SOME ELEMENTS OF BUDDHIST COSMOLOGY
SOME ELEMENTS OF BUDDHIST COSMOLOGY
Rev Jōshō Adrian Cîrlea
www.amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.ro
Most of the articles in this presentation are from the first part of my book, The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land. You can download this book, for free, or buy a printed copy from my website.
1. General explanations of “being”, “karma” and “rebirth”
2. There is no supreme god or creator in the Buddha Dharma
3. Some Buddhist explanations on the origin and existence of the universe
4. Two questions on Buddha nature and Samsara
5. A question and answer on samsaric realms and the Pure Land
6. Is the Pure Land a state of consciousness or a real place?
7. Those who believe in a creator god cannot have true faith in Amida Buddha
1. General explanations of “being”, “karma” and “rebirth”
Samsara is the cycle of repeated births and deaths through which unenlightened beings must pass due to their karmic illusions and blind passions. But before going into details on this topic, let us understand, what is a“being” or a “person”, according to the Buddhist teaching, and also, what is “karma” and “rebirth”
So, dear friends, imagine you have a car in front of you. Now imagine you loose one of the wheels and you put it aside. Is the car identical with this wheel? Then take another wheel and proceed in the same way, asking yourself the same question. Continue to disassemble the car and do not stop till each component of the automobile is taken away. Now ask yourself again: do all these components taken separately represent the automobile? You will logically realize the answer is “no”.
So what really is the vehicle? It is a name given to an ensemble of elements put together at a given time. What is the person (a human or non-human being) from a Buddhist point of view? An ensemble of elements gathered at a given moment. These elements are represented by ideas, sensations, feelings, thoughts, etc. All these united represent the human or nonhuman being. This explanation must be kept in mind if we want to understand Buddhism. The person is not something all by itself but an ensemble of various sensations, feelings, ideas, thoughts etc, united at a given moment.
The fundamental characteristic of this ensemble is transition, dynamism. When looking at a person one will see an image of this motion, an image of this ensemble in continuous movement. If one looked at that person when he/she was three years old one wouldn’t have seen the same thing. This is because at that time you observed another aspect of the motion. The components of the personality would have had another aspect and a different form. After twenty years you’ll see, for instance, another John, George or Mike. Something is still preserved but at the same time something changes. I am not identical with my three year’s old self, and in twenty years time I won’t be completely the same with the one I am now. In Buddhism this is called the non-ego or non-self doctrine. All things exists due to causes and conditions, thus they have no nature of their own or an unchanged identity. This is why they are said to be empty. When causes and conditions come together, a certain thing exists, when they disappear, that thing also disappears. When causes and conditions change, that thing changes too.
Now let us observe another matter. What is causing this ensemble to move? Buddha’s answer is: desire and craving (thirst). Our different desires and tendencies determine us to move towards one direction or another; they change our personal history and generate the karma, the action. Karma is the law of cause and effect. The term “karma” comes from the Sanskrit word “karman” which means action - acting with thought, deed and word. As a conclusion, there are three types of karma: karma of thought, of speech and karma of action or body. All that we think, speak or do will affect our personal history. What we are now represents the result of what we thought, said or did in the past, in another lifetime or in the present life; and what we think, speak and do in the present will create us in the future.
We’ve said that what is commonly called “person” is in continuous change and that after ten years, for example, he is not identical with the one he is today. We’ve said that although he is not the same, something still remains; well, this something is the causal continuity. When a man sets a stack on fire and the fire extends to the whole village and burns down the house of another peasant situated at the opposite side of the village, the first peasant could say that he has nothing to do with this disaster, for the fire which burnt the house of the second peasant is not identical with the flame he used for setting his straws on fire. But there is a causal continuity between the first fire and the one which burnt the second peasant’s house. This is how things are concerning the karma. The ensemble in continuous motion, that is the human or non-human being, is moved by a desire which generates karma. We are the result of our own karma.
Karma may last forever and determines our birth in another life. So we have arrived to what is called “reincarnation”. But from the Buddhist point of view a more appropriate word would be rebirth. When using the term “reincarnation”, the idea implied in it is that there would be a self dependent, unchangeable thing which passes from one body to another. But we have underlined in our presentation that the ensemble named “person” is in continuous motion and transformation, which is why the term “mind-stream” is often used in the Buddhist texts to emphasize this constant changing. So, we see that the word rebirth is more adequate. A man in his daily life dies and is reborn permanently, according to the changes, the tendencies and the desires which occur in his mind-stream and the physical body . We’ve given earlier the example with the age of three years and twenty years.
In the moment of death, our personal karma determines the form and the vehicle, that is, the body which the mind-stream will have in the next birth. Our desires need a vehicle to follow them and fulfill them in another life. The environment where we will be born in another life and the shape we will have, depend on the karma. Buddha states that not even a single man can escape his karma:
“Not in the heaven, not in the middle of the ocean, not in the mountain caves: there is no place in this world were you can hide from the consequences of your deeds.”
The doctrine of karma teaches us that we are completely responsible of what we are and of what we will become. Nobody besides us, be it a god, human or any other being, can be held responsible. We deserve what happens to us, even if it is hard to accept that. 2. There is no supreme god or creator in the Buddha Dharma
Nowadays, many people from inside or outside the Sangha spread the idea that Shakyamuni Buddha did not deny nor affirm the existence of God. Thus, they somehow imply that the World Honored One left the door open for interpretation and that it is ok for a Buddhist disciple to believe in a Creator or supreme God.
Well, this is a great delusion and a falsification of Shakyamuni’s teaching. In fact, the Buddha clearly denied the existence of a supreme being who created the world, rules the world and will one day judge the world. In this short chapter I do not have the intention to enter into any debate or polemics with followers of other religions on the existence or nonexistence of such a supreme being, but just to prove that Shakyamuni Buddha clearly denied this view and considered it a false and dangerous illusion. For me the most important thing is not what monotheistic religions say, or if some chose to believe in a creator god (its their choice), but what the Buddha actually said and preached. So, if we consider ourselves to be His diciples, we ought to know His position on this topic and follow it faithfully.
It is well known that among the many religious and philosophical traditions that were contemporary with the Buddha, the idea of a supreme being who created and sustains the world was well known and shared by many. This is exactly why, He did not keep silence, but preached against it.
In the Discourse on Brahma’s Invitation (Brahmanimantanika Sutra) 2, Buddha tells the story of His visit to the heavenly place of a powerful god, called Baka Brahma, to convince him to renounce to his wrong view about himself and his realm:
“Bhikshus3, once I was staying at the foot of a royal sal tree in the Subhaga Grove at Ukattha. Now at that time, an evil wrong view had arisen in the Brahma Baka thus:
‘This Brahma realm is permanent; this is everlasting; this is eternal; this is everything [complete in itself]; this is not subject to passing away, nor is this born, nor does it decay, nor die, nor pass away (from the heavens), nor is reborn; and there is also no escape beyond this.’
2 The Brahmanimantanika Sutra, which is a part of Majjhima Nikaya 49 has a parallel in the Madhyama Āgama (MĀ 78), which agrees with the Pali version in its title of “Brahma inviting the Buddha” (梵天請佛), and also that the Buddha is staying at Jeta’s forest near Savatthī. The first part of the Brahmanimantanika Sutra appears as a discourse in the Samyutta Nikaya and is called the Brahma Baka Sutra (S 6.4).3 All three versions open with Baka believing his realm to be permanent and supreme, and the Buddha, aware of this wrong view, thereupon visits him. Apparently, the Brahmanimantanika Sutra is an expansion of the account of the Brahma Baka Sutra (S 6.4), or that the latter, giving only a brief account, is a summary of the former. More likely, however, both texts were built on an ur-text (common original text). Both the sutta openings are identical, but while the Brahmanimantanika Sutra is set at Ukkattha, the Brahma Baka Sutra is set at Sarvasti. It is also interesting to note that the Majjhima account is given in the first person, with the Buddha himself narrating the event, but the Samyutta account is in the third person. Both the Brahma Baka Sutra (S 6.4) and the MĀ 78 version agree in saying that the Buddha is residing in Jeta’s forest near Savatthī. Moreover, this account recurs in the Baka Brahma Jataka. (Introduction to the English version of the Brahmanimantanika Sutta by Piya Tan). The passages quoted in this subchapter are mainly from the translation made by Piya Tan, with the exception indicated in the respective footnote.
