The Metaphor of Burning in Hell (satire)

If you are Christian and a Islamophobe then you may be a bigot and, according to certain Christian sectarian dogma, you might burn in hell.

If you are a Christian and believe non-Christians will burn in hell then let me assure you that your literal interpretation of the Bible has blinded you to its metaphorical content.

For hatred of Muslims implies unbelief in the ever-loving Christ, regardless of your so-called belief in Him. Hatred of non-Christians is implied by Christian doctrine but not by the Bible.

Furthermore, no one Christian or otherwise knows what awaits them in the afterlife but hatred cuts everyone off from a true and sincere love of humanity, regardless of creed or faith.

Please note that I don't believe in hell as eternal torment but as a temporary destiny after death. Nor do I believe in bigotry and hatred towards Muslims.

For it was not Muslims who committed the tragedy on September 11, 2001. Rather, it was political Islamists who too are just as much unbelievers as anyone who has a large board of hatred blocking the last shred of love left in them. Though such militants claim belief in God, it might be Satan working through them.

Most Muslims were just as shocked as you were, and consider al Qaeda and like-minded Islamists politically radical militants but not Muslims.

Indeed, Islamist implies the political ideology of Sharia that runs counter to Islam.

If a Christian were to radicalize and hold an ideology of the Ten Commandments and consider anyone resisted him to be an unbeliever and worthy of death then he would be considered a potential domestic terrorist by the US government.

This includes anti-abortionist shooters, anti-government militias and even certain groups motivated by ideology i.e. radical right who use violence.

Indeed, anyone who wishes death on anyone else and affiliates with any God-fearing religion that stresses love and submission before a higher power than himself has occulted himself from belief in God and substituted it with a belief in death.

And who knows death more than Satan does? Even those lost sheep who have chosen him may know of death.

Hatred inflames the heart and places the hater in a metaphorical hell. Thoughts of death to other people complement that hatred.

Thus hatred causes the hell of your own making, regardless of your faith.

On the other hand, the love of which a wise man speaks is not humanity's love of God but rather the merciful compassion that calms all hearts because our love for all things good in life.

Peace of mind is the ideal of all things good in life. Such a mind at peace calmly abides in the clarity of mind that is free of anger and hatred and soon becomes full of the truest love of all, our love for each other, regardless of religion.

He who fears another is ignorant of that love. She who loves knows the power of love. Before that power of love, even he who loves power confesses his ignorance of love.

What if that tragedy in 2001 was the last chance for Americans to show humility before the world? What if the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq was the hope that that humility be shared by the conquerors with the conquered?

These two questions are but rhetorical, and may result many more questions than can be addressed in this article.

However, the metaphor of burning in hell refers to the anger at being caught unaware in 2001 which resulted in the so-called War on Terror. It also refers to the hatred that consumed a few people who — out of ignorance — chose to unjustly blame others for causing two passenger jets to destroy the Twin Towers, including the tragic deaths in America of Sikhs killed by two men consumed by anger and hatred.

When anger consumes a person, it causes mental instability. When hatred consumes such a person, that unstable mind will find a target upon which to vent his rage. In the case of 911, that target became the Muslims. Yet I do not consider the madmen who piloted those jets to be Muslims but criminal terrorists.

It is illogical and irrational to scapegoat Muslims around the world for 911. A better use of our time would be in studying the perversion of Salafi ideology in Islam that results in the violent militancy of al Qaeda, home-grown domestic terrorism and related criminal terrorism such as the recent bombings by militant Chechens in Russia.

As well, the Boston Massacre may have been inspired by Chechen militancy but it was also fueled by the fear perpetrated by conspiracy theorists who deny the official version of 911.

In any case, such acts of terrorism are often perpetrated by men and sometimes women who burn with hatred for a targeted enemy who is nothing more than a scapegoat for their rage.

Thus, the metaphor of burning in hell is apt.

Yet those of us who know of love know that the power of love triumphs over love of power. Non-violent confrontation of life that is both its fruit and its seed is planted when we fall in humility before that power.

It is possible for love to transform a would-be killer into a humble man who chooses life over death. Indeed, when we let unconditional love guide us, compassion and mercy promotes loving kindness towards other people. All anger and hatred is forgotten, and replaced by meekness.

Thus, the antidote to hatred is love, for it quenches the thirst for revenge without blood being shed. For the power of love is so great that it calms the mind and snuffs out the anger.

All that is left is a calm mind abiding in peace.

Now, that is better than letting hatred cause the hater to feel like he is burning in hell.

Asuras are Demons

In Buddhist cosmology, the Asura realm supposedly is between the human realm and the godly realm.

Though, IMO asuras are demons. Here's why:

"Because of their passions, Rebirth as an Asura is considered to be one of the four unhappy births (together with Rebirth as an animal, a preta (hungry ghost), or a being in Naraka (the Hells)). The state of an Asura reflects the mental state of a human being obsessed with force and violence, always looking for an excuse to get into a fight, angry with everyone and unable to maintain calm or solve problems peacefully."

