WE HAVE THE POWER TO END SAMSARA

[icy]

Is it possible to abandon the suffering of samsara and pass beyond the suffering of samsara?

If the world were created by a god, then we would be helpless. It would not be within our power to do much about our own situation, and achieve real happiness. However, some deity has not created the world, so we have the power to do something about our situation. That is because the situation we are in is the fruition of our own actions; our actions are a cause that has created this particular effect. Therefore, it is within our power to abandon the causes of suffering.

For instance, we hear about the great suffering that beings have to undergo in the lower realms and we feel frightened by that and do not want to have to experience that kind of suffering. So, is it within our power to prevent the experience of this kind of suffering? Yes, it is because ill deeds and non-virtuous activities are the causes of being born in a lower realm. And it is within our power not to engage in such ill deeds. In that way, it is within our power to do what we want to do. If we want to achieve nirvana or the state of having crossed beyond all suffering of cyclic existence, we can simply engage in the causes that lead to nirvana.

[brian]

dear Icy,

My thoughts are as follows:-

i) one can only end their current state in samsara when they have no more negative karma. Just like Buddha, He has no more negative karma (by His virtues and practices of various lifetimes) and hence he is liberated from samsara.

ii) When you re in the lower realms it will take a long time for you to purify all your negative karma in order to have a better rebirth in this case as a human to be able to practice again, that is if you have the karma to find Dharma again. Being in the lower realm, one could not gain any merits because they do not have the capacity of generating merits due to ignorance being born as an animal or formless realm.

iii) The only chance we have to achieve Enlightenment is to be reborn as a human and be able to practice Dharma life after life abandoning all the poisons thoughts and attachments of our minds.

Yes samsara can end but it will take a long long time.

[vajratruth]

I think one of the most unique characteristic of Buddhism, as compared to other religion is the fact that we can liberate ourselves from suffering and samsara. The first thing we learn in Buddhism is the Four Noble Truths, the third of which clearly states that cessation of suffering IS attainable and the fourth noble truth shows the path towards that liberation.

Buddha Shakyamuni himself was a mere man who found the way to escape samsara. He was not born of a god nor did he fall from heaven and therefore possessed any special powers that he leveraged on to become enlightened. As a matter of fact, the Buddha endured tremendous suffering in his quest to find the way out of it.

The great Je Tsongkhapa did not teach us to pray to a higher being to help us attain an end to suffering. Instead we were told of the stages we have to undertake to achieve liberation.

Pabongkha Rinpoche's message was even more pointed. The great sage told us that liberation from samasara is in fact in the palm of our own hand. That liberation is in our own hands is in itself the start of the journey to freedom provided we realize it and begin on that journey.

What is in fact good news startles a lot of people who perhaps had hoped that someone or something, like perhaps a divine being,  could grant them such liberation. That would have been great but if that were true, why are we still here regardless of what religion we claim to belong to?

[vajrastorm]

Yes, the First Noble Truth points out to us the fact that the nature of samsara is suffering. The Second Noble Truth points out unerringly that we are responsible for our sufferings because we caused our own sufferings via our delusions and the negative karma that we ourselves have created.The Third Noble Truth shows us that just as we had created our own sufferings and our own samsara, we can effect the end of our samsara and our sufferings. The Fourth Noble Truth shows us the Path of Cessation of our samsara and our suffering.

Lord Buddha in the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma not only shows us that we can liberate ourselves from samsara,but also shows us that we can attain complete Liberation and Full Enlightenment or Buddhahood, (where we are beyond karma and we have attained omniscience);with  that, we can return again and again (as we have vowed to do when treading the Bodhisattva path) to liberate all mother beings from samsara.The Lamrim - Pabongka Rinpoche's 'Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand - shows us the stages of the path to Complete(Full) Enlightenment.

[Tammy]

Everything stems from our mind. Samsara is in our mind, enlightenment is also from our mind. We speak our mind and act our mind.

Hence yes, it is possible to overcome samsara and be enlighetened although it is far more easier said then done, as it is difficult to control our mind.

A small house by the beach can be heaven for someone who has been homeless for a long time, but to a spoilt rich man, this same house could give him much suffering as it does not have air conditioning, the facilities is not complete, there is no modern toilet etc etc... This is to show us whether it is a heaven or hell, it depends entirely on our mind. similarly, we could turn a sad situation to be a motivational one and wise versa.

