MUTUAL POSSESSION OF THE TEN WORLDS

July’19 Zadenkai

Perhaps we feel happy, or sad, or neither. Perhaps there is something on our minds,
something we hope to obtain, or achieve, something that drives us in a particular
direction. Nichiren Buddhism has a very clear way of explaining the different ways
that we feel and respond to the world around us. It is a principle often referred to as
'the Ten Worlds'.

Each of the Ten Worlds or life-states are ways that we respond to what is going on in
our lives. We have each one of these states latent in our lives, it is just a question of
how and when they are stimulated and become manifest.

Let us briefly study these 10 worlds:

1. Hell: Life itself is suffering, devoid of freedom; rage and anger fuel further self-
destruction.
2. Hunger: Governed by endless craving and the suffering that comes from
those desires going unfulfilled.
3. Animality: Driven by instinct rather than reason, morality or wisdom, and
reflected in threatening the weak and fearing the strong.
4. Anger: Inclined to compare oneself with others, preoccupied with surpassing
others, feigning humility while inwardly harboring jealousy and resentment.
5. Humanity or Tranquility: Able to control desires with reason, and act in
harmony with others while aspiring to a higher life state. It is a passive state of
life.
6. Heavenly beings or Rapture: Feeling short-lived joy in having various desires
fulfilled.

In these worlds — which together are called the “six paths” — a person is easily
influenced by external circumstances, and cannot gain true freedom or
independence.
What Buddhism refers to as the “four noble worlds” represent the effort to live with
integrity, inner freedom and compassion. They are:

7. Learning: Dedicated to self-improvement based on others’ ideas, knowledge

and experiences.
8. Realisation: Understanding Buddhist truths through one’s own direct
perception and experience.
9. Bodhisattvas: Fuelled by compassion for others, understanding that self-
perfection lies in working for the enlightenment of others.
10.Buddhahood: A state of perfect and absolute freedom characterised by
courage, wisdom, compassion and life force. In this state, one continues
 working against and defeating the negative functions of life, transforming all
difficulties into causes for further development.

Nichiren Daishonin teaches that, of the Ten Worlds, each world contains within it the
other nine. At any given point of time, one world is the dominant world which guides
the way we live our lives and react to external stimuli; the other nine worlds exist in
the background, and may come to the forefront as a result of a temporary external
factor. In other words, people tend to have one of these ten worlds as their ‘basic’ life
condition and they then experience the world through the ‘lens’ of that basic world.

Like any other thing in life, each of these life states is important to lead a fulfilling,
happy life, BUT in the right proportions. Just like while dieting, we must consume all
kinds of food – whether carbs or proteins or fats – in the right quantities, we must
also learn to balance these life states in the correct way.

For example, the calm, rational state of tranquillity. While on a holiday, or while
practicing yoga, it is important to slide into this state, where things seem ‘just right’.
But if this becomes our main life state, then it can lead to a lazy, passive way of
living life. Someone who is extremely laid-back and has ‘tranquility’ as their basic
condition, will also experience rapture, hunger and anger in a tranquil way.
Or the state of Hunger – in the right amount, this life state is what gives us a drive to
do better, achieve more – but when this is the driving force of our lives, it leads to
continuous dissatisfaction and unhappiness. For someone who is always wanting
more, always dissatisfied, they will end up experiencing the worlds of hell, animality
and rapture with the ‘lens’ of the world of hunger as well!

The aim of Buddhist practice is to establish the world of Buddhahood as our

fundamental life-condition, and then to experience the other worlds through that
state. The Buddha has all of the worlds including anger, hunger and rapture, but they
are states that create value rather than being self-centred or destructive.
For example, we may be suffering in the world of hell due to the loss of a loved one,
but if our basic life state is that of a Buddha, we would have the ability to summon
profound compassion and empathy to try to help others who are suffering in the
same way.

What enables us to maintain the correct balance and illuminate all aspects of our
lives is the world of Buddhahood. In fact, an essential teaching of the Lotus Sutra is
that anyone at any time can strengthen their inner life state and become a Buddha,
instead of remaining a victim of their circumstances. Buddhas are not deities who
dwell in faraway places. Rather, a Buddha is an ordinary individual who has
awakened to the reality that they inherently possess the universal power of the
Mystic Law. And it is this potential, this life state that we can freely tap into by
chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo to the Gohonzon.