Samsara – Buddhist term for the repeating cycle of birth, life, death. Can also refer to the the various worldly activities and sufferings of existence, and the unsettled mind through which reality is perceived. We are stuck in it until we can transcend it through enlightenment or understanding.
Suchness (Tathata) – The nature of reality at any given moment. True existence. It is impossible to describe, and when it is attempted, we miss the mark. We can notice it in simple ways: e.g. the stillness of a flower, our loved one’s breath upon us when she sleeps, the sun shining on our forehead.