Tag Archive for "reincarnation"
I was at lunch a few days ago with a friend and we were talking about Buddhism. I was telling her about my understanding of the Six Realms as stated in the teachings of Mahayana and Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism. I thought I would try to make some more sense of it for her and for me as well.
The Six Realms or Paths are as follows:
- Deva Realm, a realm of bliss and pride.
- Asura Realm, the realm of the jealous demigods.
- Human Realm, a blessed realm where we can achieve enlightenment.
- Animal Realm, a realm of prejudice and stupidity, the realm of earthly animals also.
- Hungry Ghost Realm, a realm where beings are possessive and desire all.
- Naraka Realm, the realm of hells where you are born and live until the karmic dept is paid.
In Tibetan Buddhism these realms are actual paths of rebirth. Your soul can be born into any of these realms depending on your karma. I also feel that these realms fit very nicely into view as the paths you and I take along our journey as humans.
From day to day we are prideful or prejudiced or possessive or in our own personal hell. Some of us are in the Deva Realm, some people are wealthy and famous but live within a boundary of pride and seek to attain more wealth or notoriety. How can you achieve enlightenment while you are proud of your status? The Buddha said “I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake on Earth as a drop of oil on my foot.”
I try to imagine the Deva Realm, I meditated upon it once and saw myself sitting upon a throne. Though I did not appear as I am today, I knew it to be me. I could wish an object in to reality with a thought. I could travel to the reaches of the realm in an instant, with only a notion. But I was unhappy. I wanted more, I needed something else, something I could not find in all the realm. So, though I was in a blissful palace with my every desire fulfilled, something was missing. This is a realm of gods, surely, but “gods” with a little ‘g’. Not creators, nor the eternal judge of Judeo-Christian heritage; but almost omnipotent beings far advanced compared to those of us in the other realms.
The Asura Realm is that of the demigods. They can see in to the realm of the devas, they can sense it and are oh, so close to ascending to it; but they can not get there in this lifetime. They are blessed with power, might, wealth and health; but they want more. They want it all, they want what you have. No matter if you have less than they do, you have something they do not.
Being able to see the devas in the realm above them compounds the matter. If you are living in a resort of luxury and wealth; heaven still looks tempting. They are willing to war with the other demigods, always vieing for position or control over this or that. Once a war is fought and over, another begins, in an endless cycle of intrigue and arms.
The Human Realm is where we are today. We are blessed, as we can achieve Enlightenment in this form. Think of it this way: we have been given another chance to change our karma for the good of ourselves and all sentient beings; we are blessed that we are able to learn the Dharma and that we can accept it and learn from the Buddha and all of the Bodhisattva’s of creation.
The Animal Realm is not such a bad place I suppose, but animals lack the basic understanding of their plight to grow and lessen their karmic burden. I am not sure, but I would think that there is no chance that an animal can attain the intellect that would be needed to ascend. But then again, maybe I need to learn that it is not intellect you need.
Some of us are trapped in the Animal Realm even though we were fortunate enough to be born as humans this go-around. If you are a person consumed by stupidity and prejudices you live in the Animal Realm, if you are a hateful person bent on cruelty and harming others around you, you live in the Animal Realm. At least you have the chance to grow and change your heart.
In the Hungry Ghost Realm souls take no joy from food or drink. The camp fire would provide no warmth, the waters of the river can never quench thirst, the sun shines and there is no light given. There have been times when I must have been walking in this realm, even here on earth. I have had times when no words offered to me would comfort my heart. Times when every look towards me contained pity and loathe, at least in my eyes. Even times when friends I hold dear seemed to turn their backs on my needs.
To be born in to the Hungry Ghost Realm would be a sad, desolate, and maddening existence; pray for the souls who walk the sands of this realm.
Lastly is the hell realm known as Naraka Realm. We can consider it a realm of different chasms, each chasm contains a variation on a theme, and the theme is always suffering. There are eight cold hells and eight hot hells. I wont go in to the exact theories of the 16 hells here, but if you wish to know more you can find a quick read here at the wiki. The cold hells have themes like chattering teeth, shivering bodies and blue skin; while the hot hells are filled with stories of hells where you are born fully grown, demons descend upon you, rendering your flesh from your body, you die and are reborn for another round.
You stay in Naraka until your karma is atoned for and then you are born in a higher realm. I wonder if you can accept the demons in the hells and show them compassion? Would you jump to the animal realm or human realm for finding a way to offer loving-kindness in hell?
I know that my friends and family would read this and think I have completely lost my mind. This is as far from Roman Catholicism as you can get, right? I don’t know. Some of this is very similar to the ideas of purgatory and hell; you just have the chance to grow and move forward in Buddhism. That is something that Christianity denies you. Get it wrong once and that is that.
