![]() |
Why We Need To Fear Rebirth Cycle? |
|
Is It Wise To Stay On Rebirth Cycle Lord Buddha said that we can't find start & end point of creatures whose swaying in rebirth cycle ( Sansara Crakra). Because creatures are covered by unknowingness & bond to desires. Dependent Organism acts inside creatures for help to rebirth. Four kind of nutrition roots help to rebirth : food we eat from mouth, food of impacts ( mind+internal sense organ+external masses), food of volition states (thinking from mind) & food of consciousness. All these foods are link with desires of five senses, rebirth & dislike to rebirth. So creatures are wandering rebirth cycle as human, animal, god, hungry ghost, asura, hell being, etc... Lord Buddha said it is good if we can born only human realms & heaven realms. But we can't control our rebirth cause it decide by Kamma which made from dependent organism. If result made for rebirth in hell, we can't stop it even when we die. Buddha said hell realms, animal realms & hungry ghost realms are like home to creatures. Because creatures have possibility to rebirth in hell than human or heavenly realms. Our mind more attract to sins, bad habits & unskillful actions than merits & skillful actions. You can decide this by concerning yourselves such as you like to sleep & eat more than meditation or observe precepts. When you read details of hells, animal realms, hungry ghost realms & asura realms think that how many life life times we rebirth in such realms cause of our mistakes in rebirth cycle. Only Stream Entry & other higher states people can escape from all these four hells. Except that person who have steady devotion to Buddha, also not born in next life in hell or other low level realms, only born in heaven but it also like give another opportunity to understand enlighten path & achieve it. Sutta about hell In Majjima Nikaya there have sutta called Devaduta Sutta which describe about hell in deep background. Devadutha means angles who message about hell. Lord Buddha see those hells & creatures stay with pains from Devine Eye which is some kind of supernatural power that Buddha had. In this sutta Buddha said "Bhikkhus, I say this not hearing from another recluse or monk, this is what I have myself known and seen and so I say it". In this sutta said about eight main hells but in Jataka Pali & Thera Apadana Pali there have briefly describe about more 130 sub hells. Here we describe about main eight hells & how hell beings are get pains. Creatures existence in hell as astal body but have same organs as same as human body such as muscles, blood vessels, skeletons, etc...So they can get same pains from burnings & cuttings. There have king related to hell who try to escape creatures from hell even he or she rebirth in hell as Kamma. He ask five questions from hell beings about five angles : Early born baby, aged person, sick person, person who punished by government & death body - "Kindly Man, being a wise aged one, didn't it occur to you, I have not gone beyond birth, now I will do some good by body, words and mind?". If hell being can't give answers beyond these question by referring his merit works done by him in human realms such as meditation, donations, observe precepts, etc... finally king of hell said - "Good one, owing to negligence you acted in that manner. This evil action was not done by your, mother, father, brother, sister, friends, co -associates or blood relations. It was not done by recluses, monks or gods, it was done by you and you will experience its results". Then he become silent, he don't say punishments, he only try to escape him because hell being created punishments from himself via Kamma. King of hell can escape creature from hell, only that being did merit works in human world. So here is some experiences of hell & their painful punishments. "Then the warders of hell give him the fivefold binding. That is two hot iron spikes are sent through his two palms, and two other hot spikes are sent through his two feet and the fifth hot iron spike is sent through his chest. On account of this he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell conduct him and hammer him On account of this he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell take him upside down and cut him with a knife On account of this too he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell yoke him to a cart and make him go to and fro on a ground that is flaming and ablaze On account of this too he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell make him ascend and descend a rock of burning ambers On account of this he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell throw him upside down into a boiling, blazingpot of molten. There he is cooked in the molten scum, and he on his own accord dives in comes up and goes across in the molten pot. On account of this too he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings. Yet he does not die, until his demerit finishes. Next the warders of hell throw him to the Great Hell."....."Parallel and together with the Hell of Excretais the Hell where hot ashes rain, he falls into that. There he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings, yet he does not die until his demerit comes to an end. Parallel and together with the Hell where hot ashes rain, is the Simbali forest, more than seven miles tall, it has thorns sixteen inches long, aflame and blazing, he climbs on them and goes to and fro on them. There he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings, yet he does not die until his demerit comes to an end. Parallel and together with the Simbali forest, is a forest of swords. He enters that. The leaves that fall with the wind, cut his feet, hands, feet and hands, ears, nose, ears and nose. There he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings, yet he does not die until his demerit comes to an end. Parallel and together with the forest of swords is a huge salt water river He falls into that. In