2.4. The Six Buddhist Realms of Existence

There are six Buddhist realms of saṃsāric existence. Buddhists believe that the cycle of a person’s life is perpetrated by ignorance, greed, pride, anger and jealousy. The ‘six realms of existence’, sometimes also translated as the ‘six states of saṃsāra’ or the six paths of rebirth’ (Wheel of Life), are the six main types of birth that beings may have within Buddhist cosmology. Which state we are born into is driven by our karma our actions and states of awareness from previous lives.

According to the teachings of the Buddha, we will endlessly incarnate within these realms until we receive and practice the teachings, and through them break free of the karmas that pull us into the six realms, thereby attaining enlightenment. A human birth, which is one of the six realms, is the easiest realm to do this in, and is therefore the most auspicious birth. The ordinary beings living in our present world fall into six categories or occupy six realms of existence, arranged in hierarchical order in terms of their desirability. Lowest are the hell dwellers, being who because of their evil actions in the past are compelled, for a time at least, to suffer in the various hells that exist beneath the earth, the most terrible of which is the Avīci hell or the hell of incessant suffering. On a slightly higher level are the hungry ghosts or spirits, beings who are tormented by endless hunger and craving. Above this is the level of beasts or beings of animal nature, and above that the realm of the asuras, demons who are pictured in Indian mythology as constantly engaged in angry warfare. These first three or four realms represent the “evil paths,” the lowest, most painful and undesirable states of existence.^[1]

The realms are not only relevant in terms of studying rebirth, but also in terms of understanding the karma associated with different states of awareness while we are in a human birth. Each realm has a certain mind-state that drives it, and the teachings on the six realms can help us to understand the risks and challenges of each mind state.

The Six Realms are an allegorical description of conditioned existence, or saṃsāra, into which beings are reborn. The nature of one’s existence is determined by karma. Some realms seem more pleasant than others heaven sounds preferable to hell but all are dukkha, meaning they are temporary and imperfect.

For Buddhists, these six realms represent all possible states of existence. They were traditionally conceived as real places, but can also be interpreted symbolically. The animal, ghost and hell realms are all places of punishment for previous sins, whereas birth in the heavenly, asura, or human realms comes through the accumulation of karmic merit.^[2] Life in any of these realms is ultimately impermanent one does not suffer forever in hell, nor enjoy eternal bliss in heaven.

Birth in any of these realms is based on one’s karma (“action”) essentially the moral causality that good actions bring good results, and bad actions bad results. Since one’s motive is critical for “goodness” or “badness,” one’s thoughts become at least as important as one’s actions (for example, accidentally killing something is far less serious than intentional killing).

Karma presupposes a dynamic universe one’s present life reflects past choices, but one’s present choices are shaping the future. Only human beings can make choices and accrue karma, which means that one’s human actions (good or bad) determine one’s future births. This gives added emphasis to one’s moral choices; it also means that a change of heart or better guidance can help one to lay a positive foundation for the future. Such guidance can range from simple moral precepts all the way to instructions on how to select one’s next birth, as found in the final section of The Tibetan Book of the Dead.

In some schools, the realms of Devas and Asuras are combined, leaving five realms instead of six. Note that each of these realms has a resident Buddha, through which its inhabitants can hear the dharma this may reflect the Mahayana Buddhist notion that the ultimate Buddha-nature (dharmakāya) pervades the entire universe. The six realms are:

1. Deva or Heavenly Realm (God Realm).

In the heavens, there are many beings who are rewarded for past good deeds. Life in heaven is a continual round of pleasure and enjoyment, with no suffering, anxiety, or unfulfilled desires until the moment one is about to be reborn in another realm. And this is one of the problems. Life in heaven is extremely long, but is ultimately impermanent, and one must inevitably leave to take birth in another realm. To be born in heaven, one also needs to “spend” an enormous amount of religious merit, and life there is so carefree that people have no inclination toward religious life. For these reasons, religious authorities have discouraged seeking birth in heaven.

In Buddhist tradition, the Deva realm is populated by godlike beings that enjoy great power, wealth and long life.^[3] They live in splendor and happiness. Yet even the Devas grow old and die. Further, their privilege and exalted status blind them to the suffering of others, so in spite of their long lives they have neither wisdom nor compassion. The privileged Devasare reborn in another of the Six Realms. The Lotus Sūtra Commentary describes devas as “Pure and pristinely bright, they are the most honored and supreme, hence the name deva.”

