The 10 States of Life
In the text "Basics of Buddhism" by Pat Allwriight the ten states of life are explained. I was not just fascinated by the ten states of life I have decided to share them with others as I understand them. Not all of the states of life are as dark as the first one yet I am not afraid to share them with others knowing that down the road there are some states that are light and wonderful.
The first state of life is:
Hell: This stage of life is a stage where we are miserable. We are also depressed and focused a lot on anger. We don't see an end to it and feel helpless and alone. I believe this stage to be one where we create our own state of misery by seeing things in our life from a dark place. For many of us we must experience hell in order to lift ourselves from it to the light or more of a heavenly state. I have often thought that there is not hell that we go to as some religions might ask us to believe but that our hell is here on earth. Even though we may not want to live in hell we may go there simply because we are suffering from some situation in our life like an illness, a death of a loved one or a loss of relationship. In Buddhism it is believed that hell is a state in our life, one we can overcome yet one that many of us will or must experience. I say that if we decide to lift ourselves out of our hell like state we are making a decision to love ourselves sufficiently so that we can experience some portion of heaven. We can have the intention to let go of the anger and hence let it go and come out of our hell. It is my opinion that when we are in hell we are confused and when we are confused we do things that make matters worse by staying in our state of hell.
A person I met stayed in hell most of the time. Any time I spoke to her she shared ever detail of every bad thing that had happened to her in the last week, month or year. As time passed the sharing of her life of hell became more and more elaborate and more dark and even more detailed. One day she even shared a story about how someone in her family complained about her running about in her home in the nude after she took a bath. The stories had become more and more about accusing others of making up stories about her. On another occasion she told me a story about another family member who had made up another elaborate lie about her and that her sister in law had come between her and her brother's relationship hence the issues with him. At every turn there was another story from what I might only describe as hell. This person was in her own hell and she created a more descriptive form of hell every time I spoke to her. Although I had attempted to be understanding of her I realized that she not only would not get help, she was content with her state of hell, at the very least not doing anything to put an end to it. It was then that I decided I would need to let go of her and intentionally not be exposed to her hell.
It may be that all of us will experience some hell. I think most of us will and that the difference is in how we perceive it and how we address it as well as the power we give it. Whether it is booze or drugs or a horrific abusive relationship we seem to be bent on having our share of hell. The difference is that we can get up and get out of hell. We have the power to do that if we want it bad enough.
My hell was called Cancer. I normally call it a health opportunity. I was sure during the time I was getting therapy and the aftermath that I had gone to hell. In fact the radiation burned me and there were times when I bled when the cancer lesions were radiated. I recall falling to my knees and sobbing with my head on the floor. I surrendered to the pain. I surrendered to the hell and at times I wished I would die in my sleep. In fact at one point I heard a voice ask me if I was ready to leave this world (in other words to die or leave this earth) and I responded "yes". A few minutes passed and I thought about my children and grandchildren and then I decided that I was not ready. I was then asked "are you sure" and I responded "yes". For months after this I felt like I lived in hell. I was in pain a lot and when it was not physical it was mental. I feel like one day I made an intentional decision to leave hell and to create a more loving life, one that was absent of hell. I would not longer focus on the illness but rather the future and do everything I could to nurture myself out of hell. Today I feel closer to heaven than ever before, feeling the feelings but not allowing my health opportunity to dictate how I will live. My hell turned into a way to heal myself.
Anyone one of us can live the state of hell and most of us will have a little hell or maybe a lot in our life time. We cannot stay in a state of hell nor do we have to. We can decide to do things that are kind, compassionate and loving and get out of hell.
The first state of life is:
Hell: This stage of life is a stage where we are miserable. We are also depressed and focused a lot on anger. We don't see an end to it and feel helpless and alone. I believe this stage to be one where we create our own state of misery by seeing things in our life from a dark place. For many of us we must experience hell in order to lift ourselves from it to the light or more of a heavenly state. I have often thought that there is not hell that we go to as some religions might ask us to believe but that our hell is here on earth. Even though we may not want to live in hell we may go there simply because we are suffering from some situation in our life like an illness, a death of a loved one or a loss of relationship. In Buddhism it is believed that hell is a state in our life, one we can overcome yet one that many of us will or must experience. I say that if we decide to lift ourselves out of our hell like state we are making a decision to love ourselves sufficiently so that we can experience some portion of heaven. We can have the intention to let go of the anger and hence let it go and come out of our hell. It is my opinion that when we are in hell we are confused and when we are confused we do things that make matters worse by staying in our state of hell.
A person I met stayed in hell most of the time. Any time I spoke to her she shared ever detail of every bad thing that had happened to her in the last week, month or year. As time passed the sharing of her life of hell became more and more elaborate and more dark and even more detailed. One day she even shared a story about how someone in her family complained about her running about in her home in the nude after she took a bath. The stories had become more and more about accusing others of making up stories about her. On another occasion she told me a story about another family member who had made up another elaborate lie about her and that her sister in law had come between her and her brother's relationship hence the issues with him. At every turn there was another story from what I might only describe as hell. This person was in her own hell and she created a more descriptive form of hell every time I spoke to her. Although I had attempted to be understanding of her I realized that she not only would not get help, she was content with her state of hell, at the very least not doing anything to put an end to it. It was then that I decided I would need to let go of her and intentionally not be exposed to her hell.
It may be that all of us will experience some hell. I think most of us will and that the difference is in how we perceive it and how we address it as well as the power we give it. Whether it is booze or drugs or a horrific abusive relationship we seem to be bent on having our share of hell. The difference is that we can get up and get out of hell. We have the power to do that if we want it bad enough.
My hell was called Cancer. I normally call it a health opportunity. I was sure during the time I was getting therapy and the aftermath that I had gone to hell. In fact the radiation burned me and there were times when I bled when the cancer lesions were radiated. I recall falling to my knees and sobbing with my head on the floor. I surrendered to the pain. I surrendered to the hell and at times I wished I would die in my sleep. In fact at one point I heard a voice ask me if I was ready to leave this world (in other words to die or leave this earth) and I responded "yes". A few minutes passed and I thought about my children and grandchildren and then I decided that I was not ready. I was then asked "are you sure" and I responded "yes". For months after this I felt like I lived in hell. I was in pain a lot and when it was not physical it was mental. I feel like one day I made an intentional decision to leave hell and to create a more loving life, one that was absent of hell. I would not longer focus on the illness but rather the future and do everything I could to nurture myself out of hell. Today I feel closer to heaven than ever before, feeling the feelings but not allowing my health opportunity to dictate how I will live. My hell turned into a way to heal myself.
Anyone one of us can live the state of hell and most of us will have a little hell or maybe a lot in our life time. We cannot stay in a state of hell nor do we have to. We can decide to do things that are kind, compassionate and loving and get out of hell.
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