i have been reading a lot recently about the buddhist universe and the difference between the views of the different schools. but, i dont think i really understand the purpose of it. why does it matter if there is another universe out there that is simular to our own. not to mention, the buddhist hells are another story. whats the purposes in them, to scare us into right practice? this new found knowledge has rather upset me b/c i dont understand the purpose of them in the greater picture. please someone explain the purpose of them to me.
to me, it seems as if one is trying to be scared into the right thing by these amazingly painful hells, and encouraged by the things like the god realms or the pure land. i dont understand this type of thinking. why cant one practice simply for the purpose of practicing the right path? does anyone understand my point of view in this matter?
be well in peace
Well, to begin with, speaking of Hell or Hells is not solely for the purpose of striking terror into the hearts of men. Even people that aren't in the least bit religious, or scared of Hell mythology, still say things like: "Hell on Earth", "Hell freezing over", etc, etc. For instance, when we say," He's been going through Hell lately", Buddhism might arguably ask," Which Hell has he been going through? Why is he suffering in this fashion?" After all, there is, of course, the Noble Truth of Dukkha, of disquiet, uneasiness, disharmony,
suffering. Dukkha is a fundamental aspect of Buddhist thought, and so it is really quite natural that in developing detailed cosmologies, various types of suffering would be differentiated.
In addition, there are some differences between the hells of Buddhism and the Hell presented by Christianity, for example. For one, there is no such thing as a one-way trip to hell in Buddhist thought. One only visits these places, metaphorically speaking, for as long as it takes to harmonize their actions. A more Western view of Hell expresses one's stay there as perpetual. Now, Hell is not a fun place to hang out for any amount of time, but there is, I think, a fundamental difference in severity between "contractual payback" (excuse the loose language) and "eternal damnation". Also, in the traditional Western view of Hell, there is it's polar opposite, Heaven...which is, conversely, the eternal resting place of all the good souls. In Buddhism, heavens, or 'god' realms, aren't really that much better than the Hell realms. You might say that the hells and heavens of Buddhism represent those that live under the spell of illusion. The hells represent those that intentionally bring considerable suffering, while the heavens represent those are so seduced by desire that they are numb to their suffering, and everyone else's. Watts described the hells and heavens, respectively, as the state of being "bound by iron chains" or being "bound bound by golden chains". Bound, either way.
Anyhow, 'what goes up, must come down'. If you ascend to the heights of the heaven realms, there is only one place left to go...back to the hell realms, with some intermediary stops along the way. So, as you can see, heavens and hells of Buddhism are different than what you may expect in Christianity, perhaps.
There is, actually though, one alternate possibility. There is the possibility of Nirvana, of 'liberation'. When one attains Nirvana, it is said that he has transcended dukkha. The 'Wheel of Dukkha' (the Bhava-chakra, also called the 'Wheel of Becoming') can be pictured as a wheel where each spoke represents gradations of heavens and hells, with other realms such as animal realms and human realms. In our lives of samsara, this wheel spins and spins. We goes through ups and downs, heavens and hells, moments when we act like animals, and moments we act like people. All of this is the process of becoming, a process which is self-defeating and self-frustrating. When one attains Nirvana, he is alternately described or pictured as either having halted the wheel or become it's axle hole.
In Buddhism, neither heavens or hells offer mankind what he is really looking for, and they are both temporary conditions. So why are they described in the first place, then? Well, they
are significant because our experience in these realms provides us with intuition that points us towards Nirvana, toward liberation from 'life by the wheel'. They are the hard lessons to be learned first-hand, that teach us the life by the gold or iron chains, so that we might shed them. It is said that Nirvana can only be attained from the 'human realm'. The Gods are too drunk with their fortune, the Demons too angry or wrathful for their misfortune, to care whatsoever. Even though the 'human realm' is just one more stop along the wheel by many accounts, it is the only step that offers the opportunity to liberate one's self from the vicious cycle.
