What does the wheel of samsara mean? The concept of samsara as such existed in ancient India among the brahmanas even before the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni. The very first mention is found in the Upanishads, where the laws and nature of all things are revealed. The texts say that the higher beings are in blissful nirvana, and all the rest, darkened by three mental poisons, are forced to rotate in the wheel of rebirth, drawn there by the laws of karma.
Samsara is full of suffering, so the main goal of all beings is to find a way out and return to a state of perfect bliss. Many generations of sages were looking for an answer to the question "How to break the wheel of samsara?", But there was no sensible way until Gautam Buddha attained Enlightenment. It was Buddhism that developed a clear concept of samsara (Pratya Samutpada) and presented it as a well-oiled mechanism of cause-and-effect relationships based on the principles of karma and reincarnation. The concept of samsara can be voiced as an incessant cycle of births and deaths of living beings in all the manifested worlds of the Universe. If you translate the word "samsara" literally, it means "wandering, lasting forever." According to the Buddhist teaching on Enlightenment, that is, getting out of the cycle of life and death, there are countless worlds and countless living beings,which manifest themselves in these worlds and act in them each according to their karma.
Variability is the main attribute of everything manifested, therefore samsara is depicted in the form of a wheel that continuously makes one revolution after another.
The circle of life, the wheel of samsara - its rotation symbolizes the continuity and cyclicality of events in the Universe.
A simplified symbol for the samsara wheel is a rim and eight spokes connecting it to the hub. According to legend, Buddha himself laid it with rice on the sand. The spokes of the wheel mean the rays of truth emanating from the teacher (according to the number of steps of the Eightfold path).
Lama Gampopa, who lived from 1079-1153, identified three main characteristics of samsara. By his definition, its nature is emptiness. That is, all the manifested worlds, which are only possible, are not real, they do not carry the truth, basis, basis, they are ephemeral and constantly changeable, like clouds in the sky. You should not look for the truth in ethereal fantasy, and constancy in the changeable. The second quality of samsara is that its appearance is an illusion. Everything that surrounds living beings, as well as the forms of embodiment of the beings themselves, are deception, mirage, hallucination. Like any illusion that does not have a foundation, samsara can carry an infinite number of manifestations, it can take all conceivable and inconceivable forms, be expressed in an infinite number of images and phenomena, which, having barely arisen and having no real basis, are immediately transformed to others,change or disappear in accordance with the laws of karma. The third attribute is the most important, for the main characteristic of samsara is suffering. But let us note that Buddhists put a slightly different meaning into the concept of "suffering" than we are used to.
The term "suffering" in Buddhist teachings is not the opposite of happiness or pleasure. Suffering can be defined as any emotional instability, any mental activity that generates new emotions and experiences. If you find the opposite meaning to suffering, then for a Buddhist it will become a state of perfect calmness, peace, freedom and inner bliss. Not euphoria and idle bliss, but a feeling of universal peace and harmony, completeness and integrity.
And worldly life, with its bustle and worries, does not even smell of such peace and complete spiritual balance. That is why everything that is associated with samsara, be it joy, sorrow, delight or sorrow, is associated with suffering. Even seemingly positive moments cause discomfort. Having something, we admit the thought of loss and suffer. When we love someone, we are afraid of separation. Having achieved something, we see that this is not the peak, there are goals that are more difficult and higher, and again we suffer. And, of course, the fear of death as the fear of losing everything, including the body and one's own life, which seems to be the only one.
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According to Vedic texts, one revolution of the wheel of Samsara corresponds to a time interval called kalpa (1 day of the life of the god Brahma). In the Buddhist tradition, Brahma has nothing to do with it, the world arises due to the presence of karmic prerequisites left after the destruction of the previous world. Just as a being in Samsara is born and dies following karma, so the worlds arise and are destroyed under the action of the same law. One cycle of the wheel is called Mahakalpa and consists of four parts of 20 kalpas. In the first quarter, the world forms and develops, in the second period it is stable, in the third it degrades and dies, in the fourth it is in an unmanifest state of bardo, forming karmic prerequisites for the next incarnation.
The wheel of samsara in Buddhism plays a huge role, forming the basis of the doctrine of liberation. The doctrine of liberation from the cycle of birth and death is based on four statements, called Noble Truths, which Shakyamuni Buddha formulated after his Enlightenment. Having cognized the true essence of samsara, he not only rediscovered all the laws of karma, but also found a way to break the cycle of rebirth.
