Chapter 1 Overview of the Hereafter ______________________________________________
Suffering in this context means that nothing can remain the same. Infants must grow to be teenagers. It is not possible to stop infants from growing. The body grows and changes as it must, it cannot stay the same. The Absence of Self means that we own absolutely nothing. We may think that we own our money, our land, our house or our body. The fact is everything is made up of the original elements, which include earth, water, air, and fire to an exact composition. When the elements of our body are taken apart, our body no longer exists. It is the same with everything that we think we own. It is not ours. It is not under our control. If it is, we should be able to order our body and everything else to do and be as we desire. Now that the student understands better about the Three Characteristics, he is ready to understand how it is that the Hereafter is governed by these characteristics. The Hereafter is made up of thirty-one planes of existence. All of which take on the Three Characteristics of impermanence, suffering, and the absence of self. The plane of existence may be grand with spectacular riches like those of the Sovereign of the Tavatimsa Realm. Or it may be a plane of raptures as experienced by the Brahma beings. The fact remains that one day, these fortunate beings will have to leave everything behind. When the time comes for one existence to end, the consciousness will journey on to another plane of existence within Samsara. If the overall Kamma is negative, and the consciousness is clouded over by trepidation, it will descend to the States of Unhappiness and suffer the torments of one of the lower realms. If the overall Kamma is more positive than negative, the consciousness will enjoy the happiness within the middle realms. If the consciousness has reached a certain level of Jhana attainments through the regular practice of meditation, it will ascend upon one of the upper realms. When the term of existence is up, the consciousness will journey on within Samsara according to the dictate of its overall Kamma. It will continue to do so forever and ever until it can detach itself from its unwholesome attachments. Beings of the Hell Realm may be reborn in the same site or in a new site depending on their accumulated misdeeds. Or they may be reborn in the Hell of Ussadanarok or the Hell of Yomalok. Or they may be reborn in the Peta Realm, the Asurakaya Realm or the Animal Realm round and round ceaselessly. The student can appreciate by now that the earth plane and the Hereafter are characterized by impermanence, suffering, and the absence of self. Therefore, the constant recycling of the consciousness within the planes of existence is plagued by these Three Characteristics. In addition, there is the annihilation of most of these planes of existence by the annihilating forces of fire, water, and wind. The total destruction of these planes is an eventuality that further amplifies their impermanence, suffering, and the absence of self. Everything undergoes decay, and we have no control over anything.
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