3 Bhiksus means “monks”. Shakyamuni begins this sutra (discourse) by addressing directly to the monks by his own accord. It is something like, “dear monks…”.
Having known with my mind the thought in the Brahma Baka’s mind, just as a strong man would stretch his bent arm or would bend his stretched arm, I vanished from the foot of the royal sal tree in the Subhaga Grove at Ukattha and reappeared in the Brahma world”.
Seeing Him coming, the Baka Brahma confirms to the Blessed One that he indeed shared that view:
“Now, good sir, this Brahma realm is permanent; this is everlasting; this is eternal; this is everything [complete in itself]; this is not subject to passing away, nor is this born, nor does it decay, nor die, nor pass away (from the heavens), nor is reborn; and there is also no escape beyond this.’”
Hearing this, Shakyamuni immediately tried to correct him by stating that nothing is really permanent or eternal, not even the realm and power of the gods:
“Alas! The worthy Brahma Baka has fallen into ignorance in that he says of the impermanent that it is permanent; of the non-everlasting that it is everlasting; of the noneternal that it is eternal; of the incomplete that it is everything; of what is subject to passing away as being not subject to passing away; of where one is born, and decays, and dies, and passes away (from the heavens), and is reborn, that this is where one is not subject to passing away, nor is born, nor decays, nor dies, nor passes away (from the heavens), nor is reborn; and when there is an escape beyond this, he says that there is no escape beyond this.’”
But then, to prevent the Buddha from stating more truths, the demon Mara possessed a member of Baka Brahma’s host and entered the discussion by addressing the Buddha with the term “bhiksu” (monk), like He was just an ordinary seeker, inferior to Brahma:
“Then Mara, the evil one, possessed a certain member of Brahma’s host , and he told me: ‘Bhikshu, bhikshu, do not disparage him, do not disparage him. For this Brahma is the Great Brahmā, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the Omniscient, the Omnipotent, the Lord God, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief, the Ordainer, the Almighty, the Father of all that are and that will be.”
This passage is extremely important as it shows the delusion Mara tries to offer to the god Brahma and to all beings – the so called existence of a supreme creator god who rules everything. Thus, he mentions some of the titles that nowadays monotheistic religions apply to their so called “supreme god”: “the Omniscient, the Omnipotent, the Lord God, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief, the Ordainer, the Almighty, the Father of all that are and that will be.” In his efforts to impose this wrong view, he tries to frighten the audience by saying that before Shakyamuni, there were many other “recluses and brahmins” who were against this supreme creator god and who, after death, were reborn in the lower realms for their lack of faith, while others who had faith and praised the Brahma, acquired a superior rebirth and body . Then, he urges the Buddha to obey this supreme Brahma and do not go against him:
“So, bhikshu, I tell you this:
‘Come now, good sir, do only as Brahma says! Go not against the word of Brahma. If you go against the word of Brahma, bhikshu, then, you would be like a man trying to deflect approaching glory with a stick, or, bhikshu, you would be like a man losing his hold of earth with his hand and feet as he falls down the deep chasm—so it will be unto you, bhikshu. Come now, good sir, do only as Brahma God says! Go not against the word of Brahma. Do you not see Brahma’s host seated here, bhikshu?’ And then Mara the evil one led me up close to Brahma’s host.”
But the Buddha immediately recognized Mara under the disguise of a member in Brahma’s host, and exposed his treachery to all. Unfortunately, He was the only one there who had not fallen under Maras’s influence:
“When this was said, I told this to Mara the evil one:
‘I know you, evil one. Do not think, “He does not know.” You are Mara the evil one, and Brahma and Brahma’s host and Brahma’s retinue have all fallen into your hands; they have fallen under your power. You, evil one, think, ‘This world has fallen into my hands! He [the Buddha], too, has fallen under my power!’ But I have not fallen into your hands, evil one; I have not fallen under your power!’”
Thus, when Baka Brahma enters again in the discussions he does so only to re-assert his wrong views I mentioned above, at the beginning of this article. Then, filled with his godly pride he threatens the Buddha, trying to bring Him into submission:
“Bhikshu, I tell you this: You will find no escape beyond, and you will only reap your share of toil and trouble” but […] “if you will hold on to Brahma [[[God]]], you will be close to me, rest in my domain, so that I may work my will upon you and make you low and humble.”
Not afraid, the Buddha speaks about the limitations of Brahma, proving to him that even if he now has (due to his previous karma) great power over a very large part of the universe, and knows everything high and low in it, still there are places of existence which are not under his domain, and gods (themselves unenlightened and not supreme) far more superior than him:
“I know your destiny (karma), Brahma, and I know your splendor [your fall]”.
As far as the sun and moon course their way, lighting the quarters with their radiance, Over that thousandfold world, your might hold sway. There you know the high and low, and the lustful and the lust free, Such and such existences, the comings and goings of beings.
“Thus, Brahma, I know your reach and I know your radiance: the Brahma Baka has this much might, the Brahma Baka has this much power, the Brahma Baka has this much sway. But, Brahma, there are three other bodies and worlds , that you neither know nor see; but which I know and see.
Thus, the Buddha relates to him that his present situation is in fact, an involution from higher states where he once dwelt. As everything that goes up must one day fall, Baka Brahma too, fell from previous better realms when the good karma that brought him there was exhausted. Unfortunately, due to his ignorance and limited power he cannot remember them, but the Enlightenment’s vision being all-pervading, the Buddha can see them:
“(1) There is, Brahma, the world called Ābhāsvara (Heaven of Supreme Light) , having arisen here, you fell from it. Because you have dwelt here for so long, your memory has lapsed, and so you neither know nor see it, but I know and see it. As such, Brahma, as regards direct knowledge, you and I are not of the same level at all, for how could I know less? Rather, I know more than you.
(2) There is, Brahma, the world called Śubhakrtsna (Heaven of Universal Purity) , having arisen here, you fell from it. Because you have dwelt here for so long, your memory has lapsed, and so you neither know nor see it, but I know and see it. As such, Brahma, as regards direct knowledge, you and I are not of the same level at all, for how could I know less? Rather, I know more than you.
(3) There is, Brahma, the world called Brhatphala (Heaven of Greater Fruits) , that you neither know nor see. I know and see it. As such, Brahma, as regards direct knowledge, you and I are not of the same level at all, for how could I know less? Rather, I know more than you.”
Then, in order to prove the limitations of Brahma, the Buddha challenged him to see who among them can vanish from each other’s sight:
"'Well then, good sir, I will disappear from you.' "'Well then, Brahma, disappear from me if you can.'”
Of course, Brahma was unable to prove his superiority and could not hide himself from the Buddha’s unimpeded vision: "Then Baka Brahma, [[[thinking]],] 'I will disappear from Gotama the contemplative. I will disappear from Gotama the contemplative,' was not able to disappear from me.
As for the Buddha, this was not a difficult thing to do, and so he disappeared from Brahma and his retinue’s sight, allowing them to only hear His voice14: "So then, bhikshus, I fabricated a fabrication of psychic power to the extent that Brahma, the Brahma assembly, and the attendants of the Brahma assembly heard my voice but did not see me. Having disappeared, I recited this verse:
'Having seen danger right in becoming, and becoming searching for non-becoming, I didn't affirm any kind of becoming, or cling to any delight.'”
This amazes Brahma and his retinue who start to recognize Buddha’s superiority, but Mara again quickly intervenes and tries to convince Buddha to give up the teaching of such ideas, and to not accept disciples:
“Then Mara the evil one possessed a certain member of Brahma’s host, and he told me: ‘Good sir, if that is what you know, if that is what you have understood, do not guide your disciples and renunciants! Do not teach the Dharma to your disciples and renunciants!”
Again, he tries to frighten the Buddha by saying that those renunciants and spiritual seekers who did like Him and preached such ideas were reborn in lower states , while those who abstained and kept to themselves, had a good rebirth . But the Buddha reveals the wicked intentions of Mara:
“‘I know you, evil one. Do not think, “He does not know.” You are Mara the evil one! It is not out of compassion for their welfare that you speak thus. It is without compassion for their welfare that you speak thus. You think thus, evil one: ‘Those to whom the recluse Gotama teaches the Dharma will escape from my sphere!’”
