Heaven, Hell and the future life
Are there really past life and future lives, heaven or hell ? This is not only an undetermined question but also some, an interesting one. Phra Dhammapitaka, wrote in the book " Good, Evil and beyond Kamma that according to the teaching of Buddhism as preserved in the scripture, these things do exist. Although, in the original Pali by the Suttsa, these is little mentioned of previous and future lives, heaven or hell. This indicates that not much importance or relevance is attributed to them in comparison to the conduct of life in the present world. In the pali, rebirth in heaven or hell is included in the fruits of good and evil kamma, as merely mentioned with the final phrase :
" At death, on the breaking up of the body, he goes to the nether worlds, a woeful state, hell " or " At death, on the breaking of the body, he goes to a pleasant bourn, heaven."
In stead, Buddhadasa Bhiku, the late reformist monk proposed that Buddhists should see heaven or hell as states of mind. The revered monk pointed out that, through insight meditation, one can realized Nirvana - a state of mind which free from defilement " here and now " at this life time.
Anyway, there is no end to verify because heaven and hell cannot be proven neither by those who believe or disbelieve. It can be said that, all six senses of material world can not prove whether they exist or not.
" Sights must be seen with the eye, sound must be heard with the ear, flavors must be tasted with the tongue. In the Pali, it is said to be " acinteyya " beyond the comprehension of the normal thought processes but only through direct intuitive wisdom.
" It would be impossible to see the visual object by using sense organ other than the eye, even if you use ten ears or ten tongues to do so. Some things are visible to a cat, similarly, in this context, death and birth are experiences of life, or to be more precise, events of the mind must be proved by life or the mind. That is, the mind must first be in the state of concentrated calm. The another impossible way to prove these thing is achieved with one's own death,... But few seem inclined to try this method. "
In Buddhism, regardless to belief or disbelief, the real point of interest is our practical relationship towards this present life. How are we going to conduct our life as they unfold right now ? How are we going to make our present life a good one, and at the same time, in the event that there is the future life. ensure that it will be good ? As long as those who do not believe in an afterlife still do not know for a face that there is no afterlife, or heaven and hell, they will be unable to completely refute the doubts lurking deeply within their minds. When such people have spent the energy of their youth, and old age is advancing, they tend to experience fear of the future, which, if they have not led a virtuous life, can be very distressing.
Therefore, to be completely certain, even those who do not believe in these things should develop goodness. Then, whether there is or there is not an afterlife, they can be at peace. Any belief is future life should help to alleviate or completely do away with any dependence or higher powers or thing occult. Belief in future life means belief i the efficacy of one's own actions. Dependence on any external power will only hinder progress in life and personal development. Those who have allowed themselves to slide into such dependencies should strive to extract themselves from them and become more self - reliant. This means to perfoem good deeds, irrespective to belief or disbelief, without the need for a result in some future life, and to avoid evil actions even if you don't believe in such things. This can be achieved by developing an appreciation for moral rectitude, developing an appreciation for the subtle happiness of inner peace through meditation practice and training the mind to conduct life with wisdom, knowing the truth of the world and life. These three principles of practice are connected and support each other, known as Trisika or the threefold training of morality, concentration and wisdom.
Anyway, some Buddhist scholars feel that in order to convince the lay man of the low of kamma and to encourage morality, he must first be convinced of the fruition of kamma on the long term basis, from past lives and into future lives. As a result of this, they see the need to verify the existence of an afterlife or at least to present some convincing evidence to support it. The desirability of demonstrating the truth of future lives and the fruit of kamma on a long - term basis would seem to have some validity. If people really did believe these things, it is possible that they would be more inclined to shun bad actions and cultivate the good one.
However, overemphasis on past lives and future lives, ignores the importance of the qualities of moral rectitude and desire for goodness, will become simply to a kind of greed forever, if this " good actions " are performed for the sake of profit. These are the valuable answer form the high vulnerable monk, Phra Dhammapitaka, to the controversial question " Do the teachings of kamma and not - self contradict each other ? " This is his word :
" He who tries to use the law of not - self for his own selfish purposes, is not freed self. He who clings to not - self is one who clings to self. He does not really know not - self. "
By THE BUDDHA'S Core Teachings
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