Buddhism and the Theory of Reincarnation
An insight to Karma, the foundation and a guideline for the theory of Reincarnation in Buddhism.
The world as we know today is divided into 6 different realms, representing the Six Path of Reincarnation based on a popular belief in Buddhism: God realm, Semi-God realm, Human realm, Animal realm, Hungry Ghost/Restless Spirit realm and Hell realm [1].
When a being, originally from these 6 realms, passes away, it will be reincarnated into its original world or the other five based on its accumulated Karma. The more good the being does, the better realm it is to get reincarnated into and vice versa. So what are these 6 realms? How is one better than the others?
God Realm
Beings in this world tend to have accumulated significant good Karma in their past and therefore are allowed to live in the place where there is no violence, no hatred and no fighting between anyone.
Living in this realm, they are wiser and more knowledgeable than beings in other worlds and hence being blessed with a life that lasts thousands of years without diseases or sickness. However, living in a peaceful world for so long, they tend to forget practicing good will, and therefore at the end of their life in this world, when their good Karma is out, they are usually reincarnated into a lower realm.
Demi-God Realm
Beings in the Demi-God Realm share the same world with beings from God-realm. They also accumulate enough good Karma to be blessed with a long life. However, since beings in this realm have a huge desire for fame when they are still alive, jealousy, arrogance and hatred still exist within them.
They are not exempt from violence and still face sickness and diseases like the human world. Beings in this realm tend to live a better life than the human world, but a level lower than beings living in the God Realm.
Human Realm
Many buddhism practitioners believe that the Human world is the best to accumulate good Karma and practicing for what buddha have taught. This world has the balance of the positive and the negative things, which make us aware and always strive to be better and stay away from bad things.
Beings in this world, depending on the situation, can live a happy life or a terrible life. The Karma that they accumulate overtime, good or bad, will determine where they would be for their next life.
Animal Realm
As self explain as it should be, beings in animal Realm, or animal for short, share the world with the human. Animal have more things to overcome in life than the pleasure they have because they have to fight for their survival everyday.
In this realm and all of the below, accumulating good Karma for their afterlife is very difficult considering the fact that they don’t have the safety environment as the above 3 realms. However, it is still possible to live a good life being an animal and if that being does, they might be reincarnated to a higher world.
Hungry Ghost/Restless Spirit Realm
Beings reincarnate into this world are punished due to their life before. They are in this world because of their bad Karma for excessive craving and attachments.
Beings in this world do not have a body, are invisible and cannot consume any food or water. They do feel hungry and thirsty, but they are prohibited from eating or drinking anything. Once paying off their bad Karma, they will be reincarnated into a different realm, usually a better one.
Hell Realm
Beings in this world are reincarnated here due to their extremely bad Karma such as murder, theft and many more. This is the worst realm that any beings can be reincarnated to since there is a tiny chance of paying off your Karma and reborn to a better world.
Beings in this world are punished, in some cases for eternity, without any pardon. Once you step into this realm, getting out is nearly impossible.
Karma overview
So Karma has its level. Through the overview of the 6 realms above, we know that the more good Karma you gain, the better chance you can be reincarnated to a better world. Moreover, based on a popular Buddhism’s belief, Karma can be accumulated through many consecutive reincarnations. People who are reborn into the same world can accumulate their Karma from the previous life and therefore, can move to a better realm or a worse one later on. On the contrary, if someone has accumulated bad Karma in their past life, but is reborn into the same world, they can use the good Karma in their current life to pay off for their previous one and avoid being reincarnated to a worse realm.
Final words
Think of Karma as a credit system where the more good you do, the higher credit you will have and therefore, a better place you can live. These 6 Path of Reincarnation is the foundation of every Buddhist in the world, guiding them to do good to their surrounding people and avoid causing any harm that can lead to bad consequences. There is more to the world than these 6 basics realms in the eye of the Buddhist, but for the purpose of spreading basic information to all of you, I will save it for my future’s post.
Sources:
[1] Lochtefeld, J. G. (2005, September 11). The Six Realms of Existence. Retrieved July 21, 2020, from https://personal.carthage.edu/jlochtefeld/buddhism/wheeloflife/sixrealms.html
