<p>I have quoted below the famous parable of the poisoned arrow from <a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/bodhi?lang=en&amp;reference=none&amp;highlight=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 63</a>.</p>
<p>It shows how Buddhism is more interested in practically solving the problem of suffering, rather than engaging in fruitless speculation on metaphysics.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Suppose, Mālunkyāputta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared
with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and
relatives, brought a surgeon to treat him. The man would say: ‘I will
not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know whether the man
who wounded me was a noble or a brahmin or a merchant or a worker.’
And he would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow
until I know the name and clan of the man who wounded me;…until I know
whether the man who wounded me was tall or short or of middle height;…
until I know whether the man who wounded me was dark or brown or
golden-skinned;…until I know whether the man who wounded me lives in
such a village or town or city;…until I know whether the bow that
wounded me was a long bow or a cross-bow; …until I know whether the
bowstring that wounded me was fibre or reed or sinew or hemp or
bark;…until I know whether the shaft that wounded me was wild or
cultivated;… until I know with what kind of feathers the shaft that
wounded me was fitted—whether those of a vulture or a heron or a hawk
or a peacock or a stork;…until I know with what kind of sinew the
shaft that wounded me was bound—whether that of an ox or a buffalo or
a deer or a monkey;…until I know what kind of arrowhead it was that
wounded me—whether spiked or razor-tipped or curved or barbed or
calf-toothed or lancet-shaped.’ “All this would still not be known to
that man and meanwhile he would die.</p>
<p>So too, Mālunkyāputta, if anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the
holy life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me:
“the world is eternal”…or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor
does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata
and meanwhile that person would die. .....</p>
<p>“Why have I left that undeclared? Because it is unbeneficial, it does
not belong to the fundamentals of the holy life, it does not lead to
disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct
knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have left it
undeclared.</p>
<p>“And what have I declared? ‘This is suffering’—I have declared. ‘This
is the origin of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the cessation of
suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the way leading to the cessation
of suffering’—I have declared.</p>
<p>“Why have I declared that? Because it is beneficial, it belongs to the
fundamentals of the holy life, it leads to disenchantment, to
dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to
enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have declared it.</p>
<p>“Therefore, Mālunkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as
undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared.”<br />
<a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/bodhi?lang=en&amp;reference=none&amp;highlight=true" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 63</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-11T12:07:15.390Z
2024-03-11T12:07:15.390Z
ruben2020
<p>Here is the truth.
(According to Buddhism)</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It's because you/we want that.
We only circulate in the circle of Samsara, because we wish to be so.
By wishing more stuff, happiness, friends, family.
So at the end of life, how would you get what you wanted if you didn't reborn.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What did we do wrong for this suffering?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>At the absolute level, we/you didn't do anything wrong. It's about what we/you want.
What you wish.
As noted above, we wish to live. But living not only you get good stuff, you get bad stuff.
You get bad stuff, because you wish bad stuff, opon you or others.</p>
<p>Don't take this personally(you). It's just the truth of the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Four Noble Truths</a></p>
<p><a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Taṇhā</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN10_58.html#an10.58note01" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Mūla Sutta</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/tanha" rel="nofollow noreferrer">www.wisdomlib.org/tanha</a></p>
<p><a href="https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81" rel="nofollow noreferrer">encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/Taṇhā</a></p>
<p>Thanks. ☸️.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-11T15:53:15.197Z
I think this answer is basically correct.  See [AN 10:58](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN10_58.html) as corollary.
blue_ego
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-10T14:38:29.013Z
2024-04-26T17:42:38.873Z
2024-04-26T17:42:38.873Z
Pycm
<p>We have not done anything wrong per say. Even this question arise because you know there is something beyond samsara.  For most of the being there is nothing beyond samsara.</p>
<p>We have to suffer because we dont know 1 or more of following..</p>
<ol>
<li>Truth of suffering : real suffering.totality of suffering.suffering of delight in 6 Sense object.</li>
<li>Truth of dependency : suffering and its cause arise together conjoined.(samuday)</li>
<li>Truth of cessation : There is an escape from suffering.</li>
<li>Truth of path : steps to escape from suffering.</li>
</ol>
<p>We are so blind about suffering. That is avijja(un-skillfulness). Not knowing and not mastering this truth is avijja.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-27T02:43:13.207Z
2024-04-27T06:57:51.390Z
2024-04-27T06:57:51.390Z
enRaiser
<p>I know it seems cliché but dont ponder upon this. This is one of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_unanswerable_questions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">4 imponderables</a>. You are trying to figure out the origins of existence. Its not gonna get you anywhere.</p>
<p>Don't worry, we have all thought of it, but there is no answer, its the chicken and egg conundrum ad infinitum.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-10T01:29:36.440Z
