Cycle Of Rebirth

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Contrary, to some of the religions of the West, Buddhism offers a unique and fascinating depiction of the world. Buddhist belief does not recognize a permanent form of heaven and hell like the religions of Christianity and Islam, but rather a temporary state of residence. This can be formally described in a Buddhist symbol known as the bhavacakra (or Wheel of Life). In short, we as sentient beings, are all stuck in an endless cycle of rebirth that is a result of our past actions. However, just because the cycle is endless, does not mean we cannot escape it. Ultimately, this Wheel provides all living beings an instruction manual for how to escape Saṃsāra (cycle of rebirth) and achieve a state of uninterrupted happiness. Throughout this paper, …show more content…
The path of rebirth is viewed as a series of causes and effects. There are in total 12 steps that lead to the continuation of the cycle. These 12 dependents are depicted in the outskirts of the cycle in Roman numerals. In lecture, we listed them as: ignorance, consciousness, name and form, senses, contact, sensation, craving, attachment, becoming, birth, and death. Basically, from living in ignorance, we develop a way of perceiving the world, thus we form our consciousness. Next, we form a perception of ourselves, which leads to our name and form. Through name and form our senses arise; this chain of cause and effect leads all the way up to death. Because of living in ignorance, we end up being reborn again. I cannot tell you how many times, Professor Hillis promulgated, that the world was made up of these causes and conditions (Lecture 3). Thus, one might realize the cycle is perpetually moving. The only way to break this vicious cycle, is to first recognize that we are living in it. The Wheel of Life (at least I think) makes a compelling argument to want to leave the cycle. I doubt (I may be wrong) that most would want to continue living in a world where you are constantly facing suffering and sadness. However, if one chooses to live in it, the best way would be to just perform good deeds. Even though all realms are not perfect, some are more …show more content…
Though this may be best understood in a religious context, the wheel can be used to describe societal classes. As I recall from section, our T.A. presented us with an alternative form of the wheel of life (the American version). Rather than depicting five realms of sentient beings, they were six social classes that we have in our country. These classes include: the rich, the working class, the homeless, the prisoners, the farmers, and the suburban families. Similarly, these classes are subject to change. For example, a wealthy man can spend his money foolishly and end up homeless. Or, a prisoner could redeem himself and work for a better life. Though one must realize each class has its own limitations. For the rich all the money in the world cannot cure an inevitable death. Likewise, people who are homeless face different challenges like finding food or shelter for the night. We can already see the practicality of using this Wheel of Life for non-religious purposes. As humans, we are drawn to the emotions of greed or power. These emotions drive us to perform actions that produce bad consequences. For instance, someone obsessed with power might end up in prison for various illegal activities. These attributes keep promoting our downfall. We are consumed with these emotions that cloud our mind, which can result in our
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