| Sometime during the first half of the first millennium | | | | lifetimes. They are wandering from one life to the next |
| BCE, Indian sages took the position that human beings | | | | without knowing where they will be the next time, and |
| didn't live just one life, but cycled around again and | | | | not knowing when it will end. In this huge time scale, |
| again, life after life, death after death, in a process of | | | | any goal, aspiration, or achievement is tiny compared |
| death and rebirth. We call it the doctrine of | | | | to the cosmic history in which you are involved in. |
| reincarnation. What is the real meaning of this doctrine | | | | The best you can do to overcome this problem is to |
| in Buddhism and Hinduism? How does this view | | | | try to be reborn in heaven as a god. How do you |
| change the way we live? | | | | achieve that? Well, Indians believe in something called |
| In Sanskrit, the language of India, this process of deaths | | | | Karma. Karma simply means action. It really means |
| and rebirths without a visible end is called "Samsara". | | | | that if you perform good actions, you will have a good |
| Samsara simply means to wander. This suggests you | | | | rebirth. Bad actions, bad rebirth. |
| how India traditionally think of this doctrine. | | | | The worst of all is that even if you achieve this status |
| In the West, we generally think about reincarnation as | | | | of god, you won't have it forever. Indians believe that |
| something positive. We think "Ok, if I don't make it in | | | | even the gods will pass away and will be reborn again. |
| this life, I'll have another chance in the next", or "I would | | | | You are always trapped in Samsara. |
| like to be a butterfly in the next life, how beautiful!". | | | | To understand better Indian and Buddhist beliefs, we |
| Well, Indians didn't think in that way. | | | | must understand this concepts of Samsara and |
| In India, Samsara is something negative. They see this | | | | Karma. Both Hindus and Buddhists try to solve this |
| process not as two or three lives strung together, but | | | | problem of Samsara. They try to do it in different |
| as a cycle which encompasses millions and millions of | | | | ways. |