Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Rebirth
Life is a cycle of endless rebirths. The Sanskrit word 'samsara' (Tibetan:
khorwa
), literally
'wandering on', is used to describe this cycle, and life is seen as wandering on limitlessly
through time, and through the birth, extinction and rebirth of galaxies and worlds. There
are six levels of rebirth or realms of existence, as depicted in the Wheel of Life. It is im-
portant to accumulate enough merit to avoid the three lower realms, although in the long
cycle of rebirth, all beings pass through them at some point. All beings are fated to tread
this wheel continuously until they make a commitment to enlightenment.
Whether hand-held or building-sized, prayer wheels are always filled with prayers which
are 'activated' with each revolution of the wheel. Pilgrims spin the wheels to gain merit
and to concentrate the mind on the mantras they are reciting.
Karma
All beings pass through the same cycle of rebirths. Their enemy may once have been their
mother, and like all beings they have lived as an insect and as a god, and suffered in one of
the hell realms. Movement within this cycle, though, is not haphazard. It is governed by
karma.
Karma (
las
in Tibetan) is a slippery concept. It is sometimes translated simply as 'ac-
tion', but it also implies the consequences of action. Karma might be thought of as an
overarching condition of life. Every action in life leaves a psychic trace that carries over
into the next rebirth. It should not be thought of as a reward or punishment, but simply as a
result. In Buddhist thought karma is frequently likened to a seed that ripens into a fruit:
thus a human reborn as an insect is harvesting the fruits of a previous immoral existence.
The lotus (
padma
in Sanskrit,
metok
in Tibetan) is an important Buddhist symbol and the
thrones of many deities are made from a lotus leaf. The leaf symbolises purity and tran-
scendence, in the world but not of it, rising as it does from muddy waters to become a
flower of great beauty.