The obsession with violence and confronting life with it reminds me more of demons than gods.

Ergo asuras are so low a form of "god" that they could be compared to all the anti-heroes and enemies of Greek gods, including the many mythical creatures that the gods played a practical joke on i.e. centaurs are probably a joke Zeus played by taking the form of a pretty horse just to seduce a virgin.

Likewise, the Minotaur, a bull-headed man-beast is a joke played by Zeus when he took the form of a bull to seduce another virgin.

Getting back to asuras as demons, this is only a mental landscape, because the Six Realms is a mental construct designed to educate Buddhists about the evils of passions and other slipper slopes we really don't need to venture on but usually do because of our ignorance.

Essentially, the Asura Realm is where Buddhists who obey all the precepts but were not very nice in the human realm are reborn. If they mess up there, then it's the Hells for them.

---

Reference:

Asura: http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=Asura

Ultimate Sublimation for a Dear Friend (poem)

Being able to help out a dear friend
financially is better than sex.
Even though the world expects me
to be less generous, it is
immoral to treat a dear friend
in dire straits like a mere pauper.
Even though my means aren't great,
I would rather be reborn
in the Buddhist hells
than neglect my dear friends.
For being of help to my friends arises
due to ultimate sublimation of desire.

Even Trangressors May Approach the Pure Land

They who promotes mental unrest
in all sentient beings is
destined for the Hells.
Let us hope when they depart
samsara, the loved ones
lefts behind are so devoted
to him that he escapes samsara
by practicing Buddha Recitation
of Amida's Name-that-calls accumulating
the good merits which result
in rebirth in the Pure Land.
All that sentient beings are
required do is Buddha Recitation,
with meditation providing
the set and setting conducive
to Buddha Remembrance.

Dakini: the Wrathful Form of Tara

As a Buddhist, I do not view the opposite sex like my fellow sentient beings do.

Although I admit to objectifying women, I try not to make a habit of telling other men within earshot of women.

For those of you who remember the pictures of naked women, women showing cleavage, and the the picture of the shapely cosplay woman which I called "dakinis", a dakini is a celestial being, separate from Tara, who was originally an Indian goddess who vowed to be reborn as a bodhisattva in the Realm of Desire consisting of the six realms of the hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demons/asuras/demigods, and gods.

Am I saying that Tara walks among the sentient beings who dwell in the human realm?

Yes, that was included in her vow to be reborn in the human realm out of compassion for all sentient beings. Her task is to Help human beings to realize their purpose in life, which is to be of service to others, and to be helpful to all sentient beings, regardless of whether they are animals or human beings.

For Tara represents both the teacher and the nurse, and even the people welcoming you at Walmart.

And what are dakinis? They are the wrathful form of Tara who are able to dance high up in the sky. For they are Skywalkers.

I am sure Star Wars fans will pick on that: Luke Skywalker's last name was borrowed from the term that describes a dakini.

As well, "sky" symbolizes the freedom of space. It also suggests another freedom that Westernized people might object to, depending on their culture and upbringing. I am referring to the freedom of being unclothed and dancing naked in the sky.

Please note that I have associated a dakini with Tara, with the latter being the closest thing to a Buddha, for she is a bodhisattva out to save all sentient beings.

However, I refered to the two young women as dakinis for wearing little or no attire, as it helps me to keep my distance from lust. By keeping my distance, I hope to avoid being reborn in the hells both literally as I would rather go to the Pure Land, and figuratively i.e. by making inappropriate comments about either lady.

For having an open mind is a dedicated skill involving controlling one's secret wish to kill a person for speaking inappropriately. I am sure this is why chat features on GooglePlus are useful to privately talk with another member who is in my circle, if I so desire.

However, I have had my fill of chat using Facebook, Microsoft Messenger and Yahoochat as well as chat services on other web forums.

If I wanted to chat one-to-one with a woman, then it'd be IRC on the #sex channel of dalnet. However, there are children who would kick me off chat on dalnet, thus proving "absolute power corrupts absolutely" and confirming that most of the time, children do not have open minds.

Returning to dakinis and Tara, it is quite possible that Tara "magically" created clones of herself, as there is a White Tara, a Blue Tara and a Green Tara. There may also be yellow Tara, but I have yet to hear of a Red Tara.

In this way, she could enlighten more people than as plain vanilla Tara.

I have read in a Chinese sutras about a multitude of buddhas in their Pure Lands. So it stands to reason that there are a multitude of bodhisattvas as well as dakinis.

If even one god or demigod were to have the Buddhadharma preached to him, then it would lead to rebirth in the human realm.

