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Article connected to this collection of teachings:
of the suffering of the six realms of samsaric existence
There is a signficant story of the monk Nanda who was very
much attached to his wife and had no aspiration to renounce the world. Seeing
this, Shakyamuni Buddha miraculously took him to a mountain where he showed him
a one-eyed monkey. He asked him: "Tell me Nanda, who do you find more
beautiful, this monkey or your wife?" Nanda replied immediately, "My
wife, of course!"
As we have seen in the description of the six realms, there
is absolutely no place in samsara without suffering. Everything is a cause for
suffering, everything is multyplying suffering, and everything, even the
intoxicating pleasures of the gods, contain the seed of suffering.
"Beings in hell
suffer from hell-fire,
Pretas suffer from
hunger and thirst,
Animals suffer from
being eaten by each other,
Humans suffer from
having a short life,
Asuras suffer from
wars and quarrels,
And the gods suffer
from their own mindlessness.
In samsara there is
never a pinpoint of happiness."[1]
Some say that life in the gods realm is more desirable
because of the immense pleasure we can find there. However, I would like to ask
you, what if somebody offers you the most intense party with the best drinks,
women or men, on a luxurious yacht, for three days, on the condition that after
the party you will be burnt to death? Would you accept the deal? Would the pain
you'll suffer by being burnt to death worth the sweet and transient pleasure of
three nights? This is similar with the various distractions of the gods realms.
When their time come, gods themselves suffer intensely, as I aleady
described above, in the section dedicated to them. If one reaches the highest
point of the wheel of samsara, one will surely fall from there to the lower
part after spending one's karmic merits in intoxicating pleasures. Just like a
rich guy enters a casino with the attitude of a great lord, and is treated well
by everybody, if he looses all his wealth at gambling, he will be thrown away
like a beggar at the end of the programe.
Then the Buddha transported him to a realm of the gods where
He showed him many beautiful mansions where each god lived together with his assembly
of young godesses and enjoyed many pleasures and abundance. Then he took him to
a palace where there were many goddesses but no god. When Nanda asked why, a
godess answered, "there is a person in the human world, a disciple of the
Buddha whose name is Nanda and who practices the Way. The karma he thus
accumulates will make him reborn in this palace where we will serve him
faithfully." Nanda was very joyful and when asked by the Buddha who he now
thinks is more beautiful, his wife or the goddesses, he answered without any
hesitation: "the goddesses are far
more beautiful! My wife cannot even compare herself with them."
Then, when he returned to the human world, Nanda practiced
the Way even more seriously so that he does not lose the chance to be reborn
together with the beautiful godesses.
After some time the Buddha asked him if he wants to take him
to visit the hells. Nanda agreed and he was transported there by the Buddha's
miraculus power. While visiting the various hells and seeing the horror and
pain of the beings born there, he came across an empty pot filled with blazing
fire and a number of hells tormentors arround it. When he asked why is the pot
empty, a hell tormentor answered: "we are waiting for a person called
Nanda, who is now practicing the Way in the human realm in order to be born
among the gods. After he will enjoy many hundreds of years in that celestial
place, when his merits will run out, he will be reborn here."
This terrified Nanda so much that he pondered more deeply on
the characteristics of samsara. Then, after realizing that there is no sense to
aspire for a happiness that ends in the flame of hells, he awoke the aspiration
to escape from all samsaric existence.
We should really take to heart the story of Nanda and
contemplate deeply the nature of samsara. Even if we did not see with our own
eyes the lower or higher realms, a picture or the many descriptions made by
Shakyamuni Buddha and the masters of various lineages should be enough to scare
the hell out of us and make us wish to escape from it
Thus, let us never forget that in samsara 1) there is no certainty, 2) we can never find satisfaction, 3) we are born and we die repeatedly, changing
bodies after bodies ad infinitum, 4) on
the wheel of samsara we will always go down after we go high, and 5) we have no true companions. All
samsaric beings meet with these five general types of suffering.
1) What does it mean
to have no certainty in samsara?
It means for example, that we are never certain our dear
ones from today we'll reman dear to us in the next lives. Of course, we would
like to be able to meet again with our good friends, parents, children or wife
after we die. But if we meet again with them in another life and still we are
not Buddhas, then this meeting might be of no real benefit to them or to us. It
can even become a meeting of pain and sorrow, in which we will surely don’t
recognize them. Because of our deluded minds, we might harm them or make them
run from us.
