With Sangha Officials I mean high ranking monks/nuns/etc, like Abbots. With "Realms" I mean stuff like "Other world" or "Pure lands", but I mean also stuff like the concept of "Rebirth". Is it ever explicitly taught or even mentioned that they are talking about mental or spiritual phenomena/states, as opposed to supernatural "literally heaven after literally the body is dead" type stuff?

How do I interpret the term "realm" (*idha* ) in AN 10.63 ? It says one who has "seven rebirths at most" will conclude their path in "this realm". So, what is "this realm"? And what does this mean? Meanwhile "one who is extinguished between one life and the next" will conclude their path after "leaving this realm behind" (*idha vihāya *). What does this mean? > “Mendicants, all those who have come to a conclusion about me are > accomplished in view. Of those who are accomplished in view, five > conclude their path in this realm, and five conclude their path after > leaving this realm behind. > > Which five conclude their path in this realm? > > The one who has seven rebirths at most, the one who goes from family > to family, the one-seeder, the once returner, and the one who is > perfected in this very life. These five conclude their path in this > realm. > > Which five conclude their path after leaving this realm behind? > > The one who is extinguished between one life and the next, the one who > is extinguished upon landing, the one who is extinguished without > extra effort, the one who is extinguished with extra effort, and the > one who heads upstream, going to the Akaniṭṭha realm. These five > conclude their path after leaving this realm behind. > > All those who have come to a conclusion about me are accomplished in > view. Of those who are accomplished in view, these five conclude their > path in this realm, and these five conclude their path after leaving > this realm behind.” > AN 10.63 (translated by Ven. Sujato)

When a person dies, s/he goes to heaven or hell based on present life karma and any past karmas. In Buddhism, if there is no soul, who is punished in hell and who enjoys in heaven? as there is no physical body to feel pain and pleasure. If that person has learnt the art of detachment, how can s/he suffer/enjoy in hell/heaven? Does different realms really exists and do we travel through them?

In the story of Prince Nanda, He equal the most beautiful female humen on earth to a died monkey as compared with a women from higher realm. Lord Buddha said that The king of all earth is like a beggar in the heaven. Are there more other detailed comparisons between humens and people from higher realms ? I'm asking this because, I don't feel much suffer about this life. Life is going ok. But, If we compare the typical humen life to the life in heven, This is lot of suffering. Because, People of heavens doesn't need to do hard jobs. Some of them don't do any job. Brahmas don't get hungry. So, Having a better understanding of higher realms may helpful to understand suffering of this world.To avoid pursing physical things (Because richest/luckiest/happiest person is nothing compared to the heaven, most valuable thing/achievement is nothing compared to the heaven) Kind regards.

According to buddhism, there exists 31 "planes of existence". > Theravada Buddhist cosmology describes the 31 planes of existence in which rebirth takes place. The order of the planes are found in various discourses of the Gautama Buddha in the Sutta Pitaka. For example, in the Saleyyaka Sutta of the Majjhima Nikaya the Buddha mentioned the planes above the human plane in ascending order.[1] In several sūtras in the Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha described the causes of rebirth in these planes in the same order. In Buddhism, the devas are not immortal gods that play a creative role in the cosmic process. They are simply elevated beings who had been reborn in the celestial planes as a result of their words, thoughts, and actions. Usually, they are just as much in bondage to delusion and desire as human beings, and as in need of guidance from the Enlightened One. The Buddha is the "teacher of devas and humans (satthadevamanussanam). The devas come to visit the Buddha in the night. The Devatasamyutta and the Devaputtasamyutta of the Samyutta Nikaya gives a record of their conversations. The devaputtas are young devas newly arisen in heavenly planes, and devatas are mature deities. > >There are more than 10,000 crore (100 billion) solar systems in our Galaxy, and more than 10,000 crore (100 billion) galaxies in our Universe. There are many Universes in space. Past and future lives may occur on other planets. The data for the 31 planes of existence in samsara are compiled from the Majjhima Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya, Digha Nikaya, Khuddaka Nikaya, and others. The 31 planes of existence can be perceived by a Buddha's Divine eye (dibbacakkhu) and some of his awakened disciples through the development of jhana meditation. According to the suttas, a Buddha can access all these planes and know all his past lives as well as those of other beings. > > Buddhist cosmology of the Theravada school - Wikipedia Hence the question: **Are these 31 planes of existence actually existing all around us RIGHT HERE where we are (as in 31 'dimensions' per se), or are they belonging in different planets and galaxies far apart from each other? Since 'planes' can also mean 'dimensions' if viewed from such a perspective.** Please verify! Thanks for your patience!

