The concept of samsara. What is the Wheel of Samsara, how does it work? Exit points are the rules by which you can exit the Wheel. The wheel of samsara in Buddhism is the totality of all worlds that are in constant motion and transformation; nothing in them is

In this article we will consider in detail the concepts of “wheel of samsara”, “reincarnation” and “karma”, as well as the possibilities of exiting this endless chain of rebirths.

What is the wheel of samsara?

Life is a path along the road of suffering and achievement, and we must walk along it resignedly and follow all the laws determined by the gods. This is what ancient Eastern philosophy says, and even among the Slavs, life is often compared to a road. But how do we move along this path of life? This is where the concept that came to us from the most ancient of the world’s religions comes to our aid - the wheel of samsara.

The fact is that the doctrine of samsara on the Hindustan Peninsula existed long before the birth of Gautama, the Enlightened Buddha, and before the advent of Buddhism. We find the first mention of it in the Vedas Upanishads, where the laws of the universe are explained. It tells about the highest beings who reside in eternal nirvana, while everyone else living on earth, poisoned by the poisons of sinfulness and unbelief, remains in an endless rotation of rebirths, obeying the merciless law of karma.

Since samsara brings only suffering, the main goal of all things is to find a way out of it and again fall into a state of eternal bliss. Many great minds have wrestled with the question: is it possible to break the endless rotation of samsara? How can I do that? But only the Great Buddha, who achieved enlightened knowledge, answered this question.

Only in Buddhism were the exact cause-and-effect relationships between samsara and reincarnation developed according to the laws of karma. The concept of samsara can be explained as an endless chain of rebirths and deaths, in all manifestations of living beings represented in the Universe.

If we translate the word “samsara” from Sanskrit, the oldest written language, it will sound like “eternal, endless wandering.”

Buddhist philosophy claims that our world is not the only one existing in the Universe, there are a great many worlds, and there can be several rebirths. All of them act only according to the karmic laws of universal justice.

Until now, the wheel of samsara is strongly associated with the cyclical nature of events continuously occurring in the Universe.

According to legend, Buddha laid out in rice a simplified diagram of the wheel of samsara - a rim and eight spokes connected to a hub.

Characteristics of samsara

The 11th century Indian philosopher Lama Gampopa identified three main characteristics of samsara.

The first sign is nature. All existing worlds are unreal, ephemeral, there is no basis in them, they only seem to exist, in fact it is a great emptiness that can take any form and any incarnation.
The second sign is illusory. Everything that exists within samsara is a deception, a fantasy, a mirage. That is why it can take on any manifestations and forms, since only fantasy can easily change under the influence of external and internal factors.
The third sign is suffering. It should not be taken in the literal sense of the word; Buddhists believe that any unsatisfied desire is suffering.

For them, suffering is not at all a concept opposite to happiness and pleasure. Buddhists call this term any instability, any experiences of the spirit, any outbursts of emotions. Contrasted with it is the concept of eternal peace, bliss without feelings, without emotions, internal freedom, subject only to the laws of harmony of the Universe.

Worldly real life for Buddhists cannot give happiness. It is too vain, it makes a person think about his daily bread, he is in constant worry about his loved ones, he must work and suffer. That is why absolutely all experiences and emotions are associated with samsara, i.e. suffering. Even when we rejoice at something in this life, we are afraid of losing our happiness; having a family or children, we fear for the future; having wealth and health, we are afraid of losing them. Any of our achievements leads to the desire to rise even higher, to achieve even more. And finally, the most fundamental fear is the fear of death; we are always afraid of losing our, at first glance, only life, and therefore it cannot give us complete peace and pleasure.

Samsara movement

The wheel of samsara is constantly spinning, and the moment it touches the earth is our current earthly incarnation. One full revolution of the wheel is equal to one kalpa, one day in the life of the Great God Brahma. This is what the ancient Indians think.

But according to the Buddhist version, Brahma has nothing to do with this; samsara appears as a result of the destruction of previous worlds. Any living creature is born, flourishes, and then dies, in accordance with the laws of nature and morality, and so all worlds are born, develop and die in the same way, in accordance with the laws of the Universe. One complete cycle of movement of the wheel is called Mahakalpa and is equal to four parts, each of which consists of twenty kalpas.

In the first part the world is born and develops, in the second it is in complete harmony and stability, in the third it begins to degrade, and in the fifth it dies. Or is in a state called bardo, which is only a prerequisite for the next incarnation.

When we say that the fateful wheel of samsara has made a full turn, we mean a change of eras or civilizations.

The role of samsara in Buddhism

In the philosophical and ethical teachings of Buddhism, the concept of samsara plays a huge role. It is this that reveals the essence of the ideas of reincarnation and liberation from the cyclical nature of reincarnation.

Buddha Shakyamuni, after becoming Enlightened, revealed to mortals four truths that allow them to live in harmony with the Universe and achieve the desired state of nirvana.

The discoveries made by Buddha during meditation were called Noble Truths, and they sound like this:

If we live, we suffer, our whole life is permeated only with constant suffering.
Since we live in a physical body, we experience constant desires that we cannot always satisfy.
Our suffering will end with the end of our desires.
If you teach yourself not to desire, then you can learn not to suffer.

Dukha (the first truth is pain) indicates that our mind is not yet familiar with the laws and rules established by the Universe and the gods. The mind at this moment can be compared to the eye of a person who sees everything around, but cannot see and know himself. You can overcome the eightfold path, which will help you to know yourself in the cycle of the world; for this you need to overcome five obstacles:

Attachments - they arouse in us the desire to possess and the fear of losing loved ones and things.
Anger destroys our inner peace and separates us from the harmony of the world.
Jealousy, envy - they make us hate people, hide our property from them, we don’t want them to be as happy as we are.
Pride - in our thoughts and dreams we rise above all others and do not recognize their rights as ours.
Ignorance, delusions - we ourselves do not know what is useful to us and what destroys us, we come up with excuses not to do good, and we ourselves entangle ourselves in the jungle of unkind conclusions.

Desire (samudaya) indicates that we are constantly full of emotions, feelings, and they change and contradict each other, they push a person from one extreme to another, and do not allow him to remain in blissful peace.

Suffering (nirodha) states that if a person is freed from delusion, his mind will return to a blissful state of peace and contemplation.

The path (magga) precisely points to the paths leading to perfection.

The Noble Eightfold Path, also called the Middle Path to Perfection, can only be completed by eliminating desires and suffering.

The law of karma - universal justice

The concept of the “wheel of samsara” is inextricably linked with the concepts of karma - the law of the highest universal justice and reincarnation, transformation from one life essence to another.

