Samsara

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  • Literally means 'wandering on' and refers to endless rounds of rebirth
  • Buddha gained knowledge of rebirth, karma and the 4 Noble Truths through meditating
  • On the Night of Enlightenment, it is said that he could remember as far back as 91 kalpas. This would include thousands of past lives
  • 12 niddanas or links surround the wheel and constitute the cycle of existence.  These are know the dependent origination/arising or paticca samupadda
  • They represent the chain of cause and effect through which wheel of samsara is recreated
  • The escape link is between the 7th and 8th niddana, joining craving and suffering.  If a person stops craving then the outer most wheel stops turning, they have escaped samsara and have become enlightened
  • To break the link, they need to understand that craving leads to suffering
  • In the centre of the wheel are the 3 mental poisons; greed (pig), hatred (snake) and delusion (rooster)
  • These are the starting…

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