Samsara

[Mr Orange]

Hi, Fellow Buddhists'.

Not been online for a while been a busy bee.

I hope everyone is well.

My question is this-which im confused with. I hope not to confuse anyone else with this question.

How does Cosmology for example the Five Suddhavasa worlds, Brhatphala worlds, Śubhakṛtsna worlds, Ābhāsvara worlds fit into Samsara- especially the Brahma worlds. If you explain these places as mental states then how do you explain the measurement of Yojanas?

Is this concept due to the Brahmin cast in India when Gautama was pressent?

Blessings

:flower: May all embodied beings hear incessantly the melody of Dharma as it is sung by birds, trees, the sun rays and the sky. :flower:

 

[Engyo]

I'm probably a little strange, but I like to think of the various Buddha lands etc., as indicating other worlds with living beings inhabiting them.

This is different for me from the realms of hungry spirits and so forth, which I do rather prefer to conceptualize as mental states.

This may not be logical, but it has worked for me personally.

 

[Mr Orange]

I'm probably a little strange, but I like to think of the various Buddha lands etc., as indicating other worlds with living beings inhabiting them.

This is different for me from the realms of hungry spirits and so forth, which I do rather prefer to conceptualize as mental states.

This may not be logical, but it has worked for me personally.

No your not strange, i peronally am not 100% sure about this matter either. Apparently the realm of Sudassa is where all the beautiful devas dwell in a world 41,943,040 yojanas above the Earth. If this is true how does it fit into Samsara? or is it just a symbolic statement?

I believe in Samsara obviously and meditation. Yet im reading a lot about the Buddhist 'religion' i prefer the faith and actions than what might be forms of Brahminism in which may of been added by Buddhists at the time of Buddha or some other point in the past.

 

[Engyo]

Well, my tradition focuses on the Lotus Sutra. The cosmology depicted in the Sutra lends itself (IMHO) to being viewed in the way I have chosen; for example this passage:

Then the Buddha emitted from between his brows a white hair-mark light which illumined eighteen thousand worlds to the east, omitting none of them reaching below to the Avichi hells and above to the Akanishtha heaven. From this world were seen all the living beings in the six destinies in those lands further were seen all the present Buddhas in those lands and all the Sutras and Dharma spoken by the Buddhas was heard.
Also seen were the Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, Upasakas, Upasikas in those lands who cultivated and attained the Way.
Moreover were seen the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, the various causes and conditions, the various beliefs and understandings, and the various appearances of their practice of the Bodhisattva Way.
Further were seen the parinirvana of the Buddhas and, after the parninirvana of the Buddhas, the building of stupas with the seven jewels to hold their sharira.

from Lotus Sutra

 

[Mr Orange]

Thankyou very much Engyo. I will go and sleep on it and return tommorrow.

Anymore help would be great.

:flower:Namaste:flower:

 

[zenzero]

Friends,

The topic is *samsara* so let us try and be one in understand as to what the word *samsara* means:

The Sanskrit word samsara means "journeying." In Buddhism, as well as in Hinduism and Jainism, samsara is defined as a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

Samsara is sometimes thought of as a circumstance or an illusion. In Buddhism it is also thought of as the process by which karma causes rebirth.

Samsara is sometimes depicted as the opposite of Nirvana. However, the Mahayana school of Buddhism views both Nirvana and Samsara as mental representations. To one who appreciates the true nature of the world, Nirvana and Samsara are not different from one another.

This needs understanding: Nirvana & Samsara are both mental constructs?? discuss!

Love & rgds