The Six Realms of Samsara: The Truth of Life's Flow and the Path of Renunciation

The Wheel That Keeps Turning

If someone were to ask: What is the biggest difference between Buddhism and other religions?

I think the concept of Samsara (Reincarnation) is probably one of the most important answers.

Most religions believe that after death, a person goes to an eternal place—either Heaven or Hell, never to return. But Buddhism does not think so. Buddhism says that death is not the end, but the beginning of another journey. Life is like a wheel, turning and turning, life after life, flowing through different realms. This is "Samsara."

This wheel has six regions, called the "Six Realms": the Heaven Realm, the Human Realm, the Asura Realm, the Animal Realm, the Hungry Ghost Realm, and the Hell Realm. The first three are called the "Three Good Realms," and the last three are called the "Three Evil Realms." Sentient beings rise and fall, turning back and forth between these six realms according to their own karma, without an end.

This may sound a bit scary. No end? Turning forever? Yes, unless you find a way out.

This way out is what the Dharma calls "Liberation." The Buddha himself was someone who was liberated from samsara, and he told us about this way out. Before understanding the way out, let us first recognize what this wheel looks like.

The Heaven Realm: The Most Beautiful Cage

Among the six realms, the Heaven Realm (Deva Realm) is the best.

The lifespan of heavenly beings is extremely long, often tens of millions of years. Their enjoyment is extremely supreme; they have whatever they want, and whatever they think of comes to them. Heavenly beings do not have the various troubles of the human world—no pressure of birth, aging, sickness, and death, no pain of not getting what they want, no annoyance of meeting those they hate. They live in palaces with ground paved with gold and rows of jeweled trees, surrounded by celestial maidens, with celestial music floating in the air; everything is so perfect.

Sounds very desirable, doesn't it?

But Buddhism says that the Heaven Realm is actually a "most beautiful cage."

Why say so? Because the life of heavenly beings is too good, so good that they don't want to practice. The human world has suffering and happiness; suffering forces us to think about the meaning of life and makes us want to find a way out. But the Heaven Realm has almost no suffering; heavenly beings are immersed in enjoyment and it is difficult to give rise to the mind of renunciation.

What's more terrible is that heavenly blessings are limited. No matter how many tens of thousands of years of blessings you enjoy in heaven, when the blessings are exhausted, you will still fall. The scriptures describe that before a heavenly being dies, the "Five Signs of Decay" will appear: the flowers on the head wither, the armpits sweat, the clothes become dirty, the body emits a bad smell, and they are unhappy in their seat. A heavenly being who has enjoyed countless years of glory and wealth suddenly finds that they are about to fall; that kind of despair and fear is more intense than any pain in the human world.

Moreover, since heavenly beings rarely practice, after their blessings are exhausted, they often fall directly into the evil realms. Falling from the highest point to the lowest point, this drop is the most tragic.

Therefore, in the view of Buddhism, being born in heaven is not something worth pursuing. It is just a temporary blessing, not ultimate liberation. The goal of a true practitioner is not to ascend to heaven, but to leave the six realms.

The Human Realm: The Most Precious Opportunity

Among the six realms, the Human Realm is the most suitable for practice.

This statement may be surprising. Doesn't the human realm have a lot of suffering? Birth, aging, sickness, death, separation from loved ones, association with the loathed, not getting what one wants—life is full of various pains. Why is the human realm most suitable for practice?

Precisely because there is suffering.

The Heaven Realm is too happy; sentient beings indulge in enjoyment and do not think of making progress. Hell is too painful; sentient beings endure severe pain day and night and have no energy to practice at all. Animals are ignorant, hungry ghosts are hungry and thirsty, Asuras are combative—these realms all have their own obstacles, making it difficult for sentient beings to hear and practice the Dharma.

Only the Human Realm is half suffering and half happiness. There is enough suffering to make us give rise to the mind of renunciation, and enough happiness to give us the spare energy to practice. We have intelligent minds to understand the Dharma and free will to choose to practice or not. This "neither up nor down" situation is exactly the best environment for practice.

The Buddha attained Buddhahood in the human world, not in heaven. This itself illustrates the supremacy of the Human Realm.

But a human body is hard to obtain. The scriptures use many metaphors to illustrate this point:

"Blind Turtle and Floating Wood"—In the vast ocean, there is a blind turtle, and a piece of wood with a hole floats on the sea. The turtle surfaces once every hundred years, and its head happens to pass through the hole in the wood—how small is this probability? The probability of obtaining a human body is even smaller than this.

