Question

In Buddhism there are many planes of existence. Please could you explain a little bit about them, the lower as well as the higher ones, and explain how they interact with the human plane.

Answer

This would all have to be a remembrance from what I have read. Some of the lower realms I don't read about very often. I don't like to read about them because it doesn't sound very nice at all. I only get to when King Yama asks, "Did you see the pauper and the messengers" and then I usually stop there. That's talking about the Sutta where some of the lower realms of existence are explained. Well these are the hell realms, where there is enormous suffering which I will not elaborate on, but if you are interested in that particular Sutta ask us about it later and we will direct your attention to it so you can read about it.

According to what I have read the next realm of existence is the hungry ghosts where beings are driven by a great desire and hunger, and they can't get enough to sustain their desire and hunger. Hungry ghosts and spirits dwell there. The next lower realm before the human realm is the animal realm where you can see a lot of animals suffer dramatically. The next realm is the human realm. There are many realms above the human realm but it would be impossible for me to remember them all because I haven't memorized them. They are all with much more pleasure and less clearly defined impermanence than the human realm. So there is less and less Dukkha, much more happiness and peace, less physical Dukkha, longer lives, more radiance, etc. Right up to the Brahma Realms and then there are realms of infinite existence where there is no body, there's just mind. This is going into theory and I'm not too sure about it.

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