In Buddhism, this is not an immortal state, and also not the ideal one for attaining liberation. We can become addicted to pleasure here, including meditative bliss, and can become trapped, forgetting to work towards liberation, and falling into lower realms because of this forgetfulness and self-absorption.

2. Asura or Demi-god Realm (Jealous God Realm)

The second highest realm of existence is called the Demi-god realm, or the Jealous God Realm. It is believed to be the realm of Titans, Asuras, and is marked by jealousy and paranoia. The fruit of disentanglement will be obtained when arriving the Nirvāṇic Path, and the fruit of contributory causes will not have any limitation in space or time.^[4] Those born into this realm, though blessed with a high birth, are exceedingly jealous of the God realm and of each other. They are believed to spend most of their time fighting among themselves to compete. ‘Demi-God’ Realm is also pleasurable; this realm is nevertheless defined by jealousy and competitiveness. Although a birth here does offer more opportunities for pleasure than a human birth, here we are prone to coveting the pleasures of the Devas, which we can see (just as animals and humans can see each other.) In this state, we are prone to envy and a sense of victimhood that we are not getting our fair share and become fixated on evening the score. Theravada teachings generally do not recognize this as a realm separate from the Deva realm. The Asuras are strong, powerful and amoral beings who are sometimes depicted as enemies of the Devas. Asuras are marked by their fierce envy. The karma of hate and jealousy causes rebirth in the Asura Realm.

3. Human Realm

Human Realm, a middle realm, our human existence is defined by our ability and free-will to experience any state, from blissful to hellish. It is therefore perfect for attaining enlightenment, because there is just enough suffering to motivate us to seek liberation (unlike in the god realms, where we are easily distracted by pleasure) but not so much that we cannot hear and practice the teachings (unlike in the lower realms, where we are so consumed by our suffering that we cannot practice). From a human birth, we can cultivate the compassion and wisdom necessary to free ourselves from the entire wheel of saṃsāra.^[5] In this realm we also have the most control over our future births, because we can influence our karma through our choices, whereas in the other realms we generally do not move into another birth until the karma that has brought us there has run its course.

The human realm is the only one in which one’s choices (good or bad) affect one’s future in all the others, one is either being rewarded or punished for one’s actions as a human being. One’s present human condition (e.g., wealth, social status, and physical and psychological qualities) is based on one’s past karma, but one’s present choices also determine one’s future (in this life, or a future life). As conscious moral agents, human beings have agency that the beings in other realms do not;this clearly underscores the importance of moral action and spiritual development. The difference between humans and the other realms is that we can practice Dharma. Furthermore, falling into the lower realms is like losing a wish-fulfilling jewel. A human life has incredible potential. Humans have the intelligence to comprehend the difference between good and bad and the relationship between cause and effect. If we are born as animals, we will not be able to see beyond immediate events. Because animals tend to indulge in negative activity, their next rebirth is even worse. It is like a rock tumbling down the side of a ravine from a high mountain peak; it is most difficult to stop and bring it back up. Once in a low rebirth we may experience many, many lives stuck away at the bottom. It is foolish to think that we will be reborn as humans very soon.^[6] So we can take the teachings, and practice them in our lives. So, in the Human Realm we can move out of the six flights of karma.

4. Animal Realm

Animal birth is seen as the result of past sins, and one expiates these sins through suffering in animal form (being hunted, worked, driven, slaughtered, etc.), often for thousands of consecutive births (as a dog, pig, dung beetle, etc.). Animal behavior is also run by instinct, which means that animals cannot generate good karma; they are simply working off the bad. This suffering and lack of control make birth as an animal undesirable. The conviction that animals are sentient beings also underlies the prohibition on intentionally killing anything, which goes back to the Buddha’s earliest teaching (the Buddha was also vocally opposed to the animal sacrifice prevalent in his time).

The Animal realm is based on strong mental states of stupidity and prejudice cultivated in a previous life or lives. This realm is the realm of existence of the nonhuman animals on Earth. The earth on which we live is just one of many planes, and the fact that it happens to accommodate both the human and animal states of existence does not in any way distinguish it from other planes as a possible milieu for sentient life. In fact, besides humans and animals, it harbours various classes of devas (deities), pretas (spirits) and other non-human beings.^[7] Humans can, however, be seen by the animals, in the same way that the Asuras can see the Devas.