So, this is the reason why Mara tried to prevent the Buddha to teach the non-existence of a creator god, all powerful and eternal, because such a teaching would free people from his influence. In this sutra, Mara is thus regarded not only as the celestial demon of the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Manifestations by Others (Paranirmitavaśavartin), but also as impersonating delusion, ignorance and all the internal and external obstacles that prevent Enlightenment. Thus, according to the Buddha, the belief in a supreme god, creator and sustainer of the universe, is a grave error and an obstacle to true freedom from the repeated cycle of birth and death. In contrast to the various renunciants or spiritual seekers, who believed in the eternal god creator Brahma, or those that Mara gave as an example before, the Buddha is a truly Awakened One:
“Those recluses and brahmins of yours, evil one, who claimed to be fully self-awakened were not fully self-awakened. But I, who claim to be fully self-awakened, am (truly) fully selfawakened.
[…] Evil one, the Tathagata has abandoned the mental influxes that defile, bring renewal of being, give trouble, ripen in suffering, and lead to further birth, decay and death. Evil one, He has cut them off at the root, made them like a palm-tree stump, done away with them so that they are not subject to further growth. In this manner, evil one, the Tathagata has abandoned the mental influxes that defile, cut them off at the root, made them like a palm-tree stump, done away with them so that they are not subject to further growth.’”
There are also other discourses in which Shakyamuni Buddha clearly denied the existence of a supreme god, and I plan to show them to you in my next articles in this category. Now, I just wish to insist a little more upon the situation described above. What we see in the sutra, is a powerful god, possessing a very long life due to his previous good karma from the past, who falls in the delusion that he is supreme in the universe and also the creator and master of the world. And the one who supports him in this deluded idea is the most powerful demon of samsara – Mara, the evil one. If we somehow place the story of the Brahmanimantanika Sutra in modern context and relate it to the monotheistic religions of nowadays, we can say their supreme god is under the influence of Satan who fooled him into believing that he is: “the Omniscient, the Omnipotent, the Lord God, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief, the Ordainer, the Almighty, the Father of all that are and that will be.” This should make all those who have the tendency to mix Buddhism with Christianity or other monotheistic religions to think twice before making their wrong assumption that the Buddha did not deny the existence of a supreme/creator god. If we carefully read the passages above from the Brahmanimantanika Sutra and other discourses, we clearly see that there is no place in the Buddhist thought for the actual existence of a supreme/creator being.
Of course, there are many powerful gods, ruling over vast realms of samsara, who might have the delusion of being supreme and eternal, just like many humans declare themselves supreme among their kind, but this is just one delusion among the many delusions of the unenlightened beings. In truth, the prosperity, lifespan, power and abilities, as well as the realms and forms in which we are born are due to our karma, and will change according to karma. Nothing is enduring for ever, and those who are now in a position of great strength in human world or celestial worlds, will one day fall, when the karma for being there will be exhausted. Thus, even the most powerful gods die. To have faith in one of them, especially in those who have the delusion that they are all-powerful, may be beneficial in short term, and even lead to rebirth in their heavenly realms, if we also cultivate good deeds, but in long term, when those gods and their realms disappear, or when our karma for being there also comes to an end, we’ll fall again in the lower realms. This is why only the state of Buddhahood or Nirvana should be our single goal in the religious life, because there is no decay and fall from it:
“The enlightenment of nonbuddhist ways is called impermanent, Buddhist Enlightenment is called eternal. The emancipation of nonbuddhist ways is called impermanent, the
Emancipation of Buddhist ways is called eternal”.
3. Some Buddhist explanations on the origin and existence of the universe
Regard this phantom world
As a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,
A flash of lightning in a summer cloud
A flickering lamp — a phantom — and a dream.
Question: If the Buddha Dharma denies the idea of a creator god, then how does it explain the existence of the various worlds and universes?
First of all, when it refers to worlds and universes, the Buddha Dharma explains them as places of rebirth, or Samsaric realms. Thus, they are inhabited by unenlightened beings in various stages of spiritual evolution or involution. As far as I know, most of the monotheists give the following argument in the support of their belief in a supreme creator-god: “if you see a house in a field you ask yourself who built it. In the same way, this complex world is the creation of our god. Anything that exists has a creator”. This is the basis of their belief system, but for Buddhists the matter is wrongly addressed here. Yes, indeed, everything has a creator, but not in the way the monotheists think. I would rather say, every dream has a creator – the dreamer. And who is the dreamer? It is us – the unenlightened beings with our specific individual karma, but also with the collective karma or the karmic connections we create among us.
The various worlds and universes are intrinsically linked with the beings who inhabit them. So, we can say that the first exist because of the karma of unenlightened beings or in other words, the karma of unenlightened beings is the primary cause for the existence of worlds and universes. Let’s take a look, for example, to the hell realms. Who are the tormentors, “hell wardens” or terrifying beasts who apply punishment to those born there? What is the true nature of the molten bronze, of the fierce mountains, rivers of fire, and various other material elements which are to be found in hells ? Are they created by somebody, and do they have an existence of their own? According to the Buddhist teaching they are the manifestation of the evil karma of the hell dwellers20, just like the monsters and terrifying places in our nightmares are created by our own thoughts and cravings. In the nightmares, the monsters and the terrifying places are real for the dreamer, and it is exactly so for those reborn in hells.
Thus, there is no creator god who made hell or invented the “hell wardens” to punish the sinners, because the sinners themselves are responsible for the existence of those places. Every thought and action we do is a cause that will have consequences (effects). If we constantly dwell on evil thoughts and deeds, we change our inner world (our mind stream) and we’ll sooner or later be surrounded by an evil and painful outside world (our bodies and the environment). So, after we leave this human form and world, we’ll be reborn in a body and world that will correspond with (is a reflection of ) our minds and karma. Just like hells are the reflection of the most evil karma of beings, the rest of the planes of existence (animals21, hungry ghosts, humans, asuras or demigods, and gods), also appear due to the karma of beings.
The Eight Cold Hells are located on the same level as the Eight Hot Hells, but in comparison with them, where fire is dominant, here the karmic environment is composed of snow mountains and glaciers, and the winds are ravaging blizzards. These hells are: 1. Hell of Blisters (Arbuda), where various ice blisters erupt on the body of the beings while they are submerged in extremely cold water or blasted by the wind; 2. Hell of Burst Blisters (Nirarbuda), where the blisters become open sores; 3. Hell of Clenched Teeth (Atata), where the teeth of the beings are tightly clenched due to extreme cold; 4. Hell of Lamentation (Hahava), where the beings greatly lament while their tongues are paralyzed and find it difficult to breathe or scream; 5. Hell of Groans (Huhuva), where the voices of beings are cracked and long groans escape from their lips; 6. Hell of Utpala-like Cracks (Utpala) or the Blue Flower Hell, where the skin of beings born there is blue and splits into four petals-like pieces; 7. Hell of Lotus-like Cracks (Padma) or the Lotus Flower Hell, where the red raw flesh of beings becomes visible, and the cold makes it split into eight pieces, which makes it look like a lotus flower; 8. Hell of Great Lotus-like Cracks (Mahapadma) or the Great Lotus Hell, where the beings flesh turns dark red and splits into sixteen, thirty-two and then into innumerable pieces, thus looking like a large lotus flower; also various worms penetrate the cracked flesh and devour it with their metal beaks. According to Shakyamuni, and various Buddhist masters who explained them, the Eight Hot Hells have their own adjacent or neighboring hells (utsadas):
“There are eight hells there that I have revealed, difficult to get out of, full of cruel beings, each having sixteen utsadas (neighboring hells); they have four walls and four gates; they are as high as they are wide; they are encircled by walls of fire; their ceiling is fire; their sun is burning, sparkling fire; and they are filled with flames hundreds of yojanas high.” (Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakosabhasyam)
Other types of hell are also the temporary hells (pradesikanakara in Skt), which were created through the actions of one being, two beings, or many beings. As Bodhisattva Vasubandhu explains, their variety is great and their place is not fixed, so they can be found in rivers, mountains, deserts, and elsewhere:
“There are the pradesika (ephemeral) hells, created through the force of individual actions, the actions of one being, of two beings, of many beings. Their variety is great; their place is not determined: river, mountain, desert, and elsewhere”. (Abhidharmakosabhasyam) 20 Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, the 2nd Patriarch of Jodo Shinshu, also explained this in the 4th stanza of his Vijnaptimatravimsaka and he stated the same in his Abhidharmakosabhasyam. 21 Animals live in various places, not just in the human world, and they suffer from both eating one another, and from exploitation. They are hunted or raised for their meat and various products of their bodies, thus experiencing inconceivable torments, and almost none of them dying a natural death. Bodhisattva Nagarjuna lamented the state of animals in the following verses:
“Even when in the state of an animal rebirth, there are all sorts of sufferings:
Being slaughtered, tied up, being beaten, and so on.
