ELIMINATING SUFFERING TO ATTAIN JOY
Various Types of Suffering
Buddhists all over the world are generally noted to be cheerful. Edward Coonze, for example, reports that "observers of such Buddhist countries as Burma and Tibet record that their inhanbitants are spontaneously cheerful, even gay -- laymen and monks alike." Such cheerfulness is no co-incidence, for Buddhism is a religion of joy, teaching people firstly how to lead a life with inner peace, and ultimately to eliminate suffering and attain eternal bliss.
The Buddhist approach to joy is not pretending that the world is a bed of roses, nor promising a glorious after-life, but recognizing the sufferings in this life and taking practical steps to overcome the roots of these suffering. To accomplish this aim, the Buddha provides a profound explan¬ation on the nature and causes of suffering, for which uninitiated people ironically think that Buddhism is pessimistic.
Suffering is described as that which oppresses the body or the mind, and calamity as that which is diffi¬cult to escape from danger and harm. What do you think cause suffering and calamity?
To help us understand suffering thoroughly, the Buddha classifies it in many ways, one of which is to divide suffering into internal and external. Internal suffering is sub-divided into that of the body, and that of the mind. Bodily suffering is caused by the disharmony of the four fundamentals of "earth", "fire", "wind" and "water" in the body, resulting in, for example, hunger, tiredness, pain and illness. Mental suffering is caused by the disharmony of emotions, resulting in such suffering as anxiety, fear, worry and hatred.
External suffering is caused by all external factors, like attacks from wild animals or hostile persons, drastic change of weather or environment, natural disasters like storms and earthquakes, as well as hazards of modern living like motor accidents and wars. It is quite obvious that no one, irrespective of how rich or powerful he may be, can be free of both internal and suffering -- with the exception mentioned in the Heart Sutra to be explained presently.
Another way is to classify suffering into eight types, namely suffering due to:
- birth,
- old age,
- sickness,
- death,
- parting of loved ones,
- meeting of hated ones,
- failure to satisfy desires,
- accumulating of the five skandhas.
Birth, besides the joy it gives to many people, is suffering not only to the delivering mother but also to the baby itself -- during its confinement inside the mother's body as well as its squeezing through the birth canal.
The other six types of suffering are obvious. The first four types refer to physical suffering, and the next three types to mental or emotional suffering. The eighth type is a general explanation of all the seven types. Again, it is clear that no one can escape all these types of suffering, even though he may be a king or a saint.
Needless to say, Buddhists are fully aware of the tremendous joy of living, such as in the happiness of family life, the pleasures of the senses, and the bliss of mental peace. Yet, the seed of suffering is found in every instance of joy. This must not be mistaken to mean that Buddhists emphasize suffering; as mentioned before, Buddhists are generally joyful people. The main purpose of studying suffering in detail, is to understand its roots so as to eliminate it to attain joy.
The Buddha teaches not only humans but all other sentient beings. His teaching on suffering, therefore, is also meant for beings in other realms of existence.
Realms of Existence
While the "official" view of modern scientists is that life is present only on our puny earth, Buddhists believe that life is everywhere in countless stars and countless galaxies. Even in our own world system, known as the Saha world which corresponds to the solar system of modern science, there are thirty one realms of existence, divided into three spheres, namely the spheres of desire, of form and of non-form.
Our human realm is one of the eleven realms of existence in the sphere of desire, where satisfying desires is a prominent aspect of life, and which includes six realms of heavens. There are sixteen higher heavenly realms of Brahma gods in the sphere of form, where the gods have material form, though their form is too fine to be perceived by human senses. Beings in the four realms of the sphere of non-form are highly developed and they exist only as consciousness, but they can manifest in any forms and in any realms if they wish.
The thirty one realms in Sanskrit, with their Pali names in brackets, are as follows:
Arupadhatu (Arupadhatu), Sphere of Non-Form:
- Naivasanjnama Sanjna (Nevasannanasanna) Yatana. Sphere of Neither Perception Nor Non-Perception.
- Akincana (Akincanna) Yatana. Sphere of Nothingness.
- Vijnananta (Vinnananca) Yatana. Sphere of Infinite Consciousness.
- Akasananta (Akasananca) Yatana. Sphere of Infinite Space.
Rupadhatu (Rupadhatu), Sphere of Form:
- Akanishtha (Akanittha) Heaven. Heaven of Supreme Brahmas.
- Sudasi (Sudassi) Heaven. Heaven of Clear-Sighted Brahmas.
- Sudasa (Sudassa) Heaven. Heaven of Beautiful Brahmas.
- Atapa (Atappa) Heaven. Heaven of Serene Brahmas.
