The Misery of Samsara
The Six Realms
Rebirth in any of the realms of existence is conditioned by Karma. Unskilful Karma leads to the three unfortunate realms (hells, hungry ghosts, animals), while skilful Karma leads to the three fortunate realms (men, Asuras, Devas).
Of the three lower realms, the animal world is very evident to human beings because they have a permanent karmic relationship with it.
However, they do not have this contact with the worlds of the hungry ghosts and the hells.
But the mere fact that most people cannot see them is not a sufficient reason to deny their existence.
To deny that a person is thinking just because his thoughts are not seen is nonsensical.
If at present a person cannot establish a connection with these worlds, it is because his mind is not yet developed, and his knowledge resembles the dew drop on a blade of grass compared to the ocean of Buddha’s wisdom.
To reject the existence of these realms on such a basis is like a blind man who stubbornly refuses to admit the existence of colour. The understanding of these realms will be improved with the conviction of Karma and its resulting fruits.
All changes in nature have both causes and conditions. This is a natural law and is easily apprehensible. Knowing the seed, you can foresee the fruit.
Although the same law applies to changes within the mind, most people refuse to accept it. When a seed bears fruit, it gives rise to a new form. When a human being dies, a new form originates conditioned by previous actions.
From a very early age, a child may instinctively perform unskilful deeds because of its prior acquaintance with such actions in a past life.
Why Is it so Difficult to Produce Good Karma?
Skilful deeds are like good handwriting and come as a result of practice. Through intense investigation, you can find the proof of your previous existences.
Only when you are convinced of rebirth, will contemplation on the six realms be effective.
Such explanations will never be satisfactory, unless you can examine the teachings for yourself by applying the three ways of understanding phenomena.
The Buddha has said:
Judge my teachings with good reasons in the way that a man assays a piece of gold, weighing it, cutting it, melting it until he is certain that it is gold. Do not follow my teaching only out of respect for me.
In the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, the Bodhisattva Shantideva asks:
Who has created this burning iron floor, the guards who inflict the pain and the raging fires, from where do they come?
The Tathagata says that all these phenomena are the projection of the evil mind.
Although the hells are mental projections and not self-existent places, they are as real as the human world, but are not like the dream state – in which no actual suffering is experienced.
Life in the hells is extremely long and varies according to the different causes. Because of very heavy Karma, some beings will remain there until the destruction of the world. Where will they be afterwards?
There are millions of worlds, and if their Karma is not exhausted, those beings will take rebirth in other worlds under similar circumstances, in the same way as a prisoner whose term is not up is transferred to another jail to complete his sentence.
To Purify Oneself, One Should Confess One’s Faults with Sincerity.
From fear of the fire of suffering of the three lower realms, I go for refuge from the heart to the Triple Gem. Please grant your blessing to enable me to intensely exert myself to accomplish all virtues and to abandon all non-virtues.
The Three Kinds of Suffering
(1) The Suffering of Suffering
This is what ordinary people call suffering. All can recognise it, whether or not they know about the Dharma. It is the mental and physical misery endured in worldly existence.
(2) The Suffering of Change
The suffering of change is what people, who lack the understanding of Dharma, mistake for real happiness. It includes all physical and mental pleasures.
For example, a person who experiences the physical misery of discomfort in the shade seeks the warmth of a sunny spot. But, as soon as the heat of the sun becomes unpleasant, he moves into the shade. It is for this reason that it is called “the suffering of change”.
Mental suffering of this kind can be seen in the example of a people whose country has been liberated from an oppressor. Having obtained their freedom they rejoice, but eventually the situation turns into another form of oppression.
Another example is the happiness of a man who has won a high position in society. If he remains in that position for a period of time, problems and difficulties will arise because of his responsibilities and due to competition from others. These will ultimately cause him, and his relatives, grief. All worldly people strive to acquire this kind of temporary happiness which in reality is only misery.
Why does it appear as happiness? Because this suffering is less pronounced and less easy to perceive than the first kind described.
If it was true happiness, it would increase but instead it decreases and gradually turns into misery. When the suffering of change is observed through the eye of the Dharma, it will be recognised to be one aspect of suffering, and the practice will have been worthwhile.
(3) The Suffering Conditionality
It is the very fact of existence in Samsara. Any rebirth, the basis for the first two kinds of misery, does not bring suffering only now, but is the instrument for the production of further unskilful actions, the fruits of which will undoubtedly ripen in the future.
The pain felt from a sore of the hand is the first kind of misery, and all beings are aware of it.
Those who have a good understanding of the Dharma are aware of the second, but only Aryas totally comprehend the third aspect of suffering.
All beings wish to escape from the first kind of suffering; Devas from the formless realms wish to escape from the second; and Aryas desire freedom from the third.
Since every samsaric being is oppressed by the three types of suffering you should now develop the wish to be liberated from Samsara.
Four Erroneous Views
All unskilful deeds stem from four erroneous views.
(1) The belief that existence is permanent is the first error.
(2) Viewing this existence as happiness is the second.
(3) Believing the five aggregates to be pure when in fact the body is a mass of impurities and the mind is filled with defilements, is the third.
(4) To superimpose the idea of independent self-existence on all phenomena, while every existence is without self-nature, is the final misconception.
If you fail to recognise these mistaken notions, and to see how they are linked, your activities, like those of millions of other people, will be based on and fettered by them.
Two Kinds of Meditation
In Dharma practice, there are two kinds of meditation: contemplation and concentration.
By means of the former you develop intuitive understanding of impermanence, Karma and its fruit, renunciation, the precious human form, interdependent origination, compassion, loving kindness, Bodhicitta, as well as a relative understanding of Shunyata.
By means of the latter you achieve single-pointedness of mind. At the end of every contemplation, you should concentrate on what has been realised. The mind, however, does not undergo development as a result of concentrated meditation alone.
When practising Dharma, you must first understand as clearly as possible what you are learning. You must then comprehend what is to be accepted and abandoned, as well as the methods for destroying wrong conceptions.
There are proper and improper times for the practice of contemplation. Since it is impossible to practise all the methods simultaneously, once you have found what is really effective for you, you should stop searching and concentrate on that.
If energy decreases during meditation, then a brief contemplation on the benefits of meditation should help to overcome this feeling of sinking and build up further energy for concentration.
In order to fell a tree, you need to strike at the right spot (concentration) and to sharpen the axe well (contemplation). Delusions are deeply rooted and are difficult to destroy immediately; therefore, you must train yourself to eradicate them gradually.
Ending Suffering
In order to end suffering, you must avoid its cause – the production of Karma.
To do this, you must find the method and put it into practice through your own efforts, because no meditator can transfer his insights to another person. The Buddha stated clearly that every being is at the same time his own master and his own enemy.
Two Steps for the Destruction of Karma
(1) To purify the seeds of past unskilful Karma which have the power to bear fruit.
(2) To prevent a fresh accumulation of unskilful Karma.
It is for these purposes that the extraordinary preliminaries are practised.
Please grant your blessings that I may hold the banner of liberation by abandoning the view that this Samsara, which is like an unbearable prison, is a delightful park, and by holding firmly the three trainings, the treasure house of the Aryas.
by 