The four noble truths of Buddha Shakyamuni
Coming out of meditation, Buddha formulated four main discoveries made by him in the process of Enlightenment. These discoveries are called Noble Truths and sound like:
- Dukkha (pain) - everything in earthly life is permeated with suffering.
- Samudaya (desire) - the causes of all suffering are endless and unquenchable desires.
- Nirodha (ending) - suffering comes to an end when there are no desires.
- Magga (path) - the source of suffering - desire - can be eradicated by following special techniques.
Dukkha means that the mind is clouded by ignorance, it is like an eye that sees everything except itself, and because of this perceives the world in a duality, separating itself from it. The Eightfold Path is a means that helps the mind to see itself, to realize the illusory nature of the world around it, overcoming five obstacles:
- Attachment is the desire to possess and hold near oneself.
- Anger is rejection.
- Jealousy and envy are the unwillingness of happiness to others.
- Pride is raising oneself above others.
- Confusion and ignorance - when the mind does not know what it wants and what is good for it and what is bad.
Samudaya means that the clouded mind is full of contradictory emotions, rigid concepts, principles and self-restraints that prevent it from being at rest and constantly push it from one extreme to another.
Nirodha suggests that by eradicating ignorance, the mind will return to a harmonious state, transforming seething emotions and limitations into wisdom.
Magga - an indication of methods of combating ignorance.
The methods of getting rid of desires and achieving liberation are collected in the teaching of the Middle Way, also called the Eightfold Noble Way.
Karma and reincarnation
The definition of the wheel of samsara, as mentioned above, is closely related to concepts such as karma and reincarnation.
Reincarnation
The concept of reincarnation, familiar to many beliefs, presupposes that living beings have both mortal temporary bodies and immortal, more subtle and even eternal shells, indestructible consciousness, or "the spark of God." According to the theory of reincarnation, beings, incarnating in different worlds, practice certain skills, carry out the missions assigned to them, after which, leaving a mortal body in this world, they transfer to a new body with a new mission.
There is a lot of controversy about the phenomenon of reincarnation. Reincarnation is most often mentioned in Hinduism. It is mentioned in the Vedas and Upanishads, in the Bhagavad Gita. For the people of India, this is as common a phenomenon as sunrise and sunset. Buddhism, based on Hinduism, develops the theory of reincarnation, supplementing it with the knowledge of the law of karma and ways to get out of the wheel of samsara. According to Buddhist teachings, the cycle of birth and death is the basis of changeable samsara, no one has absolute immortality, and no one lives once. Death and birth is only a transformation for a certain being, which is part of the changing Universe.
Taoists also accepted the idea of soul reincarnation. It was believed that Lao Tzu lived on earth several times. Taoist treatises contain the following lines: “Birth is not the beginning, just as death is the end. There is unlimited being; there is a continuation without a beginning. Being outside of space. Continuity without beginning in time."
Kabbalists believe that the soul is doomed to incarnate in the mortal world over and over again until it cultivates the highest qualities of the Absolute in order to be ready to unite with it. As long as the being is clouded by selfish thoughts, the soul will enter the mortal world and be tested.
Christians also knew about reincarnation, but at the fifth Ecumenical Council in the 6th century, information about it was banned, and all references were removed from the texts. Instead of a series of births and deaths, the concept of one life, the Last Judgment and eternal stay in Hell or Paradise without the possibility of leaving them was adopted. According to Hindu and Buddhist knowledge, the soul goes to Heaven and Hell, but only for a while, in accordance with the severity of the sin committed or the significance of good merit. Some scholars believe that Jesus himself was born on earth up to thirty times before incarnating as a mission from Nazareth.
Islam does not directly support the ideas of reincarnation, leaning towards the Christian version of the Court and the exile of the soul to Hell or Paradise, but there are references to the resurrection in the Koran. For example: “I died as a stone and rose again as a plant. I died as a plant and rose again as an animal. I died an animal and became a Man. Why should I be afraid? Has death robbed me? It can be assumed that the original text of the book has also undergone changes, although Islamic theologians, of course, deny this.
They knew about the reincarnation of Zoroaster and Maya, the idea of the absence of life after death was considered absurd by the Egyptians. Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato did not find anything surprising in the ideas of the reincarnation of the soul. Adherents of reincarnation were Goethe, Voltaire, Giordano Bruno, Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac, A. Conan Doyle, Leo Tolstoy, Carl Jung and Henry Ford.