- Avriha (Aviha) Heaven. Heaven of Immobile Brahmas.
- Asanasatya (Asanna-Satta) Heaven. Heaven of Sensationless Brahmas.
- Utpala (Vehapphala) Heaven. Heaven of Greatly Rewarded Brahmas.
- Subhakrishna (Subhakinha) Heaven. Heaven of Brahmas with Steady Aura.
- Apramanasubha (Appamanasubha) Heaven. Heaven of Brahmas with Infinite Aura.
- Paritasubha (Parittasubha) Heaven. Heaven of Brahmas with Minor Aura.
- Abhasvara (Abhassara) Heaven. Heaven of Radiant Brahmas.
- Apramana (Appamanabha) Heaven. Heaven of Brahmas with Infinite Lustre.
- Paritabha (Parittabha) Heaven. Heaven of Brahmas with Minor Lustre.
- Maha Brahmana (Maha Brahma) Heaven Heaven of Great Brahmas.
- Purohita (Purohita) Heaven. Heaven of Brahma Ministers.
- Parsadya (Parisajja) Heaven. Heaven of Brahma Retinue.
- Paranirmita Vasavartin (Paranimmita-Vasavatti) Heaven. Heaven of Enjoying Others' Creation.
- Nirmanarati (Nimmanarati) Heaven. Heaven of Enjoying Own Creation.
- Tushita (Tusita) Heaven. Heaven of Enjoying Bliss.
- Yama (Yama) Heaven. Heaven of Yama.
- Trayastrinsas (Tavatimsa Heaven). Heaven of Thirty Three Deva Kings.
- Catur Maharajakayikas (Catuma harajika) Heaven. Heaven of Four Great Kings.
- Manusa (Manussa) Loka. Realm of Humans.
- Asura Naraka (Asura Nikaya). Realm of Titans.
- Tiracchana (Tiracchana) Yoni. Realm of Animals.
- Pretaloka (Petaloka). Realm of Ghosts and Spirits.
- Naraka (Niraya). Realm of Hells.
Three Levels of Suffering
From our human perspective, the thirty one realms of existence mentioned in the previous section may be divided into the following three levels:
- Suffering Level, consisting of five realms of hells, ghosts, animals, asuras and humans in this accending order; these constitute the lower realms of Kamadhatu, or the sphere of desire
- Heavenly Level, consisting of six heavenly realms of devas and sixteen higher heavens of brahma gods: the six deva heavens belong to the higher sphere of desire, whereas the sixteen brahma heavens belong to Rupadhatu, or the sphere of form.
- Enlightened Level, consisting of four formless realms of Sravakas, Arahants, Pratyekabuddhas and Bodhisattvas in Arupadhatu, or the sphere of non-form. Sravakas are beings who attained enlighten¬ment through hearing (and practising) the Buddha's teaching; Arahants are beings who attain the highest spiritual achievement in the Hinayana or Theravada tradition; Pratyekabuddhas are those who attained enlightenment on their own, with Buddhist or non-Buddhist methods; Bodhisattvas are beings who postpone their Buddhahood so as to help others.
Nevertheless, although there is tremedous joy in the heavenly and enlightened realms, there is still some traces of suffering! But, is it not said that there is no suffering in heavens? It is true that there is no suffering in the heavenly and enlightened realms in the meaning the word "suffering" is normally used, such as in the various types of suffering described earlier. For example, a heavenly being is not subjected to any internal or external suffering; he is free from the suffering of birth, disease or old age; and he never suffers from failure to satisfy desires because whatever desires he has he merely visualizes to have his desires satisfied!
Yet, devas and brahma gods "suffer" because their heavenly existence, though it may be called "everlasting" by our human standard, can come to an end in the comsic scale; Sravakas, Arahants and Pratyekabuddhas "suffer" because they have not attained Buddhahood; and Bodhisattvas, though they can atttain Buddhahood, "suffer" for the sake of others.
To have a better understanding of the different kinds of suffering particularly relevant to the different beings in the three spheres of existence, suffering is classified into the following three groups:
- Bitter Suffering.
- Impermanence Suffering.
- Samsaric Suffering.
"Bitter Suffering" refers to the kind of suffering we normally mean by that term, such as internal and external suffering, and the eight types of suffering mentioned in the previous section. It is particularly relevant to the five lower realms of existence. Hell denizens suffer continuously as a result of their evil mind. Ghosts, who are lost and always hungry because they do not know how to materialize or find food, suffer most of the time. Animals suffer much as they are constantly in fear and struggling for survival. Asuras, despite their tremendous pleasure, are not happy, and suffer greatly from their constant belligerence and jealousy. Humans are exposed to the eight types of suffering mentioned before.