We and our loved ones have different karma and after this
life we will take different forms, but because of attachments to one another we
can still be close in space and time. For example, one of us might be born in
the next life as a human being, while the other (wife, husband, parent, friend)
can be born as an animal. Due to attachment he (or she) can live around our
house, but because we cannot see our previous lives, we are not able to
recognize him. We can think of him as just a close dog or cow, but we cannot
really benefit him much.
It can even be worse than this. In time our feelings for
him/her or his feelings towards us may change and because of various
circumstances love can turn into hate. People who are now in a love relation
can hate each others after a few lives, or even in this life. So, until we
become Buddhas, not only can we not benefit our closed ones, but we can
actually make them sink even more in the ocean of suffering.
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said:
"For those in
cyclic existence there are no certainties
Because fathers become
sons, mothers become wives,
Enemies become
friends,
And the converse
happens as well."[2]
Thus, if we truly care about them, we should make a
commitment not to lose this life in vain, but to listen to the teaching again
and again and receive faith in Amida Buddha. Only in this way, our aspiration
to save all beings, especially those with whom we have karmic connections, will
be fulfilled.
2) We can never find
satisfaction in samsara
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said:
"Each of us has
drunk more milk
Than would fill the
four oceans; yet
Those in cyclic
existence who act as ordinary beings
Are intent on drinking
still more than that."[3]
Since the beginingless past we have tried many ways to
satisfy our desires. We worked hard, fought hard, even killed or hurt others in
order to find hapiness, but still never found it. Our unfulfilled desires and
attachements needed a new vehicle with every new life, and so we continued to
run into an endless variety of forms (bodies), trying desperately to satisfy
them. This is why we must ask ourselves - when we'll finaly learn that there is
no real satisfaction in samsara and in our samsaric pursuits? When we'll be finaly
able to say - STOP! Why don't we get sick of this never ending sorrow?
"Just as a leper
tormented by maggots
Turns to fire for
relief, but finds no peace,
So should you
understand
Attachment to sensual
pleasures."[4]
Candragomin said in his Letter
to a Student (Sisya-lekha):
"What being has
not come into the world hundreds of times?
What pleasure has not
already been experienced countless
times?
What luxury, such as
splendid white yak-tail fans, have they
not owned?
Yet, even when they
possess something, their attachment
continues to grow.
There is no suffering
they have not experienced many times.
The things they desire
do not satisfy them.
There is no living
being that has not slept in their bellies.
So why do they not rid
themselves of attachment to cyclic
existence?"[5]
Master Asvagosha said:
"Again and again in
hells
You drank boiling
liquid copper -
So much that even the
water in the ocean
Does not compare.
The filth you have
eaten
As a dog and as a pig
Would make a pile far
more vast
Than Meru, the king of
mountains.
On account of losing
loved ones and friends
You have shed so many
tears
In the realms of
cyclic existence
That the ocean could
not contain them.
The heads that have
been severed
From fighting one
another,
If piled up, would
Reach beyond Brahma's
heaven.
You have been a worm
And, having been ravenous,
you ate so much sludge
That if it were poured
into the great ocean
It would fill it
completely."[6]
Shakyamuni Buddha said:
"Remember the
infinite bodies which, in the past,
You wasted senselessly
on account of desire;
As many times as there
are grains of sand in the Ganges
You failed to please
the Buddhas and ignored their teachings."[7]
Shinran Shonin also said:
"Under the
guidance of Buddhas who appeared in this world,
Three times the sands of the Ganges in number,
We awakened the aspiration for supreme Enlightenment,
But our self-power failed, and we continued to transmigrate."[8]
"Were it not for
the ship of Amida's Vow,
How could I cross the ocean of painful existence?
With minds full of malice and cunning, like snakes and scorpions,
We cannot accomplish good acts through self-power;
And unless we entrust ourselves to Amida's directing of virtue,
We will end without knowing shame or self-reproach".[9]
3) In samsara we are
born and we die repeatedly, changing bodies after bodies ad infinitum
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said:
"Each of us has
left a pile of bones
That would dwarf Mount
Meru."[10]
Shakyamuni Buddha also said:
"The bones of a
single person wandering in Samsara would be a cairn, a pile, a heap as Mount
Vepulla, were there a collector of these bones and were the collections not
destroyed.
