KARMA CLASS: Deeds of Rob Reiner's son

• 

  Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) JewBu Nazarene/Essene

  Jews who follow Judaism (as opposed to most Jews who just wear the label "Jew" like a secular identity, race, ethnicity, claim to fame, burden, or way of showing support for genocide and Western imperialism to build "Greater Israel") subscribe to a belief in kismet rather than karma.
• What is KISMET? KISMET = The Jewish Koan (fate, luck, fortune, chance, destiny, predestiny, "God's plan," capricious universal indifference to anything we do because it's all written in advance and plays out by the force of the Fates).
• KISMET translation question? : r/hebrew
• Kismet is "predestination" in Abrahamic Islam

Karma-shmarma, Judaism only believes in kismet (fate, destiny)

The historical Buddha, the greatest Karmavadin

Karma means "deed" or "deeds." There are all kinds of karma, that is, a great variety of intentional actions capable of bearing a result anytime in the future. The Buddha or "Awakened One" talked about karma so much that in his day he was not known as a "Buddhist." He was known as a Karmavadin, a "teacher of the efficacy of karma (action)." What we do comes back to us. The Dharmic religions, in contrast with the Abrahamic ones, teach the power of our personal action. Our deeds got us into this mess, and they can get us out (with help from others like the Buddha, the best friend of all beings, the gods, God, noble friends, parents, but mostly our own striving to develop compassion and wisdom, which lead to calm and insight).

Sadly, we often do not realize what we do in this sense. According to the Abhidhamma, a systematic explanation of the Buddha's "Doctrine in Ultimate Terms," what we are doing anytime we are committing an action is laying down a great number of cittas ("mind-moments") that act like "seeds" as it were. (What worse is that they have javanas, "impulsions," sub-moments of motivation, sub-cittas, a citta being uncountable numbers of "mind moments" not thoughts, as the term is sometimes mistranslated).

How many frames does it take to complete one "action" in a film? Karma has many more cittas.

• A "thought," if one thinks about it is like a sentence. What is a sentence? It is at least one complete thought, which requires an actor and an action, even if life is not this way. Grammar imposes rules on our thinking so that noun and verb must at least be implied to speak a sensible sentence in modern English. A citta, in that case, would be like all the atoms used to write out that sentence, far from sentences themselves. (Imagine a molecule. What is it made of? Atoms. How many? An uncountable number). Cittas (the stream of consciousness or viññāna kicca) in the immaterial world of intangible software are like kalapas ("particles of perception") in the material world of tangible hardware and things.
• A better way to think about it is to imagine seeing a movie clip, a short scene. It only lasts a moment, but what is it really made of? It is made of many many individual frames, which are the sub-moments of the film. The higher the fidelity of the film, the more sub-moments. There might be 100 frames for 1 second of movie runtime. A complete "scene" might then have millions of frames. A frame is not a scene; it's not even a second of a scene.
• Now imagine that when we act (karma), our action does not take one second but a few seconds to complete. How many sub-moments elapsed? It is hard to say. Each of those mind moments has many impulsions. If each impulsion could produce a result when it ripens, one act will give results for a long time. The number "500" comes up a lot in Buddhism, but it rarely if ever means five hundred. It is an indeterminate number and a handy way of saying "many." One act of killing could easily result in 500 miserable rebirths of being killed or being sickly or having one's life shortened, and so on. The Buddha expressed this as "for a long time," meaning in many many future births.

The force or deciding factor behind a deed is the intention. What is decided? At the decisive moment of acting, what we in our normal consciousness might think is happening is just one thought.

But that is not at all what is happening. The best comparison to understand this is physics. When something happens, it appears to us that only one thing is happening, such as lighting a match. It is often, we do an act, and it is lit. However, physics tells us that many things are happening in the sub-moments. Fire itself is not a single thing at all but rather a process.

Each moment of "fire" is many (at least five) sub-moments of process:

1. Heat is heating,
2. oxygen is oxidizing,
3. fuel is fueling,
4. wick is wicking, and the 
5. process of combustion is processing.

Abhidhamma (Sayalay Susila & Seven)

So what? Here's what. How long does it take to kill someone? With a gun, not long. An instant is enough. With a knife, as used in the infamous case of Nick Reiner murdering his parents, longer, a few instants. How long is an instant? For us in ordinary consciousness, it is just a finger snap's duration, right? But how long is it really, say, to a physicist or a psychologist? If we analyze it, that is, break it down to sub-moments, it's a long time.

Here's why it all matters: It isn't that one karma (one deed) will bear one result. This is completely wrong, but it's how nearly everyone talks, as if one action would bear just one result one time. One karma, one intentional action, will bear MANY results. Some might say an uncountable number of results. Now why is that? It is because each single "act" (deed) is built out of many impulsions, and it is these impulsions (as if they were seeds) that will bear results. So one single deed = a hard to count number of potential results.

• BOOK: Unravelling the Mysteries of Mind and Body Through Abhidhamma (by Pa Auk Sayadaw through student Sayalay Susila and editor Seven)

The intention behind an act is so crucial that the Buddha equated intention (cetanā) and karma. They are not really the same thing, but so vital is that intention that it determines the classification of a deed. There are three obvious classes (good, bad, or neutral). That is, we can classify by results: This deed, when it ripens, will bear an unpleasant (possibly unbearable), unwelcome, unwanted result, so we call it bad. This other deed, when it ripens, will bear a pleasant, welcome, wanted result. Many deeds, being mixed, will bear mixed results. One might say other deeds, being neither good nor bad, will bear neutral results.

