I've previously touched upon the wheel of Samsara (the six realms of suffering). To get off the wheel of Samsara, one enters Nirvana (and thus the Four Holy Realms).
Nirvāṇa (/nɪərˈvɑːnə, -ˈvænə, nər-/; Sanskrit: निर्वाण nirvāṇa [nirʋaːɳə]; Pali: निब्बान nibbāna ; Prakrit: णिव्वाण ṇivvāṇa ) literally means "blown out", as in a candle. The term "nirvana" is most commonly associated with Buddhism, and represents its ultimate state of soteriological release and liberation from rebirths in samsara.
Through the process of purification the dharma practitioner can become an Arhat, when the four defilements of the mental functions of the manas-consciousness are purified.
The four Holy Realms are realms of enlightenment being the 7th-10th realms. 7th and 8th are "self-enlightenment" - Arhat / Rakan / Śrāvaka (meaning "Hearer", or "One who is Worthy"). 9th is what Zen Masters vow to be, Bodhisattvas.
The etymology of Bodhisattva is as follows:
Sanskrit, ‘a person whose essence is perfect knowledge,’ from bodhi- ‘perfect knowledge’ (from budh- ‘awaken’ [see Buddha]) + sattva ‘being, essence.’
To know ones inner source, that Mind is Buddha, Body is Buddha. Bodhisattvas follow the impulse from their Sambogakhya once enlightened, as this allows them to do the will of Buddha (Vairocana - actions that are pure and free from Karmic bonding).
The Sambhogakaya is a "subtle body of limitless form". Both "celestial" Buddhas such as Bhaisajyaguru and Amitābha, as well as advanced bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteśvara and Manjusri can appear in an "enjoyment-body." A Buddha can appear in an "enjoyment-body" to teach bodhisattvas through visionary experiences.
The 10th realm is perfect enlightenment, past, present and future, and it is belonging to "Buddha". While we most likely will not reach such attainment, in Zen we push ourselves forward to be Bodhisattvas.
However, looking at the Six Realms of Suffering is the purpose I created this post, to share an excerpt from The Essence of Zen: The Teachings of Sekkei Harada by Harada:
What are the ten realms? First of all, there are six realms of suffering and delusion. To continually move around through these six realms is referred to as "transmigration". These six realms are: heaven, human beings, hell, hungry ghosts, animals, and fighting devils (asuras). In the realm of heaven, there is only happiness. It is a condition in which every aspect of life is satisfying. Since this existence is always happy, enjoyable, and wonderful, the situation never arises whereby the teaching of Buddha or any other teacher is sought.
The realm of human beings is a condition in which there is constant change between happiness and sadness, satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The time spent in this realm is said to be shorter than that in any of the other five. However, unless a being lives in this realm, it will have no chance at all to come in contact with the Dharma.
There is a metaphor concerning a blind turtle that symbolizes how extremely rare is the chance to exist even for a short time as a human being. It is a story about a small piece of wood floating in the middle of the ocean. In this piece of wood there is a hole. Once every hundred years, a blind turtle leaves the bottom of the ocean and goes up to the surface to stick its head out of the water. It so happens that the turtle puts its head through the hole in the small piece of wood. This conveys how difficult it is to have the chance to live in the realm of human beings.
Beneath the world of human beings is the realm of hell. Life in this realm is the exact opposite of heaven. Every aspect of this life is a cause of suffering. Due to the excess of pain and suffering, the opportunity for a being in hell to encounter the Buddhadharma does not exist.
The realm of hungry ghosts is one in which it is impossible to become satisfied. The realm of animals is one in which the beings cannot understand reason, no matter how carefully something is explained to them.
Finally, there is the realm of asuras, or fighting devils, the world of anger. These beings are constantly quarreling and fighting. They want to destroy whatever they see. Of the six realms of delusion, the worst are those of hungry ghosts, animals, and fighting devils. These realms are considered to be even "worse" than hell, because they are the easiest realms for human beings to fall into.
We are continually transmigrating through these six worlds. Even today, while we are practicing zazen, we are living in one of these realms. This is our reality. A person who is angry, for example, becomes a fighting devil because of that condition. When that condition comes to an end, that person might reflect on the situation and think, "I shouldn't get angry about such a trivial thing." After concluding that it wasn't right to get angry, that person becomes a being who is living in the world of human beings.
The six lower realms are there, then the four higher realms are those of the sravakas (persons who have unshakable confidence/faith in the teaching of the Buddha).
Those who follow the dharma can through their skills manifested in their Zen practice, move themselves from these lower realms, and spend less time within them. With the fully attained "Mirror Wisdom" (non-duality) we have access to what elsewhere is called the law of contradiction - if we have awareness of what we are, what we are doing, we know that there's an unmanifest half which eliminates our choice or our experience of ourselves. If doing a wrong thing, as soon as it is noticed, we can correct it by ending it. (The more introspection and reflection skill we cultivate through meditation, the more time we spend in "Nirvana", the more we can put an end to delusions as soon as they arise from our Buddha-womb, the eighth consciousness).
It is for this reason I believe that the The Third Grand Master said, "It is useless to work at concentration on stillness without knowing the hidden essence."
Submitted December 27, 2017 at 08:28PM by Dillon123 http://ift.tt/2CcJzck
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