Longtime have you
suffered the death of father and mother, of sons, daughters, brothers and
sisters, and while you were thus suffering, you have verily shed tears upon
this long way, more than there is water in the four oceans.
Long time did your
blood flow by the loss of your heads when you were born as oxen, buffaloes.
rams, goats, etc.
Long time have you
been caught as dacoits or highwaymen or adulterers, and through your being
beheaded, verily more blood has flowed upon this long way than there is water
in the four oceans.
And thus have you for
long time undergone sufferings, undergone torment, undergone misfortune, and
filled the graveyards full, verily long enough to be dissatisfied with every
form of existence, long enough to turn away and free yourself from them all."[11]
"If someone took
from this vast earth pellets the size of juniper berries and set them aside,
saying, 'This is my mother, and this is my mother's mother,' then, monks, the
clay of this vast earth would be exhausted, yet the line of matrilineal
predecessors would not."[12]
In the Anguttara Nikaya it is said:
"On one occasion the
Venerable Sariputta was dwelling in Magadha, in the village Nalaka. On that
occasion, Samandakani, a wandering ascetic, approached him and asked:
'What, friend Sariputta, is
happiness, and what is suffering?'
'To be reborn, friend, is
suffering; not to be reborn is happiness.'"[13]
4) On the wheel of
samsara we will always go down after we go high
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna said:
"Having become
Indra, worthy of the world's honor, you will
still fall
Once again to the
earth because of the force of past karma.
Even having become a
universal monarch,
You will once again
become a slave for other beings in cyclic
existence.
Though you have long
experienced the pleasures
Of caressing the
breasts and waists of divine women,
You will once again
encounter the unbearable sensations
Of the grinding,
cutting, and flesh-tearing hell-devices.
Having dwelled long on
the peak of Mount Meru,
Enjoying the pleasant
touch of soft ground on your feet,
Imagine undergoing the
unbearable pain
Of walking once again
over hot coals and rotting corpses in hell.
Having frolicked in
beautiful groves
And enjoyed the
embraces of divine women,
You will arrive once
again in the forests of hell, where the
leaves
Are swords that slice
off ears, nose, hands, and legs.
Though you have
entered the Gently Flowing River
With beautiful
goddesses and golden lotuses,
You will plunge once
more in hell into scalding water -
The unbearable waters
of the Impassable River.
Having gained the
great pleasures of a deity
In the realrn of
desire, or the detached happiness of Brahma,
You will once again
become fuel for the fires
Of the Unrelenting
Hell, suffering pain without respite.
Having been a deity of
the sun or the moon,
Illuminating all the
world with the light of your body,
You will return once
more to dense, black darkness,
Where you cannot see
even your own outstretched hand."[14]
It is said in the Vinaya-vastu:
"The end of
accumulated things is depletion.
The end of things that
are high is a fall.
The end of meetings is
separation.
The end of life is
death."[15]
5) In samsara we have no true companions
In Bodhisattvacaryavatara
it is said:
"This body comes
forth whole, yet
The bones and flesh
that accompany it
Will break apart and
disperse. As this is so,
Why mention others,
such as loved ones?
You are born alone.
Also you die alone.
As others cannot share
your suffering,
Of what use is the
hindrance of loved ones?"[16]
Friends, family and loved ones are as fleeting as a crowd on
market day. Now they are here with us, and the next time they are gone. Also,
who can really take our pain when we are ill, when we get old or when we die?
Even if they have empathy for us, they cannot suffer, get old or die in our
place. Also, they cannot go to the samsaric destinations where we deserve to be
reborn due to our karma. Please meditate on this!
*
After
deeply contemplating the general sufferings of samsara and the specific sufferings
of each of the six realms of samsaric existence, our minds should naturaly turn
toward Amida Dharma, the only path that affords passage in this dark world of
the five defilements:
"To awaken
aspiration and perform practices in this world
Is the Path of Sages and is termed self-power.
The present is the last Dharma-age; it is the world of the five defilements;
The Pure Land way alone affords passage."[17]
Then, we should make this promise to ourselves and to all mother
sentient beings:
“I wish to abandon the
body enclosed in the womb
And attain birth in
the Land of Peace and Bliss,
Where I will quickly
behold Amida Buddha’s
Body of boundless
merits and virtues
And see many
Tathagathas
And holy sages as
well.
