Samsara

The cycle of birth, death, and rebirth that all sentient beings traverse according to Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain cosmology. In Buddhism, samsara is characterized by dukkha (suffering, dissatisfaction, impermanence) and is driven by karma — the accumulated consequences of intentional actions. The cycle has no beginning and continues indefinitely unless one achieves liberation (nirvana) through the realization of wisdom and the cessation of craving. Samsara is not a place but a process — a continuous becoming sustained by ignorance of the true nature of reality.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, as preserved in the Buddhist sutras and the Dharma, Samsara represents a key concept that continues to inform philosophical thought and practice today.