Every living creature (not only humans, but also animals, insects, and plants) has two bodies: bodily or physical, mortal and spiritual, incorporeal, immortal. According to this law, all living things pass from one incarnation to another, practicing certain skills, fulfilling the mission imposed on it by higher powers, after which they leave their physical body and go to another world in order to return in a new incarnation with a new task.

There is a lot of discussion about the concept of reincarnation in Hinduism, the national religion of Ancient India. Buddhism developed on the basis of Hinduism, but developed and supplemented the doctrine of samsara with the concepts of karma and the disclosure of possibilities for exiting the endless rotation of the wheel of fate.

The doctrine of samsara in other religions

According to the philosophy of Buddhism, no one comes into the world only once, the chain of our reincarnations is endless and continuous, it allows a person, moving from one state to another, to clear his mind and conscience of unnecessary delusions and to know the truth.

In Taoism, the national Chinese religion, the doctrine of reincarnation is also accepted. The founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu (the Eternal Old Man), came to earth several times in various incarnations. In one of his postulates, he says that birth is not the beginning of life, and death is not the end of it, there is no birth and no death, but only an eternal chain of transition from one state to another.

The ancient teaching of Kabbalah also believes that death comes to any person over and over again, so that during his time on earth he can cultivate in himself the highest qualities that meet the requirements of the absolute. And his main requirement is to love all living things more than oneself, to completely renounce all selfish thoughts and accept unity with the cosmos. Until a person’s soul renounces selfishness, it will come into this world, and death will come to a person again and again.

In the Christian religion, any mention of reincarnation is prohibited, since it contradicts the teachings of Christ about the eternal soul and the only life, as well as about the Last Judgment that awaits everyone without exception. After this trial, a person’s soul will remain either in hell or in heaven without the right to leave this place, that is, Christianity does not give its adherents the opportunity to change the future and repent. But some famous theologians believe that Jesus himself was born many times until he came to the world as the Messiah.

Islam, the youngest of the world's religions, also does not recognize the law of reincarnation, believing that after death a person ends up either in the Garden of Eden or in hell, but in the Koran, the main book of Muslims, there are references to resurrection and return to earth in a different form. These suras suggest not to be afraid of death, since there is no death, but only an endless chain of births and reincarnations.

The ancient civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs, followers of the teachings of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism, the great Socrates, Plato and Pythagoras also considered the ideas of reincarnation reliable and proven. Representatives of the Enlightenment Voltaire, Goethe, Balzac and Conan Doyle, as well as the great heretics Giordano Bruno and Copernicus also believed that there was nothing unusual in the ideas of the soul passing into different incarnations.

What happens between births?

During the interval between two births, the human soul is in a position called bardo.

The first bardo of the dying process is the moment of agony, the transition to another world. Usually this process gives a person a lot of physical suffering, but if a person has accumulated a lot of spiritual strength, then he has support from the outside.
The Bardo of Drachmata is of a timeless nature, after the physical body has ceased its life, the mind and soul of a person enter a state of peace and bliss, since the true state of mind is given by nature to every living being.
The bardo of birth is the time from conception to birth, when the body of the future person is formed and his mission with which he will appear in the world.
The bardo of life between birth and death is the period of our earthly life from the moment of birth to the moment of death.

In addition, there are two additional states: the bardo of deep sleep, in which a person does not have dreams, and the bardo of meditation, in which a person, through familiarization with universal harmony, falls into a state of nirvana.

Types of karma

Karma, which we talk about so much today, is a human activity that has a practical result. Moreover, the concept of “activity” includes not only direct action, but also thought, word, feeling, emotion.

In addition, karma is the law of universal justice, according to which every action has its consequences. We must be responsible for both bad and good deeds with our subsequent rebirths.

Buddhists divide the concept of “karma” into three groups: karma, vikarma and akarma.

Karma these are all our positive actions, performed for the benefit of others without selfish motives. By accumulating karma, we act according to the laws of the cosmos and move to higher worlds, reduce our suffering and find more opportunities for self-development.

– these are actions aimed at violating the laws of the Universe, for the sole purpose of personal enrichment. Vikarma, accumulating, sends our soul to the lower worlds. In the modern world, the concept of “vikarma” is correlated with the concept of “sinfulness”.

is an activity without progress and without regression. Perhaps at first glance this sounds strange, but if a person does not openly sin and does not move towards self-development, then he gets stuck in akarma. At the same time, in this state, a person is an instrument in the hands of higher powers; he can perform feats for the glory of the Lord and for the salvation of sinners, but not of his own free will.

It is believed that this last type of karmic state is associated with enlightenment, since it allows you not to think, but to act according to cosmic laws.

Is it possible to get out of the infinity of samsara?

The only reason that makes a person spin endlessly in the wheel of samsara is three sins: ignorance, passion and anger. Only if you eradicate these sinful thoughts in your soul can you break the chain and achieve nirvana. Buddhism names negative and positive actions that will help or, conversely, hinder one from breaking out of the chain of eternal rebirth.

Positive actions leading to salvation:

Save the life of any living creature.
Generosity of soul.
Loyalty to the one and only chosen lover.
Love of truth.
Act as a peacemaker.
Wise and fair speech without swearing or rude words.
Don't want more than you have.
Compassion for others, people, animals, and birds.
Knowledge of the Buddha's teachings, self-development and self-improvement.

According to the laws of karma, we are all responsible for our actions. For bad deeds we will be punished, for good deeds we will be rewarded.

In different teachings, the wheel of samsara has approximately the same interpretation. In one phrase we can say that the wheel of samsara is an endless chain of births and deaths in accordance with reincarnation according to the laws of karma. As they go through their life cycle, all living beings accumulate certain experiences of knowledge, suffering and reincarnation. This transformation can last indefinitely if a person does not try to get rid of sins and achieve perfection.

People have always sought the meaning of their lives in various activities, wanderings, and natural phenomena. In philosophy, this search is called differently. One of the concepts that reveals the problems of finding the meaning of life is samsara. Samsara in philosophy is the constant wandering of a person, lasting endlessly.

Samsara - definition in philosophy

This direction belongs to the Indian belief. Its definition implies the reincarnation of a person (person) in a certain chain of subsequent births. The basis of these rebirths is karma. The links in the chain are constantly changing, it is impossible to understand where this journey begins. For this reason it is without beginning and end.

Philosophical meaning of the concept

Several philosophical schools have studied the problem of samsara in depth. In them, this phenomenon occupied a central place, as it determined a person’s place after the end of life. Many were inclined to believe that samsara is an unsuitable place for the soul to find itself. Endless wandering in a circle in constant rebirth prevents us from realizing the true meaning of human existence. Many philosophers have presented samsara as an obstacle to understanding one's destiny.

