst, this happened under influence of the "mainstream of meditation," that is, Vedic-Brahmanical oriented groups, which believed that the cessation of action could not be liberating, since action can never be fully stopped. Their solution was to postulate a fundamental difference between the inner soul or self and the body. The inner self is unchangeable, and unaffected by actions. By insight into this difference, one was liberated. To equal this emphasis on insight, Buddhists presented insight into their most essential teaching as equally liberating. What exactly was regarded as the central insight "varied along with what was considered most central to the teaching of the Buddha."{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=54-55, 96, 99}}}} The ideas on what exactly constituted this "liberating insight" evolved over time.{{sfn|Vetter|1988|p=xxi-xxxvii}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=chapter 7}} Initially the term ''prajna'' served to denote this "liberating insight." Later on, ''prajna'' was replaced in the suttas by the [[Four Noble Truths|four truths]].{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=99-100, 102-111}}{{sfn|Anderson|1999}} This happened in those texts where "liberating insight" was preceded by the four jhanas, and where this practice of the four jhanas then culminates in "liberating insight."{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=108}}{{refn|group=note|In the Nikayas the four truths are given as the "liberating insight" which constituted the [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|awakening]], or "enlightenment" of the Buddha. When he understood these truths, he was "enlightened," and liberated, as reflected in Majjhima Nikaya 26:42: "his taints are destroyed by his seeing with wisdom."{{sfn|Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator)|1995|p=268}} Typically, the four truths refer here to the eightfold path as the means to gain liberation, while the attainment of insight in the four truths is portrayed as liberating in itself.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993}}}} The four truths were superseded by ''pratityasamutpada'', and still later, in the Hinayana schools, by the doctrine of the non-existence of a substantial self or person.{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=100-101}} And Schmithausen states that still other descriptions of this "liberating insight" exist in the Buddhist canon: {{quote|"that the five Skandhas are impermanent, disagreeable, and neither the Self nor belonging to oneself";{{refn|group=note|Majjhima Nikaya 26}} "the contemplation of the arising and disappearance (''udayabbaya'') of the five Skandhas";{{refn|group=note|Anguttara Nikaya II.45 (PTS)}} "the realisation of the Skandhas as empty (''rittaka''), vain (''tucchaka'') and without any pith or substance (''asaraka'').{{refn|group=note|Samyutta Nikaya III.140-142 (PTS)}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|1993|p=101}}}} ===Liberation=== {{Main|Nirvana|Consciousness (Buddhism)|Buddhist Paths to liberation}} Samsara ends when one attains ''[[moksha]]'', liberation.{{sfn|Williams|Tribe|Wynne|2012|pp=30–42}}{{sfn|Robert Buswell |Donald Lopez |2013|pp=304-305}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|editor=Steven M. Emmanuel|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ |year =2015| publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=26–44}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ted Honderich|title=The Oxford Companion to Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJFCAwAAQBAJ|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-103747-4|pages=113, 659}}</ref> In early Buddhism, [[Nirvana]], the "blowing out" of desire, is ''moksha''. In later Buddhism insight becomes predominant, for example the recognition and acceptance of non-self, also called the [[anatta]] doctrine.<ref>{{cite book|author=Melford E. Spiro|title=Buddhism and Society: A Great Tradition and Its Burmese Vicissitudes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnYou0owQ5MC|year=1982|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-04672-6|page=84}}</ref> One who no longer sees any soul or self, concludes Walpola Rahula, is the one who has been liberated from the samsara suffering cycles.{{sfn|Rahula|2014|p=51-58}}{{refn|group=note|Phra Thepyanmongkol: "The designation that is Nibbana [Nirvana] is anatta (non-self)", states Buddha, in ''Parivara Vinayapitaka''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Phra Thepyanmongkol|title=A Study Guide for Right Practice of the Three Trainings|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XFW45RDK6wC|year=2012|publisher=Wat Luang Phor Sodh|isbn=978-974-401-378-1|pages=412–418}}</ref>}} The theme that Nirvana is non-Self, states Peter Harvey, is recurring in early Buddhist texts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|editor=Steven M. Emmanuel|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=36–37, Note: Harvey clarifies that non-Self does not mean "no-self", but denial of Self or "I" or 'I am' is clearly a vital soteriological idea in Buddhism.}}</ref> Some Buddhist texts suggest that rebirth occurs through the transfer of ''[[Consciousness (Buddhism)|vinnana]]'' (consciousness) from one life to another. When this consciousness ceases, then liberation is attained.