The state of the bardo
Buddhist texts also mention the "state of the bardo" - the time interval between births. Literally it translates as "between two". There are six types of bardos. In the context of the cycle of samsara, the first four are interesting:
- Bardo of the Dying Process. The length of time between the onset of a disease resulting in death or injury to the body and the moment when the mind and body are disconnected. This time of agony is an extremely important moment. The ability to maintain self-control in it is available only to those who have practiced conscientiously throughout their lives. If you manage to keep the mind under control, this is a great achievement, otherwise at this moment the person will experience severe pain. The suffering of most people at the time of death is extremely strong, but if someone has accumulated a lot of good karma, then he will have support. In this case, for example, a person may experience visions of saints or deities who appear to help in this difficult hour. The near-death moments of life are also important. The experiences that fill the mind before the last breath are immensely powerful and give immediate results. If a person has good karma, then he is calm and does not experience torment. If there are sins that a person regrets, then the repentance shown now will help to cleanse. Prayers also have tremendous power, and good wishes are immediately fulfilled.
- Bardo of Dharmata. An interval of timeless nature. The mind, after being freed from the signals from the senses, goes into the original equilibrium state of its nature. The true nature of mind manifests itself in every being, since everyone has the original Buddha nature. If beings did not have this fundamental quality, they would never be able to achieve Enlightenment.
- Bardo of Birth - The time in which the mind forms the prerequisites for rebirth. It lasts from the moment of leaving the state of the bardo of Dharmata and the emergence of unclear karmic prerequisites until the moment of conception.
- Bardo Between Birth and Death, or Bardo of Life. This is the usual everyday consciousness throughout life from conception to the bardo of the process of dying.
- Bardo of Sleep. Deep sleep without dreams.
- Bardo of Meditative Concentration. The state of meditative concentration.
There are also two additional states of consciousness:
Karma
Karma can be viewed in two aspects. The first aspect: karma is an activity that has a result. In the Buddhist tradition, karma has the meaning of any action. An action here can be not only a committed act, but also a word, thought, intention or non-action. All manifestations of the will of living beings form his karma. The second aspect: karma is the law of cause-and-effect relationship that permeates all phenomena of samsara. Everything is interdependent, has a cause, has an effect, nothing happens without a cause. Karma as the law of cause-and-effect relationships is a fundamental concept in Buddhism, explaining the mechanisms of the processes of birth and death, as well as the ways to interrupt this cycle. If we consider karma from this position, then we can give several classifications. The first divides the concept of karma into three main types:
- karma
- akarma
- vicarma
The word "karma" in this classification means good deeds that lead to the accumulation of merit. Karma accumulates when a living entity acts in accordance with the laws of the universe and does not think about selfish benefits. Activities that benefit others and the world, self-improvement - this is karma. Karma, according to the laws of reincarnation, leads to rebirth in higher worlds, to a decrease in suffering and open opportunities for self-development.
Vikarma is the opposite concept. When someone acts contrary to the laws of the Universe, pursues exclusively personal benefits, harms the world, then he does not accumulate merit, but reward. Vikarma becomes the cause of rebirth in the lower worlds, suffering, lack of opportunity for self-development. In modern religions, Vikarma is called a sin, that is, an error in relation to the world order, a deviation from it.
Akarma is a special kind of activity in which neither the accumulation of merit nor the accumulation of reward occurs, this is an activity without consequences. How is this possible? The living entity acts in samsara according to the instructions and motives of his ego. Abstracting from his “I” and performing acts as not a doer, but just a tool, not a source of will, but a conductor of other people's ideas, the being shifts karmic responsibility to the one in whose name he performs the act. The difficulty is that in this case one should completely exclude one's own motives, judgments, will, not expect any rewards, praise, or reciprocal services from one's deeds, completely surrendering oneself into the hands of the bearer of the idea. This is an activity offered as a selfless sacrifice. Akarma is the deeds of holy ascetics who performed miracles in the name of God, and the ministry of faithful priests,who have entrusted themselves to the will of the revered deity; these are exploits and self-sacrifice for the sake of justice and the salvation of the suffering, this is the activity of monks who, according to the law of Dharma (the law of world harmony), benefit living beings out of love and a sense of unity with the whole universe, expecting nothing in return; they are actions done out of love and compassion.
