Post # 60 – SAMSARA, the CYCLE OF BIRTH  AND DEATH, IN THERAVADA BUDDHISM – Part 1 

It would also be good if you could visit the 1st Post to know about this Blog before reading this Post. 

The discussions up to the Post # 13 were aimed at consolidating the knowledge we have on some salient features of Buddha Dhamma. We then attempted to agree upon a method to translate this Dhamma knowledge, into an effective practice. We also discussed the unsatisfactory nature of the Samsaric (re-becoming) cycle and the need to escape by engaging in activities that lead to the complete cessation of suffering. That is the realization of Nibbana.

As we said before, we are leading busy household lives and we need to know the activities that will yield the optimum benefits given the limited time that we can spare for Dhamma work. We said that the ethical practice of Buddha-Dhamma can be grouped for our purpose, into three parts. They are engaging in Punya Kamma (Meritorious Acts), engaging in the practice of Kusala Kamma (developing Ethical Skills) and following the Marga Prathi Padawa (the Path to Liberation).

It is always better to know why we are doing any Buddhist practices at all. Many devotees follow practices based on encouragement from others. We have heard that the Samsara cycle is very unsatisfactory and dangerous. Let us get our minds around this declaration in order to get the necessary inspiration to seek a release from the entrapment in this eternal cycle. ….

 I will first highlight some of the explanations given on this topic in the discourses by the learned scholars, who were mentioned in the Post # 12 & Post # 13.

There are three ideas about what happens after death. Materialism says that we cease to exist. The major theistic religions maintain that we go to either everlasting paradise or damnation according to our beliefs and/or our actions. Jainism, and some versions of Hinduism and several minor religions and spiritual movements say that at death we reincarnate, or are reborn. In Buddhist teaching, there is a reference to re-becoming ( punar-bhava).

We also discussed in Post # 6 that Buddha-Dhamma is the reality. Examining the meaning of Buddha-Dhamma in its etymological composition we see the following make up. The word ‘Dhamma’ here means the phenomena existing in the Cosmos or the abiding laws and principles that govern the dynamics of the Cosmos. This means that Dhamma exists today; it existed yesterday and did exist well into the past. It also means Dhamma will exist tomorrow, also well into the future and for eons of time beyond. Therefore it is the unchanging universal truth.

The other word ‘Buddha’, means a title given to a person with an extremely   developed mind. Therefore the one who is a Buddha, using this enlightened state of mind, sees the Dhamma. It is a discovery of what is already there.  It is not a new invention or a creation. Buddha-Dhamma, as a doctrine therefore includes the universal truths, how they apply and influence human beings, the impacts or consequences of such influences and the way of life to cope or mitigate these adverse influences.

Then one has to ask, what is then the reality that Buddha discovered? He explained the fundamental nature of all conditional formations characterized by impermanence (annicca), un-satisfactory-ness  (dukka), no-self (anantha)  and about the entrapment of all living beings in an eternal cycle of Samsara (the eternal cycle of rebirth) due to ignorance (not knowing) of the fundamental four noble truths. They are respectively dukka (un-satisfactory-ness or suffering), its cause, its cessation and the path to its cessation.  He described the pattica smuppada or the process of cause and effect and the unique discovery about the true nature of the two domains of- mundane and supra mundane. The mundane domain is where all worldly beings are entrapped in an unending cycle of Samsara and the supra-mundane domain is, as Buddha has taught, the escape from Samsara. These teachings came from what he himself experienced.

That is why Buddha-Dhamma which is unchanging with time is called the reality.

The challenge before us now is to decide what of these ideas or teachings would be the one to choose? At death would everything come to a final end? In which case there is nothing we need to do but await our destiny? Or at death do we go to either everlasting paradise or damnation? In which case how can we be sure that we are doing the right things to please those divine powers that make the determination? Or at death do we reincarnate? If so is our destiny already sealed from our past inheritances, therefore there is nothing more to be done? Or do we become subject to the re-becoming ( punar-bhava) process? If so what must we be doing to escape from it? These choices are very personal and very individually specific. It is a very critical poker game we have to play where the choices we make are final with chance of turning back and restarting once the choice is made is very cumbersome.

My suggestion therefore is that if you have to make a choice and decide to do something, it is better to err on the safe side than not do anything and regret later for making a wrong choice. As Buddha’s teaching for the reasons stated above can be accepted as the reality we may choose this as the safe option to begin with.   Dhamma assures that realization as an experience will dawn as you advance in the practice, whereupon you have the comfort that you made the right choice.

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  doctrine from that in Hinduism and Jainism. This no-soul (no-self) doctrine is called the Anatta in Buddhist texts. A sentient being (this includes animals), according to Buddha, is an ever changing, interdependent process of mind and body (nama-rupa). Therefore a permanent soul cannot exist in this ever-changing mind-matter continuum.

An extract from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia on this subject states that: Saṃsāra is a religious concept of reincarnation in Hinduism and other Indian religions. Saṃsāra in Buddhism is a different distinct concept. Saṃsāra in Jainism is also a cycle of births and deaths.

In Buddhism, saṃsāra is the "suffering-laden, continuous cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without a beginning.  In several suttas of the Samyutta Nikaya it’s said - "From an in-construable beginning comes transmigration. A beginning point is not evident, though beings hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving are transmigrating & wandering on.  It is the never ending repetitive cycle of birth and death, in six realms of reality wandering from one life to another life with no particular direction. Samsara is characterized by dukkha (unsatisfactory or painful nature). Every rebirth is temporary and impermanent. In each rebirth one is born and then dies, to be re-born elsewhere in accordance with one's own karma. It is perpetuated by one's avidya ("ignorance"), particularly about anicca and anatta, and from craving. Samsara continues until nirvana is attained by means of insight - the "blowing out" of the desires and the gaining of true insight into impermanence and non-self reality”.

Please also see Post # 7, Post # 8, Post # 9, Post # 10 & Post # 11 in this blog on Kamma and Rebirth

Rebirth across different realms – such as heavenly, human, animal, and hellish and others – occurs in the same way that a flame is transferred from one candle to another. The explanation of rebirth mechanism is with a "rebirth-linking consciousness" (patisandhi chitta).

I hope with this outline I have created enough interest in you to keep an open mind on this subject. I hope I have also aroused your curiosity to further look at what Samsara is, and then to have the motivation to seek an escape from it.

Due to the need to limit the contents of each post to facilitate easy reading, I will end these descriptions here.

Please see the continuation of descriptions on this subject in Post # 61, where more details are given on the Samsaric Cycle and the realms of rebirth and their unsatisfactory nature.