For those who've had to give up (the ability for) constructive behavior leading to (a state of) peace,
There's the extremely unbearable devouring of one another”.
Thus, we can say that the six realms of existence, which are described in the sacred texts, are, on one hand, six dimensions of consciousness or six dimensions of possible experiences which manifests in us, individually, as the six negative emotions (anger/hate, greed, ignorance, jealousy, pride and pleasurable distraction22), and on the other hand, they are actual realms into which beings are born due to collective karma. Even while living in our human bodies, we are connected to each realm/dimension and we have in us the seeds of rebirth into every one of them. Thus, during our lifetime, when we experience different emotions, we participate in some of the characteristic qualities and suffering predominant in other realms. For example, when we are dominated by hate and anger we are like the hell beings, when we are greedy we feel something similar with those born in the hungry ghost realm (pretas)23, whose bodies are tormented by insatiable thirst or hunger; when we think only to satisfy our sexual desires, we resemble animals; when we are filled with pride, we enjoy and suffer just like the asuras (demigods)24 who are always prone
Some are killed for the sake of (their) pearls or wool,
Or bones, meat, or pelts;
While others, being powerless, are forced into servitude, Beaten with kicks, fists, or whips, or with hooks or with prods
( Verses 89 and 90 from Letter to a Friend (bShes-pa'i springs-yig, Skt. Suhrllekha) by Nagarjuna, translated by Alexander Berzin, 2006)
22 Pleasurable distraction is the emotional state when the other five emotions are present in equal measure, harmoniously balanced.
23 There are two kinds of pretas (hungry ghosts): 1. pretas who live collectively, and 2. pretas who travel through space. Among the pretas who live collectively, there are three types: the pretas who suffer from external obscurations, pretas who suffer from internal obscurations and pretas who suffer from specific obscurations.
Pretas who suffer from external obscurations are the pretas who suffer from intense hunger and thirst or from unbearable heat and cold. Thus, whatever food or water they see in the distance, it proves to be nothing but a mirage, because when they come closer, they realize it vanished, dried up or that it is guarded by armed demons who beat them and chase them away.
Pretas who suffer from internal obscurations have very small mouths, some no bigger than the eye of a needle, and a large sized stomach of hundreds of meters or even more. When they try to drink water, the heat of their breath evaporates it as soon as it goes down their throats. In the same way, no matter how much they eat, they cannot be satisfied due to the contradiction between their mouths and stomachs, but even if they somehow manage to eat a little, it will burst into flames during the night and burn their inside organs. Also movement is extremely hard and painful to them because of their grass-like limbs.
Pretas who suffer from specific obscurations vary from one another, according to the specific causes that brought them into that state. For example, some have many creatures living on their bodies and devouring them, or may have their own food transformed into various uneatable and foul matters, while some other cut their own flesh and eat it.
Pretas who travel through space are various types of pretas which are generaly tormented by constant fear and hallucination. Generaly speaking, they want to offload their pain on others, so wherever they go they do harm to others, so many of them fall into hells when their life as a preta comes to an end. Even when they visit their relatives from previous life, they bring only sickness, insanity and various other sufferings. They also suffer from the distorted perceptions of other kind of pretas, like perceiving the sun of winter to be too cold, or the moon too hot in summer night. Their bodily form may be of various hideous animals, like ugly dogs, birds and others.
24 Although the Asuras experience various pleasures and abundance which are far superior to those of humans, and even rival those of the gods, they are constantly tormented by pride, quarreling and fighting. Beings in the human realm who are more spiritually advanced than others, but who strongly manifest these characteristics will be born among the Asuras. In their own realm, Asuras divide themselves in various groups and territories and to fighting. When we try hard to cultivate moral discipline, but still can’t give up jealousy as the dominant emotion, we may be reborn mentally or physically in the human world25. Also, when the five negative emotions (anger/hate, greed, ignorance, jealousy, pride) are to be found in balance and low quantity (this is what is meant by “pleasurable distraction”), and we try even harder to accumulate good karma, we may feel like those reborn among the gods of the world of desire26, and after death we will actually go there. If we try hard to practice
fight never ending wars, while also, because they envy the pleasures of the lower realms of the gods, start useless conflicts with them, which they eventually lose.
In some texts, the realm of Asuras is counted among the lower gods, because of the pleasures found there, or among the lower realms, together with hells, animals, and pretas, because of the pain they inflict to themselves. In conclusion, life as an Asura is a pitiful one – filled as it is with joys and pleasures more than a human can imagine, but not being capable to enjoy it due to envy, pride and conflicts. 25 Life in human form does not contain so much suffering like in the hells, pretas and animal realms, but contains less happiness than in the asura and gods realms. Because of this, even if it has its own disadvantages, the human realm is the most desirable place of birth, from the spiritual point of view. Buddhas themselves, when appearing in the world to turn the wheel of Dharma, they do so in human form.
To illustrate the extreme difficulty of rebirth in the human realm, as opposed to the lower realms, Shakyamuni Buddha compared it to the likelihood that a blind turtle, surfacing from the depths of the ocean only once every one hundred years, would encounter a tree trunk with a hole suitable for nesting:
“Sooner, do I declare, would a one-eyed turtle, if he were to pop up to the surface of the sea only once at the end of every hundred years, chance to push his neck through a yoke with one hole than would a fool, who has once gone to the three lower realms, be reborn as a man.” (Samyutta Nikaya. v. 455)
The sacred texts often insists that we should appreciate the rare chance of birth in human form and do whatever we can to put it to good use for Dharma practice:
“Hard is it to be born into human life, now we are living it. Difficult is it to hear the teachings of the Blessed One, now we hear it. Even through ages of myriads of kalpas, hard is it to hear such an excellent, profound, and wonderful doctrine. Now we are able to hear and receive it. Let us thoroughly understand the true meaning of Tathagata’s teaching”.
However, human beings, afflicted as they are with the Eight Sufferings, namely, birth, old age, disease, death, separation from loved ones, meeting with the people they hate, unfulfilled wishes and the suffering associated with the five skandas (1. form, 2. perception, 3. conceptions and ideas, 4. volition and 5. conscience or mind.), find it very hard to have a true spiritual evolution. They are born in pain, have a fragile body when compared with that of many other beings, and generally speaking, their lifespan is not definite, as death may come anytime to young and old alike. Also, their experience is contradictory, changing quickly from pleasant to painful, and thus, nothing is truly certain in the human realm. Because of these conditions inherent in human beings, they often lose the rare chance they have and fall again to the lower realms. 26 In the World of Desire (Kamadhatu), there are six classes of gods with their specific realms. The first realm is the Heaven of the Four Kings (Caturmaharaja),. As Master Genshin explained, “one day and night in the realm of the Four Kings is as long as fifty years of human life, and life in the realm of the Four Kings lasts five hundred years”.
The second realm is the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods (Trayastrimsa). The most important god of this realm is Sakra (or Indra in some texts). As Master Genshin explained, “a hundred years of human life are equal in length to one day and night in the Heaven of the Thirty-three, and in this heaven life lasts a thousand years”.
The third realm is the Heaven of Good Time (Yama or Suyama). As Master Genshin explained, “two hundred years of human life are equal in length to one day and night in Heaven of Yama, where life lasts two thousand years”.
The fourth realm is the Heaven of Contentment (Tusita)
various kinds of Samadhi and meditation we can also enjoy pleasures that go higher than material desires, and so after death we can advance to the gods living in the world of form27 (which is higher than the world of desire) and even further to the gods in the world of nonform28, who do not have any attachment to body, and do not even possess a definite body.