The last type of karma is directly related to Enlightenment, as it allows you to defeat your false ego.
The second classification divides karma in terms of the manifestation of effects.
Prarabdha-karma, or the consequences of actions, experienced now, in this birth. This is the reward received for the deeds committed. Here one can speak of karma as “fate”.
Aprarabdha-karma, or consequences that are unknown when and how they will manifest, but are already formed by a causal relationship. The next incarnations are being programmed.
Rudha-karma refers to the consequences that have not yet occurred in the manifested world, but a person feels their coming intuitively, as if standing on the threshold.
Bija-karma is not the consequences themselves, but the causes of the consequences that have not yet formed a response, but will certainly appear. These are sown seeds that have not yet given roots and shoots.
As is clear from the above, the law of karma presupposes universal conditioning, that is, all events are causally related. The rotation of the wheel of samsara is due to this connection. One clings to the other, and so on ad infinitum.
How to get out of the wheel of samsara?
Good and bad deeds
The main reason for dragging beings into the cycle of rebirth are the three poisons, symbolically designated as the pig of ignorance, the rooster of passion and the snake of anger. The elimination of these defilements helps to get rid of negative karma and find a way out of the wheel of samsara. According to Buddhist teachings, there are ten good and ten negative types of actions that create this or that karma.
Negative actions consist of actions of body, speech and mind. It is possible to sin in the body by committing murder out of stupidity, anger, or desire for pleasure. By stealing or deceiving. Committing adultery to a partner, rape or any kind of sexual perversion.
Speech can sin by lying to the detriment of others and to the benefit of oneself, creating a quarrel, gossiping and slandering: being rude to the interlocutor directly or behind the back, making offensive jokes.
It is possible to sin with the mind, having wrong (not corresponding to the truth) views, hostile thoughts towards other people or their activities, greedy thoughts about the possession of someone else or attachment to one's property, a thirst for wealth.
The ten positive actions purify the mind and lead to liberation. It:
- Saving the life of any creature: from insects to humans.
- Generosity, and not only in relation to material things.
- Fidelity in relationships, lack of sexual promiscuity.
- Truthfulness.
- Reconciliation of warring parties.
- Peaceful (benevolent, gentle) speech.
- Non-idle wise speech.
- Satisfaction with what you have.
- Love and compassion for people.
- Understanding the nature of things (knowledge of the laws of karma, comprehension of the Buddha's teachings, self-education).
According to the law of karma, all deeds of living beings have their own unique weight and are not subject to mutual offset. There is a reward for good deeds, and retribution for bad deeds, if in Christianity there is a principle of "weighing" the total merits and sins, then in relation to the wheel of samsara and the Buddha's teachings, everything will have to be calculated individually. According to the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata, which describes the lives of both great heroes and great sinners, even heroes go to hell to redeem their bad karma before ascending to heaven, and villains, before plunging into hell, have the right to feast with the gods if they have certain merit.
Image of the wheel of samsara
Usually symbolically, the wheel of samsara is depicted as an old chariot with eight spokes, but there is also a canonical image of the cycle of life and death, common in Buddhist iconography. Tanka (image on cloth) contains many symbols and illustrations of the processes that take place with the soul in the cycle of rebirth, and has an indication of how to get out of the wheel of samsara.
The central image of samsara itself contains one central circle and three circles, divided into segments, illustrating the operation of the law of karma. In the center are always three beings, denoting the three main poisons of the mind: ignorance in the form of a pig, passion and affection in the form of a rooster, and anger and disgust in the form of a snake. These three poisons underlie the entire cycle of samsara, a being whose mind is clouded by them is doomed to be reborn in the manifested worlds, accumulating and redeeming karma.
The second circle is called Bardo, after the name of the state between births, which was described above. It has light and dark parts, symbolizing good merit and sins that lead either to rebirth in the higher worlds or in the hells, respectively.
The next circle has six parts according to the number of six types of worlds: from the darkest to the lightest. Each segment also depicts a Buddha or a bodhisattva (holy teacher of dharma) who comes to this world out of compassion to save sentient beings from suffering.
According to Buddhist teaching, the worlds can be:
- Hellish. There are born beings whose mind is full of anger, anger, a thirst for revenge. They are blinded by hatred. The creatures of these worlds experience continuous suffering of various kinds. Hells are very diverse: from hot to cold.
