From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=WbOv8zPYa8E

Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.

foreign

[Music]

yeah

so in the context of the Buddhist

teachings we have these 31 realms

right and so the very lower Realms are

the hell Realms and within those held

Realms there are different kinds of

sub-hells

so depending upon you know what what

you've done you'll go to a certain kind

of hell

and there's there's hot Hills there's no

warm Hills there's hot Hills or there's

cold Hills

there's all kinds of disgusting things

that happen in those hellish films

and uh Yama over there is the one who's

like the he's the he's the concierge the

reception the receptionist of hell you

go there and uh he just writes down who

you are and everything all right this is

where you check in

right he doesn't judge what you did he

just says did you did you see this did

you see that you say no and he says well

didn't you see old age didn't you see

death didn't you see what happens when

you get punished and you say yes I did

well that was your message

you obviously you didn't get the message

that's why you're here so

here I check you in here

so that's the hell realms

above that is the is the Hungry Ghost

drums

so the Hungry Ghost Realms are those

beings

who

are hungry all the time they're just oh

they're never satisfied and they have a

lot of suffering and there's nothing

they can do about it and they have

different ways of there's different

hungry ghosts

the different ways you can see a Hungry

Ghost let's say I mean there's different

forms and usually what happens is they

have like this very very small craning

neck and a pinhole for a mouth and

really huge bellies but they're never

satisfied

and so you have to look at it from the

idea that there are physical Realms but

also psychological so think about a

psychological state of a Hungry Ghost

you have everything you need but you're

still hungry for more

you're never satisfied

and above that is the animal Realms so

those are all of the animals we see here

in this realm

above that is the human

so the three lower Realms those are the

those are the Realms of unhappy

destinations

now above the humans there are the six

sensual Heavens there's the kavatimsa to

Sita well then there's the uh the realm

of the four Great Kings which is right

below so the realm of the four Great

Kings that's where all of the things

that you hear in Legends you know

dragons and fairies and leprechauns and

genies and all of these magical

creatures and things like that that's

where they kind of reside if you will

and the four Great Kings basically

preside over that Realm and above that

you have the theme sir the gods of the

33 where Saka is the leader you have to

Sita where the present bodhisattva is

there the Buddha to become is there

right now just chilling out with his

buddies and then above that you know you

have the other sensual Heavens related

to

other things that you've done in your

life which have been you know beneficial

for you and beneficial for others so now

again the Deva mindset is a mindset that

keeps its precepts is generous it's

compassionate it's forgiving it's

patient is loving and kind and so on if

you have that kind of a psychology then

you're already said to have Heaven on

Earth in that sense so you have a Deva

kind of mentality

now above that you have the different

brahmalokas so each brahmaloka is

associated with ajana the first Jana is

related with the brahmas and the Maha

brahmas and then the second genre is

related to the abbasara beings the third

genre is related to the subakina beings

the Fortuna is related to the the the

fourth genre actually the fourth genre

realm also has the pure of boats

so some of the origamis and you know

arahatz who wore onagamis there and then

became arhats lived there and out of

that there's a subset of the pure abodes

which are five pure bodes and then

there's the realm of the unconscious

beings and then above that there is the

formless rooms related to Infinite Space

infinite Consciousness nothingness and

neither perception or non-perception so

these are basically just a good summary

of all of the Realms that are there

and they also have to do with their

psychology right you can still

experience those Realms depending upon

whether you're in Jannah or whether

you're in a certain kind of

psychological state

well I mean you think about the animals

we have here they got a pretty good life

sukkah and Duke and

[Laughter]

