5 ms·

Saṃsāra, in both Buddhism and Hinduism, is something to be escaped. The connotation is either downright negative or at least sobering. Why name your company thi

Saṃsāra, in both Buddhism and Hinduism, is something to be escaped. The connotation is either downright negative or at least sobering. Why name your company this?

erulabs 5y ago
> Saṃsāra (संसार) is a Sanskrit/Pali word that means "world" I am not a Buddhist, but is "the world" something to be "escaped"? I can't find a matching definition for it to imply escape.
- ottomanbob 5y ago
  In buddhism, "the world" is material, personal, and full of suffering. It is something to let go.
  - ethbr0 5y ago
    Doesn't this accurately describe IoT implementations? You're looking at transcending the physical, while simultaneously being trapped by and having to deal with its messy realities. Seems a pretty apt metaphor.
- stewbrew 5y ago
  Maybe, some people prefer nirvana.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    "Nirvana" means extinction - the same word is used to refer to snuffing out a candle. I learned the fourth Noble Truth as "Nirvana is bliss"; but I never figured out how to unpack that.
- cko 5y ago
  > 153. Through many a birth in samsara have I wandered in vain, seeking the builder of this house (of life). Repeated birth is indeed suffering! https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.11.budd.html https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.11.budd.... I happen to have this as a tattoo actually. A relic from my Buddhist days.
- danvayn 5y ago
  The physical world, yeah. The specific aim or mission depends on the school, but the focus in Buddhism is always on escaping duhka ('modern/societal ills') in an attempt to break or transcend the cycle.
- crdrost 5y ago
  Samsara is not just “world”... The etymology is Sam/Sara, “through/motion” and the idea is that it refers to an endless going-through-the-motions, an endless cycle of dying, and re-dying, and being reborn as a slug and suffering as slugs do, and re-dying, and being reborn as a human and suffering as humans do, and re-dying, and being reborn as a god and suffering as gods do,and re-dying. You've “been there done that” for anything that you now think is some great aspiration for this life. A proper translation of “Samsara, Inc.” might be “Weariness, Inc.” or “Ennui, Inc.” ... It's not just the world, but the world with specific reference to this way that everyone is just going through the motions.
ottomanbob 5y ago
Yes, kind of baffling name choice? I suspect they totally misunderstood the concept as a replenishing / refreshing cycle rather than the self-perpetuating nature of suffering.
- omarfarooq 5y ago
  Or perhaps they are more to privvy to the depth and flavor of Buddhism than the average HN commentor. Nagarjuna says that samsara is nirvana and nirvana is samsara. Similarly, Saraha says: “Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon as well as all the pilgrimage places… I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.” In short, the gravy is all gravy.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
    Nagarjuna said some apparently-odd things. Startling statements like that can be used to help gain realisation of emptiness (rather like koans). He used reasoning to attack conceptual thought.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
throwawaysea 5y ago
Per Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra): > Popularly, it is the cycle of death and rebirth. Maybe it is because there is a "popular" definition that the casual observer wouldn't interpret as something to be escaped? Western audiences often borrow words and concepts from other cultures, that often have deep meaning behind them, and reduce them to some shallow commercial one-liner that their audiences can latch onto. I guess I have a different question about a company picking such a name - is it appropriate ethically? It feels like they've co-opted a term that has a particular cultural and religious meaning, will probably mispronounce it in all their marketing, will popularize a shallow understanding of this term rather than the deeper source material (as has happened with terms like karma, yoga, and other such popularized terms of Hindu origin), and also place a trademark on something that has always existed as a free to use concept. I recognize that one of the founders is Indian, but it still doesn't sit well with me.
erie 5y ago
In Arabic too, it means trying to mediate to get commission.
- aliswe 5y ago
  http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/12_s/195_smsr.html http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/12_s/195_smsr.html
galaxyLogic 5y ago
> Saṃsāra, in both Buddhism and Hinduism, is something to be escaped In other words it is something you have to deal with, you can't just ignore it. It is not something to be ignored. A company that helps us deal with Samsara is great. And here if it is IoT and makes it easier to deal with "things" it allows us to escape the trouble of managing them.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
lordleft 5y ago
I'm Indian and I had the exact same reaction. It's like naming your company Dukka. Or maybe it's more like the Sanskrit Maya, which I suppose is not a completely negative term (but can be in certain Indian philosophical-theological discourses). EDIT: My mother just pointed out to me that Samsara can also mean "talk", which is exactly what it means in my native language, malayalam. I've just never seen it spelt out that way. If that's the meaning they're going for, it's actually quite apt!
- Tzeak 5y ago
  It could be the “rebirth” of the Meraki platform - I don’t think the cofounders are malayali so while a Malayalam word seems more apt, i think it’s less likely.
- mavelikara 5y ago
  The Malayalam word for “talk” is “samsaram”.
- kordlessagain 5y ago
  Dukka can be “work you do” so we do work and that’s not surprising. That’s our condition here.
globalise83 5y ago
Once you IPO your material worries are gone and you can move into the next circle.
shoto_io 5y ago
Read this thread carefully and you’ll understand. It’s marketing genius. I wouldn’t have remember the name of the company. But thanks to you and your fellows here I will. I can even tell a story around it.
yumraj 5y ago
Samsara, more like Sansar (संसार) means World. One may want to escape the world but there is no negative connotation that I'm aware of. I'm a Hindu and speak Hindi.
- nsenifty 5y ago
  Samsara is the correct Sanskrit (more like Samskrta) pronunciation and the original meaning is the endless birth and death cycle caused by attachment. The Hindi vernacular Sansaar indeed means the physical world just like Samsara in Kannada (and other Southern languages?) means Family. Both the world and family are due to attachment.
alboy 5y ago
You market to your customer, the purchase of their product will be approved by a C-suite Yama, not the mortals stuck in Samsara.
- someonewhocar3s 5y ago
  stuck alike, demon however we meet at least that

