Consciousness - Indian Thought - Brahmanical Systems, Buddhist Systems, Bibliography

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.