"Soil on the Fingernail"—The Buddha grabbed a handful of soil from the ground and asked his disciples: "Is there more soil in my hand, or more soil in the great earth?" The disciples said: "There is more soil in the great earth." The Buddha said: "Those who lose the human body are like the soil of the great earth, and those who obtain the human body are like the soil on the fingernail."

These metaphors remind us: The human body is extremely precious, don't waste it. If we don't practice well in this life, we don't know when we will wait for the next time we get a human body.

The Asura Realm: The Never-Ending War

Asura, translated as "Non-Deva," means "heavenly beings who are not heavenly beings."

Asuras have the blessings of heavenly beings, but not the virtue of heavenly beings. Their palaces are also magnificent, their lifespans are also long, and their enjoyment is also supreme. But they have a fatal flaw: jealousy and combativeness.

Legend has it that the Asura King saw that the life of heavenly beings was better than his own, and strong jealousy arose in his heart. They constantly fought with heavenly beings, wanting to snatch their resources. But the heavenly beings have the protection of Lord Indra, and the Asuras can never win. After losing the battle, they go back to recuperate for a while, and then go to fight again. This cycle continues endlessly.

The life of Asuras is spent in jealousy and war. They have very good material conditions, but their hearts are not at peace for a moment. Seeing others better than themselves, they can't stand it; losing a fight, they can't stand it even more. This mentality makes them live in pain forever, even if they live in magnificent palaces.

The revelation the Asura Realm gives us is: Material abundance does not equal happiness. If a person's heart is full of jealousy and struggle, even if they have more wealth, they will not be happy. On the contrary, a person with a peaceful heart can live a fulfilling life even if they live simply.

In the human world, there are also many "Asura-style" people. They are successful in their careers and have immense wealth, but they always feel that others are better than themselves, always comparing, competing, and jealous. What is the difference between such a life and an Asura?

The Animal Realm: Ignorance and the Fate of Being Slaughtered

Among the Three Evil Realms, the Animal Realm is relatively lighter.

Animals include those flying in the sky, walking on the ground, swimming in the water, from elephants to ants, from whales to paramecia, with a wide variety and huge numbers. If we rank the number of sentient beings in the six realms, the sentient beings in the Animal Realm are definitely the most numerous.

The main characteristic of the Animal Realm is "ignorance." They cannot understand complex principles, cannot distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, and just live by instinct. Eat when hungry, drink when thirsty, run away when in danger, reproduce when there is a chance. A lifetime is just eating, drinking, defecating, and sleeping, with no higher pursuit.

Another characteristic is "being slaughtered." Animals are often in a weak position in the food chain, either eaten by other animals or slaughtered by humans. Those farmed chickens, ducks, pigs, and cows, from the moment they are born, their fate is doomed—grow up, be killed, and become human food. They have no right to choose.

There is also a characteristic of "bearing heavy burdens." Some animals are domesticated by humans and used to work. Cows pull carts and plow fields, horses carry people for long distances, donkeys grind mills and carry goods. They work hard all their lives, and when they are old and can't work anymore, they are sold or killed.

Buddhist scriptures say that the main reason for falling into the Animal Realm is ignorance—not believing in cause and effect, not knowing right from wrong, and living muddledly. Another reason is greed—greedy for food, sleep, wealth, and sex, degrading oneself to the level of animals.

Seeing the suffering of the Animal Realm, we should give rise to two kinds of minds: one is compassion, to treat animals with compassion and not hurt them at will; the other is vigilance, to practice well and not fall into the Animal Realm because of our own ignorance and greed.

The Hungry Ghost Realm: The Craving That Can Never Be Satisfied

Hungry Ghosts (Pretas) are a very special life form.

The scriptures describe the image of hungry ghosts: belly as big as a drum, throat as thin as a needle. A big belly represents great desire; a thin throat represents the inability to satisfy. They are forever in hunger and thirst; they find food but can't eat it, find water but can't drink it. For some hungry ghosts, when they see water, the water turns into pus and blood; when they see food, the food turns into flames. This pain of not getting what one wants is the biggest characteristic of the Hungry Ghost Realm.

The lifespan of hungry ghosts is also very long, often tens of thousands of years. Imagine, in the time of tens of thousands of years, every moment is in extreme hunger and thirst, but unable to get any satisfaction—what a torment this is.

The main reason for falling into the Hungry Ghost Realm is "miserliness and greed"—extreme stinginess and greed. Some people only know how to accumulate wealth all their lives and never give; some people see others have good things and want to take them for themselves; some people have endless desires for material things, wanting more after getting some. This mentality of miserliness and greed is the seed of the Hungry Ghost Realm.