Samsara is a key point of belief in Buddhism. Buddhists understand samsara as a cyclical and enlightening phenomenon. They are of the opinion that in the period between rebirths there is a certain intermediate state where the soul ends up. She is then reborn, thus wandering after her first death. The transmigration of the soul from one object (living being) to another does not occur chaotically, but according to a specific principle:

The determining role is played by the law of karma, that is, retribution.
It is possible to get out of the vicious circle only after achieving moksha - the state of realizing one’s equality with the divine soul, nirvana.

For people suffering from samsara, there is a way out - you can free yourself from this state with the help of dharma. A person is entrusted with responsibilities dictated by the characteristics of religion. To free yourself from wandering, you need to completely complete all tasks.

You can also get out of the vicious circle with the help of some elements of yoga. This is achieved by love for Ishvara (the god of the Hindus), by certain methods of meditation, and also by using karma yoga - the correct fulfillment of the instructions of religion, but actions in this path are not related to their consequences. That is, a person is told to carry out specific tasks, for which he then bears no responsibility.

The Law of Samsara: Basic Postulates

The Indians introduced elements of the teachings of Buddha - a Chinese belief - into their philosophical theory of rebirth. The ideas of Buddhists that the essence of people does not change in rebirths were introduced into this philosophical direction. Their worldview, perception of the world and existence changes if they do the right things. When a person does mean and bad things to people, the result will be illness, pain, and humiliation. If he acts right towards others, does good deeds, he receives joy and peace.

Basic rules of the law of samsara (karmic law):

a person determines his quality of life by his actions;
further rebirth depends on good and bad deeds - the bhavacakra mechanism.

This mechanism has 12 main links that determine the components in understanding the world. These links have names and indicate the personality structure:

Avidya - impulses from karma that a person must follow to fulfill his destiny.
Vijanyana - a person’s consciousness changes as a result of exposure to impulses.
Namarupas are the appearance or mental appearance that shapes a person’s consciousness.
Nama-rupa is a substance that helps form the six basic senses.
Ayatana is a feeling of formed feelings. These include vision, touch, hearing, taste and the human mind.
Sparsha - teaching a person to perceive the world.
Vedana is a person’s feelings that arise in response to sensations.
Trishana - desires that are formed on the basis of feelings that have already arisen.
Upadana - a person becomes attached to feelings, he already depends on thoughts.
Bhava is the existence of a person arising on the basis of attachment.
Jati is the rebirth of a person arising on the basis of the listed stages.
Death.

The law shows the cycles that a person faces, according to this philosophical school. Any act according to samsara, any thought or word, will definitely leave its mark on karma. It is the karmic trace that determines what the next rebirth will be.

Buddhists have gone further in their feelings and worldview - they deny any trace of karma for a happy ending to life. In their opinion, a true Buddhist should not “taint” his karma with traces. Any desire or feeling should be alien to a person. At the same time, the law of samsara bypasses it, which will lead to nirvana and eternal peace.

Description of the wheel of samsara

Ancient Buddhist temples were decorated with an interesting colored wheel. This wheel of samsara is a symbol of the cycle of existence, which has no beginning or end.

Symbol interpretation:

In the center there is a small circle - this is a circle with the image of a horse and its three heads. They denote anger, attachment, ignorance.
The second circle is larger. It is divided by color: one half is light in tone, the other is dark. The circle denotes good (light tone) and bad karma.
Next is a circle of 6 parts. Denotes multiple births.
In the center the human body is located among living beings.
The outer circle is the teaching of samsara. It depicts the main stages of human life.
Yama, firmly holding the wheel of samsara, is the god of death.
In the upper corner is Buddha - the ideal of human existence, since he is in freedom.

Wheel revolution

Philosophers have explained the concept of samsara, but what about the meaning of the wheel and its decoding. There is an expression: “the wheel of samsara turns.” The wheel has 8 spokes, which are responsible for each life of a new body, during which karma accumulates. Each subsequent life accumulates more and more karma. When karma is accumulated and worked out, a person becomes free. The wheel turns when karma has accumulated and the person has worked it out.

What does the bardo state mean?

The word "bardo" means the intermediate state between life and rebirth in Buddhism. Early philosophers believed that due to ignorance, man is constantly in samsara. Until he understands his purpose and achieves enlightenment, he will remain in the bardo state.

How to overcome the wheel of samsara?

India and China are full of philosophical movements on the topic of reincarnation and rebirth. The main idea of these movements is getting rid of karma. Philosophers have put forward recommendations on how to get rid of the constantly ongoing vicious circle. To do this, you need to realize and rethink a lot:

Nature is the purpose of man.
Calmly do a good deed without emotional attachment.
Do what happens without effort.
Be in solitude.
Know the limits in food, speech, thinking, lusts.
Don't show emotion.
He who sees the actions of Nature sees everything.

Eightfold Path of Liberation

The philosophical views of India and China converge in one more aspect. There is an “eightfold, or middle, path of liberation.” This path was indicated by the Buddha; it leads to the cessation of all suffering. As a result of its passage, a person is freed from suffering in samsara. This path lies between self-torture and the pursuit of worldly pleasures. Buddha himself experienced it on himself, and called on other monks and lay people to follow the path. It consists of the following goods: wisdom, morality, spiritual discipline.

Greetings to all readers of the site site. In this article we will understand − what is the Wheel of Samsara, how it works and how to get out of it.

Updated 04.11.2019

What is Soul Reincarnation?

Soul Reincarnation− this is a phenomenon implying the path of development of the soul through reincarnation on Earth.

During the process of reincarnation, the soul accumulates various knowledge and experience. However, each reincarnation also accumulates the sins committed by a person during all life cycles.

Actions that drag a person into a “Vicious Circle”

Showing negativity towards other people. Such people can be not only close ones, but also complete strangers;
Manifestation of negativity towards one’s own “I”. The predominance of negative emotions on your soul or body can lead to serious consequences. Negativity leaves its mark during life, health and psyche deteriorate, personal life does not go well, the presence of constant depression. The Wheel of Samsara, in this case, draws in a person’s soul and gives a chance to correct this attitude towards oneself;
Violent actions against other people. With each reincarnation, the soul must atone for the sin of which it was convicted, otherwise it may remain in the wheel for a very long period of time;

The listed actions are only a small part of the reasons that precede getting into the Wheel of Samsara. In fact, there are a lot of such reasons.

