SAMSARA, THE WHEEL OF EXISTENCE

  Inconceivable is the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discovered

is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and

ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round

of rebirths.

  [Samsara-the Wheel of Existence, lit., the "Perpetual

Wandering"-is the name by which is designated the sea of life ever

restlessly heaving up and down, the symbol of this continuous

process of ever again and again being born, growing old, suffering,

and dying. More precisely Put: Samsara is the unbroken chain of the

fivefold Khandha-combinations, which, constantly changing from

moment to moment, follow continuously one upon the other through

inconceivable periods of time. Of this Samsara, a single lifetime

constitutes only a vanishingly tiny fraction; hence, to be able to

comprehend the first noble truth, one must let one's gaze rest upon

the Samsara, upon this frightful chain of rebirths, and not merely

upon one single lifetime, which, of course, may be sometimes not

very painful.]

  Which do you think is the more: the flood of tears, which weeping

and wailing you have shed upon this long way-hurrying and hastening

through this round of rebirths, united with the undesired, separated

from the desired this, or the waters of the four oceans?

  Long time have you suffered the death of father and mother, of sons,

daughters, brothers, and sisters. And whilst you were thus

suffering, you have, verily, shed more tears upon this long way than

there is water in the four oceans.

  Which do you think is the more: the streams of blood that, through

your being beheaded, have flowed upon this long way, or the waters

in the four oceans?

  Long time have you been caught as dacoits, or highwaymen, or

adulterers; and, through your being beheaded, verily, more blood has

flowed upon this long way than there is water in the four oceans.

  But how is this possible?

  Inconceivable is the beginning of this Samsara; not to be discovered

is any first beginning of beings, who, obstructed by ignorance, and

ensnared by craving, are hurrying and hastening through this round

of rebirths.

  And thus have you long time undergone suffering, undergone

torment, undergone misfortune, and filled the graveyards full; verily,

long enough to be dissatisfied with all the forms of existence, long

enough to turn away, and free yourselves from them all.