Editing The Buddha (section)

==== Samsara ====
All beings have deeply entrenched [[samyojana]] (fetters, chains or bounds), that is, the [[Saṅkhāra|sankharas]] ("formations"), [[Kleshas (Buddhism)|kleshas]] (unwholesome mental states), including the [[three poisons]], and [[āsava]]s ("influx, canker"), that perpetuate [[Samsara (Buddhism)|sa{{IAST|ṃ}}sāra]], the repeated cycle of becoming and [[Rebirth (Buddhism)|rebirth]]. According to the Pali suttas, the Buddha stated that "this saṃsāra is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving."{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|p=39}} In the ''Dutiyalokadhammasutta sutta'' (AN 8:6) the Buddha explains how "eight worldly winds" "keep the world turning around [...] Gain and loss, fame and disrepute, praise and blame, pleasure and pain". He then explains how the difference between a noble (''arya'') person and an uninstructed worldling is that a noble person reflects on and understands the impermanence of these conditions.{{sfnp|Bodhi|2005|pp=32–33}}

This cycle of becoming is characterized by ''[[dukkha]]'',{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=59}} commonly referred to as "suffering", ''dukkha'' is more aptly rendered as "unsatisfactoriness" or "unease". It is the unsatisfactoriness and unease that comes with a life dictated by automatic responses and habituated selfishness,{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}}{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=61}} and the unsatifacories of expecting enduring happiness from things which are impermanent, unstable and thus unreliable.{{sfnp|Gethin|1998|p=62}} The ultimate noble goal should be liberation from this cycle.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=12}}

''Samsara'' is dictated by [[Karma in Buddhism|karma]], which is an impersonal natural law, similar to how certain seeds produce certain plants and fruits.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=19}} ''Karma'' is not the only cause for one's conditions, as the Buddha listed various physical and environmental causes alongside karma.{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=20}} The Buddha's teaching of karma differed to that of the Jains and Brahmins, in that on his view, karma is primarily mental intention (as opposed to mainly physical action or ritual acts).{{sfnp|Siderits|2019}} The Buddha is reported to have said "By karma I mean intention."{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=49}} Richard Gombrich summarizes the Buddha's view of karma as follows: "all thoughts, words, and deeds derive their moral value, positive or negative, from the intention behind them".{{sfnp|Gombrich|2009|p=13}}