The setting sun here is the rising sun elsewhere. The world is round, and if we think we are ahead of others, we are actually behind many others. We are constantly creating new causes from the effects until we become helpless and confused in this universal turbulence of cause and effect. The vicious cycle is also called karma as suffering begets confusion; confusion begets karma; karma begets suffering and never ending story.

There are four holy ways and six conditions of the existence of sentient beings. The four holy ways are Buddha, Bodhisattvas, Pratyeka Buddha and Sravakas. The six conditions of rebirth are deva, human, asura demon, animals, hungry ghosts and ghosts in hell. These six rebirths dwell in three realms: Realm of Desire, Realm of Form and Realm of Formless.

1] The Realm of Desire is divided into a) Three Upper Ways and b) Three Lower Ways.

a] Three Upper Ways – Those who performed good deeds but without improving his or her shortcomings such as hatred or ignorance will be reincarnated as Asura Demon. This is the inferior class of goodness which has good karma but without virtue. The second is the middle class of goodness where it will be a return to human life. The upper class of goodness is rewarded with the deva life (deity), who will dwell in the six heavens of the realm of desire.

b] Three Lower Ways – These are hells, animals and hungry ghosts. There are central hells, adjacent hells and isolated hells. Central hells have eight hot hells and eight cold hells. The terms used for these hells are Arbuda, Nirarbuda, Atata, Apapa and Huhuva with different degree of suffering and punishment. The adjacent hells have sixteen inferior cells next to each hot hell. Isolated hells are beyond words to describe the suffering and have no chance of reincarnation until the end of time. Full description can be found in my website under the link “Journey to the Underworld.”

The Animals – Our eyes can see this world and is classified into four different types. They are viviparous, oviparous, insect and creature of water.

The Hungry Ghosts – This is a very pitiful ghost who has a very narrow throat and big belly with a ghostly figure. Any food that they come across and want to eat will turn into burning charcoal where they cannot eat and is always hungry looking for food.

2] The Realm of Form – There are eighteen levels of heavens.

3] The Realm of Formless – There are four levels of heavens.

These heavens are not true eternal heaven and are sometimes called lower heaven or middle heaven. It is also called The Spiritual World.

In these heavens, even though there is enjoyment of the reward, they still belong to part of the cycle of reincarnation and do not belong to eternal heaven. Cultivators of different paths may easily reach these heavens but it is very difficult to reach eternal heaven which has no more reincarnation and the end of all sufferings.

The Buddhist scripture says: “There is no peace in the three realms. Just like a burning house, filled with suffering and fear, there are also endless flame of birth, growing old, illness and death.”

Buddha said: “We inherited our karma. If we want to know about our past lives, we can simply learn about them from what situations we encounter in this life. If we want to know about the conditions of our future lives, we can learn about them from what we have done in this life.”

All changes of cause and effect come from the activities in our present daily life. Our fate is of our creation and it centered in our heart and depends upon our inner intentions, attitude and external deeds.

In the teaching of Tao, it is said: “Our intentions from our heart formed our attitudes. Our attitudes formed our behavior, our behavior formed our habits, our habits formed our character, and our character formed our fate.”

Author: T.A Chew