Saṃsāra, in both Buddhism and Hinduism, is something to be escaped. The connotation is either downright negative or at least sobering. Why name your company this?

erulabs 5y ago

> Saṃsāra (संसार) is a Sanskrit/Pali word that means "world" I am not a Buddhist, but is "the world" something to be "escaped"? I can't find a matching definition for it to imply escape.

ottomanbob 5y ago
In buddhism, "the world" is material, personal, and full of suffering. It is something to let go.
- ethbr0 5y ago
  Doesn't this accurately describe IoT implementations? You're looking at transcending the physical, while simultaneously being trapped by and having to deal with its messy realities. Seems a pretty apt metaphor.
stewbrew 5y ago
Maybe, some people prefer nirvana.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  "Nirvana" means extinction - the same word is used to refer to snuffing out a candle. I learned the fourth Noble Truth as "Nirvana is bliss"; but I never figured out how to unpack that.
cko 5y ago
> 153. Through many a birth in samsara have I wandered in vain, seeking the builder of this house (of life). Repeated birth is indeed suffering! https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.11.budd.html https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.11.budd.... I happen to have this as a tattoo actually. A relic from my Buddhist days.
danvayn 5y ago
The physical world, yeah. The specific aim or mission depends on the school, but the focus in Buddhism is always on escaping duhka ('modern/societal ills') in an attempt to break or transcend the cycle.
crdrost 5y ago
Samsara is not just “world”... The etymology is Sam/Sara, “through/motion” and the idea is that it refers to an endless going-through-the-motions, an endless cycle of dying, and re-dying, and being reborn as a slug and suffering as slugs do, and re-dying, and being reborn as a human and suffering as humans do, and re-dying, and being reborn as a god and suffering as gods do,and re-dying. You've “been there done that” for anything that you now think is some great aspiration for this life. A proper translation of “Samsara, Inc.” might be “Weariness, Inc.” or “Ennui, Inc.” ... It's not just the world, but the world with specific reference to this way that everyone is just going through the motions.

