Samsara is referring to uncontrollably recurring rebirth, which has no beginning, yet it is said that there can be a first time when we develop a bodhichitta aim. How does the decision arise to aim to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings if it happens for the first time? Is it a matter of free will, is it all determined by our karma and it happens mechanistically, or is it much more complex than that? Neither free will nor determinism explains how we make decisions and choices. If our mental continuums have no beginning, and consequently everyone has been our mother in some previous life, then why hasn’t everyone decided to develop bodhichitta and attained enlightenment already? The answer is that we need to develop bodhichitta and not give it up for the first time.