In the human world, there are also many "Hungry Ghost-style" people. They may be rich, but they always feel it is not enough; they may already have a lot, but they are never satisfied. This mentality itself is a state of a hungry ghost.

The method taught by Buddhism to cure miserliness and greed is "Giving" (Dana). Share what you have with others, whether it is property, knowledge, or love. Giving can break the habit of miserliness and greed, making the heart open and satisfied.

The Ghost Festival (Ullambana Festival) ritual of offering food is to give food to sentient beings in the Hungry Ghost Realm. This is a practice of compassion and also reminds us not to embark on the path of miserliness and greed.

The Hell Realm: The Deepest Suffering

Among the six realms, Hell is the most painful.

The description of Hell in Buddhist scriptures is very detailed and very terrible. There are Eight Hot Hells, where sentient beings burn in raging fire and struggle in boiling copper juice. There are Eight Cold Hells, where sentient beings freeze and crack in extreme cold, with flesh torn open. There are Solitary Hells, scattered in the mountains and rivers of the human world, where sentient beings endure various punishments alone.

The lifespan in Hell is extremely long. Decades in the human world may be just one day in Hell. In the long years, hell beings die and come back to life repeatedly, just to continue suffering. That kind of despair is unimaginable to us.

Why fall into Hell? Mainly because of extremely heavy evil karma—killing father, killing mother, killing an Arhat, shedding the Buddha's blood, and causing a schism in the Sangha. These five "Five Heinous Crimes" will directly attract Hell. In addition, a large amount of killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and slandering the Three Jewels will also lead to the retribution of Hell.

Some people may ask: Is Hell real? Or is it just a metaphor?

In the traditional Buddhist view, Hell is real, just as real as the human world and the heaven realm. But even understood from a metaphorical perspective, Hell has profound meaning. When a person is tortured by extreme pain and shrouded in despair, isn't that state Hell? Some people, although living in the human world, have already fallen into the darkness of Hell in their hearts.

The existence of Hell is the sternest warning to us: Cause and effect are real, and evil karma brings painful retribution. Don't think that doing bad things will not have retribution; retribution is just a matter of time. This warning is not to scare people, but to make us cautious about our words and deeds, and not to plant the cause of falling into Hell.

The Driving Force of Samsara

Understanding the appearance of the six realms, a question naturally arises: What is driving samsara? Why do sentient beings turn back and forth in the six realms?

The answer of Buddhism is: Karma.

Karma is the creation of our body, speech, and mind. Good creation is good karma, which brings happy retribution; evil creation is evil karma, which brings painful retribution. These karmas will not disappear; they are stored in the depths of our consciousness, waiting for conditions to mature to sprout and bear fruit.

At the end of life, past karma will manifest. If the power of good karma is strong, one will be reborn in a good realm; if the power of evil karma is strong, one will fall into an evil realm. It's like a big tree falling; it will fall to the side it has been leaning towards for a long time. Our usual thoughts and behaviors determine the direction of our leaning.

But behind karma, there is a deeper reason, which is "Ignorance"—not understanding the truth of things, not understanding one's own nature. Because of ignorance, we generate afflictions such as greed, hatred, and delusion. Because of afflictions, we create various good and evil karmas. Because of karma, we rotate in the six realms. This is the chain of samsara revealed by the "Twelve Links of Dependent Origination."

Ignorance is the root cause of samsara. As long as ignorance is not broken, samsara will not stop.

The Exit of Samsara

Having said so much about the suffering of samsara, is there no way out?

Yes, there is. The way out is "Liberation."

Liberation is not going to another better place, but completely jumping out of the wheel of samsara. No longer pulled by karma, no longer flowing in the six realms, obtaining true freedom.

How to be liberated? The core is to break ignorance and cut off afflictions. Once ignorance is broken, the driving force of samsara disappears. Like a wheel, if the axle is removed, the wheel cannot turn.

The specific methods are the Three Trainings of Morality, Concentration, and Wisdom taught by the Buddha, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and various practice methods. The goals of these methods are the same: to let us see the truth of things clearly, so as not to be confused by ignorance and driven by afflictions.

For most people, liberation in this life may be difficult to achieve. At this time, the Pure Land method provides another way: through reciting the Buddha's name, relying on the vow power of Amitabha Buddha, to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. The Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is not within the six realms. After being reborn there, one will not fall into samsara again, and can practice there with peace of mind until becoming a Buddha.

No matter which path you take, the first step is to establish a correct understanding of samsara. Knowing that samsara is suffering, knowing that renunciation is possible, knowing that there is a method to renounce—this is the "Mind of Renunciation," which is the foundation of all practice.

May we all give rise to a true mind of renunciation and move towards infinite liberation in our limited life.