If I give even one unit (ancient kapana, dollar, rupee, coin), the motivation or intention behind it will reap many results many times because that one single act of giving was only accomplished through many sub-moments, many-many impulsions. If each citta (mind moment) is composed of many sub-moments, many impulsions, and each has the power to produce a result, one can see how even a little giving is great. However, this is simultaneously saying that even the slightest wrong (misdeed, unskillful act, bad action) has the power to produce many-many unwanted results.

This is all well and good and easy enough to understand. The Buddha went further to point out things that are not at all obvious. In fact, it is unlikely that anyone but a supremely enlightened buddha could point all of these things out. Why? The first thing that is needed is access to more than normal consciousness. This even an average, normal, instructed "worldling" can master.

Never having heard the Buddha's Dhamma (Dharma, Doctrine, Teaching), we are "uninstructed [ignorant] worldings." Having heard it, we are instructed worldlings. Putting it into successfully practice, we experience a "change of lineage" (gotrabhu), awaken, and are counted among the "noble ones," the enlightened in about seven stages (now universally reduced to four main divisions (stream entry, once-returning, nonreturning, and arhats or fully enlightened ones).

• NOTE: It may be a little confusing, but "full" enlightenment is not "supreme" enlightenment. That distinction is reserved for people like the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama (Siddhattha Gotama) who awaken to the utmost WITH the capacity to teach. Nonteaching (pacceka) buddhas awaken to the utmost, that is with the intrepid powers of a buddha or the dasa-(tathāgata-) bala.

He led us to understand one more extremely important distinction to be made. And here come to the point of all this discussion. There is a fivefold kind of karma (kamma in Pali) that might be called "the worst in the world." These are the ānantarika-kamma or:

The Five Heinous Deeds

The are five acts (five kinds of karma) that the Buddha classified as "actions with immediate destiny." They are:

1. parricide (killing one's father),
2. matricide (killing one's mother),
3. killing an arhat (a fully enlightened person),
4. wounding a buddha (a teaching [samma-sam-buddha] or nonteaching [pacceka-buddha] supremely enlightened person),
5. creating a schism in the Buddha's Monastic Order (Bhikkhu or Bhikkhuni Sangha).

In A.V. 129, it is said: "There are five irascible and incurable humans destined to the lower world [dismal subhuman planes of existence] and to hell [avici, the waveless], namely: the parricidal, matricidal, homicidal [if the victim is an arhat], the wounder of a buddha, the creator of a schism in the sangha of a buddha."

About this fifth kind, see A.X. 35, 38. With regard to the first heinous crime, it is said in DN 2 that if [greedy son] King Ajātasattu had not deprived his father [the Buddha's student and supporter King Bimbisara] of life, he would have reached the path of stream-entry when he heard the Buddha teach as did all of his companions (App.)

Because he did commit this act, even though he was full of remorse for having done so, he was lost. His mind/heart could not reach the necessary calm and serenity (samatha) to attain liberating-insight (vipassana) to awaken to the ultimate truth. He did not become free of his destiny [his immediate next rebirth in the hells] as a result of his heinous deed nor of all further rebirth and suffering in samsara, the unending Cycle of Rebirth and Suffering (the Wheel of Life and Death).

• Nick Reiner, son of Rob Reiner, TMZ, 12/18/25; Five Heinous Deeds (definition) Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary; Explanation: Dhr. Seven, editing: Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Hells? Messengers of the Gods (AN 3.36)

SUTRA: Messengers of the Gods

“There are, meditators, these three ‘messengers’ of the gods (devas). What are the three?

“Firstly, someone does unskillful things by way of body, speech, and mind. When that person’s body breaks up, after death, one is reborn in a place of loss, an unfortunate place, the underworld, even in hell(s).

The King of the Dead Yama is kind and just

“Then the wardens of hell take one by the arms and present one to the King of the Dead Yama, saying: ‘Your Majesty, this person did not pay due respect to mother and father, wandering ascetics and temple priests (Brahmins), nor honor the elders in the family. May Your Majesty judge this person!’

“Then King Yama questions, presses, and grills that person about the first messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the first messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

A typical old person, balding and falling apart

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings an elderly woman or man — 80, 90, or 100 years old — bent double, crooked, leaning on a staff, trembling to walk, ailing, past one’s prime, with teeth broken, hair grey, scanty or bald, skin wrinkled, and limbs blotchy?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

I love you, Baby. Stay healthy, and wear a coat.

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to grow old. I am not exempt from old age. I should better do good by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, or mind. Indeed, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

This is Death turning samsara.

