Gods
It is important to note that in Buddhism,
gods are not beings that control or intervene in our daily lives. Rather,
they are beings who experience a great deal of happiness as life goes on
smoothly for a long time with absence of general suffering. However, this
state is only temporal. We all, at one time or other, have had such an
experience. When "everything" goes our way, as we wish, we are experiencing
a state very similar to the gods.
Demi-Gods
(Asuras)
These are beings who are constantly
in an aggressive or competitive state of mind. They have great wealth,
yet they are always reaching out, striving for more. In our modern
world many of us are not unlike them. We live a generally high standard
of life. Yet, we are constantly seeking and reaching out for more endlessly.
Human
Beings
In this state we experience a mix of
happiness and suffering. It is also in this state that we are able to attain
Buddhahood. Thus a Buddhist would strive not to be born as a god but as
a human, as it is as a human that we are most able to best practice the
Dharma.
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Animals
The most powerful force acting on animals
is ignorance. They are guided mainly by instincts where the preoccupying
thoughts are food, sex and material comfort. Many of us have had experiences
when craving for food or sex is so strong that we do things that we might
regret later. A person who is too preoccupied by these thoughts is thus
somewhat bestial or animal in nature.
Hungry
Ghosts
In the ghost realm, beings are in a
state of neurotic desire, and not having them fulfilled. They are always
filled with great hunger or thirst. We have often seen people in less fortunate
nations in great hunger due to drought or war. Their living is not unlike
beings in the ghost realm. Closer to home, many people experience neurotic
craving for relationships and cause great pain to both parties.
Hell
Beings
These beings, of all the realms, are
the ones suffering from the most pain. These beings suffer from constant
acute physical and mental pain. These descriptions fit the details of the
ways in which many prisoners-of-war have been tortured.
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