In short, there are many experiences that sentient beings can enjoy, from sexual instincts, hate, anger, greed, jealousy, pride, pleasurable distractions, to various absorptions and spiritual pleasures. These can generate even in this life, the states of mind corresponding to the various planes of existence which, after the karmic effect of being born here is exhausted, they will lead to an actual rebirth in a specific plane of existence. Of course, these emotions are often found in various combinations inside our conscience, and we are a mixture of hate, pride, sexual desire, avarice, greed, etc, but sometimes our lives can become dominated by a specific emotion, which can thus weigh heavier than the rest, and determine our future rebirth. Hitler or Stalin, for example, are the perfect example of beings who were dominated by hate and anger which resulted in mass murder. Thus, even if they lived more than fifty years in human form and human dimension, their minds already
Queen Maya, the mother of Shakyamuni Buddha was reborn there when she died, seven days after giving birth to him. During his earthly life, Shakyamuni often made visits to this realm (and other heavenly realms, too) in order to teach the Dharma to His mother and the gods living there. As Master Genshin explained, “four hundred years of human life are equal in length to one day and night in Tusita, and in this heaven life continues for four thousand years”.
The fifth realm is the Heaven of Enjoyment of Pleasures Provided by Themselves (Nirmanarati). As Master Genshin explained, “eight hundred years of human life are equal in length to one day and night in Nirmanarati, where life lasts eight thousand years”.
The sixth realm is the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Manifestations by Others (Paranirmitavasavartin). This realm is inhabited by Maras, the celestial demons who usually go to the other worlds to obstruct practitioners from advancing on the Buddhist Path. The karma they accumulated in past lives was good enough to make them reborn in this high heaven, but still, their lust for power and their selfishness, which were not eradicated, transformed them into living obstacles for other beings. Thus, they do everything in their power so that nobody gets higher than their plane of existence. 27 In the World of Form (Rupadhatu) there are four spheres of heavenly realms, as follows:
The First Dhyana, which contains, 1. Heaven of the Councilors of Brahma (Brahmaparisadya), 2. Heaven of the High Priests of Brahma (Brahmapurohita), 3. Heaven of Great Brahma (Mahabrahman) – this is where Baka Brahma, the god who was under the illusion that he is supreme in the world, was dwelling.
The Second Dhyana, which contains, 1. Heaven of Lesser Light (Parītta-ābha), 2. Heaven of Infinite Light (Apramāna-ābha), 3. Heaven of Supreme Light (Ābhāsvara)
The Third Dhyana, which contains, 1. Heaven of Lesser Purity (Parīttaśubha), 2. Heaven of Infinite Purity (Apramānaśubha), 3. Heaven of Universal Purity (Śubhakrtsna)
The Fourth Dhyana, which contains, 1. Cloudless Heaven (Anabhraka), 2. Merit-producing Heaven (Punyaprasava)
3. Heaven of Greater Fruits (Brhatphala), 4. Heaven Free of Trouble (Abrha), 5. Heaven without Affliction (Atapa) 6. Heaven of Excellent Viewing (Sudrśa), 7. Heaven of Excellent Observation (Sudarśana), 8. Highest Heaven (Akanistha)
28 In the World of Non-form (arupyadhatu) there are four heavenly realms:
Abode of Boundless Space (ākāśa-ānantya-āyatana)
Abode of Boundless Consciousness (vijnāna-ānantya-āyatana)
Abode of Nothingness (ākincanya-āyatana)
Abode of Neither Thought nor Non-thought (naiva-samjnā-na-asamjnā-āyatana)
resembled those of the hell dwellers, and I am sure that after their physical death and departure from this realm, their mental continuum was reborn in one of the hells.
As I previously said, because we are the creators of our emotions, we are too, the creators of the dimensions and realms which correspond to them. Just like in one night we dream of walking in a beautiful garden, because we did some good deeds and had compassionate thoughts toward others during the day, we can also be reborn in a gods realm after a life in which we kept the negative emotions in some kind of balance, but we still could not reach freedom from any of them. Or as in a nightmare in which we are hunted down by fierce animals and monsters, after we were immersed in thoughts of hate and murder for a day or a week, we can also be reborn in various hells, after a life filled with constant killing and angry behavior. As we have in us the potential and the seed of every dimension and realm, we alone are responsible for our present and future destiny. No so called “creator-god” has any role in this and no one can be blamed, except us. According to Shakyamuni Buddha, to accept the existence of a creator god would undermine the idea of moral responsibility, as it would mean that the six negative emotions (or the potentiality of having such emotions), which are the cause for the transmigration of unenlightened beings, were also created by him, and so he can be blamed for not making his creatures right:
“He who has eyes can see the sickening sight;
Why does not Brahma [[[Wikipedia:equivalent|equivalent]] to creator god idea] set his creatures right?
If his [[[Brahma]]] wide power no limit can restrain [if he is omnipresent and omnipotent], Why is his hand so rarely spread to bless?
Why are all his creatures condemned to pain?
Why does he not to all give happiness?
Why do fraud, lies, and ignorance prevail [if he is omni-benevolent]?
Why triumphs falsehood — truth and justice fail? I count your Brahma one the unjust among Who made a world in which to shelter wrong.”
Shakyamuni Buddha also said:
"If a creator god (Isvara) were to determine the life of all beings, including their happiness and misery, virtue and vice, then man is carrying out the commandments of that god. Therefore, it would be god who would be smeared by their actions."
“If there exists some lord all-powerful to fulfill In every creature bliss or woe, and action good or ill, That lord is stained with sin. The human being does but works his will”.
Thus, the realms themselves, the worlds and universes appear due to causes and conditions, which are, mainly, our own karma, just like the beautiful dreams or nightmares appear due to our own thoughts and deeds. Although the entire Samsara with its myriad of worlds, and filled with the six types of beings, appears to be distinct and solid, it is in fact dreamy and insubstantial.
If a dream is an individual manifestation of karmic traces, in the case of the realms of existence the karmic traces are collective. Because of the collective karma, the beings in each realm share similar experiences in a consensual world. Collective karma creates bodies, senses, and mental capacities that allow individuals to participate in shared potentials and categories of experience, while making other kinds of experience impossible. This is why, for example, some animals can hear sounds that humans cannot, while humans experience language in ways animals cannot31. The same can be said for every category of beings from various dimensions of existence and worlds. There is a famous Buddhist explanation which sheds light upon this matter, according to which the same river appear as fire for the hell dwellers, as a hallucination which quickly disappear when approached by a hungry ghost, as a river of water for human beings and as a river of ambrosia for the gods. This clearly shows that unenlightened beings actually see what their karma makes them see, and live in places where their karma leads them to live - places which are the manifestation of karmic traces themselves. So, if the same river looks different for different kinds of beings, some of them drinking from it, while others being burned by it, then which is the true nature of the river? Does it really exist as an independent and distinct material part of the world, or is just an element of the Samsaric dream? If the first would be true, then why the Buddhas, who are the only Awakened Ones, are not hurt nor influenced by it? Thus, we can now see that although it appears substantially and solid for unenlightened beings attached to forms, it is in fact dreamlike and insubstantial for those who see and live in the True Reality or Buddhahood. As Bodhisattva Nagarjuna explained:
“There is no reality in a dream but nevertheless we believe in the reality of the things seen in a dream. After waking up [becoming Buddhas], we recognize the falsity of the dream and we smile at ourselves. In the same way, the person deep in the sleep of the fetters (samyojananidra) clings (abhiniviśate) to the things that do not exist; but when he has found the Path, at the moment of Enlightenment, he understands that there is no reality and laughs at himself. This is why it is said: like in a dream.
Moreover, by the power of sleep (nidrābala), the dreamer sees something there where there is nothing. In the same way, by the power of the sleep of ignorance (avidyānidrā), a person believes in the existence of all kinds of things that do not exist, e.g., ‘me’ and ‘mine’ (ātmātmīya), male and female, etc.
Moreover, in a dream, we enjoy ourselves although there is nothing enjoyable there; we are irritated although there is nothing irritating there; we are frightened although there is nothing to be afraid of there. In the same way, beings of the threefold world (traidhātukasattva), in the sleep of ignorance, are irritated although there is nothing irritating, enjoy themselves although there is nothing enjoyable, and frightened although there is nothing to be afraid of.”32
Unenlightened beings are physically and mentally limited by their karma; they are born, they live, die and are reborn again in worlds determined by their karma. They cannot go further than the limitations imposed by their karma, and so they cannot see nor understand that which is beyond their karma. But the Buddhas33, who are totally free from the bondage of
31 The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep, by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, Snow Lion, Boston & London, 1998, p. 34.
