In most Indian religions, life is not considered to begin with birth and end in death, but as a continuous existence in the present lifetime of the organism and extending beyond. The nature of the actions (karma) committed during the course of each lifetime, (good or ill) determines the future destiny of each being. Samsara is closely linked with the idea of rebirth (or reincarnation), but mainly refers to the condition of life, and the experience of life.
In Buddhism, at death the consciousness (consciousness of the different senses, such as eye consciousness, ear consciousness etc.), at the moment of death, act as the seed for the spawning of the new consciousness in a new biological structure, conducive to the volitional (Saṅkhāras) impulses at the moment of death (which are themselves affected by previous volitional impulses). In other Indian religions, the volitional impulses accrued from the present life are transmitted to a consciousness structure popularly known as the soul, which, after an intermediate period (in Tibetan called the bardo), forms the basis for a new biological structure that will result in rebirth and a new life. This cyclical process ends in the attainment of moksha.
If one lives in extremely evil ways, one is reborn as an animal or other unfortunate being.
The historical origins of a concept of a cycle of repeated reincarnation are obscure but the idea appears frequently in religious and philosophical texts in both ancient Greece and India during the middle of the first millennium BCE. Orphism, Platonism, Jainism and Buddhism all discuss the transmigration of beings from one life to another. In India the concept appears to have originated outside the mainstream Vedic religion in the heterodox Sramanic culture. Buddhism and Jainism are continuations of this tradition, and the early Upanishadic movement was influenced by it. Reincarnation was adopted from this religious culture by Brahmin orthodoxy, and Brahmins first wrote down scriptures containing these ideas in the early Upanishads.
The Sanskrit word "Samsara" is the root for the Malay word "sengsara", which means suffering.
Through ascetic practice one finally attains sanctity and liberation (moksha or mukti) - the equivalent of salvation in Indian religions.
Broadly speaking, the holy life (brahmacarya) which leads to liberation is a path of self-purification by which the effects of sins are released.
The Hindu Yoga traditions hold various beliefs. Moksha may be achieved by love of Ishwar/God (see bhakti movement, see Mirabai), by psycho-physical meditation (Raja Yoga), by discrimination of what is real and unreal through intense contemplation (Jnana Yoga), and through Karma Yoga, the path of selfless action that subverts the ego and enforces understanding of the unity of all.
The Rig Vedic, Yajur Vedic and Atharva Vedic Upanishads like Aiteraya Upanishad, Taittiriya Upanishad, Swetaswatara Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad etc contains the most ancient ideas on Reincarnation of soul. As confirmed by latest research in the field of archeology and Astronomy, Vedas were older than 2600 BC which takes it far earlier than all other religious texts. Hence, based on this, the earliest known texts to have spoken about karma, sansara and Moksha or Mukti, are the Vedas and other Dharmic Texts. (Dharmic Texts stands for the Vedas, Ithihasas and Puranas). The Vedas describe Karma beautifully- as the result of enjoying the sensory pleasures of this material universe.
Surat Shabda Yoga cosmology presents the constitution of the initiate (the microcosm) as an exact replica of the macrocosm. Consequently, the microcosm consists of a number of bodies, each one suited to interact with its corresponding plane or region in the macrocosm. These bodies developed over the yugas through involution (emanating from higher planes to lower planes) and evolution (returning from lower planes to higher planes), including by karma and reincarnation in various states of consciousness.
Category:Buddhist philosophical concepts Category:Hindu philosophical concepts Category:Jain philosophical concepts Category:Reincarnation Category:Shabd paths Category:Sanskrit words and phrases Category:Sikh philosophical concepts
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