Samsara

In Buddhist philosophy, the world of suffering in which we live, referred to as samsara, is divided into six realms. The specific realm into which a being is reborn depends on its actions in its previous life. In this way, each of the six realms is characterized by a certain type of being – from gods to humans to animals – that exemplifies a specific negative emotional state. In my experience, I have heard teachers who state that these realms are real, and that descriptions of beings in each are to be taken literally. There are others who find the descriptions of each realm’s beings merely metaphors for the negative emotional state that characterize that plane of existence. At this stage in my life and practice, I have found the latter interpretation most believable and useful in understanding the concept of samsara.
In the meditation of Chenrezi, the bodhisattva of compassion (called Avalokitesvara in Sanskirt, which is a fantastic word to say out loud once one becomes comfortable with the pronunciation), the meditator prays that all the beings in each of the six realms may be freed from their specific form of suffering. This is accompanied by chanting and singing the six-syllable mantra Om Mani Padme Hung. Chenrezi meditation is the primary practice at the stupa (Tibetan Buddhist temple) I attend, and I usually chant it at least once a week. The stupa – a beautiful white temple with gold spire rising from the top whose proportions contain secret teachings about the stages of the path to enlightenment – is situated along the low-income housing and next to a McDonalds on Airport Road and is an immediate shock to anyone driving down Airport. Kalu Rinpoche, the Tibetan master who founded the stupa on Airport Road, held Chenrezi meditation in the highest regard, and established it as the main practice at the center, stating that “Chenrezig meditation is uncommon both in the ease of its performance and the blessing that it bestows” (Rinpoche para 1). My favorite part of the practice is a section in which we examine, one by one, all the six realms of samsara and pray for the beings suffering in each of them to become free.
Along with the beautiful rhythm and tune in which we chant this section, I also appreciate the opportunity it provides for self reflection. As I sing Om Mani Padme Hung for the beings of each of the six realms, I always take a moment to examine myself and determine in what ways I have perpetuated the different negative emotional states of the six realms within my own life. What follows in a short description of each realm, a recognition of its pertinence to my life, and, finally, a prayer that I and all beings might be freed from that specific form of suffering.

The highest realm, although not the most advantageous for the attainment of enlightenment, is the Deva Realm, also known as the God Realm, Blissful State, or deva-gati in Sanskrit. In this realm, mighty, powerful gods live in great luxury and pleasure without much suffering. Devas’ lives are so comfortable that they become complacent and feel no need to study dharma (the teachings of the Buddha that will lead one to Enlightenment). In this way, by the end of their enormously long lifetimes, the devas are shocked to suffer great pain and decay for the first time in their lives.
The negative emotional state associated with this realm is pride. The devas become overly filled with pride for being gods, living lavish lives, and ruling celestial kingdoms. Then, at the end of their long lives, they experience decay, which is all the worse, since their pride at one point had been so great.
Pride is a part of my life in many ways. I received the highest grade I’ve ever received on a physics tests on our most recent assessment, and I was immediately filled with the desire to ask my friends what they received, eager to flaunt my achievement. I was recognized at assembly for being named a National Merit Finalist, and I loved the attention as everyone clapped for me. Lamentably, I felt superior to my classmates at that moment, because I had managed to fill in more “correct” circles with my #2 pencil than they had. I wrote ninety percent of the lyrics of the song Joey and I sang at assembly, and felt hurt when people congratulated him for writing the song. And, I received a lower grade than I had expected on my recent Honors History paper, a class in which I feel myself to be excelling and possessing greater knowledge and understanding of the subject area than my peers, which hurt my pride.
May my pride be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
The next realm in the asura-gati, or Realm of the Demigods. In this state of existence, the asuras are constantly at war with one another, overcome with jealousy and envious of the devas whom they find superior to them. If a person is overly jealous in this life, he or she will be reborn in the asura-gati.
Jealousy is a part of my life as well, although on a smaller scale than pride. We watched Spartacus (one of my favorite flicks) for an Honors History movie night. I had been hoping and planning for at least a few days to sit next to a particular girl, and drive her home afterwards. Before the film started, I set my things down next to where she was sitting, and left briefly to fill my cup with water. I returned to find that another guy had moved my things away, and sat down next to her. Throughout the three hour film, I sat behind them and felt great jealousy towards the guy who had stolen my seat, and then proceeded to drive the girl home! Last week at the ARCOS show, I felt jealous that two boys from NMSA were selected to portray the lead roles and not me. And, in the basketball game against Mora, I did not get to play, a sophomore coming off the bench instead.
May my jealousy be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
After the asura realm is the Human Realm, or manusya-gati in Sanskrit. In Buddhism, a human birth is extremely precious and is considered the most advantageous rebirth a being may have. In the human realm, one may most easily hear and study the dharma and work towards enlightenment. My guru Lama Mingma has spent hours teaching me that to be born in a time and place where the Buddha’s teachings are available, with an open mind ready to embrace the teachings, and all of one’s mental faculties, is a precious situation one should not waste. However, in the human realm, as we all know so well, the suffering of desire overtakes our minds and distract us from utilizing this great potential for awakening.
I want more sleep, I want to sit with that girl, I want to get good grades, I want people to laugh when I make bad jokes in class, I want to win basketball games, I want a new book for my Kindle, I want to be recognized for all the hard work that I do, I want my dad to loosen up a bit, I want to stay out after midnight, and so on, ad infinitum. When I don’t get these things, I become tense, angry, jealous, and other nasty things. Desire leads to the sufferings of the other realms. However, wanting to get rid of desire is itself a desire. But the Buddha knew this. The point is not to get rid of desire, but to understand it, and not get so attached to things.