• [NOTE: What deeds (karma) are skillful, wholesome, and profitable, and what intentional actions are unskillful, unwholesome, and unprofitable? Why? By natural course of results, some deeds produce pleasant, wished for, welcome results, whereas by the same natural course of results, not anyone's punishment or education, some deeds produce unpleasant, unwished for, unwelcome results. This is a natural fixity of the universe and not a meting out of rewards and punishments, as it is often presented for the sake of simplicity, clarity, and believability by many of the world's spiritual teachings. If something produces a bad result and that is not clear because it does not happen immediately or even necessarily in this life, the Buddha has pointed it out so that people and devas may guard against it if they heed the Buddha's enlightened advice. If an plant, for example, were poisonous such that anyone who ate of it, it would bring about their illness, they would not eat of it. However, if another plant seemed to produce no such result, and was inviting and experienced as pleasant, but later produced illness, people would eat of it, eat a lot of it, blissfully unaware of the danger, and one who knows might warn them. Who would listen? People would argue against such a person, laugh at such a person, stick in the mud, killjoy, goody two-shoes, judge, critic, buttinsky, and neither listen nor cause others to listen but instead urging them to eat and enjoy and not worry, having for themselves tested the plant and found it to be pleasant and without harm. Then, later, when the harm set in, long after its consumption, people would become confused: "Some say it's fine, some that it's dangerous, I don't know who to believe or what to do? I like it, so I'll do it. I don't see any harm in it, and until I do, I'll do what I want." People have that choice. In this discourse, the Buddha warns against actions that seem harmless to one who does them even though they harm others as one would not wish to be harmed. And they see no danger in this so long as the result does not ripen and come to fruition. Are Buddhist hells real? There is no need for faith or belief. One may develop meditative absorption and look for them under the ground in a designated area, and one will see for oneself. Unless one sees, how likely is anyone to believe? This traditional method of investigation is taught in detail by Pa Auk Sayadaw and his accomplished students able to enter the jhanas at will. A similar instruction is also given to perceive vimasnas or heavenly mansions above the tree tops. However it may sound to us, it is not a matter of belief or skepticism; it is a matter of looking for oneself so that one needs no teacher or teaching to tell one what is real and what is merely metaphorical. We hope it's a metaphor, a simile, or hyperbole. That is a comforting thought. But we have known people who have known-and-seen for themselves, revealing that it is completely possible to know for sure while one is yet alive and do something about it. Consider the case of the Dickensian Ebenezer S.]

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities (devas), nor by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then King Yama grills that person about the second messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the second messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

A typical sickly hag, festering

Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings a woman or man, sick, suffering, gravely ill, collapsing in one’s own urine or feces, being picked up by some and put down by others?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

“Then King Yama answers, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to become sick. I’m not exempt from sickness. I’d better do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind. Well, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, nor by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then King Yama grills that person about the third messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the third messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings a woman or man, dead for one, two, or three days, bloated, livid, and festering?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to die. I’m not exempt from death. I’d better do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind. Well, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, or by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then, after grilling that person about the third messenger of the gods, King Yama falls silent. Then the wardens of hell torment one with the five-fold crucifixion.

“They drive red-hot stakes through the hands and feet, and another in the middle of the chest. And there that person suffers painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings — but that person does not die until that unskillful deed is eliminated.

“Then the wardens of hell throw that person down and hack that person with axes. …

What torments await in purgatory?

“They hang that person upside down and hack that person with hatchets. …

“They harness that person to a chariot and drive that person back and forth across burning ground, blazing and glowing. …

“They make that person climb up and down a huge mountain of burning coals, blazing and glowing. …

“Then the wardens of hell turn that person upside down and throw that person in a red-hot copper pot, burning, blazing, and glowing. There one is seared in boiling scum and one is swept up and down and round and round. And there that person suffers painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings — but that person doesn’t die until that unskillful deed is eliminated.

“Then the wardens of hell toss that person into the Great Hell (Avici, the "Waveless").

“Now, about that Great Hell:

‘Four are its corners, four its doors,

Squarely divided in equal parts.

Surrounded by an iron wall,

of iron is its roof.

The ground, too, is made of iron,

it burns with fierce fire.

The heat constantly radiates

a hundred leagues around.’

“Once upon a time, the King of the Dead Yama thought, ‘Those who do such unskillful deeds in the world receive these many different torments. Oh, I hope I might be reborn as a human being and that a Realized One — a Perfected One, a fully Awakened One, a Buddha — arises in the world! Oh, that I may pay homage to that Buddha! Then the Buddha can teach me Dhamma so that I may understand the timeless Teaching.’

“Now, I do not say this because I have heard it from some other wandering ascetic or Brahmin. I only say it because I have known, seen, and realized it for myself.

Those people who are negligent,

when warned by the gods’ (devas’) messengers:

a long time they sorrow,

when they go to that wretched place.

But those skillful and peaceful people,

when warned by the gods’ messengers,

never neglect

the Teaching of the noble ones.

Seeing the peril in grasping,

the origin of birth and death,

the unattached are freed

with the ending of rebirth and death.

Happy, they’ve come to a safe place,

extinguished [all suffering] in this very life.

They’ve gone beyond all threats and perils

and risen above all suffering whatsoever.”

• Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), SuttaCentral.net,  Devadūta Sutta (AN 3.36), Tikanipāta, Paṭhamapaṇṇāsaka, Devadūtavagga,—"Numbered Discourses" 3.36, 4. "Messengers of the Gods [Devas]" edited by Dhr. Seven; submitted by Eli W., Wisdom Quarterly

Kishitigarbha saves (beings from hell)

Kṣitigarbha is in Sanskrit क्षितिगर्भ, Chinese 地藏, pinyin Dìzàng, Japanese 地蔵, rōmaji Jizō, Korean 지장 (地藏), romaja Jijang, Vietnamese Địa Tạng (地藏), Standard Tibetan ས་ཡི་སྙིང་པོ་, Wylie sa yi snying po.

