The realms of the universe
The abode of the gods. Photo: Falk Kienas ©
The great tragedy of existence, from a Buddhist point of view, is
that it is both endless and subject to impermanence, suffering and
uncertainty. These three are called the tilakhana or three signs of existence.Existence is endless because individuals are reincarnated over and over again, experiencing suffering throughout many lives.
It is impermanent because no state, good or bad, lasts forever. Our mistaken belief that things can last is a chief cause of suffering.
It is uncertain because when we examine our experience, no knower can be defined and no enduring essence of experience can be located.
Only achieving liberation, or nirvana, can free a being from the cycle of life, death and rebirth.
The realms
Buddhism has six realms into which a soul can be reborn. From most to least pleasant, these are:- Heaven, the home of the gods (devas): this is a realm of enjoyment inhabited by blissful, long-lived beings. It is subdivided by later sources into 26 levels of increasing happiness
- The realm of humanity: although humans suffer, this is considered the most fortunate state because humans have the greatest chance of enlightenment
- The realm of the Titans or angry gods (asuras): these are warlike beings who are at the mercy of angry impulses
- The realm of the hungry ghosts (pretas): these unhappy beings are bound to the fringes of human existence, unable to leave because of particularly strong attachments. They are unable to satisfy their craving, symbolised by their depiction with huge bellies and tiny mouths
- The animal realm: this is undesirable because animals are exploited by human beings, and do not have the necessary self-awareness to achieve liberation
- Hell realms: people here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off
The first two levels are good places to be born. The inhabitants of the next three levels all have a particular defect (hatred, greed, ignorance), and hell is obviously the worst of the lot.
Interlinked
These are not all separate realms, but are interlinked in keeping with the Buddhist philosophy that mind and reality are linked.
Hungry ghosts. Photo: Falk Kienas ©
Thus, although humans and animals live together in the same world,
the implications of being born as a human and as an animal are very
different, and they are represented as two separate realms.And a human being can experience touches of heaven when happy, or the lower states when hateful, greedy, ignorant or in pain. Someone adept at meditation will experience progressively higher heaven realms.
These realms are depicted in a diagram known as the Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming, which is explored in detail in the next section.
The Wheel of Life
The realms, or states of reincarnation, of the Buddhist universe are depicted in a diagram known as the Bhavachakra, the Wheel of Life or Wheel of Becoming.See the wheel explained in this gallery.
The wheel itself is a circle, symbolising the endless cycle of existence and suffering.
In the middle of the Wheel are the Three Fires of greed, ignorance and hatred, represented by a rooster, a pig and a snake. These are the cause of all suffering and are shown linked together, biting each other's tails, reinforcing each other.
In the next circle out, souls are shown ascending and descending according to their karma.
The next ring out is composed of six segments showing the six realms: gods, humans and Titans above and hungry ghosts, animals and those tortured in hell below.
The outer ring shows twelve segments called nidanas, illustrating the Buddhist teaching of dependent origination, the chain of causes of suffering (explained in the following section).
The wheel is held by Yama, the Lord of Death, who symbolises the impermanence of everything. The beings he holds are trapped in eternal suffering by their ignorance of the nature of the universe.
The Wheel of Life (Bhavachakra) ©
Origin of the universe
1. Ignorance ©
2. Willed action ©
Buddhism has no creator god to explain the origin of the universe.
Instead, it teaches that everything depends on everything else: present
events are caused by past events and become the cause of future events.Indian religions often see space and time as cyclical, such that world-systems come into being, survive for a time, are destroyed and then are remade. In Buddhism this happens naturally without the intervention of gods.
One tale told by the Buddha in the Aggan̄n̄a Sutta describes the process of recreation on this grand scale. An old world-system has just been destroyed, and its inhabitants are reborn in a new system. To begin with they are spirits, floating happily above the earth, luminescent and without form, name or sex.
3. Conditioned consciousness ©
4. Form and existence ©
The world in these early stages is without light or land, only water.
Eventually earth appears and the spirits come to taste and enjoy it.
Their greed causes their ethereal bodies to become solid and coarse and
differentiate into male and female, good-looking and ugly. As they lose
their luminescence the sun and moon come into being.Gradually the beings fall into further wicked habits, causing themselves - and the earth itself - to become less pleasant.
5. The senses ©
6. Sense-impressions ©
In this way, the Buddha seems to be saying, desire, greed and
attachment not only cause suffering for people but also cause the world
to be as it is.The physical world as we know it, with all its imperfections and suffering, is the product of what the Buddha called dependent origination.
Dependent origination
The Buddha taught that this was a 12-stage process - a circular chain, not a straight line. Each stage gives rise to the one directly after it.
7. Sensation ©
8. Craving ©
1. Ignorance: inability to see the truth, depicted by a blind man2. Willed action: actions that shape our emerging consciousness, depicted by a potter moulding clay
3. Conditioned consciousness: the development of habits, blindly responding to the impulses of karmic conditioning, represented by a monkey swinging about aimlessly
4. Form and existence: a body comes into being to carry our karmic inheritance, represented by a boat carrying men
9. Attachment ©
10. Becoming ©
5. The six sense-organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue,
body (touch) and mind, the way sensory information passes into us,
represented by the doors and windows of a house6. Sense-impressions: the combination of sense-organ and sensory information, represented by two lovers
7. Sensation: the feelings we get from sense-impressions, which are so vivid that they blind us, represented by a man shot in the eye with an arrow
8. Craving (tanhā): negative desires that can never be sated, represented by a man drinking
11. Birth ©
12. Old age and death ©
9. Attachment: grasping at things we think will satisfy our craving, represented by someone reaching out for fruit from a tree10. Becoming: worldly existence, being trapped in the cycle of life, represented by a pregnant woman
11. Birth: represented by a woman giving birth
12. Old age and death: grief, suffering and despair, the direct consequences of birth, represented by an old man
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