Hi Everybody,
We're in the middle of the chgapter on the ten worlds.We've looked at Hell and Hunger and we move on now to the third of what are known as the lower life states, which is called Animality. As the name suggests, it defines a state of mind in which we are driven prety much by instinct, with little or no moderation from reason or moral considerations. So this is a state in which the strong or those with special knowledge have no qualms about taking advantage of those who are weak or unaware, in order to satisfy their own ends, regardless of the rights or the morality of the situation, or the pain caused.
These days we might think of the widespread occurrence of mindles hooliganism and reckless anti-social behaviour in which the perpetrators take no account of the suffering or the anxiety inflicted on the people around them. We could argue perhaps that we are being a bit hard on the animals when we define this semi-psychopathic behaviour by referecne to them! But the key point is clear enough, fundamental to this life state is an absence of empathy and humanity. It is also characterised by an absence of wisdom or judgement. So that in this state we simply don't care whetehr our behaviour is appropriate or not, we just go ahead and do whatever we want, regardless of other people's feelings or needs. Similarly we pay scant attention to things like rules or regulations that are designed to keep things running smoothly in our crowded urban environments.
So altogether people in this life state are pretty unpleasant to be with, and can cause a great deal of inconvenience at one end of the scale, and real suffering at the other.
These three life states, Hell, Hunger and Animality are known in Buddhism as the three evil paths, not so much because they are associated with evil in the conventional sense, but because they are undoubtedly the root cause of a great deal of suffering. Indeed they can completely tear lives apartor render them unbearable. People who spend much of their lives in these life states tend to rotate through them in quick succession, one after the other, driven by hunger for one thing or another, not really aware of, or caring about, the effects on other people, creating a great deal of pain and suffering and anguish in their own lives and the lives of others.
In that sense they are desperate life states, and one of the great virtues that stems from a knowledge of these ten worlds, is that it can act like a clarion call. It can make you starkly aware of the reality of your situation, and thus act as a powerful stimulus to lift yourself out of it. Who would want to continue to dwell in Hell, Hunger or Animality, once they realise where they are?
That's it for today. Thank you for reading up to this point.
Look forward to seeing you next time. Hope before long that we'll get these chapters out on The Buddhist Podcast, when Jason can find the time. I have recorded the whole book for him.
Best wishes,
William
PS You can get The Case for Buddhism on Amazon as a paperback, or as a download on Kindle.
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