This name translates as "Earth Treasury," "Earth Store," "Earth Matrix," or "Earth Womb."

He is a bodhisattva primarily revered in East Asian Buddhism (rather than the Theravada of South and Southeast Asia) and usually depicted as a Buddhist monk.

• Four heroic incarnations of KSITIGARBHA, the "Earth Store" Bodhisattva — unfailing, tireless compassion (Buddha Weekly)

Overview

Kwan Yin is the Bodhisattva of Compassion

Kṣitigarbha is one of the four principal bodhisattvas along with Samantabhadra, Manjusri, and Avalokiteśvara (transformed into Kwan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion) in East Asian Mahayana Buddhism.

At the pre-Tang dynasty grottos in Dunhuang and Longmen, this figure is depicted in classical bodhisattva form. After the Tang, he became increasingly depicted as a monk, carrying Buddhist meditation prayer beads and a staff.

Goddess of Compassion

Kṣitigarbha is famous and revered for his vow to take responsibility for the instruction of all beings in the six worlds [a Mahayana condensation of the 31 Planes of Existence the historical Buddha outlines] between the final nirvana of the Buddha Gautama and the eventual rise of Maitreya Buddha.

Moreover, he made a vow refrain from achieving supreme buddhahood until all hells are emptied. He is therefore often regarded as the bodhisattva of hell-beings, as well as the guardian of children and patron deity of deceased children and aborted fetuses in Japanese culture.

Usually depicted as a monk with a halo around his shaved head, he carries a staff to force open the gates of hell and a wish-fulfilling jewel to light up the darkness.

The Ksistigarbha Bodhisattva Mantra

• CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

Good Catholic goes to HELL: religion to blame

Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Good Catholic goes to hell and says religion is to blame (shocking NDE)

(Shaman Oaks) June 7, 2023. #afterlife #neardeathexperience #heaven M.K. (Kathy) McDaniel had an NDE (near-death experience) after contracting the flu.

• 0:00 - Intro
• 2:14 - NDE in Hell
• 17:17 - NDE in Heaven
• 21:49 - Why did I go to Hell?
• 28:40 - Are you trying to get rich?
• 29:14 - Could it have been a dream?
• 30:22 - Do you have nightmares from your NDE?
• 31:55 - How did your NDE change you?
• 35:36 - An email from Heaven
• 37:16 - What is the purpose of life?
• 38:51 - Are you afraid of death?
• 39:18 - Her book

Buddhism describes many hells (narakas)

She found herself wandering around [in a place Buddhists would describe as] hell [naraka-loka], but eventually ended up in heaven [Buddhist sagga or the deva-loka].

An NDE occurs when someone dies, is revived, and knows for certain that there is an afterlife -- life after life, life after death.

A distressing NDE like Kathy had happens to 3 in 10 people who have an NDE. For Kathy her NDE both distressed and amazed here, and it changed her life forever. ✨

Kathy's links

• Website: misfitinhelltoheavenexpat.com
• Facebook: facebook.com/KathyMcDanie...
• Instagram: instagram.com/kathymcdani...
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKMcDaniel3
• Contact: mkm@heavenexpat.com
• 📚 Book: amzn.to/3X1F4e7

But "hell" is not really real, right, Bart Ehrman?

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links which, if used to buy something, may earn someone a commission. ✨

Social links

• IG: https://www.instagram.com/shamanoaks/
• FB: https://www.facebook.com/shamanoaks/
• TW: https://www.twitter.com/shamanoaks/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shamanoaks
• Join on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/shamanoaks
• Contact: Website: https://www.shamanoaks.com
• Email: shamanoaks@gmail.com
• Music: epidemicsound.com/referral...

#nde #neardeathexperience #afterlife #heaven #nde2023 #shamanoaks

Buddhist story: "The Anger-Eating Demon"

Ancient story retold by Ven. Nyanaponika (SN 22 in BPS' Bodhi Leaves 68, Ven. Piyatissa via accesstoinsight.org) edited by Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly

Shoot looters, jail males, grab girls

There once lived a demon who had a peculiar diet: He fed on the anger of others. His feeding ground was the human world, so there was no lack of food for him.

He found it quite easy to provoke a family quarrel, and racial and national hatred. Even stirring up a war was not very difficult for him.

And whenever he succeeded in causing strife, he would gorge himself with voracious effort. Because once a war or fight starts, hate multiplies exponentially by its own momentum and affects even normally friendly people.

Sick gullet-goiter Trump (photo not doctored)

The demon's food supply became so rich that he sometimes had to restrain himself from overeating, as he was very fat and discolored, sometimes content with just nibbling resentments and scorn around him.

As it often happens with the successful, he became overbearing. One day he was feeling bored and he thought, "Shouldn't I try it with the shining ones?"

Reflecting, he chose the World of the Thirty-Three, ruled by Sakka, King of the Devas (Deities). He knew that only a few of them had entirely eliminated the psychological fetters of ill-will and aversion, though they were far above petty and selfish quarrels.

I wish there were something to scare the s...

By his magic power he willed himself to that celestial realm and was lucky enough to come at a time when the divine King Sakka was away. There was no one in the large audience hall so the demon seated himself on Sakka's vacant throne, waiting quietly for things to happen, which he hoped would bring him a good supply of food.