2024-03-10T01:29:36.440Z
Remyla
<p>The notion of &quot;you/we&quot; are &quot;samsara&quot;.</p>
<p>&quot;Samsara&quot; is the notion of &quot;<a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn23/sn23.002.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">beings</a>&quot; (&quot;self&quot;) created by ignorance &amp; craving.</p>
<p>What cycles in samsara is ignorance &amp; craving.</p>
<p>When there is no ignorance &amp; no craving, there is no notion of &quot;a being&quot; (refer to <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn23/sn23.002.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 23.2</a>).</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Blessed One said: &quot;Monks, from an inconstruable beginning comes
samsara. A beginning point is not evident, although beings hindered by
ignorance and fettered by craving are cycling &amp; wandering on.</p>
<p>&quot;Just as <strong>a dog</strong>, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running
around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way,
an uninstructed, <strong>run-of-the-mill person — who has no regard for noble
ones</strong>, is <strong>not well-versed or disciplined</strong> in their Dhamma; who has no
regard for people of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in
their Dhamma — assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing
form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.</p>
<p>&quot;He assumes feeling to be the self...</p>
<p>&quot;He assumes perception to be the self...</p>
<p>&quot;He assumes (mental) fabrications to be the self...</p>
<p>&quot;He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing
consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in
consciousness.</p>
<p>&quot;He keeps running around and circling around that very form... that
very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications...
that very consciousness. He is not set loose from form, not set loose
from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... not set loose
from consciousness. He is not set loose from birth, aging, &amp; death;
from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, &amp; despairs. He is not
set loose, I tell you, from suffering &amp; stress.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.099.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 22.99</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-04-25T11:52:34.310Z
2024-04-25T11:57:56.713Z
2024-04-25T11:57:56.713Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<blockquote>
<p>What did we do wrong for this suffering?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The concept of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_sin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">original sin</a> does not exist in Buddhism. Rather it is our choices and actions that bind us to samsara. But this point will be lost to anyone until they identify and recognise the links between their anxieties, stress, worries, fear, frustrations, anger and sufferings to their choices, decisions and actions. The greatest irony is that oftentimes, we don’t even recognise our actions as calamitous and leading to suffering until it is <strong>too late</strong>.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://suttacentral.net/dn27/en/sujato?lang=en&amp;layout=plain&amp;reference=none&amp;notes=asterisk&amp;highlight=false&amp;script=latin" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Aggañña sutta</a>, the Buddha talked about self-illuminating beings who feed on rapture. However, these beings began to eagerly feed on earthly nectar and their cravings, subsequently, condemned them to a wretched fate.</p>
<p>A late family member was a habitual smoker and heavy drinker. Despite persistent warnings from us that those habits are harmful, he continued stubbornly. One night, he complained that half his body had gone numb. We didn’t realize then that he was having a stroke. The next day, he was motionless. Although I was young then, I still remember his frightened looks that evening when he related his conditions, having sensed that something was seriously amiss. Even today, many smokers cum drinkers ignored health warnings despite scientists having proven the link between smoking/drinking and early mortality.</p>
<p>Similarly, there are health warnings of high sugar intake and a sedentary lifestyle but many persist to ingest sweet soda drinks as a means of hydration. It is not just physical nutrients but the mental food that we choose to feed on that binds us to suffering. I have seen men and women who are so used to managing and controlling their subordinates in the office, trying to put their husbands or wives and children under their thumb. I know of an ex-classmate who was very competitive who will be awake until 1 or 2 am in the morning just thinking. He only sleeps about 5 hours a day. I suspect that mental stress prevented him from getting a good night’s rest. Later on, he was diagnosed with prediabetes despite being quite tall and slim. I believed this was caused by a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688585/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">metabolism gone haywire</a>. If a person feed on outwitting, outsmarting and out scheming others then it really hard to take off that thinking cap.</p>
<p>It takes a lot of self-control, wisdom and courage to pause and recognise that we are in a deluded state, that we are addicted to compulsive control, nicotine, alcohol or whatever. And even more courage and wisdom to see that we are harming ourselves and others, to then turn around and change course. Unfortunately, a lot of us learned all these things the really hard way.</p>
<p>The Buddha pointed out that the things we feed on are mostly unskillful such as cravings for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming (or to continue experiencing in the same old way) or craving for non-becoming (or not to continue experiencing in the same old way); all leads to sufferings. Unfortunately, all these feedings/cravings are habitual and stubbornly wired in us. It is precisely because of them that we are bonded tightly to samsara. How to unlearned these habitual feeding and wanting thus loosening the bonds to samsara becomes the key to liberation.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-03-09T09:52:00.650Z
2024-03-11T14:36:25.963Z
2024-03-11T14:36:25.963Z
Desmon
<p>Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?</p>
<p>What did we do wrong for this suffering?</p>

