buddhist hell

[dyanaprajna2011]

if i killed loads of people then died would i be tortured or given mental anguish?

What do you mean by tortured? The anguish, as you say, would be mental. There's no indication that there are physical aspects to any realm other than the human and animal realms. And even still, the other realms are not places in time and space, but are purely mental realms.

 

[willy1590]

So would hell in buddhsim be lonliness and no fun?-not pain through torture

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

So would hell in buddhsim be lonliness and no fun?-not pain through torture

Loneliness, not sure, but definitely not fun. Also, probably not pain through torture. It's a place to purify one's unwholesome karma, which is done in the mind. It seems like you're trying to find out if the Buddhist views of hell are anything like the Christian views of hell: they're not. If you wanted a Christian comparison, the Buddhist hell would be more like the Catholic purgatory.

 

[willy1590]

So would you just be kind of left in hell with nothing until your negative karma is used up?-eg.wandering around with nothing there

 

[idav]

In buddhism isn't the material world pretty much the hell needing to be escaped? Escaping Samsara to reach Nirvana?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

So would you just be kind of left in hell with nothing until your negative karma is used up?-eg.wandering around with nothing there

There are around 30 different hell realms, each with their own unique ways of dealing with negative karma. I wouldn't call it wandering around, because there would be nothing to wander, and nowhere to wander.

In buddhism isn't the material world pretty much the hell needing to be escaped? Escaping Samsara to reach Nirvana?

It depends on how you look at it. In one sense, yes, you are correct. Samsara, the realm of birth, death, and rebirth, is where one is trapped until one reaches enlightenment, nirvana. But, the Zen masters taught that, ultimately, there is no difference between nirvana and samsara. Understand, that the Buddha, and countless others, reached nirvana while still living in samsara. So it's more a state of mind, nirvana, regardless of where one is or what state one is in.

 

[willy1590]

are any of the hell's painful in a physical way+do you know what pure land buddhism thinks of hell?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

are any of the hell's painful in a physical way+do you know what pure land buddhism thinks of hell?

Where does pain originate? What is it in our bodies that actually causes and feels the pain? It's our minds. So in a sense, I guess you could say yes, the pain will be similar to physical pain. But there will be a difference, in that there will be nothing physical to receive any pain indicators.

Pure Land Buddhism, to the best of my knowledge, accepts the reality of the six realms of existence, just like all the other realms. One difference between Pure Land, and other schools, even of the Mahayana, is that they place more emphasis on the Buddha lands, particularly of Amitabha's Sukhavati, than other schools.

 

[Twilight Hue]

In buddhism isn't the material world pretty much the hell needing to be escaped? Escaping Samsara to reach Nirvana?

Nothing can be escaped. Hell is something that I suspect will always be something to contend with.

 

[willy1590]

so you woudnt feel the pain as if it were physical but more mental(is it just a metaphor for mental pain).?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

so you woudnt feel the pain as if it were physical but more mental(is it just a metaphor for mental pain).?

My guess is that it would be different than anything we can really experience here. It would be taking our vices, and magnifying them, so we experience the unwholesome acts we done, magnified. But this is just my guess.

 

[willy1590]

Well does a buddhist have to believe one is tortured in hell(the buddha did say he may be wrong in some of his teachings)?-is hell to be taken literally.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

Well does a buddhist have to believe one is tortured in hell(the buddha did say he may be wrong in some of his teachings)?-is hell to be taken literally.

No, a Buddhist is in no way required to either believe in the hell realms, or anything specific about them. And no, they don't have to be taken literally.

 

[willy1590]

I ask because I was interested by pure land buddhism but don't want to believe in some horrific hell where people are brutally tortured and I heard there are these in buddhism, do you know any buddhists or sects of buddhism that do not believe so much in literal hell?

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

I ask because I was interested by pure land buddhism but don't want to believe in some horrific hell where people are brutally tortured and I heard there are these in buddhism, do you know any buddhists or sects of buddhism that do not believe so much in literal hell?

None that specifically come to mind. But you could probably do a Google search, and find many Buddhists who don't believe literally in the hell realms, both in and out of Pure Land Buddhism. Dogma isn't an important part of Buddhism, matter of fact, it's seen as a hindrance to spirituality.

 

[willy1590]

Are there also buddhists who believe in the physical pain type hell realms?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Are there also buddhists who believe in the physical pain type hell realms?

Anytime you feel pain. Those are the realms. Everyone has visited them.

It's one of the noble truths.

 

[Me Myself]

Well I guess I should ask whether or not buddhists have to believe in hell or if any sects of it that don't?

Short answer: no

Spoiler: Long answer

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”- Buddha

 

[willy1590]

So you mean hell is being reborn as a human?-in which we have alot of pain.

 

[idav]

So you mean hell is being reborn as a human?-in which we have alot of pain.

That is one way of looking at it. However other than samsara, I believe nirvana has an opposite as nirvana is not the absolute.