Gudo Wafu Nishijima (incidentally Brad Warner's teacher) the soto monk, claimed that sentient beings in pain are just in hell, and hell is a supposition. I take this to mean that pain occurs without rebirth, already in this life, andt hat we cannot know that we will suffer pain after death: so I'd conclude that rebirth that isn't painful. What I think I'm adding to his exact words is just that facts like suffering are all or nothing, nothing real is incomplete. That may seem crazy, but I like it. I'm highly skeptical that we need to experiecne more pain to experience the dharma. Even if sentient beings do (and do not!) experience the result of their evil acts. Is there any basis in the sutras? Not to my conclusion, but his claims about pain. I've read that zen teachers are often ambivalent on their students belief in rebirth, but I mean something more than that, that to experience the result of bad karma is either in this life or not what we usually mean by "painful".

In this answer there is a quote from The Buddhist Monastic Code 1 - The Patimokkha Rules Translated and Explained by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, which reads in part > only when one is possessed by non-human beings In that book there are several references to being possessed by spirits or non-human beings, such as this from page 44. >State of mind. The bhikkhu must be in his right mind. Any statement he makes while insane, delirious with pain, or possessed by spirits does not count. My question is, **who or what is doing the possessing**? Is there a belief in Buddhism that some being (a hungry ghost or something else?) would actually take over the mind of a human? Is that type of cross realm interaction possible? How literally is possession by spirits to be understood? Thank you.

Where is there more information about the luminous realm? the standard pali is lacking. what is the relationship with jhana? from MN 115 : > “...There are these three elements: the elements of > the sensual realm, the realm of luminous form, and the formless realm. > When a mendicant knows and sees these three elements, they’re > qualified to be called ‘skilled in the elements’.”

I am not asking for an explanation on the whole "What is a Mara?" question. What i'm asking about is the being mentioned in Buddhism who has the command over all normal beings, the one who came personally to challenge,frighten lord Buddha. Is there an explanation to why or how a person become's a "Mara"?

I've just started learning Buddhism, and currently investigating 6 realms of rebirth. What confuses me is that it seems different sources give inconsistent ordering of the realms. For example, in the book [Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction](https://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-Very-Short-Introduction-Introductions-ebook/dp/B00BHXVWSS#:~:text=Buddhism%3A%20A%20Very%20Short%20Introduction%20introduces%20the%20reader%20to%20the,of%20Buddhism%20in%20daily%20life.&text=By%20considering%20how%20Buddhist%20thought,faced%20from%20a%20Buddhist%20perspective.) the 6 realms of rebirth is ordered (from highest to lowest) as follows: 1. Gods 2. Humans 3. Titans 4. Ghosts 5. Animals 6. Hell However, in wikipedia article of [Saṃsāra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%83s%C4%81ra_(Buddhism)#Realms_of_rebirth) it presents the following order: 1. Gods 2. Human 3. Demi-god 4. Animal 5. Hungry ghost 6. Hell I also checked wikipedia for [六道](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E9%81%93#%E4%B8%89%E5%96%84%E9%81%93) and some other Chinese online articles (since I can read Chinese). It seems they prefer to order demi-god realm above human realm. So in summary, there seems to be inconsistency of relative ordering of two pairs of realms among various sources, namely the relative ordering between human realm and demi-god realm, and between animal realm and ghost realm. I'm wondering which is right? Is there a definitive ordering? Maybe different branches of Buddhism define them differently?

I've been looking into Buddhist concepts and the topic of infinite universes in existence popped up, and the Buddhist text called the "Abhidharmartha Pradipika" talks about infinite universes? And I was wondering what chapter/verse talks about it so I could look more into it.

I have heard something called "Mangala Sakwala" (The special universe or galaxy where lord Buddhas are born) This is a real puzzle for me because does it mean that there are many other worlds like this where the words of lord Buddha will never reach? If such places exist what causes a being to be born there instead of here? For example if i die now and get a birth as a human what would cause me to be born here (This galaxy/universe) or there (the unknown galaxy/universe)? The exact word ( "parallel universes" ) hasn't being used in Buddhism but if you search you will find stories about Human like or Humanoid creatures who are just like us (Beings in the human realm) but not with the chance to reach Dhamma because Lord Buddhas never born there. I am referring to some Theravada teachings i heard many years ago. Hope someone can help!