5. Preta Realm or Hungry Ghost Realm

This realm is defined by constant desire and greed. They have huge stomachs but tiny mouths, food and water is very scarce and when a preta sees food or water they are so delusional that they believe they are seeing blood, bile and other disgusting things of that nature. And even if a preta finds food or water and is able to consume it, it burns its throat and stomach like fire. In this realm, we are so overcome by our desire for more, and more whether food, drink, sex, wealth, or even certain emotional states that we are consumed by it, and cannot focus on anything else. In this state, we cannot practice the teachings because we cannot focus on anything other than our wants.

As with the hells, beings in the preta realm expiate their past misdeeds through suffering. Pretagati (“going to the realm of hungry ghosts”) is hungry ghost level of rebirth in the world of saṃsāra.^[8] Pretas are described as tormented by hunger and thirst illustrated by showing them with tiny thin necks, through which they can never eat or drink enough to satisfy themselves; this is described as the result of greed and stinginess in previous lives.

Other torments are psychological, since pretas remain in the places where they used to live, but cannot be seen by the living (which brings feelings of frustration, isolation, and despair). A hungry ghost is one who is always looking outside himself for the new thing that will satisfy the craving within.

6. Naraka or Hell Realms

The Hell Realm is the most terrible of the Six Realms.^[9] The lowest among the realms of existence is the hell realm. One is punished for one’s evil actions. Buddhist visions of hell often link particular punishments to particular sins, doubtless to warn the hearers. One expiates one’s evil deeds through suffering hunger and thirst, dismemberment, torture, psychological distress, and so on. The hell realms are looked upon as journey full of suffering; one born into this realm must not only endure suffering in their respective hell but also pass through each of lesser hells. This journey is supposed to take eternities to complete. In the course of which, even the Dharma is forgotten and even if it was remembered, the anguish is such that it makes practice impossible. The hell realm is characterized by acute aggression.

‘Hell’ Realm is defined by hatred and rage, and by defining all other beings as enemies. Within this realm, there is no opportunity for compassion or desire for the teachings to arise, as all our momentum goes toward fighting others, and suffering the consequences. But within Buddhist cosmology this state, like all the others, is not permanent. Instead, when the negative karma that brought us here has run out, we will be reborn into another realm, with the possibility of working towards a human birth again.

In brief, Buddhists believe that each person is reborn in accordance with their respective deeds (karma) in their previous lives. To form a mental image of the six realms we can compare them to the floors of a large, old house. In this analogy the house represents saṃsāra, the cycle of contaminated rebirth.^[10] All the sufferings we experienced in countless rebirths in the three lower realms come from nothing other than the self-cherishing thought.^[11] After all of the positive merits have been used up in the higher realms a being will tumble into the lower realms continuing the viscous cycle of rebirth and death.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Burton Watson, Miao-Fa Lion-Hua Ching (The Lotus Sutra) New York: Columbia University Press, 1993: xiv.

[2]:

Martin A. Mills, Identity, Ritual and State in Tibetan Buddhism: The Foundations of Authority in Gelukpa Monasticism, New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003: 56.

[3]:

Hsing Yun, Robert Smitheram, The Universal Gate: A Commentary on Avalokiteśvara’s Universal Gate Sūtra, Taiwan: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2011: 130.

[4]:

Dukkyu Choi, Mechanism of Consciousness During Life, Dream and After–Death, Bloomington:Author House, 2011: 169.

[5]:

Voyen Koreis, The Fool’s Pilgrimage: A Fantasy on the Tarot Initiation, Australia: Book Splendour Publishing, 2007: 87.

[6]:

Lhundup Sopa Geshe, Steps on the Path to Enlightenment: A Commentary on Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim Chenmo. Volume 3: The Way of the Bodhisattva, USA: Wisdom Publications, 2008:436.

[7]:

Francis Story, Rebirth as Doctrine and Experience: Essays and Case Studies, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 2000: 56.

[8]:

John C. Huntington and Dina Bangdel, The Circle of Bliss: Buddhist Meditational Art, Belgium: Serindia Publications, Inc, 2003: 532.

[9]:

Lama Dudjom Dorjee, Heartfelt Advice, USA: Snow Lion Publications, 2009: 50.

[10]:

Kelsang Gyatso, Op. Cit. 53.

[11]:

Ribur Rinpoche, Op. Cit. 31.