[tobia]

Dear friends,

I was looking at some old threads on the website (topics are automatically closed when they've slipped away and there's been no activity for 6 months)

I thought that this subject might be an interesting one to revive again for some of our more recent members:.....



How do you interpret the other Realms which are mentioned in some Buddhist traditions ?

1.Do you think they're other dimensions somewhere other than the ones actually visible to us at the moment ?

2. Do you think they could represent situations on planet earth that we see/hear about ?

3. Do you think they're mental states we experience?

4. Maybe you think they're something different to the above ?


with kind wishes

Aloka

[JetePlentuara]

Good questions. Not sure though. I once had a rinpoche do a mirror divination on me and said I lived in the naga realm for many aeons. Anyone know about the naga realm?

[DextExexy]

I think they're mental states we experience. I see no reason to believe in other physical realms. I need evidence for that.

[DoctorTDent]

I would imagine it refers to mental states, or even situations on Earth. I don't have any reason to believe that there are other dimensions out there, but I guess it's possible. It doesn't seem very likely, though.

[ttiokjbnhjjillp]

Hi Aloka,

I think a good approach at the beginning is to put the matter to one side and revisit it as you travel the path. The suttas are pretty full on about there being other worlds but I think this is something we have to either come to accept or reject over time. Personally I am a full on believer in other realms and they seem to me to fit into the natural order of the Buddha's teachings.

Metta

Brizzy

[Alkassyinhisk]

Hi Aloka,

I think a good approach at the beginning is to put the matter to one side and revisit it as you travel the path. The suttas are pretty full on about there being other worlds but I think this is something we have to either come to accept or reject over time. Personally I am a full on believer in other realms and they seem to me to fit into the natural order of the Buddha's teachings.

Metta

Brizzy

Hi Brizzy,

Thank you (and thanks to the others) for writing an answer to the questions in the OP #1 and offering your opinion.

Perhaps a few of our other more recent members will let us know what they think too.. or anyone we haven't heard from for a long time.

with kind wishes

Aloka

[durootrium]

It is possible that the realms and whatnot are all later additions written into the Nikayas to support a foundation of morality popular with the common person of that time. "This world and the other world" is the most basic expression of the post-death view current at the time of the Buddha, one which differs greatly from the cosmos as depicted in Digha Nikaya II & III, and elsewhere. Given that MN 2 teaches that contemplating past and future self is inappropriate attention, I do not see any benefit to these views. Threat of hell and promise of heaven is a very questionable thing.

Correlating meditative states with such realms is also potentially late, in that it could have arisen in the communal environment which was collating the Nikayas in the centuries following the parinibbana rather than as a Dhamma teaching during the life of the Buddha. The fact that new initiates would carry their prevailing worldviews into the Sangha is a much more likely source for these ideas (as well as the arupajhanas, as it happens), especially in combination with the belief that living in a degenerate age meant that to them, nibbana was deemed impossible, while making merit for a better rebirth was seen as the best one could hope for.

[JewJoleSole]

Thanks Dave. Nice to see you posting again.

[TNOULbr2]

Really who's to say that it isn't all of the three?

[HaroTaure]

1.Do you think they're other dimensions somewhere other than the ones actually visible to us at the moment ?

Yes, I think so. It's like 1d, 2d, 3d, and then other dimensions beyond our perception are there. Maybe not easily accessible from either side.

2. Do you think they could represent situations on planet earth that we see/hear about ?

I think some Buddha Realms could be allegorical/metaphorical, but I think some could also exist.

3. Do you think they're mental states we experience?

I am not sure if a mental state is any different from another dimension. I think we make our own reality, so in a way yes, and then maybe no.
There is the reality of the mind, which can be vast and go into many worlds. Maybe there is an objective reality of dimensions too. I cannot say for sure.

4. Maybe you think they're something different to the above ?

Hard to say

[parishilton]

Hi all,

I forgot to mention that if anyone chooses not to discuss this in the thread, they can still vote in the poll.