sugar sugar and look at him

all right

so there's some animals who are well

tended for well cared for and there are

some animals who live in the wilderness

and it's just a

really

terrible place to be in terrible state

to be in

yeah those those so some people you know

they think that it's they're below the

human Realms but it's actually just

below the pelva theme song so those are

the asuras they are they're always in in

rivalry with

the the gods of the Gods of the 33. so

Saka and the asuras are always fighting

this is the idea

yeah they have some suffering so you

know people who still are generous

people who are still uh compassionate

people who still have their precepts but

they still have some defilements in them

like jealousy or anger and things like

that they could get into that state of

the Asura

so it's it's a mix and then there are

some beings like Yama right the king

the daytime he's living in his Celestial

mansions in the Deva realm and the night

time he has to well actually rather his

day job is being the manager of hell and

then he goes back to his Palace in the

night and he comes back so you have

mixed Karma there as well some beings

experience being hungry ghosts for some

time and then go into the celestial

palaces and come back as hungry ghosts

so it's not always so clear-cut this

whole process of karma

the asuras actually are underwater the

idea is there underwater so they because

they fell from tawadimsa and they

resided into they're like the modern day

understanding of the Titans

the gods who took over or were taken

over by

yeah and what I'll also say is actually

they're very similar to the cosmology of

the Egyptians and the Greeks and the

Romans and the Vikings as well like

soccer for example who is the king of

the Gods in the 33 is very similar to

Zeus very similar to Indra in Hinduism

who Wheels the Thunderbolt

or who's very similar to uh Thor the

Norse god the Norse god Thor

so you know whether they're real or not

I mean the idea is that they they they

are present both as psychological States

as well as outside of our experience

here

yeah

right the Maha Brahma he thought that he

was the creator yeah

yeah

it's um

so he had a lot of conceit and the idea

is that you know he fell into this

particular brahmaloka and he was the

first one there and he's like oh what

what's going on over here

and then he thinks maybe I should have

some friends maybe I should have some

more people here and other people pop up

there and he thinks that because he

thought that he created them into

existence

so these are the ideas about the Brahma

local

foreign

[Music]

