Human+Nature

= // __Human Nature__// =

The Buddha accepted certain ideas that were already very common in the India of his time (the sixth century). Among these were the ideas of re-birth, karma and samsara.

A very well known idea was that of re-birth. This is the belief tha every living being, after death, will return to the world in a new birth, which may be an animal, human or divine form. In fact, all beings are caught in this cycle of re-birth (samsara), and the ultimate goal is to escape from it. The only way of excape, however, is to do away with the cause of rebirth (karma). Karma means that every significant human action has its consequences. If the action is a good one, then its effect will be good. If it is evil, then the effects will be bad. The law of karma means that all of these effects, good and bad, must be worked out. If that means another life in which to do so, then so be it. Good karma could lead to a higher human life or even to the life of a god; on the other hand, bad life could lead to the life of an animal.

It is not sufficient to just build up good karma, however. That will still lead to rebirth; people will still be trapped on the oppressive whell of samsara. The aim is to stop the whole process, and to do this, acts which produce karma must be stopped altogether. It was Buddha's genius that he discovered the means to achieve this.