Aloka

[aabbaDE]

An off topic post has been removed to a new thread in the General Buddhist Discussions forum with the title "Liberation is a two-fold paradigm"

http://www.buddhismwithoutboundaries...-fold-paradigm

[Zvmwissq]

Hello,
1.Do you think they're other dimensions somewhere other than the ones actually visible to us at the moment ? Yes I do as certain scientists and Buddhists posit.

2. Do you think they could represent situations on planet earth that we see/hear about ? Yes I do. Sutta both from the Pali Canon and the Prajnaparamita suttas have innumerable levels that apply to every possible scenario and situation. Including, political, economic, psychological etc

3. Do you think they're mental states we experience? Yes I do. Our mental state is directly intrinsically relevant to every other question you posit as it affects perception and therefore being on all levels.

4. Maybe you think they're something different to the above ? Probably yes again as:
My limited view elicits nay demands a limited answer as my view widens, opens up so does my perception/understanding of the Dharma. Therefore from the position of an unenlightened being I know I do not have the knowledge/experience to be able to understand the teachings fully on other realms.

[Mypepraipse]

An interesting topic. It has come to my attention and thus my experience that other realms exist. In my experience all possibilities exist, and yet all possibilities do not exist. What remains is the question, and the choice. In one of my schools of thought reality exists as awareness and percpetion, and as one alters their awareness the reality in response aligns to match the new or altered awareness. I could not say for you that other realities exist, when your awareness does not support the belief, because in your awareness they do not exist, which would make them not exist. However for myself they do exist, simply because I have learnt and am learning to enter into them. I do not travail on a map, for if i did i would be limited to my travails shown on the map, however when i remove the map what is there is unknown, unformed, and yet has infintite potential to become.

The four answers are all correct, if that is what you see and experience, if that is what you are aware of. If you exist as a mental state, and travail into your mind, than that is what you do, and surely many mental positions exist. If you become aware of twin positions/dimentions of reality, as ancient mayans have, then reality aligns to produce or create this experience. If you believe you are travailing as light through the stars to other planets, then that is what you experience. However if you believe reality is an illusion, stars and earth to be figments of the perceptual imagination, than that is what creates that experience. Personally I believe that there is form and formlessness, and that together it creates all possible experiences or outcomes.

[AnneseeKels]

They seem to belong to another time and world. Though i believe they were always more metaphor than any sort of reality. I can't find any use for them in this modern world for modern sensibility. I think they should be relegated to historical understanding of buddhism. No point in keeping them alive.

[nushentelve]

I hope that sphere and realm refers to almost the same thing.

In the Abhidharma there is reference to the 'Form and Formless Spheres' I'm still trying to understand this but I was also heavely influenced by the "Mind Only Philosophies" in the Mahayana school. You can read about it on this link.

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/T..._Della_Santina

I try not to believe in things and rather get evidence. There are certainly things beyond our control due to 'Cause and Effect'

[TpDoctorOneTp]

I voted 4... but really I could have voted for 1,2 and 3!

[Opening-auto]

Hi,
there are these other dimensions, where Maro Dusi and Brahma can be met.But as it was mentioned, where is the proof of it. After Gotamo Buddhos words there are two possibilities. The first is that you don´t believe that there is a beyond, so may suffer for more lives and , or make other people suffer through yourself. The second one is if you believe in the beyond and you get most of the four buddhist goals, you have won this and you didn´t hurt yourself or other than in the other case. So can have a win-win sitauation. Gotamo Buddho knew that is was hard to proof that empirically. But i experienced this beyond as well and it is great. Do the Eighfold Path and you will find out.

[lorryuncori]

I'm not sure. I am not a practising Buddhist but would interpret what I have encountered in these teachings as referring to states of mind or habitual ways of living, hence 'realms' or forms of being. I would tend to agree with those who say that for the real work of the spiritual path to take place, you need not consider other realms as such, in the sense of concerning yourself with the existence or otherwise of other worlds, but it is enough to work on what is in front of you now. There is quite enough to occupy you with that!