About Buddhist hell . .

A forum for beginners and members of other Buddhist traditions to ask questions about Theravāda (The Way of the Elders). Responses require moderator approval before they are visible in order to double-check alignment to Theravāda orthodoxy.
jbrooks79
Posts: 21
Joined: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:20 am

About Buddhist hell . .

Post by jbrooks79 »

I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
User avatar
DooDoot
Posts: 12032
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:06 pm

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by DooDoot »

the following is reliable and not speculative:
Bhikkhus, it is a gain for you, it is well gained by you, that you have obtained the opportunity for living the holy life.

I have seen, bhikkhus, the hell named ‘Contact’s Sixfold Base.’ There whatever form one sees with the eye is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable. Whatever sound one hears with the ear … Whatever odour one smells with the nose … Whatever taste one savours with the tongue … Whatever tactile object one feels with the body … Whatever mental phenomenon one cognizes with the mind is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable.

https://suttacentral.net/sn35.135/en/bodhi
There is always an official executioner. If you try to take his place, It is like trying to be a master carpenter and cutting wood. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter, you will only hurt your hand.

https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/paticcasamuppada
https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/anapanasati
User avatar
Bhikkhu Pesala
Posts: 4646
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:17 pm

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

BlogPāli FontsIn This Very LifeBuddhist ChroniclesSoftware (Upasampadā: 24th June, 1979)
User avatar
Aloka
Posts: 7797
Joined: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:51 pm

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by Aloka »

jbrooks79 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:36 am I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
My mind buzzing around at its worst is probably a good description of "Hell"....but I'm not able to take a "selfie" of that, sorry!

Here's part of an interview with Ajahn Sumedho of the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition. It's from the section "Literalism, Metaphor and Mystery" in his book "Direct Realisation." (Volume 3 of The Anthology):
Christian cathedrals are full of angels, devils and hells. At that time people’s minds were conditioned to perceive the world through myths, symbols and metaphors. Our time on the other hand is one in which we perceive the world through theories, logic and rational thought, scientific views and psychology.

The cosmology of Buddhism however, from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, is simply a metaphor for the whole realm of human experience, from the most refined state of consciousness, which is neither perception nor non-perception, to the lowest form of misery, unmitigated pain and anguish which is the deepest hell. Though we may experience these extremes, most of our lives are lived in between that. So the animal, human and first levels of the deva realms are in that middle position. So you find that we relate to the animal kingdom a lot because we share an animal-type body, and then the Four Maharajas, the Protectors of the World, can be seen as ‘guardian angels’ or the powers of shame and moral dread which guide you from doing terrible things. So simple people take things quite literally, and the more sophisticated take them more metaphorically, but whichever way you take them, they are still quite helpful! Seriously though, to believe in deva worlds literally doesn’t seem necessary and the Buddha didn’t make that his teaching.

The Four Noble Truths is what he taught – and he said that this is all you have to know.

https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/ ... alization/

:anjali:
santa100
Posts: 6814
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:55 pm

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by santa100 »

jbrooks79 wrote:I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
They're both similar in the sense that hell is a concrete realm of existence just like the animal or the human realms. And the Buddha quite explicitly said so throughout his Teaching, in many suttas with the common stock phrase:
MN 129 wrote:Having done bad things by way of body, speech, and mind, when their body breaks up, after death, they’re reborn in a place of loss, a bad place, the underworld, hell.
Now comes the big difference, unlike the Christian hell where the victims are subjected to eternal damnation, those in the Buddhist hell will get a chance to be reborn again in one of the 31 planes of existence once one's served his sentence.
User avatar
cappuccino
Posts: 12879
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:45 am
Contact:

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by cappuccino »

char101
Posts: 336
Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:21 am

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by char101 »

jbrooks79 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:36 am I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
Yes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petavatthu and the corresponding https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimanavatthu describes the Deva world.
User avatar
Kusala
Posts: 1148
Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:02 am

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by Kusala »

jbrooks79 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:36 am I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
kalyana.mitta
Posts: 62
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2020 2:36 am

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by kalyana.mitta »

Kusala wrote: Thu Feb 06, 2020 12:36 am
jbrooks79 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:36 am I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
thanks for that vid. I remember being shown videos like this about hell when I was younger. It scared me to the point where I didn't ever want to go back to Sunday school. But now watching them really scares me and motivates me to avoid doing bad things. :console:
"Whatever treasure in this world or in other any worlds, whatever precious jewel there is in the heavens, none is equal to the Buddha. In the Buddha is this precious jewel. By there truth, may there be wellbeing."
:candle: Ratana Sutta | Sn 2.1 :candle:
SarathW
Posts: 21227
Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2012 2:49 am

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by SarathW »

DooDoot wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:20 pm the following is reliable and not speculative:
Bhikkhus, it is a gain for you, it is well gained by you, that you have obtained the opportunity for living the holy life.