Soon some of the devas came to the hall and they could hardly believe their divine eyes when they saw that ugly demon sitting on the throne, squat and grinning. Having recovered from their shock, they started to shout and lament:

"Oh, you ugly demon, how do you dare sit on the throne of our ruler? What utter disrespect! What a crime! You should be thrown headlong into hell and straight into a boiling cauldron! You should be quartered alive! Begone! Begone!"

But while the deities of that world were growing more and more angry, the demon was pleased because from moment to moment he grew in size, in strength, and in power. The anger he absorbed into his system started to ooze from his body as a smoky red-glowing mist. This sinister aura kept the deities at a distance, and their radiance dimmed.

Suddenly a bright glow appeared at the other end of the hall, and it grew into a dazzling light from which King Sakka emerged. He was a stream enterer (the first stage of enlightenment), who had firmly entered the undeflectable stream that leads to nirvana, and was unshaken by what he saw.

The smoke-screen created by the deities' anger parted when King Sakka slowly and politely approached the usurper of his throne. "Welcome, friend! Please, stay seated. No need to get up. I can take another chair. May I offer you the drink of hospitality? Our amrita (nectar of the gods') is good. Or perhaps you prefer a stronger brew, some Vedic soma?"

While Sakka spoke these friendly words, the demon rapidly shrank and finally disappeared, trailing behind a whiff of malodorous smoke, which soon dissolved.

— Based on Samyutta Nikaya, Sakka Samyutta, Sutra No. 22

COMMENTARY

Nyanaponika Thera

The essence of this story dates back to the sutras (discourses) of the Buddha. Yet even now, over 2,600 years later, the human realm looks as if large hordes of anger-eating demons are haunting it and are kept well nourished by millions slaving for them all over this earth.

Fires of hate and wide-traveling waves of fear and violence threaten to engulf humankind. Also the grass roots of society are poisoned by conflict and discord, manifesting in angry thoughts and words and violent deeds. Is it not time to end this self-destructive slavery of our impulses of anger and aggression, which only serve demonic forces?

This story reveals how these hateful demons can be exorcised by the power of gentleness and love. If this power of love can be tested and proven, at a grassroot level, in the widely spread net of personal relationships, society at large, the world at large, will not remain unaffected by it.

Avicii, EDM star DJ, DEAD at 28 (video)

Dev, Crystal Quintero, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly; Avicii Mexico, doc, April 2, 2018

Coachella sighs. Avicii, top electronic dance music artist, found dead at 28 One of the world's biggest dance music stars has died today, his representatives say. Swedish rave sensation Avicii, electronic dance music DJ, found dead (usatoday.com). The Swedish EDM (electronic dance music) DJ Avicii, 28, died this afternoon in Oman, according to a statement from his representative. Avicii Dead: Musicians, Celebrities React (variety.com). Following news of the death of DJ Tim Bergling, a.k.a. Avicii [the name of worst place in Buddhist cosmology, the lowest and most miserable hell, "the waveless," which is what Bergling called his final release AVI CI], on Friday, celebrities expressed their condolences on social media.

Avicii dead: Swedish DJ and musician passes away aged 28 (independent.co.uk). The Swedish-born producer and DJ known as Avicii has been found dead in Oman. The musician -- born Tim Bergling -- was 28. Avicii's publicist Diana Baron confirmed the news in a statement that the DJ was in Muscat, Oman when he passed away. Avicii: Swedish DJ dead at 28 (cnn.com).

Tim Bergling, the Grammy-nominated Swedish DJ better known as Avicii, died Friday, his publicist confirmed to CNN. Avicii was in Muscat, Oman, according to a representative. Avicii, electronic dance music producer and DJ, is dead at 28 (nytimes.com) Tim Bergling, who worked with pop stars like Madonna and Coldplay under the stage name Avicii, was found dead in Muscat, Oman. What is Avicii's cause of death? Swedish DJ found dead (newsweek.com).

Why does anyone care? Avicii had hundreds of millions of views.

Heavenly messengers: a Trip to HELL (video)

Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly, Devaduta Sutra, "The Deva Messengers" (MN 130) Ven. Thanissaro/Geoffrey DeGraff (trans.); Richard + Danny Elfman; Slayer

WARNING: Beheading! Breasts! Weird underworld (6th dimension) beneath Venice, CA from the unrated comic cult classic "Forbidden Zone" featuring The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo.

In the old European Christian imagination the warden in hell, Satan, tortures beings while being tortured himself: Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry, by the Limbourg brothers (Wiki).

Craving motivates Mara the Evil One.

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One [the Buddha] was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. There he addressed the monastics, "Meditators!"
 

"Yes, venerable sir," the monastics responded.
 
The Blessed One said, "Meditators, it is as if there were two households with doors, and a person with good eyesight, standing there between them, were to see people entering and leaving a house, wandering out and about.

"In the same way, I see -- by means of the divine eye, purified and surpassing the human -- beings passing away and re-appearing. I discern how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their karma (previous and present actions):

"O, how these beings -- who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind, who did not revile noble ones (those who have gained any of the stages of enlightenment), who held right views and undertook actions under the influence of right views -- with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a fortunate destination, even the heavenly realm (sagga, celestial-deva worlds).

"Or how these beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in the realm of hungry ghosts (peta loka).

