Samsara vs Nirvana - What's the difference?
samsara | nirvana |
(philosophy, religion) In Hinduism, Buddhism, and some other eastern religions, the ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth endured by human beings and all other mortal beings, and from which release is obtained by achieving the highest enlightenment.
* 1957 , and C. A. Moore (eds.), A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy , Princeton Univ. Press, page 38:
(Buddhism) complete cessation of suffering; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.
(non-Buddhist colloquial usage) state of paradise; heightened or great pleasure.
As nouns the difference between samsara and nirvana
is that samsara is in Hinduism, Buddhism, and some other eastern religions, the ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth endured by human beings and all other mortal beings, and from which release is obtained by achieving the highest enlightenment while nirvana is complete cessation of suffering; a blissful state attained through realization of sunyata; enlightened experience.samsara
English
Alternative forms
*Noun
(-)- Until we are released from the law of karma'' and reach ''moksha'' or deliverance, we will be in ''samsara or the time process.
See also
* reincarnation * metempsychosis * transmigrationExternal links
* (wikipedia "samsara")References
* * * "samsara" in the Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus (Wordsmyth, 2002) * "
samsara" at Rhymezone (Datamuse, 2006) * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) * The Upanishads, abridged, translated and edited by Swami Nikhilananda, Harper Torchbooks, 1963, page 379