For example in [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhist_cosmology_of_the_Theravada_school#Arupa-Loka_(Formless_Realms)) it mentions: "The inhabitants of these realms are possessed entirely of mind". Also, "They do not interact with the rest of the universe". In "In the Buddha's Words" (Bhikkhu Bodhi) it mentions "The lifespans ascribed to these realms are respectively 20,000; 40,000; 60,000; and 84,000 great eons". I'm looking for that kind of descriptions of the formless realms but in the suttas (or other source Theravada texts).

"In the same way, monks, few are the beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn among devas. Far more are the beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn in hell... in the animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts." (Pansu Sutta, SN 56.102) According to this quote most humans go to the lower realms. This doesn’t make sense to me because majority of humans though imperfect are ethical and moral. How true is this? How strict should we live our lives so that we can be reborn to a higher dimension?

How can we correlate Buddhist cosmology with astronomical cosmology? Basically I have following questions. 1. Moon is considered 51 yojan in height and 50 is the sun. Sun is self illuminated and heat is the outward. Inner is made of diamond. But with modern physics sun is extremely large star fueled by nuclear reactions. Moreover are stars and planets are small elements or are stars like sun as in astronomy? 2. Is Earth flat or sphere? 3. Where can you find the great Mahameru mountain? In science there's an opinion of center of the Galaxy. But it's an opinion and not a theoretical teaching. 4. Can a loka dathu have one moon and sun each or more? Sun and moon is rotating around great Mahameru Mountain. Then how can we correlate that with moon orbiting around earth and Earth orbiting around sun. 5. Is Jambudweepa mentioned is the entire earth or is a part of Earth? Where can we find the other 4 continents. Since there are lots of opinion based answers on internet, I would like if there is a more theoretical answer. Thank you all. May you all attain Nirvana. Theruvan Saranai.

I have come to learn the fact that the idea if maha meru is not only included in the buddhist canon but in many other beliefs and cultures which are not Buddhist. This is what Wikipedia says - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meru I belong to the theravada tradition so i am very interested in knowing sources in the canon for further learning if you can mention some. Also if you can ease me into the topic with a small explanation it is also very much appreciated. > *I know that this has nothing to do with nirvana but i am curious of this and i also read this* > > https://muslimanswersfiles.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/buddhism-modern-science/ I guess i want an answer to the question "While all other things are logical and also even scientific, why this (Maha meru) makes no sense?" Namo Buddhaya!

What should I do if a lot of my friends and family are trying to prove Buddhism wrong with the laws of impermanence or planes of existence, & I do not want to debate this with them as I do not want to arise the Poisons, but I keep getting into it? Also, on the topic of planes of existence, is there any proof in a sense to their existence, or at least anything verifiable by experience to understand them better? I believe the planes, I just was curious about that. Metta to all!

Althought as most not desired existence sometimes quoted, there seems to be less information about the cause why one gains the existence of an "not-perceiving-being", Unconscious beings (asaññasatta). [explained as "only body 'no' mind" often] What is the cause, what is the required tendency to gain a asaññasatta-existence, state? Which kind of training should one go after to gain this long lasting state (which causes one to become a "fortuitous-arising-ists" ([DN1](http://zugangzureinsicht.org/html/tipitaka/dn/dn.01.0.than_en.html)) , or a materialist, when falling from there) Maybe some experts or googlyanika (those living dependency of teacher google) here are willing to elaborate about the being and coming into being of such beings. *(Note: this is not given for trade, exchange, stacks or entertaining, but as a tiny emergency-question for a timely exit from this wheel nourishing on delusion)*

I think the interesting part is to first classify archaic humans, as a manussa or a tiracchāna? Is there any explanation about this? Since as far as I know, Buddhism supports the theory of evolution.

When I say 'related' in this sense means more about the *hue* that accompanies a jhana, this might be a very pleasant feeling, mind state or perception. I don't know what school this question refers to. I'm just responding from some kind of intuition so any Buddhist sect is fine.