[RedLantern]

Samsara literally means "wandering on".The elimination of samsara is the main goal of Buddhism.In addition to creating sufferings for ourselves.The world we create feed off the world of others,just as theirs feed off ours
The Buddha tried to find the way to stop samsara.Once he found it,he encouraged others to follow it to. Because samsara-ing is something that each of us does,each of us has to stop it ,him or her self alone.It's like giving up an addiction or an abusive habit.
When we learn the skills needed to stop creating our world of suffering.We can start those skills with others,so that they will stop creating theirs.The main reason to end samsara and pursue enlightenment for all sentient beings.The goal is to reach a level of developement  that enable one to ultimately benefit all sentient beings.The end of suffering can be attained by Buddhist practice.
We must take responsibility of our suffering in our life without judgement or self condemnation but with wisdom and loving kindness.

[biggyboy]

Is it possible to abandon the suffering of samsara and pass beyond the suffering of samsara?

Most importantly is our motivation and sincere wish to come out of the "sufferings".  If we are so attached to the so call "worldly happiness" that we are chasing for out of our own desire, attachment and ego, then the wish to be liberated from suffering is practically difficult to do so.  Let alone to even pass beyond the suffering. 

        * Gain and loss
        * Pleasure and pain
        * Praise and blame
        * Fame and disgrace

In Samsara, we involve ourselves with these notions. As a matter of fact, these are the concerns that we spend most of our energy on in this life. We make great effort to gain things, experience pleasure, win praise, and become famous, and then we have to protect what we have. We also make great effort to avoid loss, pain, blame, and disgrace. This is not just a Buddhist view of things – the entire world is driven by these eight concerns, and so we suffer here helplessly. We are trapped in the snare of these eight worldly concerns.”  From p.88, A Complete Guide to the Buddhist Path, by Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen, Snow Lion, Ithaca, NY, 2009

Hence, it is important to ask ourselves even if we were to spend all our energy to gain them, chase after them, and protect them, are we guaranteed that we are insured to be liberated from suffering? 

"There is no guarantee at all that our moment to leave this life, naked and empty handed, will not come today. When that happens, the only thing that will truly help us is the Dharma. There is no other refuge." 

[dondrup]

Every phenomenon arises from its cause(s) and condition(s).  When the gathering of causes and conditions is no longer applicable, the phenomenon concerned changes to another phenomenon. In another words, everything is impermanent.  Because all phenomena are impermanent, we can change; we can abandon the suffering of samsara and achieve total liberation from samsara. 

We create the necessary causes to free ourselves of all suffering. We need to purify our mind of delusions and imprints of delusion.  We need to also purify all our positive and negative karma. When our mind is cleared of all karma, delusion and its imprints, we become a Buddha, a state passed beyond sorrow (or suffering of samsara)

[Tenzin K]

Two key concepts that Buddhism uses are samsara and karma. Buddhism holds that life is a series of rebirths and "redeaths" in a continuous cycle and that a person's actions during a life produce karma that determines the place and form of the next life (and sometimes even succeeding lives). In Buddhism, samsara is often symbolized by the Wheel of Life. (For a picture of the Wheel with a fuller explanation, go here or here.)

Samsara's Real Estate and the Possible Forms of Life
In all forms of Buddhism, the realm of samsara is divided into three main levels: heaven, earth and hell. Both heaven and hell have a number of levels. Inhabiting these realms, are creatures in six different "states of existence" (or, six types of creatures). These are: gods, humans, asura (=ogres or titans), animals, hungry ghost and demons. Beings in one of the first three states are there because of their store of good karma. Beings in one of the last three states are there because of their store of bad karma. Gods exist in the higher heavens, asuras in the lower heavens and humans on earth. Animals dwell on earth, the hungry ghosts (so-called because they have large stomachs but tiny mouths) live between earth and hell, and the demons of course reside in hell.

In Buddhism all humans are essentially equal. Samsara therefore rotates souls through the different states of being rather than through different levels of the caste system.

The Human Problem and the Solution
The Buddha discussed the human problem and its solution together. The short statement that lays out these out--The Four Noble Truths--forms the main foundation of Buddhism that differentiates it from all other religions.