Examples of the Wheel of Samsara

One clear example is the classic love triangle.. In this case, all three souls are closely intertwined with each other. And each time they meet again and again, creating a similar situation in new incarnations. The stranded souls must atone for their sins and the harm they have caused to others. As a rule, betrayals, grievances, family destruction, and the like are worked out. It is worth noting that reincarnations will continue until the souls complete all assigned karmic tasks.

Another example is not controlling oneself (one’s own emotions). In this case, the pronounced manifestations of the Wheel of Samsara are the character of a person. He pushes him to various criminal acts. For example, if a person, in a fit of anger, kills another and ends up in prison. In the next incarnation, the life scenario will repeat itself. The person will have to make the right choice. The wheel of Samsara will not release a person until he completes his tasks. Until he atones for the sins and all the harm caused to other people.

What is important to understand here? It is not necessary for a person to be born again to work off any sin. He can correct the mistake in the current life.

They can give a person a chance (in some cases, even more than one) to go through the lesson again and “pass the exam” without rebirth. That is why in the lives of some people there are definitely a lot of similar, repeating events.

Exit points - rules by which you can leave Samsara

How to get out of the Wheel of Samsara? It is not easy to get out of it, especially if the soul has already gone through the same lesson several times. There are a number of rules and recommendations for getting out of this “Vicious Circle”:

First, it is necessary to identify the reason why a person’s soul fell into the “Vicious Circle”. In order to understand the cause of this phenomenon, it is recommended to contact an experienced Spiritual healer. An experienced Spiritual healer can help you find all the reasons for getting into the Wheel of Samsara in your current life, as well as in past incarnations. However, a healer can help not only identify the cause, but also help fulfill karmic tasks, after which the connection with the “Vicious Circle” will be severed;
It is necessary to find out the conditions set for fulfillment so that the Wheel of Samsara no longer participates in a person’s fate. One of the most important conditions of this stage is the development of spiritual and personal growth;
Repentance. At the third stage, you need to do everything possible to atone for sins. It is necessary to ask for forgiveness from those who have been harmed. Develop in terms of personal characteristics, repent of the sins committed. Of course, the process of repentance takes a rather long period of time, since repentance on the physical level is not enough. All emotional processes associated with redemption must be felt by a person, i.e. energy must be invested.
When performing all of the above tasks, the healer performs a special ritual. After the ritual, the Wheel of Samsara releases the person and his Soul. It can evolve to a higher level of vibration.

In most cases, in order to get out of the Wheel of Samsara, healers use additional esoteric actions. Such actions involve carrying out rituals and agreements in order to successfully close the entire chain of events leading to the “Vicious Circle”.

How to get out of the Wheel on your own?

You can stop the Wheel of Samsara by stopping a series of negative events yourself. To do this, you need to carefully work on yourself, on your inner world. Try to eliminate the qualities in yourself that give rise to unfavorable actions. It is important to know that the entry-exit point from the vicious circle of repeating events is located in the events themselves. Any event can be reprogrammed by knowing what components it consists of and how to influence these components.

Exercise “energy cleansing”

This exercise cleanses and balances the human energy structure, which means:

Changes the quality of the energy impulse;
calms the central nervous system;
helps to realize the entry point (moment of retraction) into the field of a recurring, unfavorable event;
helps to determine exit points - to get out of the Wheel of Samsara, having worked through each event separately.

Each destructive event must be processed separately.

1. Close your eyes and sit in silence for a while, immersed in your inner world. Next on the mental screen, “enter” the event that worries you most at the moment. Feel it in your inner dark space, like some kind of energy clot.

What is a mental screen? To understand, close your eyes and look through your forehead in front of you - this is the mental screen. On the mental screen we visualize - we imagine the images we need.

2. Mentally retrieve this event. Can:

A) Focus your attention on a lit candle and imagine how it draws out and burns negative energy (energy clot). Visualize until you feel freedom and lightness inside.

B) Create your own hologram on the mental screen and imagine how it takes away the negativity from you. As soon as you feel lightness and freedom inside, immediately dissolve this hologram with the energy of love.

After this has been done, fill yourself with Light (the energy of love).

It is important to do this exercise sensually, investing your energy i.e. feel all the moments: the moment of neutralizing the negative and the moment of charging with the positive - the energy of love.

While a person will look for the reasons for everything that happens to him in the outer - physical world, and not inside himself (the inner world - the world of feelings and thoughts), he (the person) will be in the Wheel - the Closed Space of His Unfreedom.

What does “wheel of samsara” mean? as such existed in ancient India among the brahmans even before the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. The very first mention is found in the Upanishads, where the laws and nature of all things are revealed. The texts say that the highest beings reside in blissful nirvana, and all others, darkened by the three mental poisons, are forced to rotate in the wheel of rebirth, drawn there by the laws of karma.

Samsara is full of suffering, so the main goal of all beings is to find a way out and return to a state of perfect bliss. Many generations of sages searched for the answer to the question “How to break the wheel of samsara?”, but there was no sensible way until he achieved Enlightenment. It was Buddhism that developed a clear concept of samsara () and presented it as a well-functioning mechanism of cause-and-effect relationships based on the principles of karma and reincarnation. The concept of samsara can be expressed as a continuous cycle of births and deaths of living beings in all manifested worlds of the Universe. If we translate the word “samsara” literally, it means “wandering that lasts forever.” According to the Buddhist teaching about Enlightenment, that is, exit from the cycle of life and death, there are countless worlds and countless living beings who manifest themselves in these worlds and act in them, each according to their karma.

The wheel of samsara in Buddhism is the totality of all worlds that are in constant motion and transformation; nothing in them is permanent and unshakable.

Variability is the main attribute of everything manifested, therefore samsara is depicted in the form of a wheel, continuously making one revolution after another.

Circle of life, wheel of samsara– its rotation symbolizes the continuity and cyclical nature of events in the Universe.

A simplified symbol of the wheel of samsara is a rim and eight spokes connecting it to the hub. According to legend, Buddha himself laid it out with rice on the sand. The spokes of the wheel mean the rays of truth emanating from the teacher (according to the number of steps).

Lama Gampopa, who lived in 1079-1153, identified three main characteristics of samsara. According to his definition, its nature is emptiness. That is, all the manifested worlds that are possible are not real, they do not carry truth, basis, foundation, they are ephemeral and constantly changing, like clouds in the sky. You should not look for truth in ethereal fantasy, and constancy in changeable things. The second quality of samsara is that its appearance is an illusion. Everything that surrounds living beings, as well as the forms of embodiment of the beings themselves, is a deception, a mirage, a hallucination. Like any illusion that has no basis, samsara can carry an infinite number of manifestations, it can take all conceivable and inconceivable forms, be expressed in an infinite number of images and phenomena, which, having barely arisen and having no real basis, are immediately transformed in others, they change or disappear in accordance with the laws of karma. The third attribute is the most important, because the main characteristic of samsara is suffering. But let us note that Buddhists put a slightly different meaning into the concept of “suffering” than we are used to.

