⚡ Samsara

"Through countless births in the cycle of existence I have run, not finding although seeking the builder of this house. Painful is birth again and again. O housebuilder, you have now been seen! You will not build the house again. Your rafters have been broken, your ridgepole destroyed. My mind has achieved the unconditioned; the end of craving has been reached."

"When a fool is stricken with painful feeling, he does not reflect, 'This is the result of karma.' He makes no effort toward wisdom. When he passes away, he might be reborn in hell, the animal realm, or the realm of hungry ghosts. A wise person, experiencing the same painful feeling, reflects: 'This is the fruit of past action.' He generates energy to abandon unskillful qualities. When he passes away, he might be reborn among humans or gods, or attain nibbana."

"Bhikkhus, this samsara is without discoverable beginning. A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving. The tears you have shed while roaming and wandering on through this long course, lamenting and weeping because of being united with the undesired and separated from the desired—this alone is more than the water in the four great oceans."

"It is not easy, bhikkhus, to find a being who has not formerly been your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your son, or your daughter. Why is that? Because this samsara is without discoverable beginning... Therefore, bhikkhus, develop loving-kindness toward all beings, for any being could have been your mother in a previous life."

"The realms of rebirth are six: gods, jealous gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and hell beings. The gods experience mostly pleasure but face the suffering of falling. The jealous gods war constantly. Humans face the eight types of suffering. Animals suffer from stupidity and predation. Hungry ghosts burn with unsatisfied craving. Hell beings endure unimaginable torment. None of these states is permanent; all are conditioned by karma."

"Consider the suffering of each realm: In hell, beings are boiled, burned, and frozen without respite. As hungry ghosts, beings cannot find food or water for eons. As animals, beings are enslaved, killed, or devour each other. As humans, we face birth trauma, aging's deterioration, sickness's pain, and death's terror. As demigods, we are consumed by jealousy and warfare. Even as gods, we face death anxiety and inevitable fall. Not one of these six states offers lasting happiness. Therefore, generate renunciation and seek liberation!"

"The realms of rebirth should be understood as thirty-one planes: Four woeful states (eight hells, animal realm, preta realm, asura realm), the human realm, and twenty-six heavenly planes. These exist not as mere allegory but as actual destinations determined by the quality and intensity of karma. Yet even Brahma's palace is impermanent; even the highest heaven is still within samsara."