Avici
Encyclopedia
In Buddhism
, (Sanskrit
and Pali
: "without waves"; also transliterated Avichi, Japanese
and Chinese language
: 無間地獄, むげんじごく and 阿鼻地獄, あびじごく) is the lowest level of the Naraka
or "hell" realm, into which the dead who have committed grave misdeeds may be reborn. It is said to be a cube 20,000 yojana
s to a side.
People reborn in generally have committed one or more of the Five Grave Offenses
:
Buddhism teaches that rebirth into Naraka is temporary, while the offending being works off the karma they performed. Similarly, rebirth into hell is not eternal. However, suffering in is the longest of all the levels of hell, by some accounts over 1018 years long. Some sutras state that rebirth in will be for innumerable kalpa
s (eons). When the offending being passes away after one kalpa, he is again reborn in the same place, undergoing suffering for another kalpa, and on and on until he has exhausted his bad karma. For this reason, hell is also known as the "non-stop way" .
Nichiren
famously wrote that Buddhist monks who ignored the passages in the Lotus Sutra, which claimed its superiority over other sutras would fall into the Avīci hell. Outside of Nichiren, it is extremely rare for a Buddhist monk to condemn anyone to Avīci hell. Although the Lotus Sutra
itself states "when his [those who slander] life comes to an end, he will enter the Avichi Hell."
Rebirth in Avīci (or any lower realm for that matter) should be seen as a process of purification rather than a form of punishment as there is no supernatural being that determines anyone's fate of its own will and everyone is responsible for their own actions and their consequences: "[...]beings are owners of kamma, heir to kamma, born of kamma, related through kamma, and have kamma as their arbitrator. Kamma is what creates distinctions among beings in terms of coarseness & refinement." Thus, being reborn in Avīci is purely the inevitable result of one's evil deeds and not the decision of, for example, a malevolent deity.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, (Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
: "without waves"; also transliterated Avichi, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Chinese language
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 無間地獄, むげんじごく and 阿鼻地獄, あびじごく) is the lowest level of the Naraka
Naraka (Buddhism)
Naraka नरक or Niraya निरय is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering in Buddhist cosmology.Naraka is usually translated into English as "hell", "hell realm", or "purgatory"...
or "hell" realm, into which the dead who have committed grave misdeeds may be reborn. It is said to be a cube 20,000 yojana
Yojana
A Yojana is a Vedic measure of distance used in ancient India. The exact measurement is disputed amongst scholars with distances being given between 6 to 15 kilometers ....
s to a side.
People reborn in generally have committed one or more of the Five Grave Offenses
Anantarika-karma
Anantarika-karma or ànantarika-kamma in Buddhism is a heinous crime, which through karmic process brings immediate disaster. Traditionally there are five such crimes:*patricide*matricide*killing an arahant*wounding a buddha...
:
- Intentionally murdering one's father
- Intentionally murdering one's mother
- Killing an Arhat (enlightened being)
- Shedding the blood of a BuddhaBuddhahoodIn Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...
- Creating a schism within the SanghaSanghaSangha is a word in Pali or Sanskrit that can be translated roughly as "association" or "assembly," "company" or "community" with common goal, vision or purpose...
, the community of Buddhist monks and nuns.
Buddhism teaches that rebirth into Naraka is temporary, while the offending being works off the karma they performed. Similarly, rebirth into hell is not eternal. However, suffering in is the longest of all the levels of hell, by some accounts over 1018 years long. Some sutras state that rebirth in will be for innumerable kalpa
Kalpa
Kalpa is a small town in the Sutlej river valley, above Recong Peo in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, in the Indian Himalaya. Inhabited by Kinnauri people and famous for its apple orchards. Apples are a major cash-crop for the region...
s (eons). When the offending being passes away after one kalpa, he is again reborn in the same place, undergoing suffering for another kalpa, and on and on until he has exhausted his bad karma. For this reason, hell is also known as the "non-stop way" .
Nichiren
Nichiren
Nichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching...
famously wrote that Buddhist monks who ignored the passages in the Lotus Sutra, which claimed its superiority over other sutras would fall into the Avīci hell. Outside of Nichiren, it is extremely rare for a Buddhist monk to condemn anyone to Avīci hell. Although the Lotus Sutra
Lotus Sutra
The Lotus Sūtra is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sūtras, and the basis on which the Tiantai and Nichiren sects of Buddhism were established.-Title:...
itself states "when his [those who slander] life comes to an end, he will enter the Avichi Hell."
Rebirth in Avīci (or any lower realm for that matter) should be seen as a process of purification rather than a form of punishment as there is no supernatural being that determines anyone's fate of its own will and everyone is responsible for their own actions and their consequences: "[...]beings are owners of kamma, heir to kamma, born of kamma, related through kamma, and have kamma as their arbitrator. Kamma is what creates distinctions among beings in terms of coarseness & refinement." Thus, being reborn in Avīci is purely the inevitable result of one's evil deeds and not the decision of, for example, a malevolent deity.