The term "suffering" in Buddhist teaching is not the antithesis of happiness or pleasure. Suffering can be defined as any emotional instability, any activity of the mind that gives rise to new emotions and experiences. If you find the opposite meaning of suffering, then for a Buddhist it will be a state of perfect calm, peace, freedom and inner bliss. Not euphoria and idle bliss, but a feeling of universal peace and harmony, completeness and integrity.

But worldly life, with its bustle and worries, does not even smell of such peace and complete spiritual balance. That is why everything associated with samsara, be it joy, sadness, delight or grief, is associated with suffering. Even seemingly positive moments cause discomfort. Having something, we admit the thought of loss and suffer. When we love someone, we fear separation. Having achieved something, we see that this is not the peak, there are more difficult and higher goals, and we suffer again. And, of course, the fear of death is the fear of losing everything, including the body and one’s own life, which seems to be the only one.

According to Vedic texts, one revolution of the wheel of Samsara corresponds to a time interval called kalpa (1 day of the life of the god Brahma). In the Buddhist tradition, Brahma has nothing to do with it; the world arises due to the presence of karmic preconditions remaining after the destruction of the previous world. Just as a being in Samsara is born and dies following karma, so worlds arise and are destroyed under the influence of the same law. One cycle of the wheel is called Mahakalpa and consists of four parts of 20 kalpas each. In the first quarter, the world is formed and develops, in the second period it is stable, in the third it degrades and dies, in the fourth it remains in an unmanifested bardo state, forming the karmic prerequisites for the next incarnation. The common expression “the wheel of Samsara has turned” is usually used to mean the change of eras, when the old is broken and the new emerges.

The wheel of samsara plays a huge role in Buddhism, forming the basis of the doctrine of liberation. The teaching of liberation from the cycle of birth and death is based on four statements called the Noble Truths, which Shakyamuni Buddha formulated after his Enlightenment. Having learned the true essence of samsara, he not only rediscovered all the laws of karma, but also found a way to break the circle of rebirths.

Four Noble Truths of Shakyamuni Buddha:

Coming out of meditation, the Buddha formulated four main discoveries that he made during the process of Enlightenment. These discoveries are called the Noble Truths and sound like:

Dukha(pain) - everything in earthly life is permeated with suffering.
Samudaya(desire) - the causes of all suffering are endless and insatiable desires.
Nirodha(end) - suffering comes to an end when there are no desires.
Magga(path) - the source of suffering - desire - can be eradicated by following special techniques.

Dukha means that the mind is clouded by ignorance, it is like an eye that sees everything except itself, and because of this it perceives the world dually, separating itself from it. The Eightfold Path is a means that helps the mind see itself, realize the illusory nature of the world around us, overcoming five obstacles:

Affections- the desire to possess and hold near oneself.
Anger- rejection.
Jealousy and envy- not wanting others to be happy.
Pride- elevating oneself above others.
Confusion and ignorance- when the mind does not know what it wants and what is good for it and what is harm.

Samudaya means that the darkened mind is full of contradictory emotions, rigid concepts, principles and self-restraints, which do not allow it to be at peace and constantly push it from one extreme to another.

Nirodha suggests that by eradicating ignorance, the mind will return to a harmonious state, transforming turbulent emotions and limitations into wisdom.

Magga- an indication of methods of combating ignorance.

Methods for getting rid of desires and achieving liberation are collected in the teachings of the Middle Path, also called the Eightfold Noble Path.

Karma and reincarnation

The definition of the wheel of samsara, as mentioned above, is closely related to such concepts as karma and reincarnation.

Reincarnation

The concept of reincarnation, familiar to many beliefs, presupposes the presence in living beings of both mortal temporary bodies and immortal, subtler and even eternal shells, indestructible consciousness, or “spark of God.” According to the theory of reincarnation, beings, incarnating in different worlds, practice certain skills, fulfill the missions assigned to them, after which, leaving their mortal body in this world, they move into a new body with a new mission.

There is a lot of controversy about the phenomenon of reincarnation. Reincarnation is most often mentioned in Hinduism. It is spoken about in the Vedas and Upanishads, in the Bhagavad Gita. For residents of India, this is as common a phenomenon as sunrise and sunset. Buddhism, based on Hinduism, develops the theory of reincarnation, supplementing it with knowledge of the law of karma and ways to escape the wheel of samsara. According to Buddhist teachings, the cycle of birth and death forms the basis of changing samsara, no one has absolute immortality, and no one lives once. Death and birth are only transformations for a certain being, which is part of the changing Universe.

Taoists also accepted the idea of reincarnation of the soul. It was believed that Lao Tzu lived on earth several times. In Taoist treatises there are the following lines: “Birth is not the beginning, just as death is not the end. There is limitless being; there is continuation without beginning. Being outside of space. Continuity without beginning in time."

Kabbalists believe that the soul is doomed to incarnate in the mortal world over and over again until it cultivates the highest qualities of the Absolute in order to be ready to unite with it. As long as a being is darkened by selfish thoughts, the soul will end up in the mortal world and be tested.

Christians also knew about reincarnation, but at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in the 6th century, information about it was prohibited, and all references were removed from the texts. Instead of a series of births and deaths, the concept of one life, the Last Judgment and eternal stay in Hell or Paradise without the possibility of leaving them was adopted. According to Hindu and Buddhist knowledge, the soul goes to Heaven and Hell, but only for a while, in accordance with the severity of the sin committed or the significance of the good merit. Some scholars believe that Jesus himself was born on earth up to thirty times before incarnating as a missionary from Nazareth.

Islam does not directly support the ideas of reincarnation, leaning towards the Christian version of Judgment and exile of the soul to Hell or Heaven, but in the Koran there are references to resurrection. For example: “I died as a stone and was resurrected as a plant. I died as a plant and was resurrected as an animal. I died as an animal and became a Human. What should I be afraid of? Has death robbed me? It can be assumed that the original text of the book also underwent changes, although Islamic theologians, of course, deny this.

Zoroasters and Mayans knew about reincarnation; the Egyptians considered the idea of no life after death absurd. Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato did not find anything surprising in the ideas of reincarnation of the soul. Proponents of reincarnation were Goethe, Voltaire, Giordano Bruno, Victor Hugo, Honoré de Balzac, A. Conan Doyle, Leo Tolstoy, Carl Jung and Henry Ford.

