1.2.8 Saṃsāra
“The wheel of becoming revolves like the wheel of a cart. The being goes from birth to death and from death again to birth, revolving like a wheel.”
Saṃsāra is the endless cycle of existence through which all unenlightened beings must wander. In this chapter, we explore the profound Buddhist concept of cyclical existence, examining how consciousness perpetuates itself through death and rebirth, driven by karma and ignorance. We’ll investigate the intricate mechanics of the death process, rebirth linking, and the nature of the life continuum that maintains our sense of existence. Understanding these processes is crucial for the aspiring alchemist seeking liberation from this perpetual wandering.
Saṃsāra means to wander, which is chillingly apt. It is the name of a great cycle of becomings, where each life conditions the arising of the subsequent. With karma as the driving force, each being is born into ignorance and, not knowing, clings to sensory objects—either grasping at becoming or unbecoming (annihilation).
It is easier to consider reincarnation when one considers that every life starts with a learning-how-to-use-this-body phase. All complex living beings first develop a physical body; only later does a sense of self incarnate, often unaware of its own nature or purpose.
We will examine the chain of conditions that start with a fundamental lack of knowing and eventually condition a sense of being that must suffer disease, poverty and death. This chain is called The Law of Dependent Arising — but one must be significantly more familiar with the model before we tackle this.
The Life Continuum
The life continuum isn’t really a thing. It is the name we give to a process. This process is the arising of a single type of resultant consciousness that repeats itself, then ceases, and then arises like a single light, flicking on and off for the whole existence.
So, at the heart of every one of us is this life continuum. It is a resultant citta, which means it arises through the karmic force of an active cognitive process. Yet, if we have had this resultant citta from the beginning of existence, when and where did the cognitive process first arise?
Detailed in the Abhidhamma are the processes the mind goes through on dying. This is the last cognitive moment before death. At some stage, perhaps in a kind of ghostly in-between zone (The Bardo of Death) if death was sudden, the mind realises it has died. This doesn’t have to be an active thing; more likely, the energy that sustains the mental structures falters, and they untangle naturally. What tangles are the five sense impressions and the mind, which in life habitually cluster into things and beings.
There arises a moment where the mind goes through the death process. This is the last cognitive moment, and not a full one. The object taken by the citta of this last cognitive series is special. Often, there is a review of the whole life, and then the most karmically significant experience is taken as an object. This can be wholesome or unwholesome karma.
Sometimes, rather than taking a significant event as this object, a symbol called a symbol of karma arises. This is often when there isn’t just a single event, but a habitual occurrence of significant karma. A butcher might imagine their bloody knife; a doctor might see a stethoscope.
The third type of object taken by this death process is called a sign of destiny. This is a symbol that represents their destined rebirth — flames for Hell, harps for Heaven, and so forth. This death experience is vividly real; it feels real, whether it’s a sound, image, or smell. It takes this object and runs almost the full 17 cittas but falters before completion.
The Rebirth-Linking Process
After the death process, the life continuum of the last life continues but will falter with any more cognitive processes. During the death process, which takes this object, symbol, or sign, the karma from this process conditions the resultant citta that will eventually become the life continuum of the next life.
There is debate whether this occurs immediately or if a period passes before conditions favour the arising of the next life. For the individual awareness, there is no temporal delay. It is said that when the first flicker of consciousness arises in the developing embryo, it still has the object from its death process in the prior existence, as the process is shorter than the usual 17 citta, and the object can still persist.
This first citta of an existence is called the rebirth-linking citta, and it is a resultant of the death process in the prior life. This citta arises and perishes while the original object is still present. When the rebirth linking consciousness ceases, it is replaced by an identical citta: the first citta of the new life continuum. This now perishes, conditions the next citta to arise, and so continues the new life continuum.
Karma and Saṃsāra
Active cognition in a human won’t occur for some time. The life continuum becomes the mind of the future existence, arising dependent on blood flow and the heart. Through karmic conditioning, the five senses arise, their respective consciousnesses develop, and the mind takes over.
As we are learning, karma conditions how we view the world. If we treat life badly, we tend to think life deserves it because it treats us badly. We fail to recognise that karma is about meaning. When we justify bad behaviour, these rationalisations shape reality.
Beings are generally born with ignorance. For many cycles of existence, one develops understanding through harsh animal existence. It is very hard to gain insight in these states; only very few animals experience domestication and kindness sufficient for insights leading to human rebirth. Tragically, it is easier to fall into animal existence than rise to human existence.
Saṃsāra is a great cycle, without end or beginning. One might begin as a spark of the divine, eager to learn, and find oneself as basic life in the ocean’s froth. One might progress through countless existences before developing piety and wholesomeness, enjoying rewards in godly contemplation. Yet until one learns the secret behind habitual becoming, one must endlessly cycle through existence. Even the most blissful contentment subsides, and suffering returns.
Escaping Saṃsāra
Escaping Saṃsāra is the quest and goal of both the alchemist and Buddhist. Saṃsāra is eternal non-consensual suffering, where even the best parts must return to suffering.
The Arahant, the fully enlightened being, eliminates the concept of self from the mind and ceases creating karma. They no longer produce karmically active cognition; upon death, they experience a special death process where cittas are functional, not producing karma, cutting off future rebirths.
The Buddha personally developed insights into how existence occurs through chains of events that inevitably lead to suffering and death. Initially reluctant to teach, he was thankfully persuaded to explain it.
Nirvāṇa is the unconditioned element. Through certain practices, the student can create conditions where the mind leaps beyond what it knows into something different. This profound experience, even if brief, shakes the foundations of being. If experienced during early stages, it leads to partial enlightenment; at the final stage, full enlightenment is realised.
This text is excerpted from the book Nigredo: A Course in Modern Alchemy. The complete book includes additional study guides, resources, and appendices. View the full book here.