Consciousness

There is enormous diversity among the various traditions of classical Indian philosophy concerning the nature of consciousness and the place of humanity in the cosmos, but there are a number of presuppositions that are shared by many of India's great thinkers. Most classical Indian philosophical schools agree, for example, that living beings are reborn over and over again in a beginningless cycle (samsara) and that one's present situation is determined by past actions (karma). The final goal of most of these systems is also the same: liberation (moksa) from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.