In Buddhism, the cycle of sentient beings is not only a cycle of birth and death, but also a transformation of different levels of existence. This transformation is known as "karmic reincarnation," where "karma" is a Pali word that encompasses all conscious actions, including the mental, verbal, and physical aspects.
Buddhism's "karma" shows the process of karma and tells us that each person is responsible for his or her actions, and that our current situation is mostly the result of past actions, which in turn will determine our future situation. Every action has an effect, good karma comes back to us in the form of blessings that lead us to a good afterlife, and bad karma leads to lower rebirths. After death, a person may be reincarnated as a different person, animal, or any other living being depending on the karma he or she has accumulated in past lives.
Karma can be divided into three types: meritorious actions, such as generosity, morality, and meditation, which will help attain nirvana, the path to liberation, non-meritorious actions, such as greed, hatred, and delusions, which will lead to rebirth in hell, and neutral actions, which have no moral significance. Rebirth takes place in the three realms of the universe: the formless realm, the formless realm, and the desire realm, depending on one's karma.
The following madman will explain the Buddhist concept of reincarnation and illustrate the concept of reincarnation in a diagrammatic way.
Four islands, from Burmese Buddhist cosmology manuscripts
In Buddhism, the universe contains the earth and other planets, as well as the sun and moon. Mount Meru is located in the center and is surrounded by seven concentric circles of mountains with seven large rivers in between. Beyond them are the vast ocean, with four large islands named after the giant trees that grow on them: the circular island of Utarakulu to the north, the diamond-shaped island of Zambu Dipa to the south, the semicircular island of Pubawidha to the east, and the square island of Appalagoyana to the west. There is a wishing tree on the island of Utarakul that meets all the needs of the island's inhabitants, and these lucky islanders have the most enviable life: they never get sick and live up to a thousand years. The islanders of Pubbavideha and Aparagoyana are always born on the same island. The southern island of Zambudipa is our earth, where there have been 28 Buddhas, among whom Prince Siddhartha is the most important.
The formless realm is the first level and includes the four formless levels of Brahma that have no physical body and are made entirely of mind, but can also create a physical body if they want to be seen. They are not completely freed from the bondage of suffering, but the pain they experience here is much less severe than the pain in the morphological realm. These Brahmanas could not hear the Buddha's teachings, so they could never reach enlightenment.
31.Nevasaññānāsañāyatana bhuṃ(既不感知也不不感知的领域)
30.Ākiñcañāyatana bhuṃ (虚无之境)
29.Viññānaññācāyatana bhuṃ(无限意识的境界)
28.Eñcñññcñcàyatana bhuṃ (无限空间的领域)
Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana bhuṃ(既不感知也不不感知的领域)
The formal realm is the second level, inhabited by Brahma who has a physical body, but they do not enjoy sensual pleasures, and it is a place where there is less suffering. This realm consists of 16 levels inhabited by formal Brahma who are divided into four different states of meditation. If these formed Brahmanas understand the Dharma, it is possible to attain enlightenment.
The fourth meditation consists of seven levels, the first five of which are called pure heavens, and only enlightened beings who are in the rebirth stage can be reborn.
27.Akaniṭṭha bhuṃ (绝世天神的境界)
26.Sudassī bhu¹� (清视天神的境界)
25.Sudassā bhu¹� (美丽天神的境界)
24.Atappà bhuṃ (宁静的天神境界)
23.Avihā bhu¹� (持久天神的境界)
22.Assatta bhuṃ (无意识的天神境界)
21.Vehapphal bhuṃ (硕果累累的天神境界)
Wehapphala bhuṃ (21) 和 Assyrian bhuṃ (22)
The third level of meditation is that these three levels have Brahma with an aura body.
20. Subhakiṇṇā bhuṃ (光芒四射的天神境界)
19.Appamāṇasubhā bhuṃ (拥有无限荣耀的天神境界)
18.Parittasubhā bhuù� (荣耀有限的天神王国)
Second, the three levels of Brahma have a body with varying degrees of luster.