"Or how these beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, and mind, who reviled noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in the animal world.

Hell: Hortus deliciarum (Herrad of Landsberg, 1180)

"Or how these beings -- who were endowed with bad conduct of body, speech, mind, who reviled noble ones, held wrong views and undertook actions under the influence of wrong views -- with the breakup of the body, after death, have reappeared in a plane of deprivation, an unfortunate destination, a lower realm, even in [one of the] hells."
 
"Then the hell-wardens, seizing (such a being) by the arms, present that person to King Yama [the sympathetic Buddhist "Judge" of the Dead]:

"'This is a person, your majesty, with no respect for mother, no respect for father [Note 1], no reverence for wandering ascetics, no reverence for temple priests [shamans and Brahmins], no honor for the leaders of one's clan. Let your majesty decree a punishment.'

• NOTE 1: The word "no respect for father" (apetteyyo) does not appear in the Thai edition, but it does appear in the Sri Lankan, Burmese, and British Pali Text Society editions. 

WARNING: Topless breasts, electrified balloon torture (almost), and cursing! What must "hell" be like? Is it like "The Queen's Revenge" on Frenchy from "Forbidden Zone"?

"Then King Yama interviews and interrogates and castigates the person regarding the first deva [angelic] messenger:

"'Good person, did you not see the first deva messenger that has appeared among human beings [on the human plane, which means all of the manussya world]?'
 
"'I did not, your honor,' one says.
 
Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did you not see among human beings a tender baby boy lying prone in its own urine and excrement?'

"'I did, your honor,' one says.
 
Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did not the thought occur to you who are observant and mature: "I, too, am subject to rebirth and have not gotten beyond rebirth. I had better do good with body, speech, and mind"?'
 
"'I could not, your honor. I was heedless, your honor.'

Then King Yama says, 'Good person, through heedlessness you did not do what is good with body, speech, or mind. And of course, good person, they will deal with you in accordance with your heedlessness. For that harmful karma [2] of yours was neither done by your mother, nor done by your father, nor by your brother, nor by your sister, nor by your friends and companions, nor by your kinsfolk and relatives, nor done by the devas.

• NOTE 2: The Pali language uses the word kamma (Sanskrit and English karma) in the singular here, as if it were an uncountable noun (like "water" or "information"). In other words, though singular in form, it could mean any number of actions. Because English does not have an equivalent uncountable noun for action, [it is here untranslated as karma, "actions," which is both singular plural].

WARNING: Sex and violence, sort of! (Creator Richard Elfman) "Forbidden Zone 2" the sequel wants to be funded so it can be remade and go beyond cult status (forbiddenzone2.com).

"'That unwholesome karma was done by you yourself, and you yourself will experience the results.'
 
"Then, having interviewed and interrogated and castigated the person regarding the first deva messenger, King Yama continues regarding the second:

'Good person, did you not see the second deva messenger that has appeared among human beings?'
 
"'I did not, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did you not see among human beings a woman or man 80, 90, 100 years old -- aged, roof-rafter crooked, bent over, supported by cane, trembling with palsy, miserable, broken-toothed, gray-haired, scanty-haired, or bald, wrinkled, with limbs all blotchy?'

"'I did, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did the thought not occur to you who are observant and mature: "I, too, am subject to aging, have not gotten beyond aging. I had better do good with body, speech, or mind"?'
 
"'I could not, your honor. I was heedless, your honor.'
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, through heedlessness you did not do what is good with body, speech, or mind. And of course, good person, they will deal with you in accordance with your heedlessness. For that harmful karma [those intended actions] of yours was neither done by your mother, father, brother, sister, friends and companions, kinsmen and relatives, nor done by the devas. That unwholesome action was done by you yourself, and you yourself will experience the results.'
 
"Then, having interviewed and interrogated and castigated the person regarding the second deva messenger, King Yama questions one regarding the third:

"'Good person, did you not see the third deva messenger that has appeared among human beings?'
 
"'I did not, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did you not see among human beings a woman or man diseased, in pain, severely ill, lying in his or her own urine and excrement, lifted up by others, laid down by others?'

"'I did, your honor,' one says.

"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did not the thought occur to you who are observant and mature: "I, too, am subject to illness, have not gotten beyond illness. I had better do good with body, speech, or mind"?'
 
"'I could not, your honor. I was heedless, your honor.'
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, through heedlessness you did not do what is good with body, speech, or mind. And of course, good person, they will deal with you in accordance with your heedlessness. For that harmful karma of yours was neither done by your mother...your friends and companions...nor done by the devas.

"'That unwholesome action was done by you yourself, and you yourself will experience the results.'

"Then...regarding the third deva messenger, King Yama interviews and interrogates and castigates one regarding the fourth:

"'Good person, did you not you see the fourth deva messenger that has appeared among human beings?'
 
"'I did not, your honor,' one says.

Human tortures

Evil deeds done dirt cheap ripen later (UC).

