samsara
Endless rebirth wheel
Samsara is the cycle of death and rebirth in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions—the continuous wheel of existence through which souls pass until they achieve liberation.
The concept implies that life is an endless repetition of suffering unless one breaks free through enlightenment or spiritual practice: trapped in samsara, escape from samsara.
In broader usage, samsara can describe any feeling of being caught in repetitive, unsatisfying patterns: the samsara of office politics. (Capitalized Samsara may refer to the 1992 documentary film or various artistic works.)
Spiritual or physical regeneration
- wheelRotating circular frame
- recurringHappening repeatedly over time
- repetitionAct of redoing
- continuityUninterrupted progression or coherence
pratityasamutpada · perpetual · endless · cyclical · rotation · return · revolving · rounds
Connection or fondness
- desireIntense wanting
- cravingPowerful urge to have
- aversionIntense dislike or repugnance
- clingingGripping without release
dissatisfaction · affliction · anguish · restlessness · discontent · longing · grasping · pain
Brevity of existence
- fleetingPassing very quickly
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- mortalityState of eventual death
change · dissolution · passing · fading · momentary · mutability · flux
Phenomenal world's deceptive nature
- ignoranceAbsence of knowledge
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
- veilFabric that obscures
- obscurationAct of concealing
misperception · confusion · blindness · unknowing · bewilderment · unawareness
Experienced in practical affairs
- mundaneCommonplace, lacking excitement
- phenomenalExceptionally impressive or unusual
- conditionedTaught automatic responses
- temporalRelating to chronology
material · earthly · manifest · realm · human · animal · hell · heavenly
Release from cyclical existence
- mokshaRelease from rebirth cycle
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
- releaseTo let go
freedom · cessation · escape · transcendence · emancipation · bodhi · unbinding
rebirth
Spiritual or physical regeneration
- wheelRotating circular frame
- recurringHappening repeatedly over time
- repetitionAct of redoing
pratityasamutpada · continuity · perpetual · endless · cyclical · rotation · return · revolving · rounds
attachment
Connection or fondness
clinging · dissatisfaction · affliction · anguish · restlessness · discontent · longing · grasping · pain · unsatisfactoriness
transience
Brevity of existence
mortality · change · dissolution · passing · fading · momentary · mutability · flux
maya
Phenomenal world's deceptive nature
obscuration · misperception · confusion · blindness · unknowing · bewilderment · unawareness
worldly
Experienced in practical affairs
- mundaneCommonplace, lacking excitement
- phenomenalExceptionally impressive or unusual
- conditionedTaught automatic responses
temporal · material · earthly · manifest · realm · human · animal · hell · heavenly
nirvana
Release from cyclical existence
- mokshaRelease from rebirth cycle
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- awakeningReturn to consciousness
release · freedom · cessation · escape · transcendence · emancipation · bodhi · unbinding
- IndiaDelhi, Ganges, Mumbai, Taj Mahal, Punjab
- supernaturalghosts, ghost, witches, spirits, vampire
- afterlifeheaven, hell, paradise, purgatory, limbo
- immortalityimmortality, eternal life, immortals, everlasting life, deathlessness
- BuddhismBuddha, Four Noble Truths, nirvana, Mahayana, Siddhartha Gautama
- Dharmic Traditionsmoksha, atman, Brahman, nirvana, Hinduism
samsaranirvana
Release from cyclical existence
moksha · liberation · enlightenment · awakening · bodhi