Samsara literally means "wandering-on." Many people think of it as the Buddhist name for the place where we currently live -- the place we leave when we go to nibbana. But in the early Buddhist texts, it's the answer, not to the question, "Where are we?" but to the question, "What are we doing?" Instead of a place, it's a process: the tendency to keep creating worlds and then moving into them. As one world falls apart, you create another one and go there. At the same time, you bump into other people who are creating their own worlds, too.
copyright © 2002 Thanissaro Bhikkhu
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