Editing Saṃsāra (section)

==In Hinduism==
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| image1            = Meerabai (crop).jpg
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| caption1          = [[Bhakti|Loving devotion]] (''Bhakti'')
| image2            = Bronze figure of Kashmiri in Meditation by Malvina Hoffman Wellcome M0005215.jpg
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| caption2          = [[Dhyana in Hinduism|Meditation]] (''Dhyāna'')
| footer            = Liberation/release from ''saṃsāra'', called ''[[moksha]]'', is considered the ultimate goal in Hinduism.
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In [[Hinduism]], ''saṃsāra'' is a journey of the ''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]]''.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} The body dies but not the ''Ātman'', which is eternal reality, indestructible, and bliss.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} Everything and all existence is connected, cyclical, and composed of two things: the Self, or ''Ātman'', and the body, or [[matter]].{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} This eternal Self called ''Ātman'' never reincarnates, it does not change and cannot change in the Hindu belief.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=10}} Current ''[[karma]]'' impacts the future circumstances in this life, as well as the future forms and realms of lives.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mukul Goel|title=Devotional Hinduism: Creating Impressions for God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63w84TKjEu0C |year=2008|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-50524-1|page=6}}</ref><ref>Christopher Chapple (1986), Karma and creativity, State University of New York Press, {{ISBN|0-88706-251-2}}, pp. 60–64</ref> Good intent and actions lead to good future, bad intent and actions lead to bad future, in the Hindu view of life.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|p=11}} The journey of samsara allows the atman the opportunity to perform positive or negative [[Karma|karmas]] throughout each birth and make spiritual efforts to attain [[moksha]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mishra |first=R.C |title=Moksha and the Hindu World View |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |pages=22–24 |language=English}}</ref>

A virtuous life, actions consistent with dharma, are believed by Hindus to contribute to a better future, whether in this life or future lives.<ref name="Flood2009"/> The aim of spiritual pursuits, whether it be through the path of [[bhakti]] (devotion), [[karma]] (work), [[jnana|jñāna]] (knowledge), or [[raja]] (meditation) is self-liberation (moksha) from ''saṃsāra''.<ref name="Flood2009">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml |last=Flood|first=Gavin|date=2009-08-24|access-date=2015-07-31|archive-date=2014-04-11 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140411171600/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/concepts/concepts_1.shtml |url-status=live | title=Hindu concepts| work=[[BBC Online]]| publisher=[[BBC]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=George D. Chryssides|author2=Benjamin E. Zeller|title=The Bloomsbury Companion to New Religious Movements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HLZMAgAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-9829-7|page=333}}</ref>

The [[Upanishads]], part of the scriptures of the Hindu traditions, primarily focus on self-liberation from ''saṃsāra''.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|pp=111–12}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Yong Choon Kim|author2=David H. Freeman|title=Oriental Thought: An Introduction to the Philosophical and Religious Thought of Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omwMQA_DUVEC|year=1981|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8226-0365-8|pages=15–17}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Jack Sikora|title=Religions of India: A User Friendly and Brief Introduction to Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and the Jains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FLRifVnKnh8C |year=2002|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4697-1731-9|pages=17–19}}</ref> The [[Bhagavad Gita]] discusses various paths to liberation.{{Sfn|Mark Juergensmeyer|Wade Clark Roof|2011|p=272}} The Upanishads, states Harold Coward, offer a "very optimistic view regarding the perfectibility of human nature", and the goal of human effort in these texts is a continuous journey to self-perfection and self-knowledge so as to end ''saṃsāra''.{{Sfn|Harold Coward|2008|p=129}} The aim of spiritual quest in the Upanishadic traditions is to find the true self within and to know one's Self, a state that it believes leads to blissful state of freedom, ''moksha''.{{Sfn|Harold Coward|2008|pp=129, 130–55}}

===Differences within the Hindu traditions===
All Hindu traditions share the concept of ''saṃsāra'', but they differ in details and what they describe the state of liberation from ''saṃsāra'' to be.{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|1997|pp=10–12, 132–37}} The saṃsāra is viewed as the cycle of rebirth in a temporal world of always changing reality or ''[[Maya (religion)|Maya]]'' (appearance, illusive), Brahman is defined as that which never changes or [[Sat (Sanskrit)|Sat]] (eternal truth, reality), and moksha as the realization of Brahman and freedom from ''saṃsāra''.<ref name=gtumoksha/><ref>H Chaudhuri (1954), The Concept of Brahman in Hindu Philosophy, Philosophy East and West, 4(1), pp. 47–66</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=M. Hiriyanna |title=The Essentials of Indian Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeRIP-TuKLAC |year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1330-4 |pages=24–25, 160–66 }}</ref>

The dualistic devotional traditions such as [[Madhvacharya]]'s [[Dvaita Vedanta]] tradition of Hinduism champion a [[theistic]] premise, assert the individual human Self and Brahman ([[Vishnu]], [[Krishna]]) are two different realities, loving devotion to Vishnu is the means to release from ''saṃsāra'', it is the grace of Vishnu which leads to moksha, and spiritual liberation is achievable only in after-life (''[[videhamukti]]'').{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=340–47, 373–75}} The nondualistic traditions such as [[Adi Shankara]]'s [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition of Hinduism champion a [[monistic]] premise, asserting that the individual Atman and Brahman are identical, and only ignorance, impulsiveness and inertia leads to suffering through ''saṃsāra''. In reality they are no dualities, meditation and self-knowledge is the path to liberation, the realization that one's Ātman is identical to Brahman is ''moksha'', and spiritual liberation is achievable in this life (''[[jivanmukti]]'').<ref name=davidloyp65/>{{Sfn|Jeaneane D. Fowler|2002|pp=238–40, 243–45, 249–50, 261–63, 279–84}}