yeah

so in the context of the Buddhist

teachings we have these 31 realms

right and so the very lower Realms are

the hell Realms and within those held

Realms there are different kinds of

sub-hells

so depending upon you know what what

you've done you'll go to a certain kind

of hell

and there's there's hot Hills there's no

warm Hills there's hot Hills or there's

cold Hills

there's all kinds of disgusting things

that happen in those hellish films

and uh Yama over there is the one who's

like the he's the he's the concierge the

reception the receptionist of hell you

go there and uh he just writes down who

you are and everything all right this is

where you check in

right he doesn't judge what you did he

just says did you did you see this did

you see that you say no and he says well

didn't you see old age didn't you see

death didn't you see what happens when

you get punished and you say yes I did

well that was your message

you obviously you didn't get the message

that's why you're here so

here I check you in here

so that's the hell realms

above that is the is the Hungry Ghost

drums

so the Hungry Ghost Realms are those

beings

who

are hungry all the time they're just oh

they're never satisfied and they have a

lot of suffering and there's nothing

they can do about it and they have

different ways of there's different

hungry ghosts

the different ways you can see a Hungry

Ghost let's say I mean there's different

forms and usually what happens is they

have like this very very small craning

neck and a pinhole for a mouth and

really huge bellies but they're never

satisfied

and so you have to look at it from the

idea that there are physical Realms but

also psychological so think about a

psychological state of a Hungry Ghost

you have everything you need but you're

still hungry for more

you're never satisfied

and above that is the animal Realms so

those are all of the animals we see here

in this realm

above that is the human

so the three lower Realms those are the

those are the Realms of unhappy

destinations

now above the humans there are the six

sensual Heavens there's the kavatimsa to

Sita well then there's the uh the realm

of the four Great Kings which is right

below so the realm of the four Great

Kings that's where all of the things

that you hear in Legends you know

dragons and fairies and leprechauns and

genies and all of these magical

creatures and things like that that's

where they kind of reside if you will

and the four Great Kings basically

preside over that Realm and above that

you have the theme sir the gods of the

33 where Saka is the leader you have to

Sita where the present bodhisattva is

there the Buddha to become is there

right now just chilling out with his

buddies and then above that you know you

have the other sensual Heavens related

to

other things that you've done in your

life which have been you know beneficial

for you and beneficial for others so now

again the Deva mindset is a mindset that

keeps its precepts is generous it's

compassionate it's forgiving it's

patient is loving and kind and so on if

you have that kind of a psychology then

you're already said to have Heaven on

Earth in that sense so you have a Deva

kind of mentality

now above that you have the different

brahmalokas so each brahmaloka is

associated with ajana the first Jana is

related with the brahmas and the Maha

brahmas and then the second genre is

related to the abbasara beings the third

genre is related to the subakina beings

the Fortuna is related to the the the

fourth genre actually the fourth genre

realm also has the pure of boats

so some of the origamis and you know

arahatz who wore onagamis there and then

became arhats lived there and out of

that there's a subset of the pure abodes

which are five pure bodes and then

there's the realm of the unconscious

beings and then above that there is the

formless rooms related to Infinite Space

infinite Consciousness nothingness and

neither perception or non-perception so

these are basically just a good summary

of all of the Realms that are there

and they also have to do with their

psychology right you can still

experience those Realms depending upon

whether you're in Jannah or whether

you're in a certain kind of

psychological state

well I mean you think about the animals

we have here they got a pretty good life

sukkah and Duke and

[Laughter]

sugar sugar and look at him

all right

so there's some animals who are well

tended for well cared for and there are

some animals who live in the wilderness

and it's just a

really

terrible place to be in terrible state

to be in

yeah those those so some people you know

they think that it's they're below the

human Realms but it's actually just

below the pelva theme song so those are

the asuras they are they're always in in

rivalry with

the the gods of the Gods of the 33. so

Saka and the asuras are always fighting

this is the idea

yeah they have some suffering so you

know people who still are generous

people who are still uh compassionate

people who still have their precepts but

they still have some defilements in them

like jealousy or anger and things like

that they could get into that state of

the Asura

so it's it's a mix and then there are

some beings like Yama right the king

the daytime he's living in his Celestial

mansions in the Deva realm and the night

time he has to well actually rather his

day job is being the manager of hell and

then he goes back to his Palace in the

night and he comes back so you have

mixed Karma there as well some beings

experience being hungry ghosts for some

time and then go into the celestial

palaces and come back as hungry ghosts

so it's not always so clear-cut this

whole process of karma

the asuras actually are underwater the

idea is there underwater so they because

they fell from tawadimsa and they

resided into they're like the modern day

understanding of the Titans

the gods who took over or were taken

over by

yeah and what I'll also say is actually

they're very similar to the cosmology of

the Egyptians and the Greeks and the

Romans and the Vikings as well like

soccer for example who is the king of

the Gods in the 33 is very similar to

Zeus very similar to Indra in Hinduism

who Wheels the Thunderbolt

or who's very similar to uh Thor the

Norse god the Norse god Thor

so you know whether they're real or not

I mean the idea is that they they they

are present both as psychological States

as well as outside of our experience

here

yeah

right the Maha Brahma he thought that he

was the creator yeah

yeah

it's um

so he had a lot of conceit and the idea

is that you know he fell into this

particular brahmaloka and he was the

first one there and he's like oh what

what's going on over here

and then he thinks maybe I should have

some friends maybe I should have some

more people here and other people pop up

there and he thinks that because he

thought that he created them into

existence

so these are the ideas about the Brahma

local

foreign

[Music]

