Is there heaven and hell? Introduction to the Six Realms of Reincarnation

 　

    Does life exist after death? If so, where did it go? Did we exist before we were born? Were we "reincarnated" from somewhere else? We often hear people say that there is a happy heaven and a painful hell. Is it true? If so, how can one go to heaven and avoid going to hell...? As human beings, we have had these doubts to some extent; but we are ordinary people, and we cannot find answers to these questions by ourselves. If we can hear the explanation of the enlightened one —— Buddha, the credibility of the answer should be higher than the unproven answer that spread in the folk.

　

    When the Buddha was alive, he once explained to his disciples the various forms of life and the rule of life's circulation, which is called "Six Realms of Reincarnation"; the lives of all living beings are constantly going up and down, back and forth in six different life forms. After the end of this period of life, we will be reborn in one of the six life forms according to the strength of the karma caused by the good and evil of our past actions and thoughts. When this new life ends again, the past karma adds “the karma caused by the good and evil of our actions and thoughts in this new period of life” will determine the circulation of the next new period of life. These karma only disappear after the karma matures and the retribution manifests; life is like a wheel spinning and continuously accumulating good and evil karma in the six life forms, and then the birth-and-death continues.

　

    What are the six life forms? The introduction is as follows:

　

1. Heavenly beings

　

    The concept of the so-called heaven is actually what we usually call "heaven" in Christianity. The characteristic of heaven is that it is happier than the human world. Food, clothing, housing, and transportation are beyond the enjoyment of the human world. However, the difference is that "heaven" is divided into many layers. The higher the level of heaven, the higher the enjoyment of happiness; moreover, in the more higher level of heaven, they have no human desires and bodies, and simply enjoys the happiness brought by meditation.

　

2. Human

　

    It is human beings. Human life is filled with sufferings and happiness. The overview is the same as we are now, so I won’t go into details.

　

3. Ashura

　

    They are often angry and jealous. Although they have the blessings of Heavenly beings, they do not have the virtues of Heavenly beings. They are aggressive by nature. They often fights with heavenly beings.

　

4. Hungry Ghost

　

    They are ghosts who suffer from hunger all the time. Because of their evil karma, they never know there is such a thing as "water". The clear water they know is like pus and blood. They lack food, are often hungry and thirsty, and are often chased and pursued by those who are with knives and sticks, so they are often in fear.

　

5. Animal

　

    That is, what we call the animal kingdom, including: flying birds, walking beasts, fish living in water, reptiles, and insects, etc. Some have to work for humans, some are slaughtered by humans to eat, and some devour or eat each other. Their life is the law of “the weak are the prey of the strong”, and because they have created karma such as ignorance and greed in the past, they are born in the Realm.

　

6. Hell

　

    Because they had done great bad karma in the past life, they are reborn here; it is underground, like in a prison, so it is called hell. They often suffer from great pains, such as: fire burning, ice freezing, knife cutting, sword tree, rolling and pressing, and oil frying…… etc., various kinds of torture tools that cause people to suffer; there are relevant descriptions in the "Ksitigarbha Sutra".

　

　

    The good and bad thoughts and actions, which accumulate as karma will affect the kind of rebirth we reincarnate. Heavens, Humans, and Asuras are relatively happy types, which are retributed by good karma; Hungry ghosts, Animals, and Hells are relatively painful types, most of which are retributed by bad karma. Therefore, we can know from this phenomenon that doing good karma will make us reborn in a happy place, and doing bad karma will make us reborn in a painful place. Following the logic, doing good karma will get happy results, and doing bad karma will get painful results; good and evil not only affect the type of rebirth we reincarnate, but also affect whether our life is happy or painful.

　

    But, having said that, no matter what kind of beings we are reincarnated in, we will eventually die, then reincarnate, and then die again…… This is the helplessness of life, and the reason for the reincarnation of life is "craving" and "the attachment of self" (attach that “I” exist). Fortunately, through the Buddha's teaching, we know that "craving" and "the attachment of self" can be completely eliminated; that is to say, the cause of the cycle of life can be eliminated; when we eliminate "craving" and "the attachment of self" through the Buddhist Dharma, we will no more reincarnate, and it is called "Nirvana". And "Nirvana" not only eliminates birth-and-death, but also eliminates all annoyances and sufferings.

　

    Although it is impossible to get "Nirvana" all at once, we can accumulate some good karma for our future, which will make our future gradually move in the direction of happiness. If people who have committed bad karma start doing good deeds, they will one day be reborn in a happy place, and this kind of choice between good and evil is within the reach of every sentient being. So, shouldn't we all start doing good?