"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did you not see among human beings rulers -- catching a thief, a criminal -- having him tortured in many ways:

• flogging him with whips,
• beating him with canes,
• beating him with clubs;
• cutting off his hands,
• cutting off his feet,
• cutting off his hands and feet;
• cutting off his ears,
• cutting off his nose,
• cutting off his ears and nose;
• subjecting him to [these forms of medieval torture:] the 'porridge pot,'
• the 'polished-shell shave,'
• the 'Rāhu's mouth,'
• the 'flaming garland,'
• the 'blazing hand,'
• the 'grass-duty (ascetic),'
• the 'bark-dress (ascetic),'
• the 'burning antelope,'
• the 'meat hooks,'
• the 'coin-gouging,'
• the 'lye pickling,'
• the 'pivot on a stake,'
• the 'rolled-up bed';
• having him splashed with boiling oil,
• devoured by dogs,
• impaled alive on a stake; or
• cutting off his head with a sword?' 

Those who support and approve harmful actions engage in harmful mental action (karma).

 
"'I did, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did not the thought occur to you who are observant and mature: "It seems that those who do harmful actions are tortured in these many ways in the here and now. How much more in the hereafter? I had better do good with body, speech, and mind"?'
 
"'I could not, your honor. I was heedless, your honor.'
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, through heedlessness you did not do what is good with body, speech, or mind. And of course, good person, they will deal with you in accordance with your heedlessness.

"'For that unwholesome action of yours was neither done by your mother...nor by the devas. That unwholesome karma was done by you yourself, and you yourself will experience the results.'
 
"Then, having...regarding the fourth deva messenger, King Yama interviews and interrogates and castigates one regarding the fifth:

"'Good person, did you not see the fifth deva messenger that has appeared among human beings?'
 
"'I did not, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did you not see among human beings a woman or man, one day, two days, or three days dead: bloated, blue, oozing?'
 
"'I did, your honor,' one says.
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, did the thought not occur to you who are observant and mature: "I, too, am subject to death, have not gotten beyond death. I had better do good with body, speech, and mind"?'
 
"'I could not, your honor. I was heedless, your honor.'
 
"Then King Yama says, 'Good person, through heedlessness you did not do what is good with body, speech, or mind. And of course, good person, they will deal with you in accordance with your heedlessness. For that harmful karma of yours was neither done by your mother, nor your father...nor by the devas.

"'That unwholesome action was done by you yourself, and you yourself will experience the results.'
 
"Then, having interviewed and interrogated and castigated the person regarding the fifth deva messenger, King Yama falls silent [3].

• NOTE 3: In Asian Buddhist kingdoms, there was a custom that when a king was sentencing a criminal to death or to be tortured, he would not actually express the sentence, but would simply fall silent. The Commentary counsels that if a student asks not to hear the description of hell (which follows from this point), a teacher should teach the student meditation and then wait until the student has reached stream-entry before returning to a description of [the hells].

Hell awaits
(Metal Blade Records) What must "hell" be like? Slayer tries to express it in their implicitly Christian/Satanic song "Hell Awaits."

"Then the hell-wardens torture [the person with a store of bad karma] with what's called a fivefold imprisonment: They drive a red-hot iron stake through one hand, they drive a red-hot iron stake through the other hand, they drive a red-hot iron stake through one foot, they drive a red-hot iron stake through the other foot, they drive a red-hot iron stake through the middle of his chest.

"There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

"Then the hell-wardens lay one down and slice one with axes. Then they hold one's feet up and head down and slice one with adzes. Then they harness one to a chariot and drive one back and forth over ground that is blazing, burning, and glowing.

"Then they make one climb up and down a vast mountain of embers that is blazing, burning, and glowing. Then they hold one's feet up and head down and plunge one into a red hot copper cauldron that is blazing, burning, and glowing.

"There one boils with bubbles foaming. And as one is boiling there with bubbles foaming, one goes now up, now down, now all around. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as hone's unwholesome karma is not yet  exhausted [4].

• NOTE 4: In the Sri Lankan (Sinhalese), Burmese, and British Pali Text Society editions, all in Pali, the sentence, "There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not exhausted" appears after each of the punishments [painful karmic consequences] listed in this paragraph. In the Thai edition, which is followed here, it appears only at the end of the paragraph.

Headless ghost of Yue Fei confronts recently deceased spirit of Qin Hui in 6th Court of Hell. Plaque held by attendant (left) reads: "Qin Hui's 10 wicked crimes" from a 19th-century Chinese Hell Scroll (W).

.

Human torture exists but not hellish?

"Then the hell-wardens throw one into the Great Hell [Avici, "The Waveless"]. And as to the Great Hell, meditators:

"It is four-cornered and has four gates set in the middle of each side. It is surrounded by an iron fortress wall and roofed with iron. Its floor is made of red hot iron, heated, fully blazing. It stands always spreading 100 leagues all around.

 

In the Sixth Court of Hell (Diyu)

"The flame that leaps from the eastern wall of the Great Hell strikes the western wall. The flame that leaps from the western wall strikes the eastern wall. The flame that leaps from the northern wall strikes the southern wall. The flame that leaps from the southern wall strikes the northern wall. The flame that leaps from the bottom strikes the top. The flame that leaps from the top strikes the bottom.

"There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"There comes a time when, ultimately, with the passing of a long stretch of time, the eastern gate of the Great Hell opens. One runs there, rushing quickly. As one runs there, rushing quickly, one's outer skin burns, one's inner skin burns, one's flesh burns, one's tendons burn, even one's bones turn to smoke.

When [one's foot] is lifted, one is the just same [5].

• NOTE 5: The Commentary does not explain the meaning of this ambiguous sentence. It could mean that when the hell-being's foot is lifted from the burning hot floor, either (1) one's skin and so on continues burning or (2) one's body returns to its original form, either of which is gruesome. 

