[Precturge]

Hello.

I would like to clear out three points about the six realms of existence.

- 1

I always thought the hierarchy of the six realms was :

- hell
- hungry ghosts
- animals
- humans
- asura (semi gods)
- gods

But I've heard some cultures like to place Asura's before human on this scale. Have you ever heard of that ? How semi gods could be placed between animals and humans ?

- 2

From what I've read in Chogyam Trungpa "Bardo", Gods are spiritualy speaking lower than humans, because their minds are blinded by feelings of opulence and strong pleasures. Trungpa says when gods are dying, their mind always fall from the feeling of having a glorious existence to the feeling of loosing everything, and this tremendous fall explains why they reincarnate in lower realms like animals or worse. Have you ever heard of some rare cases where gods reborn in human realms ? Can a god beneficiate from a karmic blessing they had before they became god that helps them find a human form ?

- 3

In Thich Nath Hanh "Diamond that cuts through illusion", Thay talks about the fact everybody has been to hell before been to the human realm. I am curious about that. I understand when you reach enlightment and you escape the realms of existence, you remain in the essence of things (Nirvana) without reincarnate anymore, but it is possible from there to fall in ignorance again and get back to the Samsara. Ok. But a spirit leaving the Nirvana to get back to the Samsara could reborn in the human realms, and from there get back to the Nirvana, I mean going through hell doesn't seem ineluctable. So why did Thich Nath Hanh said we all being to hell before ?

Thank you so much