[KinicsBonee]

Hi peace and daisies and a warm welcome to the group !

"Samsara" basically means wandering round in circles. This is something that most of us do in our present lifetime through ignorance, when we repeat conflicting emotions,thoughts,reactions and habits again and again, without understanding what's happening to us.

We're always searching for new experiences of one kind or another and resisting change when things don't always turn out as we want them to. This dissatisfaction and stress is what is known as "suffering" or dukkha.

The idea of a Dhamma practitioner 'freeing all sentient beings from suffering' is an impossibly idealistic wish which is prominent in Tibetan Buddhism but is not necessarily outlined in exactly the same way in other Buddhist traditions. First we have to deal with our own misperceptions and free ourselves, before we can begin to help others to free themselves.

My opinion is that you should just focus on this life to begin with, and on understanding the Buddha's core teachings of The Four Noble Truths , before you start worrying about different lives and freeing others.

There's an essay on the 4 Noble Truths by Tamara Engle in the Beginners forum . Also, one of our members - Element - has made a video in which he's talking about the First Noble Truth that there is dukkha(suffering). If you'd like to watch it, you can find it in the Members Only sub-forum of the Tea Room.


With kind wishes,

Aloka-D