I alone exist. Since there is only myself, what can I acquire? I am the one changeless, indestructible reality. What can I fear to lose? OM.
Q: What does the term “samsara’ mean in Hinduism?
A: Hinduism is very diverse, with numerous different religious sects and philosophical schools. So you’re going to get different answers depending on who you ask. To be clear, I am answering from the perspective of Advaita Vedanta, particularly Advaita Vedanta as taught by Shankara, Swami Dayananda and Dayananda’s students.
Swami Dayananda defines samsara as “the life of becoming.” In other words, it is 1) Identifying with the body and mind, thinking it is who you are and 2) Subsequently believing that the mortality and suffering of the body and mind belong to you. Further, you believe that the qualities and character of the body and mind define who you are.
Because of this you are always trying to become something other than what you are. Perhaps you want to be happier, perhaps you want to become immortal to escape death. Or perhaps you want something more mundane like a slimmer waistline and a more respectable position at work. Either way, feeling like you need to be something other than what you are, that you’re not good enough as you are, or that you’re somehow lacking is a painful cycle: this is samsara.
This painful cycle of thinking that you’re the body-mind continues (perhaps over lifetimes if the theory of reincarnation is true) until you see directly realize that instead of being the flawed, mortal, ever-changing and limited body-mind, that you’re the immortal, changeless, limitless brahman (the very essence of the entire universe) that is always perfect just as it is.
But you asked “What is samsara?” not “how do I end it?” so I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s an answer for another day.
All my best – Vishnudeva
The doer and enjoyer is the ego, a thought in my mind that claims, “I am doing this” and “Now I am enjoying the results of my actions.” Because the ego is a thought known to me, it cannot be me. Because the ego comes and goes, it cannot be me. The same applies to the body. Because I am not the body that performs action, nor the ego that claims the results of action as its own, there is no karma for me, past or present. OM.
I am not the body nor the mind, both of which are illusory appearances projected onto myself, the one, all-pervasive reality. Because I am not the body or mind, I am free from doubt, indecision and suffering. I am the one, limitless reality. OM.
The body is born to a mother and father but I, the self, am not. Rather, the body is “born” to me, pure existence. As such, I am present and unaffected before the birth of the body and I remain present and unaffected after its death.
The mind suffers from affection and delusion but I, the self, do not. Rather, the affection and delusion of the mind are “revealed” by me, pure consciousness. Just as the sun is free of all that it illumines, so I am free of the mind. There’s no illusion for me. OM.
End Of Knowledge 