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Bungagj
Bungagj
The Hell Realm and the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: You don’t
want to be too hot or too hungry.
The Heavenly Realm: Gods are not all they are cracked up to
be.
The Heavenly Realm is composed of gods and demigods- the good life,
right? Eating ambrosia, eternal youth, every wish fulfilled. The gods live
in beautiful palaces and have no cares. But this sweet life is also
extremely dangerous to the spirit—the gods have little incentive to help
others or enlighten themselves, because they live in ultimate comfort
and luxury. The gods are isolated from real life and can struggle to
understand the suffering of others. So when they die, and yes, gods can
die, they risk a truly terrible series of rebirths- Hell, Hungry Ghost,
tapeworm, foot fungus etc.… for all of the time they wasted.
Sound familiar? In many ways, our own world is filled with short-
sighted citizens and leaders that have mismanaged their resources. The
Wheel of Existence reminds us not to grow complacent or ignorant of
the suffering around us when we have the ability to change the world for
the better.
One of the simplest yet most compelling ideas the Wheel of Existence
offers to the present-day challenges like global climate change is the
concept of rebirth. Whether we are reborn to this world ourselves, or if
we are brought back through the lives of our children and families,—we
do not want to be left with a poisoned planet. If we do not make positive
changes, all of the realms could become like the Hell Realm and the
Realm of Hungry Ghosts in terms of terrible temperatures, shortages of
food and water, and suffering. In this life, right now, we still have the
power to make good choices and influence the outcome of this life and
the next.