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Permalink Reply by Josephine Nolan on March 20, 2011 at 6:36pm

Whether you call it a state of mind or a literal place, it amounts to the same if you perceive it as real. Buddha taught us the eightfold path to help us escape from this suffering, in any world.

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Permalink Reply by Bhodi Anjo Daishin on March 23, 2011 at 6:39pm

I really like your take on the Hell Realms. I believe that in every sect of Buddhism you will get a varied slant on it but the basics of the definition are all there...I like this view on Hell Realms quite a bit:

 

"The lowest among the realms of existence is the hell realm. Buddhists believe that there are about 136 hells which are divided into “hot hells” and “cold hells”. The hell realms are looked upon as a journey full of suffering; one born into this realm must not only endure suffering in their respective hell but also pass through each of lesser hells. This journey is supposed to take years to complete. In the course of which, even the Dharma is forgotten and even if it was remembered, the anguish is such that it makes practice impossible. The hell realm is characterized by acute aggression.

Buddhists believe that each person is reborn in accordance with their respective actions (Karma) in their previous lives."

 

So, the way I understand it to be is quite simply, as the name suggests, the Hell Realm is the most terrible of the Six Realms. Hell beings have a short fuse; everything makes them angry. And the only way hell beings deal with things that make them angry is through aggression -- attack, attack, attack! They drive away anyone who shows them love and kindness and seek out the company of other hell beings. Unchecked anger and aggression can cause rebirth in the Hell Realm.

 Thanks for posting on such a cool topic!

 

Namaste,

 

Bhodi

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Permalink Reply by Ron Lam on March 27, 2011 at 1:03pm

In Hongkong we have ghost festival, which is the day the doors of hell opens and our loved ones revisit us. We burn paper offerings and put out food. Its always a big day.

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Permalink Reply by Bhodi Anjo Daishin on March 27, 2011 at 5:36pm

Dear Ron,

 

How I would LOVE to attend a Ghost Festival! Thank you for sharing about something I did not know about!

 

With a bow,

 

Bhodi

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Permalink Reply by Shannon Bratt on April 2, 2011 at 5:31pm

I guess it's a state of mind. Even when we think of praying, my teacher always told me we are also praying to ourselves because we all have Buddha potential. This means we also have hell potential (I guess, he never said that). So I guess it's a state of mind that we have to overcome with mindfulness and, eventually, an enlightened mind.

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Permalink Reply by Bhodi Anjo Daishin on June 17, 2011 at 3:21pm

Nicely put!

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Permalink Reply by Vikki Watkins on June 9, 2011 at 6:06pm

I know zilch about hell realms, but I guess I'd think it was a state of mind. I don't believe in literal hells.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn Boykin on June 17, 2011 at 4:09pm

"Today, many people live in the hell realms of drugs, loneliness, and despair. Those are people who create hell for people around them in many ways, and there are those who kill, steal or rape. There are so many hungry ghosts wandering around, who are starved for love, understanding, a family and an ideal."  Thich Nhat Hanh

The great teacher wrote this in The Energy of Prayer, one of my favorite books. The strong implication seems to be that the hell realms are a state of mind. In fact, hungry ghosts are also included.

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Permalink Reply by Will Byrd on June 29, 2011 at 11:15am

Hell is a state of mind. Hungry ghosts are a state of life  -- I know plenty of hungry ghosts. Never satisfied, never happy, always hungry. I know plenty of people in their own personal hells. After death, well I do believe in an ultimate self and ultimate reality that survives this illusory world, so if we attach enough negative energy (karma) to our ultimate selves, we could conceivably create a hell realm that seems real to us.

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Permalink Reply by bluelotus on September 20, 2011 at 7:28pm

Is it like this? Being reborn in a hell realm or it being a state of mind depends on your view of life and death. If to be part of the skymind, the buddha nature, is to kill the small sense of self, then to become angry is to see your small sense of self reborn in a hell realm.

Literally, scientifically, all matter has always existed in the universe for over 14bn years. So the matter you are has been planets, stars, animals, vegetables, water. You have been trees, and rainbows and when you die you will be again. Your matter is certain to be reborn as a human again. What sort of world will you be reborn into? The actions you take in this life will continue to create ripples for generations. Hitler's negative karma didn't die when he did, still it ripples through the middle east and the rest of the world. And all of his matter lives on this world he did so much to make a worse place.

 

If you have been fortunate enough to have children your living flesh continues as a human. If you are angry, they will be angry. Then your flesh will be reborn in a hell realm. 

 

So are hell realms are literally, scientifically real? Is it necessary to become metaphysical to discuss them? Well, the question of what is passed across is one that only those who have become buddha have the wisdom to answer, because only they can see whether rebirth is a metaphor for the scientific reality of us making the world a better or worse place and continuing to be in it, or a literal passing on of karma which we pick up and enjoy or endure for generations.

 

When debating rebirth/hell realms we are like blind men debating the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel. We know nothing about it other than what we have been told, but we do know there is a lovely echo and we aren't getting wet.

 

What we do know is that we can make the world a better or worse place, and we can literally create hell and drag people into it and ensure they go on enduring it after our physical death. I don't think we need to worry about any more than this. Indeed, maybe worrying about it more is to become trapped in ideas of what is real, what is really real, provably real....

 

If the only reality is this present moment, surely we know the truth of hell realms for us, and we know the means of escape from them?

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Permalink Reply by Buddha Weekly on September 20, 2011 at 7:50pm

Thanks bluelotus, and entirely thought-provoking reply. And on another level, beyond simple matter and science is Quantum theories, which mesh very well indeed with Buddhist teachings, particularly duality, the three karmas, etc, etc. I do, personally, believe rebirth is more than just a recycling of energies, but of course I can't know anything. I really enjoyed your post.

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