Buddhism Has a Lot of Hells

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Yama is a really interesting deity. He can be found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Dragon Ball Z.

In Tibetan Buddhism hell is an extremely important topic which is expounded in a lot of stories. A lot of Westerners don't understand why Buddhism has hell realms at all since it is a religion based on the mind, but one of my teachers put it this way: You experience various forms of hell here on earth because of your mind, and it's the same way if you cling to desire when you die. Think of all the terrible thoughts that you can possibly have--These are the basis for all the possible hell realms you can experience after you die if you don't discover virtuous conduct.

I've been a Buddhist since I was a kid, and anytime I was handed a Buddhism book about almost anything, I always try and find something that relates to the afterlife. And when I'm really lucky, I find a couple of pages filled with art of Neraka. It was pretty cool actually.

As an asian buddhist, i have a lot of things want to say when seeing some misconception Western people often have. But the end of the day, returning to Buddha's teaching - there is no such thing wrong so that there is no such thing right. I'm very glad that you make a video about this aspect about Buddhism. Buddhism is special because it's very keeping with the goal of the seeker. If you look at Buddhism as a scholar, it can be controversial sometime, just like a loop - "oh Buddhism is more like Atheism. Oh Buddhism is more about supernatural....." . So yeah, history and theory of Buddhism is very intersting :vvv

I guess naraka/diyu/jigoku could be more accurately translated as purgatory, as their ultimate role is purification, not punishment. Growing up Buddhist I never dreaded the concept like some of my Christian friends do, it always felt like a "hey, don't be a bad person or your soul is going to go to this really sucky prison", not "your soul will burn for all eternity".

A great video and I appreciated your segment on Orientalism. Our perception of Buddhism is painted by the hippie counterculture’s interpretation of Asian religions without really understanding the millennia long histories of these practices. It’s not talked about often enough and I appreciate you spoke about it.

There's a reason why Yama is called the dharmaraya, the king of justice. I am happy that the part about hell was never a shock for me, since I grew up in a Christian country with parents who taught me about hinduism and buddhism. Learning about hindu hell and buddhist hell as a child was surprisingly not that shocking. It was always explained to me that hell is temporary and also the consequence of our actions. I remember some of the punishments, but they all give a clear message: the pain you cause to others, and your vile thoughts ultimately hurts yourself, so it is better avoid hell in this life by doing your best to be a good person.

Singaporean here, Haw Par Villa is a genuinely terrifying but also extremely enlightening place. You don’t just learn about various Chinese mythology, but also get a greater understanding of how they’ve been infused into Chinese culture and way of life. It’s also said to be extremely haunted, but hey, that just adds to the atmosphere of the place.

Great segment on positive Orientalism. Its a common problem I see when trying to find english resources on eastern religions. The book Orientalism is a little dated, but still a great introduction to the topic I'd highly recommend people read.

The Hell Realms are honestly one of my favorite parts of Buddhism, and I think it sucks that so many people don't mention them. They are amazing fodder for good fiction writing, to say the least, and not talking about them removes so much depth and life from the religion.

As someone who grew up in Taiwan, all of these Buddhism stories are quite familiar to me, and I believe are rather commonly heard stories. Common curses in Chinese even mention 18 levels of hell. I don't think I am unaware of this, but it is interesting how westerners often don't think the concept exist in easterner cultures.

The fruit ninja bit really got me. Segments like that are what really make these lectures memorable

This was really interesting. Given the temporary nature of these hells, they almost seem like a more extreme version of purgatory in Catholicism.

positive orientalism seems really commum among a lot of 'spiritual channels' here on youtube. very often i see them talking about the west as this horrible capitalist place where everybody is selfish and only care about consumerism, while the the east (specially India) is this incredible place, full of so called 'spiritual people'. Such a naive view is all over the place among so called 'spiritual teachers' here on youtube, and they are almost always western people, go figure. i guess they get disapointed with our society, and end up believing the east is somehow different, better.

Also one thing about buddhism as well is conversion. While it doesn’t go around like monotheistic religions promoting itself. It does have conversion, because someone who claims to be a buddhist, vs someone who took refuge in the three jewels and have a master is very different. So many people don’t consider it to be a religion because there is no creator, but we do worship some deities, and pay homage to the buddha. Buddha didn’t say those were not real or wrong, he just simply stated that worshiping gods and deities would not aid in anything when it comes to reaching enlightenment. Hope that helps!! Peace everyone!! 📿🙏🏼

"I love Buddhism, it's so peaceful" Buddhism:

Yes, I am from a buddhish family. When I was young I heard all about all kinds of hells and what kinds of torture they do. It was very scary. And there were books filled with detailed drawings of the hells too. For me the budhish worldview is actually really really scary as it seems to be a system that is designed to keep you surffering forever with the only way out being extremely unobtainable and paradoxical.

Your point about "positive orientalism" is so, so important and I'm glad you brought it up. It really isn't harmless to the traditions it's applied to. That sort of "romanticizing" is the reason people look at traditional Buddhism as somehow corrupted compared to Westernized equivalents which are, in fact, further away from what the Buddha taught. It isn't even romanticization in my opinion because it isn't necessarily making it look better in everyone's eyes, just forcing it to be more palatable to Western sensibilities.

I'm a Sri Lankan. Theravada Buddhist ... I watch all episodes which relate to Buddhism. I give honor to you BCS your videos talk about the most realistic Buddhism and actually what it is... I'm so impressed with your studies and understand about it. The due respect pls do an episode about Theravada Buddhism .... BCS is according to Buddha and my belief showing the path to real satisfaction and the end of suffering of humans is the most valuable help you can do to another human...Then you will be a "Kalyana Mithara" to many more intellectual humans seeking the ultimate truth... I may Bless you with Nobal Triple Jem to obtain " Nirwana " as soon as possible...