Two weeks ago in the Buddhist study discussion meeting, I learnt about the Ten Worlds. These ten worlds are present in each human being (correct me if I am wrong) and we tend to experience (or manifest) at least nine worlds. The worlds include:
Buddhahood - characterised by wisdom, courage, compassion and life-force. In other words, it is the state of enlightenment. This is the uppermost life state, the highest world that one can possess. It is the freedom, the happiness we possess regardless of the problems we face in our lives. I have yet to experience Buddhahood, and through learning Buddhist philosophy, I hope to achieve it soon.
Bodhisattva - Compassion; seeking enlightenment for everyone. Everything we do is motivated by compassion. That means we are willing to take in and experience the sufferings of others by our efforts. I experience this life state when my friends come to me when they are in need.
Realisation - Knowledge and wisdom gained through experiences. Hmm. Interesting one. I think I have been through a lot over the past ten years while I was in high school and at uni. I have come to realise the most important thing in life is that there are many success and failures. That life is like a rollercoaster; there are many ups and downs in life which makes us happy and depressed. I have also come to realise that failures are part of success and that failures are not necessary negative things in life. They can be treated as a valuable learning experience.
Learning - As far as I know, learning is improving our knowledge of the different aspects of life. I always strive to learn as much as possible because I love to learn. I love to improve my knowledge in new and different things in life. Going to school is not the only thing that constitue learning. The process of learning continues even after people graudate from high school and university. I still learning even though I have completed my studies the previous year. I learn through talking to my father, reading, surfing on the net and I learn by going to these discussion groups. Learning always gives me some kind of self-satisfaction.
The following six are the lower worlds that are controlled by people’s responses to external situations.
Heaven - Temporary happiness. Short lived happiness. People feel happy because their desire is achieved. My own experience of heaven: When I first got offered a job, I was very happy that day. But my happiness faded away when I became worried about job expectations, job security and my finances.
Tranquility/Humanity - Peace, Neutral state.
Anger - frustration and upsets. This is a dangerous state because when I am in this state, I tend to throw tantrums and swear at people.
Animality - free will, instincts
Hunger - greed, wants, desires. Most of our actions are driven by our hunger. For example, I go to work because I want to get paid, I want to have a satisfy my career and I want to learn. Hunger can sometimes lead to a selfish act. People drive even though they know they are polluting the air because they want to satisfy their convenience.
Hell - the most depressed state of life. I’ve have already been through a few mild depressions in my life. The first time I was depressed was when I was 17, I was completing my final year of high school. I isolated myself from my friends that year, because I wanted to do my very best in school I thought spending time with my friends would jepordise my time for study. I wanted to achieve good grades so I can attend university in the following year. Although I have cut back back on my social life, I didn’t spend most of the time studying. In fact, at that time I spent most of the time panicing about the exams, condemning myself for not studying hard enough and procrastinated because I feared that I wouldn’t finish school with my friends. My dominant state or mood was anxiety. I was so anxious that I made myself sick towards the end of the year, getting stomach cramps and loosing my energy. And that was really hell for me.