"Impermanence Suffering" is suffering due to the impermanence of self and phenomena. Because no beings and no phenomena are permanent, whatever joy any being may have will inevitably come to an end. This form of suffering is particularly applicable to devas existing in the higher six realms in Kamadhatu, or the sphere of desire, and to brahma gods existing in all the sixteen realms in Rupadhatu, or the sphere of form. These heavenly beings are not subjected to the "Bitter Suffering" of the lower realms, and are extremely happy.
Their life span is exceedingly long: for example, a deva in Catur Maha-rajakayikas Heaven, which is the lowest heaven, has a life-span of 500 celestial years, which is 9,000,000 human years; life spans of brahma gods in the higher heavenly realms are calculated in thousands of aeons! Yet, although their life spans are unimaginably long by human standard, these heavenly beings do come to the end of their lives when their good karma is spent, and are subjected to reincarnation, thus causing them suffering.
The third sphere of suffering, "Samsaric Suffering", is just a very slight trace of suffering applicable to enlightened beings in the highest sphere of existence, Arupadhatu, the sphere of non-form. Although they are enlightened, their enlightenment is not perfect, otherwise they would become the Eternal Buddha, i.e. they would have become transcendental and undifferentiated with the cosmos. Although Sravakas, Arahants and Pratyekabuddhas have liberated themselves from the illusion of self, i.e. they realize that their illusory personal self is actually the Supreme Reality, they have not, according to Mahayana philosophy, liberated themselves from the illusion of dharmas. In other words, they believe that sub-atomic particles and forces are ultimately real.
Bodhisattvas, on the other hand, have liberated themselves from the illusion of both self and dharma. But because of their great compassion, they choose to remain in samsara, or the phenomenal dimension, in order to help others. Hence, because Bodhisattvas as well as Sravakas, Arahants and Pratyekabuddhas have not attained Buddhahood, or become the Tathagata, i.e. the Supreme Reality, they still exist in the phenomenal dimension. This is known as "Samsaric Suffering".
Small and Great Calamities
Not only sentient beings have to endure suffering, they are also exposed to calamities. Buddhists talk about three small calamities which may happen to people, and three great calamities which may happen to most sentient beings.
The three small calamities are being reborn in the three lower realms of hells, ghosts and animals due to bad karma. Generally, rebirth in hells is the result of having a mind full of evil, hatred and anger; rebirth in the realm of ghosts the result of being lost and ignorant; and rebirth as animals the result of harbouring fear and a disrespect for life.
The Buddha explains figuratively that karma is the field, consciousness is the seed, and the rebirth thought especially at the moment of death is the mois-ture that together bring about rebirth. For example, if a person's karma is bad because he has been doing evil, his consciousness is pregnant with mental impressions of violence and malice, and even at the moment of his death he is thinking of harming others, it is likely he will be reborn in hell. This calamity is not due to any punishment from any outside forces, but is the result of his own karma, consciousness and rebirth thought. Hells and heavens, and all phenomenal existence are actually the creation of mind; whether a person will be reborn in the three low realms of calamities, or in the higher realms of heavenly joy depends on all the impressions that has gone into his mind.
With this wisdom, it is therefore not difficult to avoid these three calamities. To build a good foundation for one's rebirth, one must cultivate good karma by avoiding evil and doing good. To avoid rebirth in hell, his mind must be free from hatred and violence; to avoid becoming a lost, ignorant ghost, he must familiarize himself with spiritual knowledge (Buddhist or otherwise); and to avoid being reborn as an animal, he should respect life and have no fear of death.
To ensure a heavenly rebirth, he should accumulate blessings, have some sound knowledge of the heaven he wishes to go to, be calm and cheerful always, and focus on his chosen heaven especially at the moment of his death. In our Saha world system alone, there are twenty two realms of heavens compared to only three realms of calamity, and there are countless other heavens in other star systems, like the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha and the Crystal Paradise of Bhaisajyaguru Buddha millions of galaxies away. It is indeed easy to go to heaven in Buddhism.
Besides these three calamities of rebirth in the realms of hell, ghosts and animals, there are three great calamities that affect the whole Saha world. These three great calamities are those of cosmic fire, cosmic flood and cosmic wind that cause the destruction of the world bringing the end of a great kalpa or aeon.
In a previous great aeon the world was destroyed by cosmic fire. The number of suns increased until there were seven suns in the sky. The whole world was on fire, and the inferno razed the world up to Maha Brahmana Heaven in Rupadhatu or the sphere of form. All realms of existence from Maha Brahmana Heaven downwards, i.e. the three lowest heavens of Rupadhatu and all the eleven realms of Kamadhatu, were destroyed.