I have seen, bhikkhus, the hell named ‘Contact’s Sixfold Base.’ There whatever form one sees with the eye is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable. Whatever sound one hears with the ear … Whatever odour one smells with the nose … Whatever taste one savours with the tongue … Whatever tactile object one feels with the body … Whatever mental phenomenon one cognizes with the mind is undesirable, never desirable; unlovely, never lovely; disagreeable, never agreeable.

https://suttacentral.net/sn35.135/en/bodhi
:goodpost:
Buddha also equates hell realm here and now for people are subject to the punishment of a powerful legal system and involve with war. Bhante Dhammanado said that human can't experience the real hell. It appears to be it is nothing like hell human experiences. (please correct me if I am wrong) Being reborn to the human realm has done both good and bad deeds. So it is not possible to experience the hell of beings only done bad deeds.
“As the lamp consumes oil, the path realises Nibbana”
User avatar
Ceisiwr
Posts: 22391
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:36 am
Location: Wales

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by Ceisiwr »

cappuccino wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:24 pm
Pretty grim
“Knowing that this body is just like foam,
understanding it has the nature of a mirage,
cutting off Māra’s flower-tipped arrows,
one should go beyond the King of Death’s sight.”
User avatar
DooDoot
Posts: 12032
Joined: Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:06 pm

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by DooDoot »

Ceisiwr wrote: Sun Mar 08, 2020 3:39 am Pretty grim
Its not "unreal". It is real.
There is always an official executioner. If you try to take his place, It is like trying to be a master carpenter and cutting wood. If you try to cut wood like a master carpenter, you will only hurt your hand.

https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/paticcasamuppada
https://soundcloud.com/doodoot/anapanasati
User avatar
confusedlayman
Posts: 6231
Joined: Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:16 am
Location: Human Realm (as of now)

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by confusedlayman »

Aloka wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 2:07 pm
jbrooks79 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 11:36 am I have this idea what Christian hell looks like, but are there pictures, or descriptions of Buddhist hell, that are reliable, from Buddha, or good sources . .
My mind buzzing around at its worst is probably a good description of "Hell"....but I'm not able to take a "selfie" of that, sorry!

Here's part of an interview with Ajahn Sumedho of the Theravada Thai Forest Tradition. It's from the section "Literalism, Metaphor and Mystery" in his book "Direct Realisation." (Volume 3 of The Anthology):
Christian cathedrals are full of angels, devils and hells. At that time people’s minds were conditioned to perceive the world through myths, symbols and metaphors. Our time on the other hand is one in which we perceive the world through theories, logic and rational thought, scientific views and psychology.

The cosmology of Buddhism however, from the highest heaven to the lowest hell, is simply a metaphor for the whole realm of human experience, from the most refined state of consciousness, which is neither perception nor non-perception, to the lowest form of misery, unmitigated pain and anguish which is the deepest hell. Though we may experience these extremes, most of our lives are lived in between that. So the animal, human and first levels of the deva realms are in that middle position. So you find that we relate to the animal kingdom a lot because we share an animal-type body, and then the Four Maharajas, the Protectors of the World, can be seen as ‘guardian angels’ or the powers of shame and moral dread which guide you from doing terrible things. So simple people take things quite literally, and the more sophisticated take them more metaphorically, but whichever way you take them, they are still quite helpful! Seriously though, to believe in deva worlds literally doesn’t seem necessary and the Buddha didn’t make that his teaching.

The Four Noble Truths is what he taught – and he said that this is all you have to know.

https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/ ... alization/

:anjali:
i thought buddha was talking to devas and brahmas which form he can perveice by eye. or he is talking to different mind states of other humans?
I may be slow learner but im at least learning...
thomaslaw
Posts: 812
Joined: Fri Apr 19, 2013 12:55 am
Location: Australia

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by thomaslaw »

Bhikkhu Pesala wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:21 pm See the Devadūta Sutta
Thanks for the posting.

The Buddha in the sutta teaches clearly about the conditions of hell, and its connection with King Yama. It seems King Yama is the king of hell?

No such a king of hell is mentioned in the SN suttas. But some descriptions about various forms of tormented ghost (P. peta, Skt. preta) and the karmic cause for the arising of the suffering experienced by them are presented in SN 19.1-21 (= SA 508-534).
User avatar
cappuccino
Posts: 12879
Joined: Thu Feb 11, 2016 1:45 am
Contact:

Re: About Buddhist hell . .

Post by cappuccino »

thomaslaw wrote: It seems King Yama is the king of hell?
Yama is a role for any number of people
Post Reply