<samsara>
Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?
# Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-03-09)

Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?

What did we do wrong for this suffering?

**Tags:** samsara


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-03-11. Score: 1

I have quoted below the famous parable of the poisoned arrow from [MN 63](https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=true).

It shows how Buddhism is more interested in practically solving the problem of suffering, rather than engaging in fruitless speculation on metaphysics.

> Suppose, Mālunkyāputta, a man were wounded by an arrow thickly smeared
> with poison, and his friends and companions, his kinsmen and
> relatives, brought a surgeon to treat him. The man would say: ‘I will
> not let the surgeon pull out this arrow until I know whether the man
> who wounded me was a noble or a brahmin or a merchant or a worker.’
> And he would say: ‘I will not let the surgeon pull out this arrow
> until I know the name and clan of the man who wounded me;…until I know
> whether the man who wounded me was tall or short or of middle height;…
> until I know whether the man who wounded me was dark or brown or
> golden-skinned;…until I know whether the man who wounded me lives in
> such a village or town or city;…until I know whether the bow that
> wounded me was a long bow or a cross-bow; …until I know whether the
> bowstring that wounded me was fibre or reed or sinew or hemp or
> bark;…until I know whether the shaft that wounded me was wild or
> cultivated;… until I know with what kind of feathers the shaft that
> wounded me was fitted—whether those of a vulture or a heron or a hawk
> or a peacock or a stork;…until I know with what kind of sinew the
> shaft that wounded me was bound—whether that of an ox or a buffalo or
> a deer or a monkey;…until I know what kind of arrowhead it was that
> wounded me—whether spiked or razor-tipped or curved or barbed or
> calf-toothed or lancet-shaped.’ “All this would still not be known to
> that man and meanwhile he would die.
>
> So too, Mālunkyāputta, if anyone should say thus: ‘I will not lead the
> holy life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One declares to me:
> “the world is eternal”…or “after death a Tathāgata neither exists nor
> does not exist,”’ that would still remain undeclared by the Tathāgata
> and meanwhile that person would die. .....
>
> “Why have I left that undeclared? Because it is unbeneficial, it does
> not belong to the fundamentals of the holy life, it does not lead to
> disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct
> knowledge, to enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have left it
> undeclared.
>
> “And what have I declared? ‘This is suffering’—I have declared. ‘This
> is the origin of suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the cessation of
> suffering’—I have declared. ‘This is the way leading to the cessation
> of suffering’—I have declared.
>
> “Why have I declared that? Because it is beneficial, it belongs to the
> fundamentals of the holy life, it leads to disenchantment, to
> dispassion, to cessation, to peace, to direct knowledge, to
> enlightenment, to Nibbāna. That is why I have declared it.
>
> “Therefore, Mālunkyāputta, remember what I have left undeclared as
> undeclared, and remember what I have declared as declared.”  
> [MN 63](https://suttacentral.net/mn63/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=true)


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-03-10. Score: 1

Here is the truth.
(According to Buddhism)

> Why do we have to circulate in the circle of Samsara?

It's because you/we want that.
We only circulate in the circle of Samsara, because we wish to be so.
By wishing more stuff, happiness, friends, family.
So at the end of life, how would you get what you wanted if you didn't reborn.

> What did we do wrong for this suffering?

At the absolute level, we/you didn't do anything wrong. It's about what we/you want.
What you wish.
As noted above, we wish to live. But living not only you get good stuff, you get bad stuff.
You get bad stuff, because you wish bad stuff, opon you or others.

Don't take this personally(you). It's just the truth of the world.

[Four Noble Truths](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Noble_Truths)

[Taṇhā](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81)

[Mūla Sutta](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN10_58.html#an10.58note01)

[www.wisdomlib.org/tanha](https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/tanha)

[encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/Taṇhā](https://encyclopediaofbuddhism.org/wiki/Ta%E1%B9%87h%C4%81)

Thanks. ☸️.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I think this answer is basically correct.  See [AN 10:58](https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/AN/AN10_58.html) as corollary.  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-04-27. Score: 0

We have not done anything wrong per say. Even this question arise because you know there is something beyond samsara. For most of the being there is nothing beyond samsara.

We have to suffer because we dont know 1 or more of following..

1. Truth of suffering : real suffering.totality of suffering.suffering of delight in 6 Sense object.
2. Truth of dependency : suffering and its cause arise together conjoined.(samuday)
3. Truth of cessation : There is an escape from suffering.
4. Truth of path : steps to escape from suffering.

