The Realms of the Universe

The Buddhist Universe

The great tragedy of existence, from a Buddhist point of view, is that it is both endless and subject to impermanence, suffering and uncertainty. These three are called the tilakhana or three signs of existence.

Existence is endless because individuals are reincarnated over and over again, experiencing suffering throughout many lives.

It is impermanent because no state, good or bad, lasts forever. Our mistaken belief that things can last is a chief cause of suffering.

It is uncertain because when we examine our experience, no knower can be defined and no enduring essence of experience can be located.

Only achieving liberation, or nirvana, can free a being from the cycle of life, death and rebirth.

The Realms

Buddhism has six realms into which a soul can be reborn. From most to least pleasant, these are:

1. Heaven, the home of the gods (devas): this is a realm of enjoyment inhabited by blissful, long- lived beings. It is subdivided by later sources into 26 levels of increasing happiness.

2. The realm of humanity: although humans suffer, this is considered the most fortunate state because humans have the greatest chance of enlightenment.

3. The realm of the Titans or angry gods (asuras): these are warlike beings who are at the mercy of angry impulses.

4. The realm of the hungry ghosts (pretas): these unhappy beings are bound to the fringes of human existence, unable to leave because of particularly strong attachments. They are unable to satisfy their craving, symbolised by their depiction with huge bellies and tiny mouths.

5. The animal realm: this is undesirable because animals are exploited by human beings, and do not have the necessary self-awareness to achieve liberation.

6. Hell realms: people here are horribly tortured in many creative ways, but not for ever - only until their bad karma is worked off.

(Early sources listed five realms, excluding the Titans.)

The first two levels are good places to be born. The inhabitants of the next three levels all have a particular defect (hatred, greed, ignorance), and hell is obviously the worst of the lot.

Interlinked

These are not all separate realms, but are interlinked in keeping with the Buddhist philosophy that mind and reality are linked.

Thus, although humans and animals live together in the same world, the implications of being born as a human and as an animal are very different, and they are represented as two separate realms.

And a human being can experience touches of heaven when happy, or the lower states when hateful, greedy, ignorant or in pain. Someone adept at meditation will experience progressively higher heaven realms.