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Do Hell realms and Heaven realms interact?

LostLightLostLight Veteran
edited June 2012 in Buddhism Basics
I'm sure many people have seen or heard stuff relating to heaven vs hell or angels vs demons. I was wondering if these 2 realms are believed to be able to interact with one another.

Comments

  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    Bodhisattvas go to both of those realms of delusion to help beings.
  • personperson Don't believe everything you think The liminal space Veteran
    Do you mean like are they at war?

    image
  • Do you mean like are they at war?

    image
    haha that's an interesting photo. Yes, I guess I do mean something similar to a conflict between the 2 realms.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited June 2012
    No.
    The beings within are expriencing enough conflict as it is without sparring with each other.
    The Realms are allegorical.
    Let's not start imposing fey and whimsical interpretations on them, simply because it may seem fashionable to do so.
  • No.
    The beings within are expriencing enough conflict as it is without sparring with each other.
    The Realms are allegorical.
    Let's not start imposing fey and whimsical interpretations on them, simply because it may seem fashionable to do so.
    Alright. I didn't think so. It was just a passing curiosity.
  • JeffreyJeffrey Veteran
    It's actually more likely the asuras would fight with the gods. Asuras are jealous of the Gods and want to take from them more whatever.
  • howhow Veteran Veteran
    edited June 2012
    Does anyone else think that the Buddhist depictions of the various realms looks surprisingly similar to the decorators chart that is used for choosing complementary colours.

    The various realms are often described with clearly deliniated borders which is a useful as a teaching tool but more often than not they are experienced as a blend.
    The main purpose of this teaching tool is to demonstrate how various distinct experiences in life relate to the Buddhist Dharma.

    I was going to dismiss this posting as a warcraft fantasy before realizing that the realm of the Asuras may actually be of use to you.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Does anyone else think that the Buddhist depictions of the various realms looks surprisingly similar to the decorators chart that is used for choosing complementary colours.
    :lol:
    well thank you for planting that one in my head,now!
    The various realms are often described with clearly deliniated borders which is a useful as a teaching tool but more often than not they are experienced as a blend.
    The main purpose of this teaching tool is to demonstrate how various distinct experiences in life relate to the Buddhist Dharma.
    Yes - not only do they all relate to our perception and reactions to events and incidents during our day, but they instruct us about our frame of mind, and the most important condition to meditate on, at the time of dying.
    The most important moment of our life, in fact....
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    I don't think they would war necessarily except maybe within the minds of beings like the good and evil wolves scenario or when Buddha finally overcame Mara with infinite compassion.

    But interact? Heck sometimes they are the very same place.

    Every now and then I can catch a glimpse or hear a teaching from somebody I feel is living in heaven right here and right now. Unfortunatly, it isn't very hard to find those of us living in hell.

    One truely kind person can make all the difference in the world/s.
  • look at your fist, and then look at your open hand.

  • I was going to dismiss this posting as a warcraft fantasy before realizing that the realm of the Asuras may actually be of use to you.
    I wasn't trying to have fantasies validated XD; i was just trying to make sure I had a more "correct" idea of the realms. The asura realm is quite interesting btw. I'll admit I must have been pretty ignorant to never come across that before, even though I've been exposed to it so much in everyday life.

    Back to the realms. I just remember reading about angels and demons fighting at the end of the world as a kid and I thought it was an interesting little story (I never actually believed it). After becoming a buddhist and finding out about the different realms, I was slightly unsure how each realm affected eachother and whether or not they were interdependent.
  • cazcaz Veteran United Kingdom Veteran
    I'm sure many people have seen or heard stuff relating to heaven vs hell or angels vs demons. I was wondering if these 2 realms are believed to be able to interact with one another.
    No they don't. This is a common biblical conception, However it is interesting to note that the Gods and Demi-gods do this though.
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    The Realms are allegorical.

    Not according to how they're described in the suttas.
    ;)
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Many eminent Buddhist scholars, with far more experience than I, would seem to disagree, or at least provide some kind of educated opinion as to why this may be so.
    It's a hard thing to argue against.
  • "Heaven and Hell meet in our hearts."

    ~ Retanti Mayahannaha
  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited June 2012
    Heaven and Hell "co-arise".. like up and down. If, for a while, life is going "my way" and "I" am being affirmed, and that is attached to and invested in.. "I" am in Heaven. Then when things turn and are not going my way, and "I" am being denied.. "I" am in Hell.