- The worlds of hungry ghosts. The creatures of this world are possessed by passion and lust. Their gluttony gnaws at them. In these worlds, beings suffer from the impossibility of satisfying their passion and lust, inflamed to the limit.
- Animal world. Animals live their lives in ignorance and stupidity, satisfying natural needs and not thinking about spiritual things. They are forced to submit to circumstances without the will to change them. They are full of anxiety and fear, or laziness and indifference.
The following worlds are considered auspicious:
- The world of people. Human minds are filled with attachments and a host of endless desires.
- The world of the demigods (asuras). These creatures are dominated by militancy, they are full of pride, jealous and envious, but unlike the gods, whom they envy, they are not immortal. According to Hindu mythology, a vessel with the elixir of immortality - amrita - appears in the world of the asuras, but immediately flies away into the world of the gods, without reaching the first.
- The world of the gods (devas). The gods are full of joy and bliss. The divine worlds are also diverse: from the closest to the world of asuras to the highest - the worlds of Brahma. General happiness reigns in them, and the pleasures experienced by the inhabitants are so attractive and desirable that rare gods think about the law of karma and subsequent rebirth. They say that when the life of the deity of the good worlds comes to an end, then he experiences suffering even greater than a dying person experiences, for he understands what pleasures he is deprived of.
Although the worlds are located in a circle, you can be reborn both from bottom to top and from top to bottom, from the human world you can ascend to the world of the gods or fall into hell. But we need to dwell on the human world in more detail. According to Buddhists, human birth is the most advantageous, since a person balances between the unbearable suffering of hells and the selfless bliss of the gods. A person can realize the law of karma and embark on the path of liberation. Human life is often referred to as “precious human birth,” as a being gets a chance to find a way out of the cycle of samsara.
The outer rim in the image symbolically illustrates the law of karma in action. Segments are read from the top clockwise, there are twelve in total.
The first plot indicates ignorance about the nature of the world, its laws and ignorance of the truth. A man with an arrow in his eye is a symbol of the lack of a clear vision of what is happening. Because of this ignorance, beings fall into the cycle of worlds, spinning in it at random and acting without clear awareness.
The second plot depicts a potter at work. As the master sculpts the shape of a pot, so spontaneous unconscious motives form the prerequisites for a new birth. Raw clay is formless, but it contains in advance an infinite number of forms of all products made from it. Usually this stage corresponds to conception.
The third plot depicts a monkey. The restless monkey symbolizes a restless mind, which has the nature of a dual (not single, not true) perception, such a mind already contains the seeds of karmic tendencies.
The fourth picture shows two people in the boat. This means that on the basis of karma, a certain form of manifestation of a creature in the world and its mission for this incarnation is created, that is, the creature realizes itself as such or another, the psychophysical characteristics of the future life are manifested, the prerequisites of life circumstances are formed.
The fifth picture shows a house with six windows. These windows in the house symbolize the six streams of perception through the six senses (including the mind) through which the creature receives information.
The sixth sector depicts a couple indulging in love, which means that the organs of perception have come into contact with the outside world and have begun to receive information. This stage corresponds to birth in the manifested worlds.
The seventh picture shows water being poured onto a red-hot iron. That is, the mind recognizes the received sensations as attractive, disgusting or neutral.
The eighth picture depicts a person drinking alcohol (beer, wine), which symbolizes the emergence of addictions or antipathies based on judgments about the sensations received.
The ninth sector shows again the monkey, which is collecting fruits. That is, the mind creates rules of behavior for itself - the pleasant must be desired, the unpleasant to be avoided, the neutral must be ignored.
The tenth part depicts a pregnant woman. Since the patterns of behavior formed by the subconscious have formed the karmic prerequisites for a new incarnation in the worlds of samsara.
In the eleventh picture, a woman gives birth to a child. This is the result of the action of the karma created in the previous life.
And the last sector contains the image of the deceased or an urn with ashes, symbolizing the frailty of any manifested life, its finitude. In this way, for a living being, the wheel of samsara turned around.
The entire wheel of samsara with its filling holds firmly in its sharp claws and teeth the deity Yama - the deity of death (in the sense of the frailty and impermanence of everything), it is not at all easy to break out of such a grip. In iconography, Yama is depicted in blue (formidable), with a horned bull's head with three eyes, looking into the past, present and future, surrounded by a fiery aura. Around Yama's neck is a necklace of skulls, in his hands a wand with a skull, a lasso for catching souls, a sword and a precious talisman implying power over underground treasures. Yama is also a posthumous judge and lord of the underworld (hell) world. As if in contrast to such a harsh being, next to, outside the wheel, stands the Buddha, pointing to the Moon.
