The whole of the above is depicted in the “ Wheel of
Life ” which one sees frequently in Tibet (we saw it at
the Thokar monastery), which is held in the grip of a
monster fiend.
In the sub-divisions all forms of life are described,
all revolving round the small ring inside, which
holds a pig for ignorance, a dove for lust and a
serpent for anger, while Yama (Tibetan, Shinje)
stands in the top portion of Hell as Judge of the
dead, weighing their actions and appointing the next
rebirth.
It is ignorance that binds man to life and prevents
him from escaping from the iron law of Karma, whereas
wisdom and knowledge of the right path teach him
to attain to that sinless state of Nirvana, when, having
conquered all lust and desire of life, with every sin
and wrongful thought subdued, he can obtain emancipation
from rebirth, and, becoming an Arhat, passes
into nothingness.
There are twenty-eight Heavens of the Gods and
rebirth can take place into any one of those heavens;
but if the god in question has not lived the life that he
should have done, Karma drags him down to a lower
grade such as that of Titans or men ; in fact, Buddha
himself was born twenty times as Indra or Jupiter and
four times as Brahma, and Indra
is generally depicted as Buddha’s
umbrella - carrier, while Brahma
bears for him the cup of the elixir
of life. Buddha, having obtained
Nirvana, has finally passed beyond
the regions of celestial bliss into a
state of perfect annihilation.
Similarly there are eight hot
Hells and eight cold Hells, the
latter appealing very strenuously
to the residents of a country
where the intense cold can be the
most exquisite torture. The
punishments suffered in these
abodes of the wretched are portrayed
with a realism of which
the Lama priests gladly avail
themselves to terrorise the minds
of timid mortals, so that there
may arise a horror in their hearts
which will open the purse-strings
of the most hardened for the
benefit of the clergy, who alone
can indicate the way of salvation
from the most appalling future
agonies.
<! I could a tale unfold whose lightest
word I SILVER PENDANTS WITH SILK
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy t a s s e l s w o r n b y l a d i e s j
young blood, 0F P0SITI0N
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start ^ pYTn
from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part