If you are not Buddhist, you can still see the psychology behind the realms and how they apply to you in your life. If you are a Buddhist, you get that point and the deeper meaning as well. I think I see the deeper meaning.
I am not a quiet person. I don’t sneak up behind people, they see me coming, they can hear my footfall and feel my presence in the room before I make myself known. I usually enter rooms by pushing doors open with strength, not subtlety. My voice carries, even as I whisper.
I am trying to make less of an impact upon my environment, I am trying to be that person in the room that no one sees until he speaks. I actively think about entering rooms and leaving rooms with out people taking notice. I don’t know how well this is working yet.
All of this to set the stage: I am aggressive.
Didn’t see that one coming, did ya?
Compassion. I don’t know that I had ever really thought about compassion before a few months ago. I started to read about meditation and mindfulness. I wanted to learn to calm my mind, to control my emotions and to still my tongue. Along the way I started to read more about Buddhism. Now I have quite a little library dedicated to The Buddha and the various forms of Buddhism practiced around the world. I lean more to the northern Buddhism, specifically Tibetan form of Vajray?na Buddhism.
Back to compassion though; I found that I started to see the world differently. Buddhism teaches that there is no division, no boundaries between you and I. We are all linked together, one organism in a way. My upbringing was one of Christian values, that whole love thy neighbor thing. I believe in that, no doubt, and I have always tried to look out for others. I was gifted with size and as such I have kind of always thought it was my lot in life to protect those who can not protect themselves. That doesn’t always work out in my favor.
Now that I am seeing the homeless as simply me, that changes how I think of their plight. The starving child on the television, the old man driving the boat on the interstate… they are all me. If that doesn’t change your attitude - nothing will.
Suddenly the homeless guy near our office isn’t someone who I blindly drive by every day. I mean sure, I occasionally gave him a buck or two if I had them handy, but now I actually say hello to him as well. He is a really nice guy too.
You know something; he was always just the ‘Can Guy’ carrying his garbage bag full of soda cans who waved at you and smiled, acknowledging you and saying “Have a good day” in his own way. Now I have to wonder what he knows that I don’t, what keeps him moving forward, what allows him to be able to smile and wish me a good day? Is it altruistic or is he only doing it in the hopes that I will offer him something in return?
Maybe he is like a sadhu, maybe he is a simple holy man and this is how he chooses to live.
My aggressive nature is hard to suppress, even with those who should only see compassion from me. Well, I guess everyone should only see compassion from each of us really, but you know what I mean. With my family, my wife, my children even, sometimes I have to remind myself to calm down, to lower my voice.
Just a few nights ago my son told me it worried him when I spoke in a low voice, that it meant I was really upset. I laughed at that, but it is sad.
So I am trying. Can you tell?
Cause and Effect, I guess that best describes my understanding of Karma. My actions, whether good intentioned or bad, create ripples on the stream in which I exist. I am not naive enough to think that doing good things with bad intentions is the same thing as good action with good intention. Nor do I think that causing harm necessarily is creating bad karma for myself either. If I came upon someone about to create harm and tragedy, I would take action to stop that. Walking away would surely create more bad karma than trying to stop the person. If I can make a difference, then I should.
How much of my life today is happening because of my past? All of it. At least in this lifetime, all of it. I can see the correlation between my place in life and the decisions I made along the journey, clearly.
Can I still run ten miles a day? No, I stopped running even before I was out of the military. Cause and Effect.
But in the larger scale, how am I effected? I try to be a good person, I fall well short of that mark most of the time, to my mind. But I do try. I know when I do wrong. When I am selfish, when I am careless with someone’s heart or feelings, when I am cruel. I am actually cruel an awful lot. For some reason my sense of humor is a cruel one. My natural state is making snide remarks at the expense of others. I know it was wrong, even as I am laughing, I know.
But how far back does that go? Was I cruel beyond compare in a past life? Was I a saint, was I a beggar who simply handed his food to an orphan, and so in doing purchased a bit of good karma as it were?
How is Karmic Law dispensed? Does God sit upon a throne and ladle out honey or vinegar based upon my actions? I can not imagine this scenario. Creator of the Universe handing out verdicts based upon my actions on a minute-by-minute basis…
To me, Karma must be so tightly woven in to the heart of the Universe that one can not exist with out the other. Karma must be there for the universe to continue, so the Universe itself conforms to the laws of Karma. Sometimes I speak like the Universe is alive and sentient itself, and I guess I do sort of think that.
Where will I be in ten years? Will I work on myself for the better, and doing so naturally create good karma for myself and those around me?
I have children now. That gives a person pause too. My actions do not simply shape my karma, for theirs must also be tightly coupled with mine. My good fortune is theirs, right? At least for now. Of course that just makes me wonder how their karma is effecting me as well. My son, was he my best friend in a past life? My boss, my brother, my adversary? The implications run so deep.
Okay, that is quite enough for today.