Having acquired the
six supernatural powers,
I will continue to
save suffering sentient beings
Until all their worlds
throughout the universe are exhausted.
Such will be my vow.
After having thus made
a vow, I take refuge in Amida Buddha
with sincerity of
heart”.[18]
It is impossible to escape the evil that dwells witthin
the unenlightened minds of sentient beings and the karmic environment they
manifest, without the salvific Power of Amida Buddha. Until we reach His Pure Land
we are never safe, and only after arriving there are we able to really benefit others:
"The City of
Bliss, tranquil and uncreated, in the West,
Is ultimately free and
peaceful, far removed from being and nonbeing;
Transforming oneself
into various bodies[19], one benefits all
beings equally, without discrimination.
Let us return ! Do not
abide
In this homeland of maras.
Since innumerable
kalpas ago
We have been transmigrating
Passing through all the six courses.
Nowhere has there been any pleasure;
We hear only the voices of grief and sorrow.
After this present lifetime has ended,
[1] Shakyamuni Buddha, Saddharma Smrity-upasthana Sutra (Sutra of
Sublime Dharma of Clear Recollection) as
quoted in Words of My Perfect Teacher,
by Patrul Rinpoche, revised edition, Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala,
Boston, 1998, p.94
[2] Letter to a Friend, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[3] Letter to a Friend, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[4] Letter to a Friend by Nagarjuna, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[5] The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment,
volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[6] Sokavinodana (Alleviating Sorrow) by Asvagosha, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[7] Ganda-vyuha Sutra
(Array of Stalks Sutra), as quoted in The Great
Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, volume I, by
Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca ,
New York
[8] Pure Land Hymns
on the Right, Semblance and Last Dharma Ages, The Collected Works of Shinran, http://shinranworks.com/hymns-in-japanese/hymns-of-the-dharma-ages/pure-land-hymns-on-the-right-semblance-and-last-dharma-ages
[9] Shozomatsu Wasan, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin
Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.421-422
[10] Letter to a Friend, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[11] Anguttara
Nikaya as translated by Venerable Narada Mahathera in his book, The Buddha and His Teachings,
http://www.buddhism.org/Sutras/BuddhaTeachings/page_31.html
[12] Buddha Shakyamuni, as
quoted in The Great Treatise on the
Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion
Publications, Ithaca , New York
[13] Anguttara
Nikaya - Discourses of the Buddha, selected and translated from Pali by
Nyanaponika Thera and Bhikku Bodhi, Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri
Lanka, volume 3, page 19, https://www.urbandharma.org/pdf1/wh238AnguttaraNikaya3.pdf
[14] Letter to a Friend, as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca , New York
[15] Vinaya-vastu (The Bases of Discipline) as quoted in The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path
to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion Publications,
Ithaca, New York, p. 286
[16] Bodhisattvacaryavatara (Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds), as
quoted in The Great Treatise on the
Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, volume I, by Tsong-kha-pa, Snow Lion
Publications, Ithaca, New York, p. 287
[17] Shinran Shonin, Hymn of the Two
Gateways of Entrance and Emergence, The
Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation Series, Jodo
Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.628
[18] Shan-tao’s Liturgy for
Birth – Ojoraisan, compiled by Master Shan-tao, annotated translation by
Zuio Hisao Inagaki, edited by Doyi Tan, Singapore, 2009, p.68
[19] After we attain Buddhahood in the Pure Land, we’ll
have access to the ultimate reality beyond forms (Dharmakaya), we’ll dwell
forever in transcendent form (Sambhogakaya) in Amida’s Pure Land, and in the
same time we’ll go in all the places of the universe in various Bodies of
Accomodation or Transformation (Nirmanakayas) to save all beings.
[20] Shinran Shonin explained, in his Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls: "'The city of
Nirvana' is the Pure Land of peace. [...] Know that shinjin (faith in Amida
Buddha) is the seed of Enlightenment, the seed for realizing the supreme
Nirvana." The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin Buddhism Translation
Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.513
[21] Master Shan-tao as quoted
by Shinran Shonin in his Kyogyoshinsho,
chapter V, The Collected Works of Shinran, Shin BuVddhism Translation
Series, Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha, Kyoto, 1997, p.200-201
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