In Buddhism, Saṃsāra is the beginningless cycle of repeated birth, mundane existence, and dying again. It is considered to be dukkha (suffering) and in general unsatisfactory and painful, perpetuated by desire and avidya (ignorance), and the resulting karma. The word samsara is based on a verbal root with the sense "to flow" and means the "flowing-on" of the stream of consciousness from one moment to the next and from one lifetime to another.
- Samsara is the never-ending repetitive cycle of birth and death, in six realms of reality (gati, domains of existence), wandering from one life to another life with no particular direction or purpose.
- Samsara is characterized by dukkha ("unsatisfactory," "painful").
- Every rebirth is temporary and impermanent.
- Beings are driven from life to life in this system by karma, which is activated by their good or ill actions committed in this life as well as previous lives.
- In samsara, beings are viewed as wandering through various realms of existence, viewed as "stations" upon which consciousness is established and then falls away each time one dies. Some of these are heavenly, while others are hellish, and one moves through them according to the quality of ones intentions and actions.
- The ultimate aim of Buddhist practice is to become free from samsara.