(MVD Entertainment Group) This is the "Citizen Kane" of underground movies. Sexy Frenchy falls into an insane underworld (sixth dimension) ruled by a horny little king and his jealous queen. Chicken-boy comes to the rescue, only to have his head cut off by the soul-singing Devil himself -- played by Danny Elfman and the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Frog butlers, topless princesses, black gamblers and drug dealers, and rioting school kids sing and dance in unforgettable musical numbers!

Ethiopian Christian: Hell is terrible.

"But when one finally arrives, the door slams shut. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"There comes a time when, ultimately, with the passing of a long stretch of time, the western gate of the Great Hell opens... the northern gate... the southern gate of the Great Hell opens. One runs there, rushing quickly. As one runs there, rushing quickly, one's outer skin burns, one's inner skin burns, one's flesh burns, one's tendons burn, even one's bones turn to smoke. When [one's foot] is lifted, one is the just same. But when one finally arrives, the door slams shut. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"There comes a time when, ultimately, with the passing of a long stretch of time, the eastern gate of the Great Hell opens. One runs there, rushing quickly. As one runs there, rushing quickly, one's outer skin burns, one's inner skin burns, one's flesh burns, one's tendons burn, even one's bones turn to smoke. When [one's foot] is lifted, one is the just same. One gets out through the gate. But right next to the Great Hell is a vast Excrement Hell.

"One falls into that. And in that Excrement Hell, needle-mouth beings bore into one's outer skin. Having bored into one's outer skin, they bore into one's inner skin... one's flesh... one's tendons... the bone. Having bored into the bone, they feed on the marrow. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"Right next to the Excrement Hell is the vast Hot Ashes Hell. One falls into that. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's harmful actions are not yet exhausted.

 

"Right next to the Hot Ashes Hell is the vast Simbali Forest, [with trees] reaching up a league, covered with thorns 16 finger breadths long -- blazing, burning, and glowing. One enters that and is made to climb up and down them. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome actions are not yet exhausted.

 

"Right next to the Simbali Forest is the vast Sword-leaf Forest. One enters that. There the leaves, stirred by the wind, cut off one's hand, cut off one's foot, cut off one's hand and foot, cut off one's ear, cut off one's nose, cut off one's ear and nose. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"Right next to the Sword-leaf Forest is the vast Lye-water River. One falls into that. There one is swept downstream, one is swept upstream, one is swept downstream and upstream. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet  exhausted.

 

Islam: Muhammad visits to hell to see women

"Then the hell-wardens pull one out with a hook and, placing one on the ground, say: 'Well, good person, what do you want?'

"One replies, 'I'm hungry, venerable sirs.' So the hell-wardens pry open one's mouth open with red hot iron tongs -- blazing, burning, and glowing -- and throw into it a copper ball, blazing, burning, and glowing.

"It burns one's lips, it burns one's mouth, it burns one's stomach and comes out the lower side, carrying along one's bowels and intestines. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome actions are not yet exhausted.

 

"Then the hell-wardens say: 'Well, good person, what do you want?' One replies: 'I'm thirsty, venerable sirs.' So the hell-wardens pry open one's mouth with red hot iron tongs -- blazing, burning, and glowing -- and pour into it molten copper, blazing, burning, and glowing.

"It burns one's lips, it burns one's mouth, it burns one's stomach and comes out the lower side, carrying along one's bowels and intestines. There one feels painful, racking, piercing feelings, yet one does not die as long as one's unwholesome karma is not yet exhausted.

 

"Then the hell-wardens throw one back into the Great Hell once more [6].

• NOTE 6: The Commentary notes that not everyone who falls into [Avici] hell is tortured with all of these painful karmic consequences: some of the tortures are skipped; in some cases the hell-being's karma is exhausted before the full round of tortures is completed, so that one dies and is reborn elsewhere. Not everyone goes for repeated rounds. Also, it should be noted that suffering in hell is NEVER for eternity (though it may certainly feel like an eternity). As the discourse implies, when the hell-being's bad karma is exhausted, one dies and is reborn elsewhere, in accordance with one's other karma.

(FZ) What in the world is "Forbidden Zone" the cult movie about?

 

"Once, meditators, the thought occurred to King Yama: 'Those who did bad deeds in the world are tortured in these many ways. O, that I might gain [rebirth in] the human state! And that a Wayfarer (Tathāgata, a buddha) -- worthy and rightly awakened -- might arise in the world! And that I might attend to that Wayfarer! And that he might teach me the [liberating] Dharma! And that I might understand his Dharma!'

 

"I tell you this, meditators, not from having heard it from another wandering ascetic or Brahmin. On the contrary, I tell you this just as I have known for myself, seen it for myself, understood it for myself."

 

That is what the Blessed One said. Having said it, the [Welcome One and] Well-Gone One, the Teacher, further said:

 

Warned by deva messengers, those youths who are heedless grieve for a long, long time -- people entering a lower state.

But those here who are good, people of upright conduct, when warned by deva messengers are ever heedful of this ennobling Dharma.

Seeing danger in clinging, in the coming-into-play of rebirth and death, they are released from letting go (not being clingy), in the ending of rebirth and death. They, happy, arriving at safety, fully released here and now, having gone, gone beyond all anger and danger, have escaped all suffering and disappointment.