The first two Truths describe the problem:
Truth #1. All is suffering (dukkha).
Truth #2. Suffering comes from desire.

All life is suffering and suffering comes from desire, because desire is so rarely fulfilled. It is important to understand these two statements together. By itself, "suffering" could refer to all kinds of suffering, such as suffering inflicted upon us by circumstances or by other people. The former could include suffering of sickness, age, accidents, while the latter could include malicious injury of a physical or emotional nature. But the Buddha makes it clear that although these are obvious forms of suffering, the most insidious forms of suffering are caused by desire, specifially, unfulfilled desire. Thus, although illness is suffering in-and-of-itself, it is suffering even more so because one desires to be well. While losing a spouse or lover is suffering by itself, it is compounded by the desire for them to be near.

Once the problem is set up in this manner, the solution becomes apparent:
Truth #3. If a person stops desiring, then they stop suffering.
Truth #4. Desiring can be stopped by following the Noble Eightfold Path.

The third Noble Truth is a logical deduction from the first two. Given the link between suffering and desire, the way to stop suffering is to stop desiring. But how to accomplish this? Here is the Buddha's contribution: the Noble Eight-Fold Path with its ultimate goal of nirvana. The Path's eight steps fall into three groups. First, a person must believe and intend the right things. Second, they must carry out those intentions in the community and society in which they live. Third, they must then turn their minds to higher things and practice meditation on the ultimate nature of reality. Finally, they perceive ultimate reality and know the correct belief concerning all things.

Nirvana: The Goal of the Noble Eight-fold Path
Nirvana means "liberation" and refers to liberation from the realm of samsara. In many ways, the buddhist goal of Nirvana is similar to the Hindu goal of moksha. It is the way out of samsara--out of the cycle of rebirth and redeath. It is accomplished through meditation, and it is usually done by removing oneself from the regular activities of life. However, there is a key difference. Whereas Hinduism described moksha as the realization of the unity of the individual (atman) and the cosmic essence (Brahman), Buddhism sees nirvana as the extingushing of desire and hence the elimination of suffering. In Theravada Buddhism, this is the only religious goal and the person who experiences it is called an arhat. The single aim of Theravada is to help people become arhats and thus release them from samsara at their death. One then goes to a state of being outside (or beyond) the realm of samsara, that is, a state of being that has no form and no place.

Only a human being can attain nirvana. No other state of being, including that of god, can do so. While this is understandable for the three "evil" states of being, this is surprising for the gods. One explanation is that the gods live in such a state of bliss that they cannot conceive of suffering, and thus cannot realize the truth of the Four Noble Truths. Thus they must die and be reborn in human form to attain liberation.

[Vajraprotector]

This is indeed a good post to remind us. There is always a choice -  we can refer to the  twelve links of dependent-arising. It is explained that:
                                                                               
     

due to the condition of ignorance, action arises;
due to the condition of action, consciousness arises;
due to the condition of consciousness, name and form arise;
due to the condition of name and form, the six sense spheres arise;
due to the condition of the six sense spheres, contact arises;
due to the condition of contact, feeling arises;
due to the condition of feeling, attachment arises;
due to the condition of attachment, grasping arises;
due to the condition of grasping, the potentialized level of karma called existence arises;
due to the condition of existence, birth arises;
due to the condition of birth, aging and death arise.


In reverse order it is explained that:
the unwanted sufferings of aging and death are produced in dependence upon birth;
birth is produced in dependence upon the potentialized level of action called "existence";
existence is produced in dependence upon grasping;
grsping is produced in dependence upon attachment;
attachment is produced in dependence upon feeling;
feeling is produced in dependence upon contact;
contact is produced in dependence upon the six sense spheres;
the six sense spheres are produced in dependence upon name and form;
name and form are produced in dependence upon consciousness;
consciousness is produced in dependence upon action;
action is produced in dependence upon ignorance.

Traditionally, the outer wheel depicts a blind man or woman (representing ignorance); potters (formation); a monkey (consciousness); two men in a boat (mind and body); a house with six windows (the senses); an embracing couple (contact); an eye pieced by an arrow (sensation); a person drinking (thirst); a man gathering fruit (grasping); a couple making love (becoming); a woman giving birth (birth); and a man carrying a corpse (death).

For more detailed explanations, please refer to His Holiness Dalai Lama's The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect (Jeffrey Hopkins, trans., Wisdom Publications, 2000.)

