Others think that moksha is when you realise that you were never different from God in the first place – all of samsara was just an illusion that made you think that you were separate from God.
Nirvana Buddhists also believe in karma and samsara and try to achieve freedom from samsara. They call this achieving nirvana or parinirvana. However, Buddhists tend to disagree with Hindus about whether they will be united with God after escaping samsara. Many Buddhists think that nirvana is a state of perfect peace, which will not involve any gods or goddesses at all.
Achieving moksha Achieving moksha can take many lifetimes. One way of achieving moksha is through yoga (see pages 20–21). People who are excellent at yoga, called yogins, are believed to be able to purify themselves of bad karma. If you meditate and develop your mind and body in the right way, you will eventually be freed from any further reincarnation. Yoga can involve fasting and long and painful exercises. It also requires meditation – focusing the mind completely on God. Another way of achieving moksha is through bhakti, which is Sanskrit for ‘devotion’ or ‘worship’. This involves becoming increasingly devoted to God throughout each of your lifetimes. As your worship and devotion increases, your soul will be purified. Eventually, like the yogins, you will achieve moksha.
1.5 The Upanishads are very old philosophical texts that explain some key Hindu ideas about life after death. And here is he born either as a grasshopper, or a fish, or a bird, or a lion, or a boar, or a serpent, or a tiger, or a man, or some other creature, according to his deeds and his knowledge. Kaushitaki Brahmana Upanishad
When a caterpillar has come to the end of a blade of grass, it reaches out to another blade, and draws itself over to it. In the same way the soul, having coming to the end of one life, reaches out to another body, and draws itself over to it. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
This man is trying to achieve moksha through yoga and meditation.
Key vocabulary bhakti A Sanskrit word meaning ‘devotion’ or ‘worship’; some Hindus believe that bhakti alone can be a way to achieve moksha karma The forces that influence people’s fortune and future reincarnations moksha Escaping from samsara and never dying or becoming reincarnated again; the word literally means ‘release’ reincarnated When a soul is reborn by passing into a new body samsara The continual process of death and reincarnation; also, the entire universe as we know it
As a man casts off his worn-out clothes, and takes other new ones in their place, so does the embodied soul cast off his worn-out bodies, and enter others anew. Bhagavad Gita
Activity Draw and label three images that illustrate karma, samsara and moksha.
Check your understanding 1 2 3 4 5
Explain what Hindus mean by reincarnation. How is a soul’s next reincarnation decided? What is moksha and why is it difficult to imagine what moksha is like? Describe two ways to achieve moksha. ‘Karma, reincarnation and moksha do not exist.’ Discuss this statement.
Topic 1.5: Karma, samsara and moksha
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