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| 生 死 輪 轉
THE CYCLE OF REBITH ( SAMSARA )
In Buddhist evaluation one life is already suffering enough; how much
more the multitude of existence which every being has to pass through.
The death of an unelaborated person is necessarily followed by his rebirth,
in which the process of living and dying is repeated. To be born and to
die and be born again-this is the cycle of samsara.
The statement that rebirth is unavoidable for the unliberated one does
not imply that the new form of existence must necessarily be a human one.
Quite on the contrary, a human form of existence is consider difficult
to obtain and rare. there are six realms of existence within the cycle
of samsara.
The sphere of gods and deities 天;
The world of human beings 人;
The realm of asura-demons 阿 修 羅;
The sphere of hungry spirits 餓 鬼;
The realm of hell-dwellers 地 獄;
The animal kingdom 畜 生.
Thought the life-span of beings in the various realms is very different
- no being escapes death. Existence in hell, too, is not for an unlimited
period, for no deed can be so vile as to result in eternal punishment.
It is the same in the heavenly sphere. Gods live longer and in happier
circumstances than human, but like all other beings they have to step down
as soon as the good deeds on account of which they became gods have worn
out.
「苦 海 無 邊
回 頭 是 岸」
人 身 難 得 今
已 得，
佛 法 難 聞 今
已 聞，
此 身 不 向 今
生 度，
更 向 何 生
度 此 身。
An existence in a human embodiment is certainly not he highest, but
in Buddhist opinion is the most favorable on for liberation. The beings
in hell, animals, spirits and demons are too dull, the gods in their blissfulness
too haughty to see the necessity for liberation Only when reborn as human
beings are they capable of grasping the teaching of the Buddha and of following
the way to liberation. Moreover, admission into the Buddhist monastic order
is open only to man. Ahuman embodiment therefore is preferable to all other
forms of existence.
The next question concerns who, or what , causes samara. Who, or what,
determines that he next life of a being will be in heaven or hell, or will
take the form of a human being? A similar question can also be asked: Who,
or what determines that the people on this earth, although all human beings,
vary so much in appearance, character, wealth, life span, health , fate,
etc.? It is even more interesting to note how much the circumstances which
a person is born can influence his or her destiny. Race, nation, skin color,
type of parents - all these factors make a great difference.
若 知 前 世 因，
今 生 受 者 是；
欲 知 來 世 果，
今 生 作 者 是。
The form in which a being is reborn after death is not in the least
a matter of accident. The Law of Causation governs the form of rebirth.
Favorable rebirth is caused by good karma (善
業) unfavorable rebirth by bad karma (惡
業). Our present existence is the result of kamama performed
by ourselves in previous existence. Similarly, our future forms of existence
are determined by our actions of today; we are now laying the foundations
of our own further 'fate'.
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