yeah

so in the context of the Buddhist

teachings we have these 31 realms

right and so the very lower Realms are

the hell Realms and within those held

Realms there are different kinds of

sub-hells

so depending upon you know what what

you've done you'll go to a certain kind

of hell

and there's there's hot Hills there's no

warm Hills there's hot Hills or there's

cold Hills

there's all kinds of disgusting things

that happen in those hellish films

and uh Yama over there is the one who's

like the he's the he's the concierge the

reception the receptionist of hell you

go there and uh he just writes down who

you are and everything all right this is

where you check in

right he doesn't judge what you did he

just says did you did you see this did

you see that you say no and he says well

didn't you see old age didn't you see

death didn't you see what happens when

you get punished and you say yes I did

well that was your message

you obviously you didn't get the message

that's why you're here so

here I check you in here

so that's the hell realms

above that is the is the Hungry Ghost

drums

so the Hungry Ghost Realms are those

beings

who

are hungry all the time they're just oh

they're never satisfied and they have a

lot of suffering and there's nothing

they can do about it and they have

different ways of there's different

hungry ghosts

the different ways you can see a Hungry

Ghost let's say I mean there's different

forms and usually what happens is they

have like this very very small craning

neck and a pinhole for a mouth and

really huge bellies but they're never

satisfied

and so you have to look at it from the

idea that there are physical Realms but

also psychological so think about a

psychological state of a Hungry Ghost

you have everything you need but you're

still hungry for more

you're never satisfied

and above that is the animal Realms so

those are all of the animals we see here

in this realm

above that is the human

so the three lower Realms those are the

those are the Realms of unhappy

destinations

now above the humans there are the six

sensual Heavens there's the kavatimsa to

Sita well then there's the uh the realm

of the four Great Kings which is right

below so the realm of the four Great

Kings that's where all of the things

that you hear in Legends you know

dragons and fairies and leprechauns and

genies and all of these magical

creatures and things like that that's

where they kind of reside if you will

and the four Great Kings basically

preside over that Realm and above that

you have the theme sir the gods of the

33 where Saka is the leader you have to

Sita where the present bodhisattva is

there the Buddha to become is there

right now just chilling out with his

buddies and then above that you know you

have the other sensual Heavens related

to

other things that you've done in your

life which have been you know beneficial

for you and beneficial for others so now

again the Deva mindset is a mindset that

keeps its precepts is generous it's

compassionate it's forgiving it's

patient is loving and kind and so on if

you have that kind of a psychology then

you're already said to have Heaven on

Earth in that sense so you have a Deva

kind of mentality

now above that you have the different

brahmalokas so each brahmaloka is

associated with ajana the first Jana is

related with the brahmas and the Maha

brahmas and then the second genre is

related to the abbasara beings the third

genre is related to the subakina beings

the Fortuna is related to the the the

fourth genre actually the fourth genre

realm also has the pure of boats

so some of the origamis and you know

arahatz who wore onagamis there and then

became arhats lived there and out of

that there's a subset of the pure abodes

which are five pure bodes and then

there's the realm of the unconscious

beings and then above that there is the

formless rooms related to Infinite Space

infinite Consciousness nothingness and

neither perception or non-perception so

these are basically just a good summary

of all of the Realms that are there

and they also have to do with their

psychology right you can still

experience those Realms depending upon

whether you're in Jannah or whether

you're in a certain kind of

psychological state

well I mean you think about the animals

we have here they got a pretty good life

sukkah and Duke and

[Laughter]

sugar sugar and look at him

all right

so there's some animals who are well

tended for well cared for and there are

some animals who live in the wilderness

and it's just a

really

terrible place to be in terrible state

to be in

yeah those those so some people you know

they think that it's they're below the

human Realms but it's actually just

below the pelva theme song so those are

the asuras they are they're always in in

rivalry with

the the gods of the Gods of the 33. so

Saka and the asuras are always fighting

this is the idea

yeah they have some suffering so you

know people who still are generous

people who are still uh compassionate

people who still have their precepts but

they still have some defilements in them

like jealousy or anger and things like

that they could get into that state of

the Asura

so it's it's a mix and then there are

some beings like Yama right the king

the daytime he's living in his Celestial

mansions in the Deva realm and the night

time he has to well actually rather his

day job is being the manager of hell and

then he goes back to his Palace in the

night and he comes back so you have

mixed Karma there as well some beings

experience being hungry ghosts for some

time and then go into the celestial

palaces and come back as hungry ghosts

so it's not always so clear-cut this

whole process of karma

the asuras actually are underwater the

idea is there underwater so they because

they fell from tawadimsa and they

resided into they're like the modern day

understanding of the Titans

the gods who took over or were taken

over by

yeah and what I'll also say is actually

they're very similar to the cosmology of

the Egyptians and the Greeks and the

Romans and the Vikings as well like

soccer for example who is the king of

the Gods in the 33 is very similar to

Zeus very similar to Indra in Hinduism

who Wheels the Thunderbolt

or who's very similar to uh Thor the

Norse god the Norse god Thor

so you know whether they're real or not

I mean the idea is that they they they

are present both as psychological States

as well as outside of our experience

here

yeah

right the Maha Brahma he thought that he

was the creator yeah

yeah

it's um

so he had a lot of conceit and the idea

is that you know he fell into this

particular brahmaloka and he was the

first one there and he's like oh what

what's going on over here

and then he thinks maybe I should have

some friends maybe I should have some

more people here and other people pop up

there and he thinks that because he

thought that he created them into

existence

so these are the ideas about the Brahma

local