32 Nagarjuna, Mahaprajñaparamitopadesa, Chapter XI
33 There are 10 epithets of the Buddha who show their attainment of Enlightenment:
1. Tathagata (lit., „the one coming from Thusness”/ „thus-come” or „thus-gone” – the term is construed as one who has come from, or gone to, Thusness or ultimate reality)
2. Arhat (lit., „one worthy of offerings”)
karma, can move freely34 in the Samsaric worlds and universes - the collective dreams of unenlightened beings. The Buddhas are not creators of the Samsaric world, just like one person cannot create the dream of another, but teachers and saviors, or better said, Awakeners of others. Through various means, that is, various Dharma methods, they try to awake sleeping beings from the Samsaric dream.
Thus, as Buddhists, we cannot say that a creator god made the universe, because that would deny the law of karma, according to which one reaps what one saw – one is reborn in the worlds and dimensions one deserves, together with the beings one deserves to be there (is karmically linked to). As we have seen, we cannot logically accept, in the same time, the law of karma and the existence of a creator god, as the two mutually exclude one another.
Instead of a creator god, the collective karma of a multitude number of beings is the primary cause and first impulse for the appearance of a new universe. This karma contains all the potentiality of that specific universe, including its general laws of physics. Thus, once it comes into existence from collective karmic causes, then all the laws of physics will follow. These will be responsible, for example, with what actually happens with the planets, changing of seasons, and so on. It is very important to understand that if the collective karma is the primary cause for the formation/apparition of a new universe, not all the things which happen next in that universe is due to karma. For example, when a leaf falls from a tree, or when a rock falls from a mountain, it is not the karma of the leaf or the rock to fall, but the simple law of gravitation. If we happen to walk in the mountain when a rock falls, and we are hit in the head, then that is karma, but no matter we are there or not, rocks and leaves will fall, and planets will revolve around the sun, etc. Thus, once a universe appeared, not everything which happens in it can be called karma. However, I repeat, the impulse and the primal cause which brought that universe into existence is the collective karma of the beings that have the causes for rebirth in such physical conditions.
Various universes may have different laws of physics, because their formation was due to a different karma with different potentialities, so once they are formed, they can developed into different ways than our own universe. Because of that, what we call human beings here, may look totally different in another universe, although the basic emotions and karma which generate rebirth into human dimension is the same.
Neither the law of karma, nor the various physical characteristics that appear in a specific universe, are created by a supreme god. Just like when you spit in the air, it will fall in your
4. One Possesed of Perfect Knowledge and Practice
5. Well-gone
6. One Having Good Knowledge of the World
8. Tamer of People
9. Teacher of devas (gods) and humans
34 There are six general powers (supernatural abilities/faculties) attributed to the Buddhas: 1) the ability to go anywhere at will, 2) the ability to see things at any distance, 4)the ability to hear sounds at any distance, 5)the ability to see into the minds of others, 6) the ability to recollect one’s own previous lives and those of others, and 7) the ability to eliminate all evil passions
face or when you piss against the wind, you will get wet, when you do an evil deed, you will automatically experience (in the same life or one of the next) the same suffering you inflicted on others. These things happen without the necessity that a supreme god gives a command and say, “from now on, if you spit in the air, it will fall on your face, or if you piss against the wind, you will get wet”. So, the law of karma, just like the law of gravity, has no creator, as both exist by themselves.
Because individuals and various smaller or larger groups of beings make certain choices, and plant certain seeds, they reap various results, which bring them for rebirth in different universes and realms – which are themselves the effect of those beings collective karma. Thus, the difference among unenlightened beings and the worlds and dimensions in which they live do not have the origin in the will of a creator god, nor they appear from chance, but are the material imprint of individual karma and collective karma. This is a very important teaching which clearly separates Buddhism from the monotheistic religions. In short, the karma versus the will of a god are the two main explanations of the world and the beings living in it that you can chose from, and which defines you as a Buddhist disciple or an externalist (non-Buddhist).
According to the Buddhist teaching, there are an infinite number of world systems where rebirth takes place. These were classified into three categories:
1. one small universe, which is traditionally called “a small one thousandworld”. It consists of one thousand worlds. Each single world (sometimes called “a Sumeru-world”) contains the various realms/dimensions of hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras and gods. 2. one middle universe, which is traditionally called “a medium one thousandworld”. It consists of one thousand small universes (or “a thousand small thousandworlds”). 3. one large universe, which is traditionally called, “a great one thousandworld”. It consists of one thousand middle universes (or a thousand medium thousandworlds).
These various worlds pass through and endless cycle of formation, existence, destruction, and annihilation after which they are again formed, come to existence, are destroyed, annihilated, and so on. The four periods of cyclic changes are called “kalpas”:
1. Period (kalpa) of Formation or generation (vivartakalpa)
2. Period (kalpa) of Duration or existence (vivarta-siddha kalpa)
3. Period (kalpa) of Destruction (samvarta kalpa)
4. Period (kalpa) of Annihilation (samvarta-diddha kalpa)
Each of these periods lasts 20 medium or intermediate kalpas (antara kalpa). Four periods of 20 medium kalpas each, is 80 medium kalpas. 80 medium kalpas is one great kalpa (mahakalpa). So, one cosmic cycle composed of the four periods above is called one great kalpa.
One Buddha may assume responsibility for the spiritual care of one large universe (“a great one thousand-world”), which then becomes that Buddha’s field of action, or “Buddha-field” (Buddhakshetra in Skt). This is also called a “Buddha-land”. The one large universe in which we ourselves live together with many kinds of visible, invisible and non-human beings, is called “Saha”. The sutras say that an infinite number of such large universes, or Buddhalands, exist in the ten directions. As they are inhabited by beings in various stages of spiritual development, it should not be confounded with the Pure Land (Sukhavati), which is an Enlightened realm (outside of Samsara) manifested by Amida Buddha.
Of course, not all the worlds and universes appear or disappear at the same time. When one universe is destroyed, another one appears while myriads of other universes are in the duration period. Also, the mind-stream of beings transmigrates through these universes and planes of existence in all the four kalpas, and the period of destruction or annihilation does not destroy them. Thus, even if the bodies they receive according to their karma are destroyed, they are reborn elsewhere, in another realm of the same universe or even another universe.
It is in the nature of every composed thing, including planets, worlds and universes to appear, grow, decay and dissolve themselves. When the collective karma which brought them into existence is exhausted, they are to appear again when another collective karma manifest itself.
size, to be worn away as a celestial maiden passes over the rock once every three years touching it lightly with its feather robe. Some scholars say that one kalpa is the equivalent of 1,000 yugas, or 4,320,000,000 years. 4. Two questions on Buddha nature and Samsara
Question 1: “Where did the Buddha nature within us originally come from?”
Question 2: “When did the process of self-delusion or suffering start the first time and why?”
First of all, no matter how much a Buddha would explain to us the nature of the universe, Buddha-nature, Nirvana, etc., as long as we are unenlightened beings with limited mental/spiritual capacities, we cannot truly understand it. So, the Buddha only offered us some hints or clues (like those I presented above), but He could not possibly offer to us everything we want to know, and not because He did not know, but because we do not have the right organ or spiritual maturity for knowing more. Just imagine how can you explain a physical theory to a newborn baby – it is not because you do not know it, but because the baby cannot really understand you at the level he is now. Our brain or what we call “mind” cannot really process the wisdom of a Buddha who naturally knows everything. Thus, only when we ourselves attain Buddhahood we can understand everything about Buddha nature and Samsara, and all our questions will be answered or better said, we’ll have no question to ask because then we will naturally know everything, and where there is no ignorance, there are no questions . This is why the Buddha insisted that here and now we should be concentrated on following the Path and reach Nirvana, as a person wounded by a poisoned arrow will first pull the arrow out instead of dealing with theories like, “to which bird did the feathers of the arrow belonged to”, or “what type of wood was used when making that arrow”, and so on.