Bardo State

Buddhist texts also make reference to the “bardo state,” the period of time between births. It literally translates as “between two.” There are six types of bardo. In terms of the cycle of samsara, the first four are interesting:

Bardo of the Dying Process. The period of time between the onset of a disease leading to death or injury to the body and the moment when the mind and body are separated. This time of agony is an extremely important moment. The ability to maintain self-control in it is available only to those who have conscientiously practiced throughout their lives. If one manages to keep the mind under control, this is a great achievement, otherwise at that moment the person will experience severe pain. The suffering of most people at the time of death is extremely strong, but if someone has accumulated a lot of good karma, then he will have support. In this case, for example, a person may experience visions of saints or deities appearing to help in this difficult hour. The dying moments of life are also important. The experiences that fill the mind before the last breath have enormous power and give immediate results. If a person has good karma, then he is calm and does not experience torment. If there are sins that a person regrets, then repentance shown now will help cleanse himself. Prayers also have great power, and good wishes are immediately fulfilled.
Bardo Dharmata. An interval of a timeless nature. The mind, after being freed from signals coming from the senses, goes into the original equilibrium state of its nature. The true nature of the mind manifests in every being, since everyone has the original Buddha nature. If beings did not have this fundamental quality, they would never be able to achieve Enlightenment.
Bardo of Birth.The time in which the mind forms the prerequisites for rebirth. It lasts from the moment of exit from the state of Dharmata bardo and the emergence of unclear karmic prerequisites until the moment of conception.
Bardo Between Birth and Death, or Bardo of Life. This is ordinary everyday consciousness throughout life from conception to the bardo of the dying process.

There are also two additional states of consciousness:

Bardo of Dream. Deep dreamless sleep.
Bardo of Meditative Concentration. A state of meditative concentration.

Karma

The concept of karma can be viewed in two aspects. The first aspect: is an activity that has a result. In the Buddhist tradition, karma has the meaning of any action. Action here can be not only a completed act, but also a word, thought, intention or inaction. All manifestations of the will of living beings form his karma. The second aspect: karma is the law of cause and effect that permeates all the phenomena of samsara. Everything is interdependent, has a cause, has an effect, nothing happens without a reason. Karma as the law of cause and effect is a fundamental concept in Buddhism that explains the mechanisms of the processes of birth and death, as well as ways to interrupt this cycle. If we consider karma from this position, then several classifications can be given. The first divides the concept of karma into three main types:

karma
akarmu
vikarma

Word "karma" in this classification it means good deeds that lead to the accumulation of merit. Karma accumulates when a living being acts in accordance with the laws of the Universe and does not think of selfish benefits. Activities that benefit others and the world, self-improvement - this is karma. Karma, according to the laws of reincarnation, leads to rebirth in higher worlds, to a reduction in suffering and open opportunities for self-development.

Vikarma- the opposite concept. When someone acts contrary to the laws of the Universe, pursues exclusively personal gains, causes harm to the world, then he accumulates not merit, but retribution. Vikarma becomes the cause of rebirth in the lower worlds, suffering, and lack of opportunity for self-development. In modern religions, vikarma is called sin, that is, an error in relation to the world order, a deviation from it.

Akarma- a special type of activity in which there is no accumulation of merit or accumulation of reward; it is an activity without consequences. How is this possible? A living being acts in samsara according to the instructions and motives of his ego. Abstracting from his “I” and performing actions as not a doer, but only an instrument, not a source of will, but a conductor of other people’s ideas, the creature shifts karmic responsibility to the one in whose name he commits the action. The difficulty is that in this case one should completely exclude one’s own motives, judgments, will, not expect any rewards, praise, or reciprocal services from one’s actions, completely surrendering oneself into the hands of the bearer of the idea. This is an activity offered as a selfless sacrifice. Akarma is the deeds of holy ascetics who performed miracles in the name of God, and the service of devoted priests who entrusted themselves to the will of the revered deity; these are feats and self-sacrifice in the name of justice and the salvation of the suffering, this is the activity of monks who, according to the law of Dharma (the law of world harmony), bring benefits to living beings out of love and a sense of unity with the entire universe, without expecting anything in return; these are actions done out of love and compassion.

The last type of karma is directly related to Enlightenment, as it allows you to defeat your false ego.

The second classification divides karma from the point of view of the manifestation of consequences.

Prarabdha karma, or the consequences of actions experienced now, in this birth. This is the reward received for deeds committed. Here we can talk about karma as “fate”.

Aprarabdha karma, or consequences that are unknown when and how they will manifest themselves, but have already been formed by a cause-and-effect relationship. Programming of the next incarnations is underway.

Rudha karma they name consequences that have not yet occurred in the manifested world, but a person feels their onset intuitively, as if standing on the threshold.

Bija Karma- these are not the consequences themselves, but the causes of the consequences that have not yet formed a response, but will definitely appear. These are sown seeds that have not yet given roots and shoots.

As is clear from the above, the law of karma presupposes universal conditionality, that is, all events are causally connected. The rotation of the wheel of samsara occurs due to this connection. One thing catches another and so on ad infinitum.

How to get out of the wheel of samsara?

Good and bad deeds

The main reason that drags beings into the cycle of rebirth is the three poisons, symbolized as the pig of ignorance, the rooster of passion and the serpent of wrath. Eradicating these obscurations helps to free oneself from negative karma and find a way out of the wheel of samsara. According to Buddhist teachings, there are ten good and ten unwholesome types of actions that create one or another karma.

Negative actions consist of actions of body, speech and mind. One can sin with the body by committing murder out of stupidity, anger or desire for pleasure. Committing theft by force or deceit. Committing infidelity to a partner, rape or any kind of perversion of a sexual nature.

You can sin with speech by lying to the detriment of others and to your own benefit, creating a quarrel, gossiping and slandering: being rude to your interlocutor directly or behind your back, making offensive jokes.

You can sin with your mind by having incorrect (not corresponding to the truth) views, hostile thoughts towards other people or their activities, greedy thoughts about possessing someone else’s things or attachment to your property, thirst for wealth.

Ten positive actions purify the mind and lead to liberation. This:

Saving the lives of any creatures: from insects to humans.
Generosity, and not only in relation to material things.
Loyalty in relationships, lack of sexual promiscuity.
Truthfulness.
Reconciliation of warring parties.
Peaceful (friendly, soft) speech.
Non-idle wise speech.
Satisfaction with what you have.
Love and compassion for people.
Understanding the nature of things (knowledge of the laws of karma, comprehension of the teachings of Buddha, self-education).