[icy]

Right now many of us wish for liberation, yet sometimes we cannot keep ourselves from creating the causes for cyclic existence. When we understand true suffering well, our wish for liberation will become firm. At present our resolve to reach liberation is not firm because we think of suffering, but not deeply. The deluded attitude believing that the unsatisfactoriness of change is true happiness easily arises in us because we are not yet deeply convinced that all happiness in cyclic existence is contaminated and is in fact only a variety of suffering. To remedy this, we should meditate on true suffering more often and explore its meaning deeply. Then our wish for liberation will become firm.
We consider many things--clothes, food, good health, nice possessions, financial security, the higher rebirths--as true happiness. As a result, we are attached to them and create more causes for suffering in cyclic existence in order to gain them. Thinking that the human birth is something marvelous, we work at creating the causes that propel us toward it. In fact all we are doing is creating the cause for yet another rebirth in cyclic existence, together with all the problems that such a rebirth involves.

If we understand that by its nature, cyclic existence is unsatisfactory, we will have a deep aversion to it. If we do not have a deep aversion to it, we will not be determined to be free, and therefore will not be able to destroy our self-grasping ignorance, which is the root of cyclic existence. In that case, we will not be able to attain liberation. However, when we deeply feel the extent to which we suffer in cyclic existence, we will automatically want to abandon the true origin of suffering, attain the true cessation, and meditate on the true path. Having realized true suffering, we will easily realize the other three of the four noble truths. Thus it is said: suffering is to be known. The origin is to be abandoned. The cessation is to be attained. The path is to be practiced. The determination to be free is the wish for ourselves to be free of cyclic existence. When we wish others to be free, that is compassion.

[pgdharma]

In Buddhism, Enlightenment is the only escape from Samsara. Buddhists believe that it is this cycle of re-birth, that causes us to suffer lives in the six realms. Karma is believed to play a key role in deciding which of the six realms one can be re-born in.  In order for us to escape from suffering and find everlasting happiness we have to study and practice the teachings on the path to enlightenment which is the three principal aspects of renunciation, right view and bodhichitta.

The essence of all the Buddha’s teachings is found in the lam-rim and we are extremely lucky to have encountered this profound and practical philosophy in this lifetime and we should integrate what we learn  into our lives to end samsara.

[buddhalovely]

Is there even an end of samsara?Personally I attribute this to the 'handful of leaves' metaphor. This is where the Buddha says to his disciples that everything he has taught them can be compared to a handful of leaves, but what he actually knows is equivalent to all the leaves in the forest. The meaning of this being, what he has taught is enough for us to become awakened and that everything else he knows is not relevant to that task at least for those who are still working out their liberation.

I think most Buddhist traditions accept the view that everything we experience is a condition of the mind, and so by extension this means samsara. Naturally this can lead us to ponder about the nature of the mind in relation to samsara / nirvana etc. This line of questioning reminds me, however, of one of my favourite quotes from Ajahn Chah, which goes something like this:

Disciple: 'What is the mind?'
Ajahn Chah: 'The mind isn't 'is' anything.'

Having said that, I think I see where padmasambhava is going with his detailed description.

[Aurore]

The very reason Buddhas exist are the ability of certain minds who realised emptiness and attained a higher state of consciousness. In turn, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas shows us the way to end our own samsara. Other when we achieve Buddhahood are we able to end other's sufferings. This may take aeons.

Meanwhile, it is within our power to stop ourselves from going into the 3 lower realms.
How? By taking refuge in the three jewels and holding the Buddhist vows.

• By doing so, we become pure Buddhists that refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech and intoxicants.
• We purify the negative karma that we have accumulated from many past lives
• By holding vows, we can accumulate a vast collection of merit for a better rebirth
• We are protected from harm from human beings and other beings from other realms

Taking refuge protects us while we are still stuck in samsara.

[ratanasutra]

we have the power to end the samsara, every human beings are have potential to become a buddha if we follow the Buddha teaching and Buddha path which are the four noble truth, the eightfold path, the paramitas, hold the vows. When we study and really follow Buddha teaching we will become more compassion, selfless, have bodhicitta mind and gain wisdom which we will think more about other and think less about ourself and that is lead to the path to end the samsara which we are aim for.