The unenlightened human mind is limited and dualist, so it has the tendency to think in terms of beginning and end. But this, “beginning and end” are just “mind categories”, nothing more. Sometimes they are useful tools, especially in dealing with everyday life, but when we wish to use them to understand Nirvana or Buddha nature, they are not so useful anymore, and rather they can become obstacles. Thus, because we cannot overcome duality, it is impossible for us to conceive that which is beyond beginning and end. The truth is that the mind wishes very much to be a beginning, because this gives her a sense of security, stability, and some kind of false understanding which is in fact, an intellectual concept, not true knowing. Because our mind functions in terms of “beginning and end”, it might appear safe for it to accept the idea of a creator-god. Indeed, the human mind feels safer if it wraps up the world in concepts which seem familiar to it. So, for many people, the matter is not if “there is or there is not a creator god”, but rather, “it must be a creator”, and so they will actually do everything to cling to the idea of a creator-god.
Coming back to the Buddha-nature or Nirvana, sometimes the Buddha used positive and negative descriptions of it, so as to make us yearn for freedom, or wish to become Buddhas ourselves, or to give us a starting point, but He also pointed out that: “Nirvana is beyond concepts”. This is to show us that we cannot apply any mind category to it. So, without entering into details which are impossible to comprehend with our limited minds, Nirvana or Buddha nature is the state of true freedom, while Samsara is the state of bondage or slavery. You are free or you are not free, or in other words, you are either a Buddha or an unenlightened being. No god created the state of samsaric slavery and its myriad of realms (as I explained in the last subchapter), just as no god created the state of true freedom. Being uncreated, the state of Nirvana or Buddha nature has no beginning and no end, so we cannot say that it came from here or there. Only about the karmic existences we can say they are created over and over again by unenlightened beings who are self-illusioned. But as to “when this process of self-delusion or suffering started in the first place and why” - this is a question asked in the dream by a sleeping (unenlightened) person using dreaming categories, with a mind which does not know freedom and awakening, and which will be answered after Awakening (Buddhahood) or better, the questions will naturally disappear after Awakening.
Once we attain true freedom or Awakening from the Samsaric dream (Buddha means the “Awakened One”), there is no more Samsara for us. This is similar with the every morning situation when we awake from a dream and we realize that the dream was not real, while the state of awakening, or Buddha-nature, was always there. This means that the dream was created by us and our own emotions, while the state of awakening (Buddhahood/Nirvana) is uncreated. That which is always there, uncreated and unchanged is this Reality-whenawake or the Buddha-nature.
5. A question and answer on samsaric realms and the Pure Land
Question:
If the Pure Land actually exists as real place, that means that the hellish realms and other samsaric places exist literally as well - as a result of our collective karma, as you said in your book. So I would like to know your thoughts about this: if the Pure Land is not symbolic and exists in a specific place (like to the west), does that mean that places such as hells also exist literally in specific places outside of our minds?
Answer:
Yes, the hells exist specifically as places outside of our minds, too, but they exist because of the minds of those who have a hellish karma. The realm we are living in now exists outside of our minds too, because, as we see, we have these bodies, we have mountains, oceans, forests, etc, I can look to you and you can look to me (there is nothing mythological or symbolic or fictional in this), but in the same time, it exists because of our minds and our karma. My mind, your mind, plus all the other minds of human beings and their karma are the causes for such a human place to exist. The mind streams of beings need their vehicles, and so the worlds and bodies come into existence due to the individual and collective karma of various mind-streams.
In the hell realms there are also mountains, glaciers, and various mind-streams (beings) who have their own vehicles or bodies – the hell dweller bodies. Those people are born into an environment and with bodies which have the cause in their own hellish karma, just like human beings are born into an environment and with bodies who have the cause in their karma which resonates with the human plane of existence.
The nature we see around us is the product or the effect of our karma as humans, while the nature and environment the hell dwellers see is the effect of their karma. Both are real as karmic connections and karmic effects. But while in our human realm we also share the existence with other beings in animal form, which they also have their own karma, in hell the so called hell guardians who punish the hell dwellers, even if they are real, they are not in fact, self-existing beings or self-existing mind-streams. Those guardians and punishers and even the terrifying beasts are themselves the manifestation of the karma of those born in hell. So while they are real and they exist in those places, they do not have a self existence. They are part of the environment, so to speak, and they really exist as part of that karmic realm, just like our forests and mountains exists as part of our human karmic realm. The pain the hell dweller experience is also not symbolic, but true and real, just like if I now cut your finger, you will really experience pain :)
You have to understand that ALL manifestations, from the hells to the Pure Land come into existence due to causes and conditions. If you have a karma so evil that you deserve to be born into hell, you will be born there, if you have the karma to be born as human you will be born as a human, and so on… In the same way unenlightened beings karmically manifest unenlightened realms with various pains and obstacles, a Buddha manifests an Enlightened Realm. If in the first case, the manifestations in unenlightened realms are conducive to more attachments and delusions, in the Pure Land of Amida Buddha there are enlightened manifestations and enlightened forms.
In the Larger Sutra, Shakyamuni said that, for example, the birds of the Pure Land are not the result, like in our realm, of an unenlightened karma, but are manifested by Amida Buddha. If in the hell, various birds and terrifying beasts prey on the hell dwellers because those birds and beasts are the effect of the karma of hell dwellers, in the Pure Land the various birds sing Dharma music and speak about Nirvanic truths, because they are manifested from Amida’s Enlightenment. Both animals (those of hell and the Pure Land) are real, but they exist due to different causes. The beasts from hell have the cause in an unenlightened karma (the karma of hell dwellers), while the second have their cause in Amida’s Enlightenment, and in Dharmakara’s Vows which were brought to fulfillment when He became Amida Buddha.
The fact that Enlightened forms have their basis in ultimate reality beyond form, it does not mean they do not exist. People often confuse things and think that because of ultimate reality beyond form, the manifestation in Form is not in fact a real existence. But as you read in my book when I explained T’an-luan theory of the Two Bodies, the Dharmakaya of Dharma nature manifests as Dharmakaya of Compassionate means. Both exists and they “are different, but inseparable; they are one but not the same”. Every Enlightened form of the Pure Land has the ultimate reality beyond form in it, just like a hell being too, has the Buddha nature in him, but he does not realizes it and so, he continues to manifest an evil environment and suffer in it. A person who realizes his ultimate Buddha nature, he will also manifest forms, just he will no longer be bound to any form. He will be free of forms, but He (as a Buddha) will continue to manifest forms.
As the Mahayana saying goes, “Emptiness (ultimate reality beyond forms) is phenomena, phenomena is emptiness”. This means that from ultimate reality beyond form (emptiness) different phenomena or forms appear due to different causes (“emptiness is phenomena”) and that phenomena have the reality beyond form as their true nature (“phenomena is emptiness”).
A grave heresy is that which is called, “attachment to emptiness” or “nihilistic voidness” in which it is included the denial of the Pure Land because of emptiness or ultimate reality beyond form. In fact, the Ultimate Reality beyond form and unenlightened and enlightened phenomena exist in the same time. Due to evil karma, unenlightened realms exists, while due to Enlightened karma, the Pure Land exist. The first are created by the deeds and thoughts of the unenlightened beings, while the Pure Land has been created by the 48 vows and practices of Bodhisattva Dharmakara who attained perfect Enlightenment. Because of His
Enlightenment and access to Ultimate Reality beyond form as the condition, and His Vows and practices as the cause, the Pure Land came into existence. In the same way, because of the ultimate reality as the condition and unenlightened/evil karma as the cause, the phenomena which we call hell, human realms, or gods realms, etc, came into existence.
I hope these explanations can help. Please remember that we talk here about things we’ll know better when we will be born in the Pure Land and become Buddhas ourselves.
Only for Buddhas the hell realms are like non-existent, because they are awake and they do not have the karma to sleep and suffer in the samsaric dream, but for unenlightened beings, the hell and other samsaric realms are real and they exist as forms manifested by their unenlightened karma. A Buddha cannot manifest evil or unenlightened realms because He is Awake and Enlightened, so He can only manifest a Pure Land while He can also go (as a Free Enlightened Person) to all worlds manifested by the collective karma of various beings and preach the Dharma to them there, or do various actions to help them. Both unenlightened beings and Buddhas are surrounded by forms and manifest forms, the first due to their ignorance, while the second due to their Perfect Wisdom and Compassion. 6. Is the Pure Land a state of consciousness or a real place?
Question:
I was told that the Pure Land is a state of consciousness and not a real place with forms and manifestations. What do you think?
Answer:
States of consciousness do not exclude forms and manifestations. In fact, depending on the states of consciousness one dwells in, various forms appear. Thus, for unenlightened beings, samsaric bodies and realms come into existence as effects of their specific karmic obscurations. When one becomes a Buddha, transcendental manifestations arise (see the article on Three Bodies/Aspects of Amida Buddha) as the effect of Enlightenment and the wish to save all beings.