ottomanbob 5y ago

Yes, kind of baffling name choice? I suspect they totally misunderstood the concept as a replenishing / refreshing cycle rather than the self-perpetuating nature of suffering.

omarfarooq 5y ago
Or perhaps they are more to privvy to the depth and flavor of Buddhism than the average HN commentor. Nagarjuna says that samsara is nirvana and nirvana is samsara. Similarly, Saraha says: “Here in this body are the sacred rivers: here are the sun and moon as well as all the pilgrimage places… I have not encountered another temple as blissful as my own body.” In short, the gravy is all gravy.
- denton-scratch 5y ago
  Nagarjuna said some apparently-odd things. Startling statements like that can be used to help gain realisation of emptiness (rather like koans). He used reasoning to attack conceptual thought.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

throwawaysea 5y ago

Per Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra): > Popularly, it is the cycle of death and rebirth. Maybe it is because there is a "popular" definition that the casual observer wouldn't interpret as something to be escaped? Western audiences often borrow words and concepts from other cultures, that often have deep meaning behind them, and reduce them to some shallow commercial one-liner that their audiences can latch onto. I guess I have a different question about a company picking such a name - is it appropriate ethically? It feels like they've co-opted a term that has a particular cultural and religious meaning, will probably mispronounce it in all their marketing, will popularize a shallow understanding of this term rather than the deeper source material (as has happened with terms like karma, yoga, and other such popularized terms of Hindu origin), and also place a trademark on something that has always existed as a free to use concept. I recognize that one of the founders is Indian, but it still doesn't sit well with me.

erie 5y ago

In Arabic too, it means trying to mediate to get commission.

aliswe 5y ago
http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/12_s/195_smsr.html http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/12_s/195_smsr.html

galaxyLogic 5y ago

> Saṃsāra, in both Buddhism and Hinduism, is something to be escaped In other words it is something you have to deal with, you can't just ignore it. It is not something to be ignored. A company that helps us deal with Samsara is great. And here if it is IoT and makes it easier to deal with "things" it allows us to escape the trouble of managing them.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

lordleft 5y ago

I'm Indian and I had the exact same reaction. It's like naming your company Dukka. Or maybe it's more like the Sanskrit Maya, which I suppose is not a completely negative term (but can be in certain Indian philosophical-theological discourses). EDIT: My mother just pointed out to me that Samsara can also mean "talk", which is exactly what it means in my native language, malayalam. I've just never seen it spelt out that way. If that's the meaning they're going for, it's actually quite apt!

Tzeak 5y ago
It could be the “rebirth” of the Meraki platform - I don’t think the cofounders are malayali so while a Malayalam word seems more apt, i think it’s less likely.
mavelikara 5y ago
The Malayalam word for “talk” is “samsaram”.
kordlessagain 5y ago
Dukka can be “work you do” so we do work and that’s not surprising. That’s our condition here.

globalise83 5y ago

Once you IPO your material worries are gone and you can move into the next circle.

shoto_io 5y ago

Read this thread carefully and you’ll understand. It’s marketing genius. I wouldn’t have remember the name of the company. But thanks to you and your fellows here I will. I can even tell a story around it.

yumraj 5y ago

Samsara, more like Sansar (संसार) means World. One may want to escape the world but there is no negative connotation that I'm aware of. I'm a Hindu and speak Hindi.

nsenifty 5y ago
Samsara is the correct Sanskrit (more like Samskrta) pronunciation and the original meaning is the endless birth and death cycle caused by attachment. The Hindi vernacular Sansaar indeed means the physical world just like Samsara in Kannada (and other Southern languages?) means Family. Both the world and family are due to attachment.

alboy 5y ago

You market to your customer, the purchase of their product will be approved by a C-suite Yama, not the mortals stuck in Samsara.

someonewhocar3s 5y ago
stuck alike, demon however we meet at least that