Editing Saṃsāra (section)

==In Buddhism==
[[File:The wheel of life, Trongsa dzong.jpg|thumb|Traditional Tibetan [[thangka]] showing the [[bhavacakra]] and six realms of ''saṃsāra'' in Buddhist cosmology.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Patrul Rinpoche|author2=Dalai Lama|title=The Words of My Perfect Teacher: A Complete Translation of a Classic Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40i38mGQ6aAC&pg=PA61|year=1998|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7619-9027-7|pages=61–99}}</ref>]]
{{main article|Saṃsāra (Buddhism)| Bhavacakra |Six realms}}
''Saṃsāra'' in Buddhism, states Jeff Wilson, is the "suffering-laden cycle of life, death, and rebirth, without beginning or end".<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam>{{cite book|author=Jeff Wilson|year= 2010|title= Saṃsāra and Rebirth, in Buddhism| publisher= Oxford University Press|isbn= 978-0195393521| doi=10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0141}}</ref> Also referred to as the wheel of existence (''Bhavacakra''), it is often mentioned in Buddhist texts with the term ''punarbhava'' (rebirth, re-becoming); the liberation from this cycle of existence, ''[[Nirvana|Nirvāṇa]]'', is the foundation and the most important purpose of Buddhism.<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/><ref name="Conze2013p71">{{cite book|author=Edward Conze |title= Buddhist Thought in India: Three Phases of Buddhist Philosophy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kY5TAQAAQBAJ |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-54231-4|page=71 }}, '''Quote:''' "Nirvana is the ''raison d’être'' of Buddhism, and its ultimate justification."</ref>{{sfn|Gethin|1998|p=119}}

''Saṃsāra'' is considered permanent in Buddhism, just like other Indian religions. Karma drives this permanent ''saṃsāra'' in Buddhist thought, states Paul Williams, and "short of attaining enlightenment, in each rebirth one is born and dies, to be reborn elsewhere in accordance with the completely impersonal causal nature of one's own karma; This endless cycle of birth, rebirth, and redeath is ''saṃsāra''".{{sfn|Williams|2002|pp=74–75}} The [[Four Noble Truths]], accepted by all Buddhist traditions, are aimed at ending this saṃsāra-related re-becoming (rebirth) and associated cycles of suffering.{{sfn|Paul Williams|Anthony Tribe|Alexander Wynne|2012|pp=30–42}}{{sfn|Robert Buswell Jr. |Donald Lopez Jr. |2013|pp=304–05}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Harvey|editor=Steven M. Emmanuel|title=A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_lmCgAAQBAJ |year =2015| publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-119-14466-3|pages=26–44}} '''Quote:''' "the first features described as painful [dukkha] in the above DCPS [Dhamma-cakka-pavatana Sutta in ''Vinaya Pitaka''] quote are basic biological aspects of being alive, each of which can be traumatic. The dukkha of these is compounded by the rebirth perspective of Buddhism, for this involves repeated re-birth, re-aging, re-sickness, and re-death."</ref>

Like Jainism, Buddhism developed its own ''saṃsāra'' theory, that evolved over time the mechanistic details on how the wheel of mundane existence works over the endless cycles of rebirth and redeath.<ref name="Trainor2004p63">{{cite book|author=Kevin Trainor |title= Buddhism: The Illustrated Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PrloTKuAjwC |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-517398-7 |pages=62–63 }}; '''Quote:''' "Buddhist doctrine holds that until they realize nirvana, beings are bound to undergo rebirth and redeath due to their having acted out of ignorance and desire, thereby producing the seeds of karma".</ref>{{sfn|Dalai Lama|1992|pp=xi–xii, 5–16}} In early Buddhist traditions, ''saṃsāra'' cosmology consisted of five realms through which wheel of existence recycled.<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/> This included hells (''niraya''), hungry ghosts (''pretas''), animals (''tiryak''), humans (''manushya''), and gods (''devas'', heavenly).<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/><ref name="Trainor2004p63"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Robert DeCaroli |title=Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q_2XtkSRyTYC|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-803765-1|pages=94–103}}</ref> In latter traditions, this list grew to a list of six realms of rebirth, adding demi-gods (''asuras''), which were included in gods realm in earlier traditions.<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/><ref>{{cite book|author=Akira Sadakata|title=Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bcYGAAAAYAAJ|year=1997|publisher= Kōsei Publishing 佼成出版社, Tokyo|isbn=978-4-333-01682-2|pages=68–70}}</ref> The "hungry ghost, heavenly, hellish realms" respectively formulate the ritual, literary and moral spheres of many contemporary Buddhist traditions.<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/><ref name="Trainor2004p63"/>

The ''saṃsāra'' concept, in Buddhism, envisions that these six realms are interconnected, and everyone cycles life after life, and death is just a state for an afterlife, through these realms, because of a combination of ignorance, desires and purposeful karma, or ethical and unethical actions.<ref name=jeffwilsonbudsam/><ref name="Trainor2004p63"/> ''Nirvāṇa'' is typically described as the freedom from rebirth and the only alternative to suffering of ''saṃsāra'', in Buddhism.<ref name="Collins2010p38"/><ref>{{cite book|author=Carl B. Becker |title=Breaking the Circle: Death and the Afterlife in Buddhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hbgjrC7o-mYC |year=1993|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press |isbn=978-0-8093-1932-9 |pages=viii, 57–59 }}</ref> However, the Buddhist texts developed a more comprehensive theory of rebirth, states Steven Collins, from fears of redeath, called ''amata'' (death-free), a state which is considered synonymous with ''Nirvāṇa''.<ref name="Collins2010p38">{{cite book|author=Steven Collins |title=Nirvana: Concept, Imagery, Narrative |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5pshUYiUVwC |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-88198-2 |pages=38 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Frank J. Hoffman |title=Rationality and Mind in Early Buddhism |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=O3ecE9j3qXsC|year=2002|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1927-6 |pages=103–06 }}</ref>