Eightfold (middle) path of liberation
How to stop the wheel of samsara? You can break the cycle of rebirths by following the Middle Way, which is so named because it is available to absolutely all beings and does not imply any extreme methods available only to a select few. It consists of three large stages:
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Wisdom
- Correct view
- Correct intention
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Moral
- Correct speech
- Correct behavior
- Correct lifestyle
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Concentration
- Correct effort
- Correct direction of thought
- Correct concentration
Correct view is about realizing and accepting the Four Noble Truths. Realization of the law of karma and the true nature of the mind. The path to liberation is to purify consciousness - the only true reality.
The correct intention is to work on desires, transform negative emotions into positive ones, and develop good qualities. Realizing the unity of all that exists, the practitioner fosters a feeling of love and compassion for the world.
Morality is very important on the path, because without it, Enlightenment is not possible. To observe morality, it is required not to commit sinful acts and not to allow the mind to be stupefied by various means. The latter is very important, since the intoxicated mind is dull, unable to cleanse itself.
Correct speech consists in abstaining from the four sinful acts of speech. Let us remind you that this is abstinence from lies, rudeness, gossip and words that lead to quarrels.
Correct behavior consists in abstaining from sinful acts committed through the body (murder, appropriation of someone else in various ways, treason and perversion, as well as for people of spiritual dignity - keeping celibacy).
A correct way of life presupposes the acquisition of livelihoods in an honest way that does not create bad karma. Activities such as trafficking in living beings (people and animals), the slave trade, prostitution, and activities related to the manufacture and sale of weapons and instruments of murder harm the Enlightenment. Military service is considered a good deed, as it is thought of as protection, while the arms trade provokes aggression and conflict. Also sinful are the acts of the production of meat and meat products, the creation and sale of alcohol and drugs, fraudulent activities (fraud, the use of someone else's ignorance), any criminal activity. Human life should not be made dependent on the material. Excess and luxury give rise to passion and envy, worldly life should be reasonable.
The right effort to eradicate long-held beliefs and established cliches. Continuous self-improvement, development of mental flexibility and filling the mind with positive thoughts and motivations.
The correct direction of thought requires tireless vigilance in the awareness of what is happening as it is, without subjective judgments. Thus, the feeling of dependence on everything that the mind calls "mine" and "I" is eradicated. The body is just the body, the feelings are just the sensations of the body, the state of consciousness is just a given state of consciousness. Thinking in this way, a person is freed from attachments, anxiety associated with them, unreasonable desires and no longer suffers.
Correct concentration is achieved by practicing meditation of various levels of depth and leads to Minor Nirvana, that is, personal liberation. In Buddhism, this is called the state of an arhat. In general, there are three types of nirvana:
- instantaneous - a short-term state of peace and tranquility that many people have experienced during their lives;
- actual nirvana - the state of the One who has attained nirvana in this body during his lifetime (arhat);
- endless nirvana (parinirvana) - the state of the One who has achieved nirvana after the destruction of the physical body, that is, the state of Buddha.
Conclusion
So, in different traditions, the samsara wheel has about the same meaning. In addition, you can read about the wheel of samsara in the texts of Buddhist sutras, where the mechanisms of karma are described in detail: what kind of retribution for what sins and merits a person receives, how is life arranged in the higher worlds, what moves the living beings of each of the worlds? The most detailed description of the wheel of rebirth is found in the doctrine of liberation, as well as in the texts of the Upanishads.
In short, the wheel of samsara means the cycle of birth and death through reincarnation and in accordance with the laws of karma. Passing cycle after cycle, living beings acquire the experience of various incarnations, sufferings and pleasures. This cycle can last for an incalculable length of time: from the creation of the Universe to its destruction, therefore the main task for all conscious minds is to eliminate ignorance and enter nirvana. Realization of the Four Noble Truths opens up a genuine view of samsara as a great illusion permeated with impermanence. Until the wheel of samsara has given a turn and the world still exists, one should move along the Middle Way given to people by Buddha. It is this path that is the only reliable means of getting rid of suffering.