#noblepath

[paulfrilles]

You can still take the noble path. -Hua Mulan, Mulan #Mulan #NoblePath #MovieQuotes www.paulfrilles.tumblr.com https://www.instagram.com/p/CGAi9caBN_ZmJLb0QtUbj3hr7AFEgX6cx9vesk0/?igshid=1li012pe9ufp1

[laurenbutlerart]

'A Lotus Flower Tattoo Design: Commission'

[livingheathen]

#livingheathen #dailyheathen #heathenmeditations #noblepath

[meesbah]

The Six Realms of Samsara

As Buddhists, we believe in rebirth, but it isn’t the sort of whimsical fantasy that non-adherents think it is. What they imagine is that we can live care-free lives without worrying about tomorrow— and besides, why fuss about good conduct if you can just start again in the life to come? Well, it’s not quite that simple…

1. The realm of gods and goddesses 2. The realm of demi-gods and goddesses 3. The human realm 4. The animal realm 5. The hungry ghost realm 6. The hell realms

As sentient beings, we can be reborn in any one of these realms according to our karma. Those who’ve been ignorant, theives, murderes, liars, and the like, will wind up in the three lower realms, where it’s extremely difficult to get out. And here’s the kicker: according to the Teachings, there is no Creator God who will send you to those realms. It is you yourself who is responsible for your rebirth, whether it be desirable or full of suffering.

If we’ve been good, virtuous, made offerings to the Buddhas and other deities and had compassionate hearts filled with love, then we may be lucky enough to wind up in the heavens or the first three pleasurable realms.

But this is no walk in the park. All six realms are part of samsara; it follows, therefore, that whether we be a hungry ghost or a goddess lavished with every desire, we must still endure birth, aging, sickness, frailty, and death. Within samsara, there might be snatches of happiness here and there, but the Buddhist’s goal is to transcend samsara altogether by ‘going beyond’, where no suffering will ever be able to reach us. And to do this, we must follow the Noble 8-Fold Path, toward which Buddha and Green Tara point the way!