We are so blind about suffering. That is avijja(un-skillfulness). Not knowing and not mastering this truth is avijja.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-03-10. Score: -1

I know it seems cliché but dont ponder upon this. This is one of the [4 imponderables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_unanswerable_questions). You are trying to figure out the origins of existence. Its not gonna get you anywhere.

Don't worry, we have all thought of it, but there is no answer, its the chicken and egg conundrum ad infinitum.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-04-25. Score: -1

The notion of "you/we" are "samsara".

"Samsara" is the notion of "[beings](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn23/sn23.002.than.html)" ("self") created by ignorance & craving.

What cycles in samsara is ignorance & craving.

When there is no ignorance & no craving, there is no notion of "a being" (refer to [SN 23.2](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn23/sn23.002.than.html)).

> The Blessed One said: "Monks, from an inconstruable beginning comes
> samsara. A beginning point is not evident, although beings hindered by
> ignorance and fettered by craving are cycling & wandering on.
>
> "Just as **a dog**, tied by a leash to a post or stake, keeps running
> around and circling around that very post or stake; in the same way,
> an uninstructed, **run-of-the-mill person — who has no regard for noble
> ones**, is **not well-versed or disciplined** in their Dhamma; who has no
> regard for people of integrity, is not well-versed or disciplined in
> their Dhamma — assumes form to be the self, or the self as possessing
> form, or form as in the self, or the self as in form.
>
> "He assumes feeling to be the self...
>
> "He assumes perception to be the self...
>
> "He assumes (mental) fabrications to be the self...
>
> "He assumes consciousness to be the self, or the self as possessing
> consciousness, or consciousness as in the self, or the self as in
> consciousness.
>
> "He keeps running around and circling around that very form... that
> very feeling... that very perception... those very fabrications...
> that very consciousness. He is not set loose from form, not set loose
> from feeling... from perception... from fabrications... not set loose
> from consciousness. He is not set loose from birth, aging, & death;
> from sorrows, lamentations, pains, distresses, & despairs. He is not
> set loose, I tell you, from suffering & stress.
>
> [SN 22.99](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.099.than.html)


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2024-03-09. Score: -1

> What did we do wrong for this suffering?

The concept of [original sin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_sin) does not exist in Buddhism. Rather it is our choices and actions that bind us to samsara. But this point will be lost to anyone until they identify and recognise the links between their anxieties, stress, worries, fear, frustrations, anger and sufferings to their choices, decisions and actions. The greatest irony is that oftentimes, we don’t even recognise our actions as calamitous and leading to suffering until it is **too late**.

In the [Aggañña sutta](https://suttacentral.net/dn27/en/sujato?lang=en&layout=plain&reference=none¬es=asterisk&highlight=false&script=latin), the Buddha talked about self-illuminating beings who feed on rapture. However, these beings began to eagerly feed on earthly nectar and their cravings, subsequently, condemned them to a wretched fate.

A late family member was a habitual smoker and heavy drinker. Despite persistent warnings from us that those habits are harmful, he continued stubbornly. One night, he complained that half his body had gone numb. We didn’t realize then that he was having a stroke. The next day, he was motionless. Although I was young then, I still remember his frightened looks that evening when he related his conditions, having sensed that something was seriously amiss. Even today, many smokers cum drinkers ignored health warnings despite scientists having proven the link between smoking/drinking and early mortality.

Similarly, there are health warnings of high sugar intake and a sedentary lifestyle but many persist to ingest sweet soda drinks as a means of hydration. It is not just physical nutrients but the mental food that we choose to feed on that binds us to suffering. I have seen men and women who are so used to managing and controlling their subordinates in the office, trying to put their husbands or wives and children under their thumb. I know of an ex-classmate who was very competitive who will be awake until 1 or 2 am in the morning just thinking. He only sleeps about 5 hours a day. I suspect that mental stress prevented him from getting a good night’s rest. Later on, he was diagnosed with prediabetes despite being quite tall and slim. I believed this was caused by a [metabolism gone haywire](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688585/). If a person feed on outwitting, outsmarting and out scheming others then it really hard to take off that thinking cap.

It takes a lot of self-control, wisdom and courage to pause and recognise that we are in a deluded state, that we are addicted to compulsive control, nicotine, alcohol or whatever. And even more courage and wisdom to see that we are harming ourselves and others, to then turn around and change course. Unfortunately, a lot of us learned all these things the really hard way.

The Buddha pointed out that the things we feed on are mostly unskillful such as cravings for sensual pleasure, craving for becoming (or to continue experiencing in the same old way) or craving for non-becoming (or not to continue experiencing in the same old way); all leads to sufferings. Unfortunately, all these feedings/cravings are habitual and stubbornly wired in us. It is precisely because of them that we are bonded tightly to samsara. How to unlearned these habitual feeding and wanting thus loosening the bonds to samsara becomes the key to liberation.


---

