Buddhism and Hell

us more deeply in karma. They are temporary escapes at best. In fact, if one accepts the premises presented,including the premise of another life after this one, the only way out is Dharma. This is not a threat to keep us in line. This is a practical conclusion drawn by the many scholars who have examined the situation of fleeting life.Even if you don't believe in reincarnation, perhaps the idea that one must purify oneself in order to be of service to others would motivate.

Hedonism, in my view, is born of desperation. The mind sees the impermanent condition of all things, and comes to the mistaken conclusion that one's actions do not ultimately matter. This is a temporary solution to an ongoing problem, for it is born of the samsaric mind. Each pleasure will fade, and there will be an increasingly desperate search for the next.

This situation is described in the Tibetan cosmology as the dilemma of beings in the god realms. Quoting Chugdud Tulku:

Beings in these realms are so infatuated with and intoxicated by sensual pleasures and bliss that the thought of escaping from this or any other state of cyclic existence never occurs to them.

So then one might think to avoid hell by constant meditation and spiritual practice. Even here, one must be careful not to fall into pride and judgments about others and thereby lose the very jewel one seeks.

"My meditation is so profound, I don't have to worry about karma." But the repercussions of delusion are infallible, and it doesn't take a lot of delusion to find oneself born in hell.

These are the foundation concepts. The solutions to the dilemma fill many books. I will close with an overview of one practice: The Purification of the Six Realms. This is from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. This practice can be done by others for the benefit of one who has just died and demonstrates that even after death, there is hope for a reversal of negative trends. It can be done during life, as well. Used in life, the purification employs visualization and meditation to purify the body of each of the six main negative emotions.

Basically, one focuses on a particular part of the body and its associated emotion, and visualizes that emotion dissolving into light. Put your entire heart and mind into this visualization.

NEGATIVE EMOTION,ASSOCIATED BODY PART,ASSOCIATED REALM:

• Anger,Soles of the feet,Hell
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