According to the law of karma, all the deeds of living beings have their own unique weight and are not subject to offset. For good deeds there is a reward, for bad deeds - retribution, if in Christianity there is a principle of “weighing” the total merits and sins, then in relation to the wheel of samsara and the teachings of the Buddha, everything will have to be calculated individually. According to the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, which describes the lives of both great heroes and great sinners, even heroes go to hell to atone for their bad karma before ascending to heaven, and villains, before being cast into hell, have the right to feast with the gods , if they have certain merits.

Image of the wheel of samsara

Usually the wheel of samsara is symbolically depicted as an ancient chariot with eight spokes, but there is also a canonical image of the cycle of life and death, common in Buddhist iconography. Thangka (image on fabric) contains many symbols and illustrations of the processes occurring with the soul in the cycle of rebirth, and has instructions on how to get out of the wheel of samsara.

The central image of samsara itself contains one central circle and four circles, divided into segments, illustrating the action of the law of karma. In the center there are always three beings, representing the three main poisons of the mind: ignorance in the form of a pig, passion and attachment in the form of a rooster, and anger and disgust in the form of a serpent. These three poisons underlie the entire cycle of samsara; a being whose mind is darkened by them is doomed to be reborn in the manifested worlds, accumulating and redeeming karma.

The second circle is called Bardo, after the name of the state between births, which was described above. It has light and dark parts, symbolizing good merits and sins that lead either to rebirth in the higher worlds or in hells, respectively.

The next circle has six parts according to the number of six types of worlds: from the darkest to the brightest. Each segment also depicts a Buddha or bodhisattva (holy teacher of the dharma), coming to a given world out of compassion to save living beings from suffering.

According to Buddhist teachings, worlds can be:

Although the worlds are located in a circle, you can be reborn both from the bottom up and from the top down, from the human world you can ascend to the world of the gods or fall into hell. But we need to dwell in more detail on the world of people. According to Buddhists, human birth is the most advantageous, since a person balances between the unbearable suffering of hells and the selfless bliss of the gods. A person can realize the law of karma and take the path of liberation. Often human life is called a “precious human rebirth”, since the being gets a chance to find a way out of the cycle of samsara.

The outer rim in the image symbolically illustrates the law of karma in action. The segments are read from the top clockwise, there are twelve in total.

First story indicates ignorance regarding the nature of the world, its laws and ignorance of the truth. A man with an arrow in his eye is a symbol of the lack of a clear vision of what is happening. Because of this ignorance, creatures fall into the cycle of worlds, spinning in it at random and acting without clear awareness.

Second story depicts a potter at work. Just as a master sculpts the shape of a pot, so spontaneous unconscious motives form the prerequisites for a new birth. Raw clay is formless, but it contains in advance an infinite number of forms of all products made from it. Typically this stage corresponds to conception.

Third plot depicts a monkey. The restless monkey symbolizes a restless mind, which has the nature of dual (not single, not true) perception; such a mind already contains the seeds of karmic tendencies.

Fourth picture shows two people in a boat. This means that on the basis of karma, a certain form of manifestation of a being in the world and its mission for a given incarnation are created, that is, the creature realizes itself as one thing or another, the psychophysical characteristics of a future life are manifested, and the prerequisites for life circumstances are formed.

Fifth picture depicts a house with six windows. These windows in the house symbolize the six streams of perception through the six senses (including the mind) through which the being receives information.

On the sixth sector a couple is depicted making love, which means that the organs of perception have come into contact with the outside world and have begun to receive information. This stage corresponds to birth in the manifested worlds.

Seventh picture shows water being poured onto a hot iron. That is, the mind recognizes the received sensations as attractive, disgusting or neutral.

Eighth picture depicts a person drinking alcohol (beer, wine), which symbolizes the emergence of likes or dislikes based on judgments about the sensations received.

Ninth sector shows again the monkey, who collects fruits. That is, the mind creates rules of behavior for itself - pleasant things should be desired, unpleasant things should be avoided, neutral things should be ignored.

Tenth part depicts a pregnant woman. Since the cliches of behavior formed by the subconscious formed the karmic prerequisites for a new incarnation in the worlds of samsara.

In the eleventh picture a woman gives birth to a child. This is the result of the action of karma created in a previous life.

AND last sector contains an image of a deceased person or an urn with ashes, symbolizing the frailty of any manifested life, its finitude. In this way, for a living being, the wheel of samsara began to turn.

The entire wheel of samsara with its contents is firmly held in its sharp claws and teeth by the deity Yama - the deity of death (in the sense of the frailty and impermanence of everything), and it is not at all easy to escape from such a grip. In iconography, Yama is depicted in blue (formidable), with a horned bull's head with three eyes looking into the past, present and future, surrounded by a fiery aura. On Yama’s neck is a necklace of skulls, in his hands is a staff with a skull, a lasso for catching souls, a sword and a precious talisman implying power over underground treasures. Yama is also the posthumous judge and ruler of the underworld (hell). As if in contrast to such a stern creature, next to it, outside the wheel, stands the Buddha, pointing to the Moon.

The image of the Buddha is a pointer on how to get out of the wheel of samsara, a sign of the existence of a path of liberation, a path that leads to peace and tranquility (symbol of the cool Moon).

The Eightfold (Middle) Path of Liberation

How to stop the wheel of samsara? You can break the cycle of rebirth by following the Middle Path, which is so named because it is accessible to absolutely all beings and does not imply any extreme methods available only to a select few. It consists of three large stages:

Wisdom

Right View
Right Intention

Moral

Correct speech
Correct behavior
Right way of life

Concentration

The Right Effort
The right direction of thought
Correct Concentration

Right View lies in the awareness and acceptance of the Four Noble Truths. Awareness of the law of karma and the true nature of the mind. The path of liberation lies in the purification of consciousness - the only true reality.

Right Intention consists of working on desires, transforming negative emotions into positive ones, and developing good qualities. Realizing the unity of all things, the practitioner cultivates a feeling of love and compassion for the world.

Morality is very important on the path, since without it Enlightenment is not possible. To maintain morality, it is required not to commit sinful actions and not to allow the mind to be stupefied by various means. The latter is very important, since a besotted mind is dull and unable to cleanse itself.

Correct speech consists of abstaining from the four sinful acts manifested through speech. Let us remember that this is abstinence from lies, rudeness, gossip and words that lead to quarrels. Correct behavior consists in abstaining from sinful acts committed through the body (murder, appropriation of someone else's property in various ways, betrayal and perversion, and also for people of clergy - celibacy).