Calamity from cosmic flood was even worse. The great deluge rose to incrediable heights up to Abhasvara Heaven, destroying all realms of existence from here downwards. When the world recovered after the deluge, Brahma gods from the higher realms reincarnated into the lower realms because of their bad karma, and started the next aeon.
Calamity from cosmic winds was the worst. These winds destroyed the Saha world up to Subhakrishna Heaven. Only advanced brahma gods in the higher heavens in the sphere of form, and highly spiritual beings like Arahants and Bodhisattvas existing as pure consciousness in the formless sphere escaped from the calamity.
Hence, going to heaven, which is the ultimate aim of most religions, can help us to avoid much of but not all the suffering afflicting sentient beings. Heavenly beings do not have internal and external suffering, the eight types of suffering characteristic of humans, and "Bitter Suffering", but they are subjected to "Imper¬manence Suffering" and "Samsaric Suffering". They are also subjected to all the calamities. When their blessings are spent, they have to reincarnate, and if their karma acquired during their heavenly existence is bad, they can be reborn into the lower realms of hell, ghosts and animals. How, then, can we ensure ourselves to avoid all suffering and calamities? By perceiving the five skandhas are empty, as taught in the Heart Sutra.
Overcoming all Suffering and Calamity
Do not be mistaken to think that Buddhists have a very rich imagination to create all this metaphysics and cosmology concerning hells and heavens, suffering and calamities. All this knowledge as well as other fantastic teaching are derived not from imagination or speculation, but from the direct experiences of the Buddha and other masters. Such cosmic wisdom or prajna is the result of deep meditation.
It is understandable that readers who lack deep spiritual understanding and experience, although they may be highly intellectual, will question whether such information is true, whether there really are hells and heavens, and these various types of suffering and calamities. The Buddha has always advised us not to accept any of his teaching on faith alone, but examine it with open-mindedness and intelligence. It is also pertinent to mention that a fundamental Buddhist precept forbids followers to tell lies.
On the other hand, we must guard against our becoming so arrogant that we simply reject whatever we fail to comprehend as impossible or untrue, like many people in the past who laughed at such Buddhist teachings as our earth is only a tiny speck in the universe, and all things in the cosmos are mutually related. Let us humbly remind ourselves that what we know, including all the discoveries of the latest sciences (which incidentally happen to confirm many of the Buddha's teachings) is really nothing compared to the anuttara-samyak-sam¬bodhi, or supreme perfect wisdom, of the Buddha.
Why does realizing the emptiness of the five skandhas result in overcoming all suffering and cala¬mity? All suffering and calamity are the result of living in samsara, or the endless cycle of birth and rebirth, including existence in heavens. In other words, all suffering and calamity occur only in the phenomenal dimension.
If we examine all the forms of suffering and calamity -- like the eight types of human suffering, suffering due to impermanence, the three small calamities and the three great calamities -- it is obvious that for any suffering and calamity to occur, there must be differentiation and separation of phenomena. If there are no phenomena at all -- such as no individual beings, no realms of hells and heavens, no worlds and no galaxies -- there will be no basis for any suffering and calamity to occur. In fact, suffering and calamity are themselves phenomena.
When an adept experiences the emptiness of the five skandhas, he emancipates himself from the attachment to self, and experiences the bliss of cosmic liberation. He no longer exists in the phenomenal dimension; he is enlightened to the greatest spiritual truth that there is no boundary separating him from all else in the cosmos -- he becomes the whole cosmos! In other words, in the transcendental dimension of cosmic reality, self is actually an illusion. As there is no self in ultimate reality, there is also no birth and rebirth, or samsara. As there is no birth and rebirth, all suffering and calamity cease.
It was mentioned in earlier chapters that Mahayanists believe in the existence of the soul or self, but here it is stated that the self is an illusion. Isn't this contradictory? No, it isn't. When we say that the soul or self exists, we refer to the soul or self in the phenomenal dimension, such as the continuation of the same self in different reincarnations, or the soul of a person going to heaven after his death as a human. When we say that the soul or self is an illusion, we refer to the transcendental dimension of reality.
Transcendental or ultimate reality, known by such Buddhist terms as emptiness, nirvana and Enlightenment, is tranquil and undifferentiated, devoid of any phenomena. In terms of ultimate reality, not only the soul or self, but everything else, be it a bacterium or a distant star, a ghost or a brahma god, is illusion. Indeed, it is due to their failure to understand that the phenomenal and the transcendental are actually two aspects of the same reality that Theravadins are said to be lacking in higher wisdom. If you want to learn more about higher wisdom, read the next chapter.
LINKS