    Life without practice is, in my experience, a continuous cycling through Heaven and Hell. With practice... less Heaven and Hell over time.

    Dire circumstances are not Hell, in and of themselves.
  • In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
  • In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
    Maybe other planes of existence are manifestations of mind too?

  • In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
    Maybe other planes of existence are manifestations of mind too?

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...
  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    Many eminent Buddhist scholars, with far more experience than I, would seem to disagree, or at least provide some kind of educated opinion as to why this may be so.
    It's a hard thing to argue against.
    It's true there are different intepretations and opinions, but I struggle to see how the sutta accounts of the realms are allegorical because when you read them they appear to be straightforward descriptions rather than similes. I think it's best to keep an open mind.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    ... I think it's best to keep an open mind.
    I could not agree more.

    :)
  • In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
    Maybe other planes of existence are manifestations of mind too?

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...
    Well that opens a can of very debatable worms...

    ...but is it worth getting into that? No. It makes no difference to me. Planes is as planes does... or something.
    :)

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
    Maybe other planes of existence are manifestations of mind too?

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...
    you state that as a certainty, it sounds like.

    How do you know?

  • In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.
    Maybe other planes of existence are manifestations of mind too?

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...
    you state that as a certainty, it sounds like.

    How do you know?

    This I know: Only consciousness exists beyond the physical body... We are consciousness not mind... In consciousness there is no body, there is no mind, there only is... We cling to body, we cling to mind, we are afraid of the void of clear light... When we move beyond body, beyond mind, we step into the void, and see and know all that is... for I am That, that I am Not...

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Stop speaking in riddles, it's actually not all that impressive.
    you said:
    In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.

    then added:

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...

    what planes are you talking about, and why do you state that things are a manifestation of our mind 'in this plane', but that in other planes, mind doesn't exist, it's only consciousness.'...?
    clarify.
    in comprehensible English, I like things simply put.
    I suspect others do too....
    Thanks.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    I'd like to say I lent a girl passenger on my bus, £1.00.
    During broad daylight.

    Twice.
    she did it twice.
    Twice, I lent her money.
    the second time, I did point out that she seemed to make a habit of this.... she knew what the bus fare was, after all....

    she was a regular passenger.
    i saw her three times after that, and she never offered to pay me back.

    would I do it again?
    Hell, yes, damn right I would.
  • PrairieGhostPrairieGhost Veteran
    edited June 2012
    Namaste.

    The ceiling in hell is fragile, with many cracks and fissures, and we in heaven are dancing in the room above.
  • These are not to be explained but experienced
    Stop speaking in riddles, it's actually not all that impressive.
    you said:
    In this plane of existence there is no heaven or hell... just manifestations of mind.

    then added:

    In the other planes there is no mind only consciousness...

    what planes are you talking about, and why do you state that things are a manifestation of our mind 'in this plane', but that in other planes, mind doesn't exist, it's only consciousness.'...?
    clarify.
    in comprehensible English, I like things simply put.
    I suspect others do too....
    Thanks.
    I am sorry if you think I am trying to impress... I am only trying to convey something that may be too difficult to simply express in plan comprehensible english. It maybe better left to your own investigation, as this was something I had done.

    There are many things that cannot be explained but only through experience can be understood.



  • RichardHRichardH Veteran
    edited June 2012
    @I_AM_THAT. If you are talking about absorptions... then you know that absorptions are discrete states-among-states and are impermanent, not-self, and dukkha.

    If you are talking about absorptions in the sense of the Godhead of "pure consciousness".. "unchanging essense" ....found in Vedanta, Theosophy etc.. that is also impermanent, not-self, and dukkha.


    I think it is quite possible you have touched upon these to one degree or another, I have , plenty of people have. Anyone with a good facility at one pointed attention can. I think very few people these days can abide in the highest formless Jhanas... I haven't and I don't believe you have... but you have had some absorptions.. to some degree, which is no big deal.

    They are "subtle", devaloka-ish.. and they are impermanent, not-self, and dukkha....

    There as sense of "I have experienced things very rarefied that are beyond your mere knowing" .. and to that I offer this picture from Monty Python.....





    all in good humor of course.. please present an ass trumpet for me too. :)

  • DairyLamaDairyLama Veteran Veteran
    would I do it again?
    Hell, yes, damn right I would.
    Could you lend me some money for a cup of tea? :D
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    yes.
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