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Quotations on:
Samsara, the Cycle of Life
Samsara is essentially not any fixed place or realm - for it is any state of
mind filled with attachment, aversion and delusion. As the enlightened have
no attachment, aversion and delusion, they are forever free of the samsaric,
and are never really “in” Samsara, even as they “enter” Samsara to aid beings
truly “in” Samsara to be free of attachment, aversion and delusion. It is thus
an error to imagine that the enlightened suffer in Samsara when they remain
or return to Samsara to help relieve suffering - for, once again, Samsara is
not a place. Being enlightened is also to be free of all suffering - wherever
one is.
Shian
All beings have lived and died and been reborn countless times. Over and over again they have experienced the indescribable Clear Light. But because they are obscured by the darkness of ignorance, they wander endlessly in a limitless samsara.
Padmasambhava
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Six realms of existence are identified in Buddhism: gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hells. They are each the result of one of the six main negative emotions: pride, jealousy, desire, ignorance, greed, and anger.
Looking at the world around us, and into our own minds, we can see that the six realms definitely do exist. They exist in the way we unconsciously allow our negative emotions to project and crystallize entire realms around us, and to define the style, form, flavor, and context of our life in those realms. And they exist also inwardly as the different seeds and tendencies of the various negative emotions within our psychophysical system, always ready to germinate and grow, depending on what influences them and how we choose to live.
All beings have lived and died and been reborn countless times. Over and over again they have experienced the indescribable Clear Light. But because they are obscured by the darkness of ignorance, they wander endlessly in a limitless samsara.
PADMASAMBHAVA |
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