SAMSARA

Summary

of Points

• Metaphor – ‘the ocean of suffering’ which is fraught with dangers of all kinds.

• Literally means ‘wandering on’ – process that is long and aimless.

• World of suffering and death from which it is hoped that a person might eventually escape.

• Cycle of re-birth• State of dependant origination

– way in which one thing arises because of another (cause & effect)

What is samsara?

• Dependent Origination (12 Nidanas) – starting with ignorance, shows the chain of cause and effect which ties us to the wheel of samsara

• Re-birth depends on previous karma• Links all beings in a web of existence• Flow of ever changing consciousness

– Re-birth or re-becoming is a constant process of change. What a person will be later, develops out of what he or she has been before.

• Aim to live life in such a way as to secure better Samsaric rebirth and get closer to escaping samsara.

• We are caught up in a cycle of life, death, rebirth• Depicted by the Tibetan Wheel of Life• We are tied into the cycle of constant rebirth

because of the Three Root Poisons – hatred, greed and ignorance (centre or hub of the Wheel)

• Result of Kamma means we can ‘move up’ or ‘move down’ the six realms of re-birth

• Six Realms of rebirth – can be seen as real or states of mind

AE example questions

• Is samsara an accurate concept?

• Does it portray the human condition well/successfully?

• Does it bring benefits or difficulties?

Positive/benefits etc.

• Actions have consequences! We know this is true. Acceptance and positive action can make us better people.

• We are all building our own personal heaven or hell – here and now or in the future. Which is preferable? (Link to Kamma)

• Desire to escape samsara can spur Buddhists on to live better lives – the Dhamma offers a way out: follow the Eightfold Path, Five Precepts, gain good Kamma.

• The Chain of Dependent Origination can be broken – get rid of hatred, greed and ignorance!

• The illusion or ignorance of permanent self leads to craving (tanha) and selfish attachment to things and people, and so also to suffering – accepting it brings release from craving and so also from suffering , and so can be free from samsaric rebirth and gain enlightenment- Nirvana.

• Getting rid of selfishness is a good thing – no-one likes selfish people. Would be happier as selfishness leads to suffering.

• Better samsaric rebirth is a good intermediate goal for Buddhists (rebirth as a human – preferably as a monk!) as it is easier to achieve than Nirvana.

• Snake &rope analogy works on one level- the need to see things for what they really are as it illuminates worry, stress and anxiety i.e dukkha

Negative/difficulties

• Difficult to be reborn as a human –blind turtle analogy (see below)!

• What’s the point of being good? Why aim for better samsaric rebirth if ‘I’ will not benefit from it! (No self?)

• Negative idea of constant rebirth into a world of suffering is very depressing, lacking hope and purpose in life.

• Mahayana idea – ‘Nirvana is seeing Samsara for what it really is = empty’ – difficult to accept as snake & rope analogy only works so far – agree immediate relief is felt when realisation that snake is only a rope, however it is much more difficult to gain relief from samsara when you are not aware that there is an alternative and some say it takes a neon of life times, other say impossible to gain Nirvana!

BLIND TURTLE ANALOGY

• The Buddha referred to six realms of existence - the hells, the ghost world, the world of jealous gods, the animal realm, the human realm and the heavens.

• None are seen as permanent. In this chilling analogy of the blind turtle the Buddha suggests that escaping from one of the hells in to the human realm would take a very long time.

• According to the scriptures, the chances of this happening are as likely as a blind turtle surfacing on the ocean once every one hundred years and poking its head through a floating ring!

• The Buddha explains that this is because opportunities for moral and spiritual development are virtually non-existent in the hells and therefore it is very difficult to create good karma.

SNAKE & ROPEANALOGY

What is in the Shed?

• When you enter a shed in darkness do you see a rope or a snake?

• In darkness - we confuse the rope with a snake and react as such with all the usual irrational fears.

• In ignorance we cannot see things for what they really are because in our present state we are in Samsara and react as such with greed, hatred & ignorance.

• By throwing light on the object (meditation) what we have mistakenly believed to be the snake is in fact a rope.

It’s a Rope!

• Ignorance had superimposed a snake over the rope.

• When we see it is a rope our vision and perception is clear.

• When we realise the true reality of things is emptiness (sunyata) we achieve Nirvana.

• The point is the rope was never a snake – only the perception changed as it was always a rope!

• Nirvana is not samsara only the perception from ignorance to enlightenment changes- therefore samsara is Nirvana with the veil of ignorance removed.