2 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: Conflicted about Zen Buddhism in general
Isn’t “samsara” basically everything around us, our current situation, existence, etc. so “the world”?
Comment by HakuninMatata at 16/02/2025 at 22:36 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
There's a saying in Zen, "samsara is nirvana". That might be from Mahayana more broadly, I don't recall.
The aim of Buddhism is liberation from suffering, yes, but talking about "escaping from samsara" implies that there is something that does the escaping, and that there is somewhere to escape to. Everything that arises, every phenomenon, every experience, is characterised by the three marks of existence – anatta, anicca, dukkha. That is, there's no self to be found in it, it's transitory, and as a result ultimately unsatisfactory.
A kind of naive version of Buddhism might say, "Well, we need to find the Self-ful, Permanent, Delightful alternative to all of these no-self, impermanent and unsatisfactory things." In a way, that describes some other paths, like some mystical paths in Hinduism. (Hopefully I'm not being unfair to those paths, but my understanding is that they seek realisation of identity with the Self, also described with various other capitalised words.)
But that's not really the Buddhist path. We're not selves escaping impermanence and suffering by finding a permanent Self, but rather realising liberation within impermanence by seeing through the delusion of self in the first place.
Comment by vectron88 at 16/02/2025 at 15:14 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Samsara is in the mind and encompasses the cycle of birth and death.
If you aren't sufficiently moved by the pain and dissatisfaction around you, you might rouse samvega.
Here's a quick talk on the Four Noble Truths[1], which are the foundation of all of Buddhism. This should help you orient to the problem that Buddhism is addressing.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_elej83fZ-A&list=PLCXN1GlAupG0_DzIOFNrDSp0fTwTLkTxV
Good luck on your Path:)
Comment by Concise_Pirate at 16/02/2025 at 13:03 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It is, more than anything, the cycle of clinging and suffering. That comes from the mind.