Sometimes a Buddha will do that so that all sentient beings bond to the Buddha, and protect that Buddha from non-believers — an avatar of a sentient being who was non-human would be reborn as human, and might remember his life in the realm of god. However, even when an avatar of a god cannot remember her past life, she will eventually become a Buddhist.

After making a commitment to Buddhism and following the precepts, she may attain the past life samadhi. Even so, that happens after decades of mindful practice, both meditation and the works of charity, including volunteering at the Buddhist temple of which she is a member.

For the siddhi of past life memories takes a long time to be acquired since everything that happens to a devoted Buddhist practitioner is supposed to prepare you for that. If it is done within a setting that has no cultural means of such preparation, then surely we live in the age of Mappo —the degenerate age when only the Pure Land practice of Buddha Recitation is the sole means to be assured of being reborn as a bodhisattva and much later, a Buddha.

However, it is said that worship of dakinis and of Tara in any of her forms, be it spiritually/supernaturally or worldly, earns merit for the Tibetan devotee. Though, I am NEVER going to worship a woman dressed up as one, face-to-face.

---

References

Tara as tantric deity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara_%28Buddhism%29#T.C4.81r.C4.81_as_a_Tantric_deity

Birth and Death and the Middle Way

Life is the companion of death,
death is the beginning of life.
Who understands their workings?
Man's life is a coming together of breath.
If it comes together, there is life;
if it scatters, there is death.
And if life and death are companions to each other,
then what is there for us to be anxious about?
— Chuang Tzu

A society that fears death such that almost everyone refuses to discuss death "out of respect for the dead" has thus paid false respect for their dead.

If such a society has no coming-of-age ritual to inculcate fearlessness in the face of death, then making death taboo is a cowardly act.

By fearing death, a person is but a coward when society treasures life so much that mass media glorifies youth to the point where the elderly are mocked by placing them in old age homes to die.

Western society thus is rendered sick in the sense that we associate death with sadness and despair to the point where the dead's living relatives are called "survivors".

In Taoism, Chuang Tzu wrote the truth about how death should be treated, as a companion of life.

Furthermore, viewing death as the beginning of life makes more sense than seeing it as the end of life.

Death is only the end of life when we ignore the afterlife.

Because society sees any depiction of the afterlife as fiction, it makes sense that death is taboo.

Such a society would rather let mass media manufacture a violent parody of life than make a film about the afterlife according to Buddhism.

Indeed, there has never been a movie about the Tibetan Buddhist afterlife, despite a book being written about Tibetans who have returned from the dead to tell about it.

Is it because the Dalai Lama forbids it? Or is it out of false piety and respect for the Tibetans that Hollywood has yet to finance such a venture?

Personally I find the Buddhist afterlife to be a place where anything can happen. I could be reborn in the hells and suffer according to the evil karma I have accumulated in this life. Eons later, I may spend time in the hungry ghost realm not taking any pleasure from eating.

Later on, I may be reborn as a worm in the animal realm, only to be eaten by a bird. Then I might be reborn as a girl in the human realm. Many eons later, I could end up in the demon realm and fight with other demons.

Much later, I may be reborn in the realm of gods and live a long life only to be reborn in one of the Buddhist heavens.

However, each rebirth still requires hearing the Dharma and turning away from evil. In this case, karmic evil would occur when I act according to the realm in which I am reborn.

In the human realm, to act like other humans requires committing evil karma. All the things humanity does to glorify humankind cannot help but create seeds of evil karma which only leads to rebirth in samsara, the realms of desire — the hells, hungry ghost, animal, human, demons and gods.

What kind of existence is this? Is it worth being reborn endlessly due to evil karma?

I do not believe so. For samsara is not humanity's destiny if we choose to live according to the Buddhadharma.

Contrary to what the brahmins of Santanadharma preach, rebirth in samsara is not a person's destiny when she chooses to become a Buddha.

In choosing to become a Buddha, even one sentient being abandons ignorance for the greater good of all sentient beings. This happened to Gotama over 2500 years ago. He became Sakyamuni Buddha in one lifetime, and discovered that he too spent previous lifetimes as a Bodhisattva, preparing for Nirvana.

Even after his mahaparinirvana, which appears to us as an earthly death, the Buddha was liberated to be whatever it is causes each Buddhist to abandon human existence in samsara to become like him.

He could be your Buddhist teacher, a guru, or even someone you hate. He might appear as your mother, your father, your brother, your sister, your family, or even that bully who beat you up in Grade Two.

Whenever whatever another person does to us, good or bad, if we are inspired to learn from it and become better than we were before, then that is due to the Buddhadharma.

For it is the Buddha's aim to liberate all sentient beings from human existence and not be reborn in Samsara.

Each liberated sentient being is destined to become a Buddha when she has heard the Buddhadharma — the Four Noble Truths, dependent arising — and, repenting her former life, jumps over to the Middle Way.