{{sfn|Waldron|2003|p=22}} There is a connection between consciousness, karmic activities, and the cycle of rebirth, argues William Waldron, and with the destruction of vinnana, there is "destruction and cessation of "karmic activities" (anabhisankhara, S III, 53), which are considered in Buddhism to be "necessary for the continued perpetuation of cyclic existence."{{sfn|Waldron|2003|p=22}} While Buddhism considers the liberation from samsara as the ultimate spiritual goal, in traditional practice, Buddhists seek and accumulate merit through good deeds, donations to monks and various Buddhist rituals in order to gain better rebirths rather than nirvana.<ref>{{cite book|author=Michael D. Coogan|title=The Illustrated Guide to World Religions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BshpqnbLOvQC| year=2003| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-521997-5| page=192}}</ref> ==Psychological interpretation== According to Chogyam Trungpa the realms of samsara can refer to both "psychological states of mind and physical cosmological realms".{{refn|group=note|Chogyam Trungpa states: "In the Buddhist system of the six realms, the three higher realms are the god realm, the jealous-god realm, and the human realm; the three lower realms are the animal realm, the hungry ghost realmm, and the hell realm. These realms can refer to psychological states or to aspects of Buddhist cosmology."{{sfn|Chogyam Trungpa|2009|p=127}} }} Gethin argues, rebirth in the different realms is determined by one's [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]], which is directly determined by one's psychological states. The Buddhist cosmology may thus be seen as a map of different realms of existence and a description of all possible psychological experiences.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|pp=119-120}} The psychological states of a person in current life lead to the nature of next rebirth in Buddhist cosmology.{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=121}} Paul Williams acknowledges Gethin's suggestion of the "principle of the equivalence of cosmology and psychology," but notes that Gethin is not asserting the Buddhist cosmology is really all about current or potential states of mind or psychology.{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=78-79}} The realms in Buddhist cosmology are indeed realms of rebirths. Otherwise rebirth would always be into the human realm, or there would be no rebirth at all. And that is not traditional Buddhism, states Williams.{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=78-79}} David McMahan concludes that the attempts to construe ancient Buddhist cosmology in modern psychological terms is modernistic reconstruction, "detraditionalization and demythologization" of Buddhism, a sociological phenomenon that is seen in all religions.<ref>{{cite book|author=David L. McMahan|title=The Making of Buddhist Modernism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XU6HNwlxhCAC|year=2008|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-972029-3|pages=45–48, 57–58}}, '''Quote:''' "Clearly, the interaction of Buddhism with psychology exhibits aspects of both detraditionalization and demythologization as already described. In addition, the legitimacy that is granted Buddhism in its reconstrual as a kind of psychology reverberates back to the very conception of Buddhism among Buddhists themselves, (...)"</ref> ==Alternate translations== * Conditioned existence (Daniel Goleman) * Cycle of clinging and taking birth in one desire after another (Phillip Moffitt) * Cycle of existence * Cyclic existence (Jeffry Hopkins) * Uncontrollably recurring rebirth (Alexander Berzin) * Wheel of suffering (Mingyur Rinpoche) ==See also== * [[Bhavacakra]] * [[Buddhist cosmology]] * [[Index of Buddhism-related articles]] * [[Nirvana (Buddhism)]] * [[Rebirth (Buddhism)]] * [[Secular Buddhism]] * [[Six realms]] * [[Wheel of Life]] desuihhjsdfubvgcjrdhfrvhrjefrhbdjvjdvjb ==Notes== {{reflist|group=note|2}} ==References== {{reflist|2}} ===Web references=== {{Reflist|group=web}} ===Sources=== {{refbegin}} * {{Citation| last =Ajahn Sucitto | year =2010 | title =Turning the Wheel of Truth: Commentary on the Buddha's First Teaching | publisher =Shambhala }} <!-- B --> * {{Citation| last = Bhikkhu Nanamoli (translator) | year =1995 | title =The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya |place =Boston | publisher =Wisdom Publications | isbn =0-86171-072-X}} * {{Citation | last =Bowker | first =John (editor)| year =1997 |title =The [[Oxford Dictionary of World Religions]] | publisher =Oxford}} * {{Citation | last1 =Buswell | first1 =Robert E. | first2 =Robert M. | last2 =Gimello | year =1992| title =Paths to Liberation: The Mārga and Its Transformations in Buddhist Thought | publisher =University of Hawaii Press | isbn =978-0-8248-1253-9 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=1tcGAAAAYAAJ}} * {{Citation | editor-last =Buswell | editor-first =Robert E. | year =2004| title =Encyclopedia of Buddhism | publisher =Macmillan Reference USA|isbn=0-02-865718-7}} * {{Citation | author1 =Robert Buswell | author2 =Donald Lopez | editor1-link =Robert Buswell Jr. | editor2-link =Donald S. 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