May my desire be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
Contrary to the belief of many, the Animal Realm, or Tiryagyoni-gati in Sanskrit, is below humans in the wheel of samsara. So often I’ve heard people saying that their dogs are “so enlightened,” hoping that in their next life they are reborn as a lazy dog who doesn’t have to think too much, gets to drink water and lounge in the sun. I’m not here to say these people are wrong – no need to get attached to the strict hierarchy of samsara as presented in traditional Buddhist philosophy. However, Buddhism teaches that the suffering of the animal realm is that of ignorance and stupidity, which I agree with. Animals walk off to be slaughtered without knowing it, blindly marching to their deaths. Because of this ignorance, they lack the same potential as humans to study the dharma. However, at this point it is important to mention that it is a critical teaching of Buddhism that all sentient beings (all the beings of these six realms) possess Buddha nature and the full capability to become awakened. It is one’s actions in previous lives that determine their rebirth, and beings living within each realm have varied capacities to gain wisdom and be freed from that particular realm when their life ends. But, in the end, all are primordially Buddhas.
How are stupidity and ignorance present in my life? I misplace my keys. Today, while meaning to ask my mom how much coffee was left in the coffee pot, the words “how much did it cost?” left my mouth, for the sole reason that my mind was being lazy and wandering. I logged onto my Prep e-mail twice in a row before immediately logging out, forgetting twice in a row the reason why I had logged on in the first place: to download the assignment sheet for this paper. I’m sure there are careless typos and punctuation errors in this paper that my ignorance and laziness are leading me to ignore. The suffering of the animal realm is also manifested in a terrifying habit of my generation: I pull my cell phone out of my pocket, look at what time it is, and put my phone back, only to realize I looked at the digits without registering the information, and having to pull out the phone and check again.
May my ignorance be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
The preta-gati, or Hungry Ghost Realm, is one of my favorite realms in terms of the description of the beings who reside within it. Pretas are beings that are reborn with incredible, overwhelming thirst and hunger but mouths the size of pinholes, so that their great craving can never be fulfilled. Rebirth in the Hungry Ghost realm is caused by an excess of greed and covetousness in a past life.
In my life, I crave mountains of food after I come home from basketball practice, only to find myself completely and uncomfortably stuffed after gorging myself. When I learn a new meditation from my teacher, I inevitably want to learn other meditations, and more advanced techniques. As soon as I get one A on a physics test, I passionately crave A’s on every subsequent exam. I become frustrated with peers who take “my” ideas from class discussion and restate them in different words. I even begin to feel slightly possessive towards the University of Chicago when I hear other Prep students who are excited about the possibility of going there. And I became short tempered on Friday with a peer who found my hiking stick that I had used as a prop for my English story and was walking around the quad brandishing it as his own.
May my greed and covetousness be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
The lowest realm of the Wheel of Samsara is the Hell Realm, or naraka-gati. Here, beings are subjected to intense experiences of heat and cold. Some beings spend eons shivering in blizzards without any means of warming themselves, and others are forced to bake under the blistering sun, yearning helplessly for the respite of a shady tree, or a cold glass of water. It is taught that the negative emotions of anger and hatred leads to rebirth in the Hell Realm.
Following my basketball team’s loss to Mora, I experienced great hate and anger towards the other players, their fans, their town, their race, their coach, and our inability to win. I screamed, fuming and ready at any moment to punch a locker, as so many of my teammates were doing. The chair in front of my computer at my dad’s house has become annoying loud and creaky whenever I make the slightest adjustment to how I am sitting, and instead of spraying it with a lubricant, I feel fury building up inside my chest, frustrated with the annoying, high pitched sound that rings out so distinctly against the silence of the rest of my house after dark. When I am having an off-day at basketball practice and Joey beats me off the dribble to the hoop three plays in a row, my body tenses up and I become angry, even though when my mind is clear, I know how much I enjoy going to practice and being challenged by my teammates. I even feel anger when I am intensely focused on writing my history paper and I hear my phone begin to vibrate. Regardless of who is calling, I find myself resentful of whoever is distracting me from my work.
May my anger and hatred be transformed into the wisdom of Chenrezi.
Om Mani Padme Hung.
Om purifies pride, the God Realm and my perceived superiority from being a National Merit Finalist. Ma purifies jealousy, the Demigod Realm and my annoyance at the guy who sat next to the girl I wanted to sit with during Spartacus. Ni purifies desire and the Human Realm, my disappointment at not getting the grades I want on history papers. Pad purifies ignorance, the Animal Realm and my absent mindedness of not registering what time it is when I look at my cell phone. Me purifies greed and the Hungry Ghost Realm, my desire for more Buddhist teachings before I have mastered, or even become very familiar, with those I have already been given. Hung purifies anger and hatred, the Hell Realm and my blind fury at my opponents on the basketball court after a tough loss.
I am working to recognize when I exhibit these negative emotional states in my life and try to avoid them. The first step is to recognize; only after recognition can one make the change.
And chanting and singing Chenrezi’s beautiful mantra – the practice that my stupa was founded upon – as I drive home from school, or stroll across the field, doesn’t hurt either.
Om Mani Padme Hung.