17. Ābhassara bhuṃ (流淌光芒的天神境界)
16.Appamāṇabhā bhuṃ (天神的境界,拥有无限的光芒)
15.Parittābhā bhuhĹ� (荣耀有限的天神境界)
The first level of meditation, the lowest level
14. Mahābrahmā bhu¹�(大梵天的境界)
13. Brahmaprorita bhuṃ (梵天大臣的境界)
12.Brahmapārisajja bhuù�(梵天随从的领域)
The realm of desire is the third level, which contains seven levels of happiness (six celestial planes and one earthly plane) and four unhappiness planes.
Six levels of the gods
11. Paranimmitavassavatī bhuṃ (享受他人为他们创造的感官愉悦的天神境界)
10.Nimmānarati bhuṃ (乐于创造的天神王国)
9.Tusita bhuh�� (幸福和满足的天神境界)
8.Y.Y. bhuṃ (极乐境界)
7.Tāvatimsa bhuĹ�(三十三位神的领域)
6.Càtummayaryarjika bhuṃ(四大国王的天堂)
Tusita bhu¹� (幸福和满足的天神境界)
As shown above, on the right is the "Celestial Realm of Happiness and Contentment" (one of the six celestial levels), where harpists and dancers are entertaining a celestial deity. All future Buddhas (bodhisattvas) will be born in this heaven before their penultimate lives. To the left of the "realm of the gods of happiness and contentment" is the Sudra Bandun, where one god is surrounded by ten other devout gods. The "Celestial Realm of Happiness and Contentment" is the most beautiful celestial realm.
Càtutummayarjika bhuṃ(四大国王的天堂)
As shown in the picture above, the "Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings" is the lowest of the six Heavenly God Levels, located in the third below the Pillar of the Universe. This is the paradise of the four kings, who guard the quadrant of the main direction. One of the four kings sits on one side, and a female deity sits on the other. Sataka's charioteer, Matali, takes King Nemime on a visit to Heaven and Hell, with the other inhabitants being heavenly musicians and dryads, with the sun on the right and the moon on the left.
Manusa Bhuṃ(人类)
Human level
5. Manusa Bhuṃ(人类)
The human world is another dimension of the realm of desire, and although there is both pain and pleasure here, this is the most fortunate one, because it is the only realm where moral initiative takes place, and the only realm in which perfect enlightenment can be achieved. The beings here have a certain level of merit and are able to protect themselves. They can hear and learn all the teachings of the Buddha. Bodhisattvas have a preference for the human world because it is the best area for serving the world and perfecting the Buddhahood.
The four levels of misfortune are the lowest, where sentient beings pay the price for the negative karma they committed in their previous lives. Buddhism believes that because of negative karma, sentient beings are reincarnated as animals, and ghosts and hungry ghosts have deformed bodies of varying degrees that are usually invisible to the naked eye.
Four levels of misfortune
4. Asura Realm: The inhabitants of this level are powerful and warlike, opposing the gods.
3. Hungry Ghost Realm: This level is known as the "realm of sorrow" with which people share merit with these beings when they do good deeds.
2. Animal Realm: This level is not suitable for people, because sentient beings have to find food and fight each other in order to survive.
4. Hell Realm: This is the lowest level, located beneath the Earth, in the deepest part of the South Island. There are eight different levels of punishment: Sanjiva, Kalasutra, Sanghata, Roruva, Maharoruva, Tapana, Mahatapana, and Avici. There is no joy in this realm, only pain, and this is the worst place of reincarnation.
Sacrificial Animal Circles
Hell Realm
The state of punishment is depicted in the diagram above. The guards tied the inhabitants of Hell in hot chains to let them know their fate from the torturers of Hell, many were burned in cauldrons of molten metal, one was poured into the throat with red molten metal, some were chopped to pieces along the marks left by the black line, some were running on the scorching hot ground, and one was climbing a tree full of thorns, while the Hellhound was waiting below, devouring him alive if he fell.
Good and evil karma brings about the cycle of happiness or suffering, and after many cycles, if one is able to cut off one's attachment to desires and self, one can attain nirvana, which is a state of liberation and happiness from suffering. The Buddhist view of reincarnation is not only a religious belief, but also a profound philosophy of life that teaches us how to influence the future through our actions and how to achieve ultimate liberation and peace through understanding and practicing the Dharma.