it he is carried up stream and down stream. There he experiences sharp piercing unpleasant feelings, yet he does not die until his demerit comes to an end." (From Sutta Pitakaya at metta.lk web site) Animal & Asura Realms We can understand pains & unhelpfulness of animal realms. Animals can't take foods as they want, they can't talk, they can't take medicines when they get ills, sometimes small animals become foods stuff to other animals. Some animals always stay with fear. So there have untellable pains in animal realms. Asura realms are widely described as : group of gods but they do opposite actions against to five precepts & ten skillful actions such as they don't respect to monks, they make fear humans, influence to climate in earth, etc...These asuras are called as demons not as gods. They often live in astral houses in ocean. Other group are evil ghost who have very long life time as even one Kappa & have extraordinary power such as make creations, kill someone from mind, destroy human life, etc...Other asura group is creatures between gods & devils. These called demons have all power & luxury life as god but they eat human meat. They don't kill human being from effort but use tricky actions from cheating such as people who are traveling in deserts see nice women & these women say there have village in desert so throw water. But there have no any water or village, these women are asura who make tricky trap to kill those people in desert then eat their meat. These foolish people throw water then die without water in desert, after traveling long distances. So these asura beings are do opposite actions against to five precepts & ten skillful actions, therefore rebirth in this life also help to gain sins & probably lost their merits then again drop down to hell. Hungry Ghost Realms After the hell, hungry ghost are the most painful creatures in rebirth cycle. They have very long life times without food, cloths, water & they stay on excretais, mud, toilets, bath rooms, old dirty buildings, dirty homes, intersection roads, etc...Lot of times they come into houses which is not maintain long time & not clean proper way. They like dirty smells such as urines. In Sutta Pitakaya, there have section related to them called Pretha Vaththu Pali & Sanyuttha Nikaya. There have ghost stories as same as modern ghost stories. However hungry ghosts are lucky than other hell creatures cause they can gain merits while people transfer merits when doing merit actions. Hungry ghost also born as astral body. But their body can be seen by some human being. Some hungry ghost have all luxury things same as gods but one essential thing is missing. As example some ghost have nice house with decorations & stay on lot of foods as heaven. But they don't have cloths. Hence they can't go out from their home. Here is example of hungry ghost in Pretha Vaththu. "Mother of Sariputhra Arahat monk before five life times back, was born that hungry ghost who has very naked thin, skeleton, blood vessels shown body, who sleep in cemetery. She suffering from taste & hungry. She can't eat normal food stuff & drink water. Then she make her mind to eat excretais of human & animals, drink blood which drop from human & animal wounds, drink blood when youth girls got monthly sick, etc... When Sariputhra Arahat monk transfer merit from donations to other Arehat monks, she became as same as heavenly goddess." "One wife of tailor became hungry ghost because she neglect her husband's Buddhist fellowship & blame him when he donate alarms to monks. She blame by telling to become those donations into excretais & urines, but after that husband die rebirth as god & wife rebirth as hungry ghost who can only eat excretais & urines." "Another two stores are one women rebirth as hungry ghost with face is like pig while body is like human because she didn't observe precepts via mouth. Other hungry ghost has upper path of body is like god with nice cloths but lower path of body is naked & spoiled cause when he was human he did bad actions from body." "In Sanyuththa Nikaya had story about group of hungry ghosts who are same as Buddhist monks but their cloths are burning cause in Kasapa Buddha's time they are Buddhist monks but didn't observe higher precepts." Bad One Of Death In the Buddhist cosmology there have some kind of officers in universe. King of Hell, Great Brakma, Skkcra, As well as Bad One Of Death, also such officer who bond creatures to rebirth cycle via lustful - figures, sounds, odors, tastes, body feelings & thoughts. In Pali language he is called as Papima Mara or Wasawarthi ( King of lustful bonding). As same as god, person who did merit will rebirth as Mara king & people who did mere merit become his servants. Lord Buddha said Mara has most power except Buddha & greater than Brakma gods. Once time Maha Moggallana Arhat monk also became as bad one of death in Kasapa Buddha's time, he also troubled that Buddha & Arhat monks then as result of it rebirth in hell. Wonderful factor is even Mara king have such great controllable power, after his merit finish he born in hell. Lot of time Asuras are associate with Mara & his servants. Lord Buddha said when someone promise himself to achieve enlighten states such as Stream Entry, the Mara come close to him & disturbs him. So great persistence, precepts & concentration need to be neglect Mara & his troublesome servants. Conclusion After read these stories, we can conclude all foul hell realms are very painful. If we decide to wandering in rebirth cycle, we happen to go through hells, animal realms, hungry ghost realms & asura realms. Reason to born in these realm are theory of soul, doubt & bond to mere traditions activities which are removed from stream entry path. Only way to get rid from hells, animal realms, hungry ghost realms & asura realms is go eight noble path & grow steady devotion to threefold refuge. So our main aim in this life must be enlighten into stream entering as Buddhist person. |
|
|