There will always be forms and manifestations, no matter we are enlightened or unenlightened. When unenlightened conditions are present, unenlightened forms which lead to more attachements and blind passions, appear. When Enlightenment is present, enlightened forms or manifestations appear - this is why all Buddhas assume various trancendent bodies and create special spheres of influence which are called Pure Lands.
Buddhas do not depend on forms and their minds are always free of forms, but this does not mean they reject forms. Only deluded practitioners can fall in the wrong view of attachement to emptiness and negate forms, saying that everything, including the Pure Land is just a state of mind.
In our samsaric world everything is the effect of our unenlightened karma and so, we live in a garden of never ending desires and suffering. Contrary to this, the Pure Land is the effect or the manifestation of Amida Buddha's Enlightenment and of His wish to save all beings. Everything there is conducive to Enlightenment. Shakyamuni Buddha clearly explained the Pure Land of Amida as a real place with various forms which He insisted that they are not the product of unenlightened karma, but the manifestations of Amida. So, He indicated that the Pure Land is both an existing place and a place of Enlightenment.
The foundation of samsara is ignorance and blind passions; the foundation (essence) of the Pure Land is Nirvana or Perfect Enlightenment. Both ignorance and Enlightenment are accompanied by forms. Ignorance and blind passions give rise to various samsaric realms, while perfect Enlightenment manifest Pure Lands. Thus, the Pure Land of Amida is the effect of His Enlightenment and the wish to save all beings as expressed in His 48 vows. This is the right teaching on the Pure Land.
If somebody tells you that the Pure Land is only a state of consciousness or that it is only a place, he is not teaching the true Dharma. The first is a variant of the wrong view of “nihilistic voidness" and “attachment to emptiness”, while the second is the wrong view of considering the Pure Land as a mere place of samsara. Again, the right way to define the Pure Land in our human language is - the real enlightened realm of Amida Buddha.
6. Those who believe in a creator god cannot have true faith in Amida Buddha
In the previous sub-chapters I explained and counteracted the eternalist view of a supreme creator god, and I will do the same with the false views on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land in the second part of this book. But before I finish the first part, I wish to present to you my answer to a very important question raised by a Dharma friend in relation to this topic.
Question :
“A lot of folks who end up in Shin Buddhism here in the West have a lot of vestigial concepts from our Abrahamic background - whether or not they were ever "believers" themselves. And they carry those vestigial ideas with them when they start in as Buddhists. Some don't do that of course - particularly the ones who are given to serious study, and really consider it important to know what Shakyamuni actually taught. But as you know from your time in both the Zen and Shin Sanghas, such study is often not the primary focus - or even as great a focus as it is in the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist Sangha groups. […]
So, in your opinion, based on your own reading and contemplating, is it possible for an ignorant, yet well meaning person to come to settled shinjin if he (or she) has never actually studied the subject40, and has some mixed up ideas about eternalism stuck in his mind stream? Or is the presence of such thoughts a necessary karmic obstacle that must directly be addressed and removed before the person can receive Amida's gift of shinjin?”
Answer:
I think it depends on how important the baggage of eternalist ideas is for them or how much weight it has in their mind-stream.
Most of the people in the world today, and especially those born in a Judeo-Christian background, have a basic information about the idea of a creator god, but I make a distinction in the way they react to it, especially if they call themselves Jodo Shinshu followers. Some don’t care too much about it – if this creator-god exists or not – because they do not find it important, and so they focus single-mindedly on Amida Buddha, while others do care about it and think it is important, thus giving it some important space in their minds. Both categories of people may claim they entrust in Amida, but I doubt that those in the second category have a genuine faith.
If, for the first category the “creator god” is just an information which they prefer not to deal with it or don’t care about it, for the second category it is an actual presence which clearly has some conscious or unconscious consequences on them. I think that for people in the second category Amida is automatically thought and felt in relation with this creator-god, and according to my experience, most of them even think about Amida in terms of a superior creature or a person who is somehow lower than god. But no matter how they place Amida in relation with this creator-god, their clinging to the god idea is the key to understand them. This clinging is, into my opinion, a hindrance to true shinjin, which is not the case for the first category. People in the first category, after hearing a Buddhist explanation they can easily let go to the idea of a creator god, even if until then they did not know they should actually let it go, but those in the second category will put up a fight and will try to defend it. Of course, we can never know exactly what happens inside one’s heart and only Amida knows if one really has shinjin or not, but we can also say that people are like trees, so they can be known by their fruits or in our case, by their reactions. Just like someone who denies the existence of Amida Buddha cannot possibly have genuine faith in Him, one who tenaciously clings to and defends the idea of a creator god, cannot possibly entrust to Amida Buddha as a supreme Savior. Also, as I previously said, one who is mentally and spiritualy attached to the idea of a creator god will, consciously or unconsciusly, relate Amida Buddha to this god-creator, and he may also think that Amida is a creature himself – a creation of this god….
It is not by chance that we have an explanation by Shakyamuni, made in human terms, of who a Buddha is, who Amida is, and what is His Pure Land. Also – and this is extremely important – in the Primal Vow we are told to entrust to/have faith in Amida Buddha – which means ONLY in Amida Buddha. To have faith in Amida Buddha means to accept that He is the supreme and unique Savior, but when we cling to the idea of a creator god, this is also an expression of faith which, in this case, is directed toward that god. To accept the existence of a creator god, of Amida Buddha or any divine figure from any religion is not a scientific fact, but a matter of faith. So, if upon hearing Shakyamuni’s teaching about the nonexistence of a creator-god, some react aggresively and try to resist it, or even deny it, this is a hint that they actually have faith in that creator god. Their very resistence is an expression of their wrong faith.
Those who claim to have received shinjin (faith in Amida), but cling to the idea of a creator-god, actually have faith in the creator god, and a false or unsettled faith in Amida. This is my opinion, which comes not only from my contemplation on this matter or my readings, but from my experience as a priest and my meeting face to face with such people. You asked me, “what is the minimum necessary understanding of Buddha Dharma that a person MUST have in order to receive Amida's gift?”
I cannot make a complete list and cannot relate to every particular situation and persons, but I can say that one should be helped to have a minimum Dharmic vision of the world, so he must understand in simple terms what is karma (karma and the idea of a creator god cannot actually coexist, as I explained in my previous subchapters on this topic), that rebirth is a true phenomenon filled with constant insatisfaction, and that true Freedom (Buddhas can be explained as truly Free Ones, having perfect Compassion) from these repeated births and deaths is something he should wish for ….. and for this freedom to come quickly and certainly, one needs to accept Amida’s helping hand, as the only true Savior.
Even an illiterate person can have such a minimum understanding of karma, rebirth (which can be explained in terms of life after death in various forms), and of Amida Buddha as a supreme Free One who manifested a perfect world/realm where we can aspire to go after death and become Free Persons (Buddhas) ourselves, then come back to save those we love.
We can ask ourselves – if we do not consider Shakyamuni to be the supreme all-knowing Teacher in the universe (Teacher of all sentient beings, including gods and men), if we think that the Buddha can be right in some matters and wrong in others, like in His denial of the existence of a supreme creator god, then how can we listen to Him with an open mind and heart and accept His teaching on Amida Buddha from the Larger Sutra? If Shakyamuni was wrong in only one thing, then how can we know He wasn’t wrong when He taught about Amida and His Pure Land? We must remember that Shakyamuni urged us to accept His teaching on Amida Buddha in faith, and that it is the teaching most hardly to be accepted in faith, so how can we do this, if we do not consider Shakyamuni to be infallible in His wisdom? Truly, the entire Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha must be 100% true or is not true at all.
Unenlightened people (non-Buddhas) who call themselves disciples of the Buddha, cannot pick and chose what they like and discard what they don’t like from the Buddha’s teaching. All Buddhist doctrines are inter-related, and if one adds an alien element, like the so called, “creator god”, then the whole Buddhist system is unrecognizable. Karma and the teaching on Buddha and Buddha-nature cannot co-exist with that of a supreme and eternal creator god. Thus, before we entrust to Amida Buddha and aspire to be born in His Pure Land, we must be true disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha and fully accept His teachings and explanations on Samsara.
