Samsara, kamma and rebirth

Overview

Recall questions on samsara, the six realms and the wheel of samsara, rebirth without a permanent self, the three fires, kamma and karmic seeds and fruits, dependent origination and the twelve nidanas, and whether samsara should be read literally, psychologically or metaphorically.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What do Buddhists mean by samsara?

   Model answer

   Samsara means wandering on: the beginningless round of birth, death and rebirth through which beings pass, driven by craving and ignorance. It is not a place but a process, and Buddhists regard it as unsatisfactory throughout, because even the most pleasant rebirth ends. It is often pictured as a wheel held in the jaws of impermanence and death, with the realms arranged around a hub. Liberation means the process stopping, not a transfer to a better position within it.

2. 2

   What are the six realms of existence?

   Model answer

   They are the realms of the gods or devas, the jealous gods or asuras, human beings, animals, hungry ghosts or petas, and the hell realms. Buddhists group the first three as fortunate rebirths and the last three as unfortunate ones. All six are within samsara, so all are temporary, and rebirth in any of them is the working out of previous intentional action rather than a judgement passed by a deity.

3. 3

   What is the realm of the gods like, what leads to it, and why is it not the Buddhist goal?

   Model answer

   Buddhists describe the deva realms as places of long life, beauty and pleasure, resulting from generosity, ethical conduct and meditative attainment. The problem is that such lives are too comfortable to prompt religious effort, and the merit that produced them eventually runs out, so the being falls back into a lower rebirth. Buddhists therefore treat divine rebirth as a magnificent distraction rather than as salvation, which is one reason they say gods, if they exist, are not saviours.

4. 4

   Describe the asura realm and what is said to cause rebirth there.

   Model answer

   The asuras or jealous gods are powerful beings, traditionally described as consumed by envy of the devas and locked in perpetual conflict with them. Buddhists associate rebirth there with actions that were generous or strong but driven by pride, ambition and rivalry. The realm illustrates that power without contentment is still suffering. Some schemes fold the asuras in with the gods, producing a five-realm version of the wheel.

5. 5

   Why do Buddhists say the human realm is the best one for liberation?

   Model answer

   Because it balances pleasure and pain. The gods are too comfortable to seek anything, the asuras too consumed by rivalry, and beings in the lower realms too overwhelmed by pain, hunger or stupidity to practise. Human beings suffer enough to be motivated and are free and clear-minded enough to act, and only in the human realm can one hear teaching, keep precepts and meditate. This is why Buddhists describe human rebirth as rare and precious and treat wasting it as a serious matter.

6. 6

   What is the animal realm like, and what is said to cause rebirth there?

   Model answer

   Buddhists describe animal existence as dominated by fear, hunger, predation and being used by others, with too little reflective capacity to make moral progress. It is traditionally linked to lives ruled by ignorance and instinct, or by wilful refusal to think. Because animals are fellow beings within the same round of rebirth, and may have been one's relatives in past lives, this teaching also underpins Buddhist emphasis on non-harm towards them.

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