Right way of life involves obtaining a means of subsistence in an honest way that does not create bad karma. Activities that harm Enlightenment include trade in living beings (humans and animals), slave trade, prostitution, and activities related to the manufacture and sale of weapons and murder instruments. Military service is considered a good thing, as it is thought of as protection, while the arms trade provokes aggression and conflicts. Also sinful are the acts of producing meat and meat products, creating and selling alcohol and drugs, deceptive activities (fraud, taking advantage of someone else’s ignorance), and any criminal activity. Human life should not be made dependent on material things. Excesses and luxury give rise to passions and envy; worldly life should be of a reasonable nature.

The Right Effort to eradicate old beliefs and established cliches. Continuous self-improvement, developing flexibility of thinking and filling the mind with positive thoughts and motivations.

The right direction of thought involves constant vigilance in recognizing what is happening as it is, without subjective judgment. Thus, the feeling of dependence on everything that the mind calls “mine” and “I” is eradicated. The body is just a body, feelings are just sensations of the body, a state of consciousness is just a given state of consciousness. By thinking this way, a person is freed from attachments, related worries, unreasonable desires and no longer suffers.

Correct Concentration is achieved by meditation practices of various levels of depth and leads to Little Nirvana, that is, personal liberation. In Buddhism this is called the state of arhat. In general, there are three types of nirvana:

instant- a short-term state of peace and tranquility that many people have experienced throughout their lives;
actual nirvana- the state of the One who has achieved nirvana in this body during life (arhat);
never ending nirvana (parinirvana ) - the state of one who has achieved nirvana after the destruction of the physical body, that is, the state of Buddha.

Conclusion

So, in different traditions, the wheel of samsara has approximately the same meaning. Additionally, you can read about the wheel of samsara in the texts of Buddhist sutras, where the mechanisms of karma are described in detail: what kind of reward for what sins and merits does a person receive, how does life work in the higher worlds, what motivates living beings of each world? The most detailed description of the wheel of rebirth is contained in the doctrine of liberation, as well as in the texts of the Upanishads.

In short, the wheel of samsara means the cycle of birth and death through reincarnation and in accordance with the laws of karma. Going through cycle after cycle, living beings gain experience of various incarnations, suffering and pleasure. This cycle can last an incalculably long time: from the creation of the Universe to its destruction, therefore the main task for all conscious minds is to eliminate ignorance and enter nirvana. Awareness of the four Noble Truths reveals a true view of samsara as a great illusion permeated with impermanence. While the wheel of samsara has not started turning and the world still exists, one should move along the Middle Path given to people by the Buddha. This path is the only reliable means of getting rid of suffering.

1) Samsara- (Sanskrit - wandering) - in Hinduism and Buddhism - the idea of the fluidity and impermanence of all living things, a single chain of transitions from one bodily shell to another, the cycle of births and deaths, transmigration, metempsychosis. The soul can reside in the body of a person, animal, plant, and its relocation occurs in accordance with the law of karma (retribution). The goal of human salvation is liberation from rebirth and the achievement of moksha (the soul's awareness that it is part of the deities, the soul) and nirvana. The way out of rebirths is provided by dharma, that is, the fulfillment of the duties imposed on a person by religion. Only she can give the best rebirth and salvation. S., placing responsibility for social evil against the person himself justifies the conditions of his existence.

2) Samsara- (Sanskrit-wandering, cycle): one of the main concepts of Indian philosophy and religion of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, meaning a beginningless and endless chain (wheel) of rebirths of living beings, which are incarnated, depending on their karma, either into lower ones or into higher states. According to the idea of samsara, death is not opposed to life, it is only a transition to a new incarnation. All living things are one, since only its external forms change, and yesterday’s person can become an animal or vice versa. Samsara is an existence associated with suffering; its antipode is nirvana as eternal peace and independence from the world.

3) Samsara- (Sanskrit) Lit., “rotation”, the ocean of births and deaths. Human reincarnations, presented in the form of a continuous circle, a wheel that is always in motion.

4) Samsara- (Sanskrit - rebirth, cycle, wandering, passing through something) - one of the basic concepts of Indian religion and philosophy (similarly - “reincarnation”), denoting the process of countless rebirths of the personality and soul, bringing them suffering. S.'s idea of the kinship of all living things and the possibility of transition between its forms becomes dominant in the texts of the Upanishads. The potential completion of the flow of S. is the state of nirvana, located outside of S. and not connected with it by any relationships of a causal type. Only humans can achieve the state of nirvana. All other creatures must first be reincarnated into them. Death, according to idea C, is not the antipode of life, representing only a multiple transition to its reproduction. A.A. Gritsanov

Samsara

(Sanskrit - wandering) - in Hinduism and Buddhism - the idea of the fluidity and impermanence of all living things, a single chain of transitions from one bodily shell to another, the cycle of birth and death, transmigration, metempsychosis. The soul can reside in the body of a person, animal, plant, and its relocation occurs in accordance with the law of karma (retribution). The goal of human salvation is liberation from rebirth and the achievement of moksha (the soul's awareness that it is part of the deities, the soul) and nirvana. The way out of rebirths is provided by dharma, that is, the fulfillment of the duties imposed on a person by religion. Only she can give the best rebirth and salvation. S., placing responsibility for social evil against the person himself justifies the conditions of his existence.

(Sanskrit-wandering, cycle): one of the main concepts of Indian philosophy and religion of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, meaning a beginningless and endless chain (wheel) of rebirths of living beings, which are incarnated, depending on their karma, either into lower or higher high states. According to the idea of samsara, death is not opposed to life, it is only a transition to a new incarnation. All living things are one, since only its external forms change, and yesterday’s person can become an animal or vice versa. Samsara is an existence associated with suffering; its antipode is nirvana as eternal peace and independence from the world.

(Sanskrit.) Lit., "rotation", the ocean of births and deaths. Human reincarnations, presented in the form of a continuous circle, a wheel that is always in motion.

(Sanskrit - rebirth, cycle, wandering, passing through something) - one of the basic concepts of Indian religion and philosophy (similarly - “reincarnation”), denoting the process of countless rebirths of the personality and soul, bringing them suffering. S.'s idea of the kinship of all living things and the possibility of transition between its forms becomes dominant in the texts of the Upanishads. The potential completion of the flow of S. is the state of nirvana, located outside of S. and not connected with it by any relationships of a causal type. Only humans can achieve the state of nirvana. All other creatures must first be reincarnated into them. Death, according to idea C, is not the antipode of life, representing only a multiple transition to its reproduction. A.A. Gritsanov

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