Samsara

In Sanskrit, samsara means "continuous flowing" or "continuous movement," which in Buddhism, refers to the constant cycle of birth and death or reincarnation, only escaped through enlightenment. In Tibetan Buddhism, it can also be interpreted as "wheel of suffering."

I was thinking about this concept last night as I attedned a local jam session (I know, how hippie of me, but when in Rome, right?). Anyway, the place was packed with dreadlocked travellers and young Tibetans. The music was great and the company even better. I sat with two German girls and a Canadian woman with her Tibetan husband and their two-year-old son.

A few people spoke about the changing attitudes of young Tibetans, a lost generation born in exile. I've heard mummerings about a desire for a less peaceful approach to the occupation of the country, particularly by the younger Tibetans.

The whole room joined in to sing Bob Marley and Pink Floyd. One man, who was a couple decades older than the majority of the wanderlusting twenty-somethings in the room led everyone in "Blowing in the Wind." I realized he was one of a handful of people in attendance who probably sang that song the first time around, and how tragic it is that we sing the same politcally-charged songs of war and peace that our parents sang, not out of nostalgia, but out of relevance.