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Sufferings: Hell Realm

• Due to a very strong negative karmic force, a mental world is created.
• Whatever appears is enemy. That is the nature of hell.
• Bodhicitta is very powerful, it can release from hell realm.
• How can we make connection with somebody in the hell realm? Compassion.
• Taking life of another sentient being is the cause of rebirth in hell.
• We will be born here sooner or later.
• Resolve “In this very lifetime, I will become a Buddha.”

• Hot hells: Dark. Ground is molten iron, with flames everywhere. Red volcanoes erupt. Rain of burning rocks and weapons. No day and night. Body is very sensitive. Four times as big. Eyes are triangular. Big hands and feet. Large belly. Boiled-blood color. Skin is as sensitive as eyes. Hairs stand up. Suffering is constant. No sleep. Slit open by sharp weapons. Burned by rain of fire-rocks. Enemies are born together due to karma of actions motivated by hatred. Whatever they touch becomes a weapon. They see each other as enemies. Lifespan – cannot be counted in human years. Our entire human lifespan is like one day in the god realm. The god lifespan is like one day in the hell realm.

• Reviving hell: We cut and pierce each other until everybody collapses. Then a voice says “Revive”. The cycle repeats.
• At the thought of running away, Yama appears in front. We cannot go anywhere. We die for an instant. We revive. We again experience suffering.
• Black-line hell: We lay on ground, black lines appear on our body, which are used as guides to cut and slash the body with burning saws and axes. We become whole. The cycle repeats.
• Rounding up and crushing hell: There is a vast pot of iron the size of valley. We are pounded with red-hot hammers the size of mountains. We scream and weep in agony and terror. We revive when the hammers lifts. The cycle repeats.
• We want to run away. But due to previous karma, whatever animals we have killed, they come in gigantic form and crush us. We revive. The cycle repeats.
• Wailing hell/Howling hell: We see a house far away. We enter seeking protection. The door closes. House becomes burning house with no exit. We cannot find any place to run, so we cry. We are roasted inside. Sound of wailing from the depth of our heart.
• Great wailing hell/Great howling hell: This is a house with two walls and two doors. We think that even if we get past the first door, we will never be able to get past the other. We howl in torment.
• Heating hell: We are cooked in a huge pot of molten bronze. Sometimes we surface, but we are beaten on the head with molten hammers and grabbed with hooks. Our idea of happiness is these rare moments when we lose consciousness and don’t feel pain.
• Yama’s men catch us and impale us with a molten spear that passes through our lower passage and out through the mouth. Flames appear from our mouth.
• Greatly hot hell/Intense heating hell: We are wrapped in sheets of blazing metal. We are poked with red-hot iron trident through heels and anus, which comes out through our shoulders and heads. Our interior is completely burned.
• Unceasing hell/Hell of ultimate torment: This is a immense mountain of blazing hot metal. We are cooked like dumplings. Our body is indistinguishable from flames. There is no indication of actual body except we cry with distress. We want to escape, but it never happens. We are poked with spears, hit with clubs, hammers. Molten bronze is poured into our mouths.

• Cold hells: Surrounding is snow mountains and glaciers. There is no shelter, no clothes, no heat. No sun, no moon, not even starlight. The ground is icy. Weather is always blizzard, blowing wind and snow. Beings are completely naked. Suffering is constant. We have to remain here till our karma is exhausted. Body and lifespan is similar.

• Blister hell: The beings are physically fragile, they have no tolerance to cold. Cold makes blisters erupt on their entire body.
• Bursting blister hell: The blisters burst open. Blood and pus leak out.
• Brrr hell/Hell of clenched teeth: Cold is intolerable. Beings make “Brrr” sound. This sound is the only indication of beings.
• Alas! Hell/Hell of lamentation: Even more intense cold. We cannot make any sound. Exhaling makes “Whiss” sound. Lamenting never ends.
• Chattering teeth/Hell of groans: Body is completely frozen. So cold, we cannot express sounds/words. Long groan escapes between the lips. Voice is cracked.
• Hell of Utpala-like cracks: More strong cold. Body becomes blue. The skin cracks into four petal-like pieces.
• Hell of Lotus-like cracks: Red, raw flesh becomes visible. The flesh cracks into eight pieces.
• Hell of Great-lotus-like cracks: Flesh turns dark red. Splits into innumerable pieces. Internal organs crack. Pests penetrate. Eat with metal beaks.

• Neighboring hells:

• The plain of razors: We see a pleasant, green plain. We get there. Ground is covered with burning hot metal spikes, growing like grass. They pierce our feet. Our foot heals as we lift up, only to be stabbed again when we put down. Imagine stepping into this hell. Take one step, then another. Go through the steps. Feel the pain. Then rest the mind.
• Forest of swords: We see a beautiful forest. It turns out to be a thicket growing with swords and metal branches. The swords move about in the wind and cut our bodies. We reconstitute. We are chopped again.
• Swamp of corpses: We see a river. Seeing water fills us with joy, and we rush. We enter only to find corpses of humans, animals, decomposing and crawling with insects, letting a fowl stench. We sink completely and worms with iron beaks tear us.
• Pit of embers: We see a shady trench. We jump in. We sink in. It is a pit of burning embers. Our flesh and bone is burned.
• Hill of salmali trees: We are born at the foot of a mountain of salmali trees, due to karma of sexual misconduct. The trees have sharp leaves to pierce our flesh. We go up to meet our lover, the leaves point down. It pierces flesh. When we reach up, ravens and vultures eat our eyeballs. Then our lover appears downhill. We go down. The leaves point up. When we reach the bottom, hideous beings bite and chew our brains.

• Ephemeral hells: Beings don’t have a body in these hells, so they identify with objects – ropes, pillars, pots. They feel suffering of being stretched, heavy load, being burned. They keep changing from one hell to another. The ephemeral hells are not far away. They are in rocks, stones, trees, doors, pillars, door-knobs.