Will sentient beings go to hell for abandoning the Holy Dharma?
Upvote:1
If someone converts in another religion, he won't go to hell. What matters is karma, not what religious group you declare yourself to belong to.
βBeings are the owners of their deeds (kammaorkarma), heirs to their deeds, their deeds are the womb from which they sprang, they are bound up with their deeds, their deeds are their refuge. Whatever deeds they doβgood or evil βof such they will be the heirs. AN 10:205
What decide your fate is the sum of your deeds.
Now if someone abandons the holy dharma, i think the correct interpretation would not be that they specifically give up the buddhist religion, but that they adopt behaviours and value that are opposed to the noble path taught by buddhism, and disparage buddhists teachings which might be a cause of bad karma in itself. As a consequence, they will reinforce their implication in the samsara and experience transmigrations from realm to realm, rebirth in hell being a likely event along this path, as well as innumerable periods of wandering through all the realms.
Upvote:2
This is not an admonition against converting to another religion per se. This has to do with the consequences of knowingly giving up or disparaging something very specific and grave.
I think this Sutra is equating the Holy Dharma with undertaking and committing to the Bodhisattva vows. And not by a lowly being, but by a Great Being. If a truly Great Being has managed the incredible - near miraculous task - of actually generating engaged Bodhicitta - which is very specific and requires a super-heroic herculean effort - and then abandons that Bodhicitta or disparages it, then the consequences are world shatteringly bad for that being and all that depend upon them.
Knowingly giving up and totally abandoning the Bodhisattva vows and/or disparaging Bodhicitta - the noble goal of attaining enlightenment and becoming a Buddha for the sole sake of liberating countless sentient beings - is a karmic action that will result in countless lifetimes in the worst possible hells. Why is this so?
Knowingly giving up or breaking the perfectly accomplished Bodhisattva Vows or disparaging the truly generated and engaged Bodhicitta is among the blackest and heaviest of karmas one could possibly inflict upon oneself. Why? Because it destroys the hopes of countless sentient beings who are relying upon the Bodhisattva to accomplish their goal.
When you take vows there are consequences to breaking them. This is true for all vows. And the Bodhisattva vows are among the most serious vows that could possibly be taken.
More post
- π Can I save my meditation practice or should I abandon it?
- π Trolley problem and its variants in Buddhist ethics
- π How does Buddhism explain the creation of everything (universe)
- π Is there common ground between the Tao Te Ching and Buddhism?
- π If each person's mind creates "reality" then why do we need to eat?
- π What would be the motivation for an arahant to perform generous deeds?
- π Isn't enlightenment the ultimate death?
- π Who are the Buddhas on the Wheel of Life?
- π Lies as self defence vs. Physical self defence
- π What is the exact meaning of catuparisa (catu-parisa)?
- π Identification of Buddhist saints or sages
- π Is there a concept of after life in Buddhism?
- π What might be the long therm effects of ignoring ones duties?
- π How does rebirth work for arahant and non-arahants?
- π If Buddha had unconditional love, why did he "kill" some of his monks?
- π Is it important to have a traditional understanding of Buddhism?
- π Keeping rooted in the present in the face of past realities
- π Non attachment in daily life
- π Should a Buddhist pay homage/bend to his parents?
- π What does Buddhism teach on cultivating energy for those who are drowsy?
- π How to refute the idea that Buddhism might be actually "too extreme"?
- π Managing sloth and torpor in meditation?
- π Is it recommended in Buddhism to know people from other nations and learn their languages
- π Where is DN.iii.106?
- π Would the Buddha have considered engaging in anal sex as breaking the 1st and/or 5th precept?
- π Buddhism and organ donation
- π Input and output mental phenomenas?
- π Saying May God Bless you
- π Learning materials for Dependent Origination (PaαΉiccasamuppΔda) in Theravada Buddhism
- π Meditation focus points and their ill effects
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- π Will sentient beings go to hell for abandoning the Holy Dharma?
- π "When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the dharma will come to the land of the red faces"
- π What will be the situation of the world when every beings will attain Nirvana?
- π Have all human beings got the capacity for compassion?
- π The needs of the same human being may differ at different stages of life. Can there be one Dharma for all stages?
- π What does the Buddha mean by this quote? "There is no punishment for anger. It is the anger which will punish you."
- π What is the equivalent scientific term for samsedaja? What kind of beings on earth are born from samsedaja?
- π If Buddha is able to predict the future of other sentient beings how can freewill be possible as its very nature is that of unpredictability?
- π Compassion for all sentient beings
- π Searching for this Jataka where a monk is brought to the heaven and hell by The Buddha
- π If no sentient being exists, for whom is there compassion? 'A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life' by Santideva
- π Do Buddhas and Bodhisattvas care and have compassion for all sentient beings equally
- π Is ending up in hell at some point in time inevitable for those beings who are not Stream-Entrants?
- π When the Dharma will have been forgotten by most
- π Where did the Buddha say: "What a person considers and reflects upon for a long time, to that his mind will bend and incline."?
- π Looking for a canonical reference: everyone who attains jhana will be a god of that realm in the next life
- π Is Nirvana the goal for all Buddhist?
- π Isnt the desire for giving up the desires, a desire?
- π Can environmental degradation be used as a justification for the culling of an invasive alien species?
- π What is the recommended time of day for meditation?
- π What is the minimum amount of time needed for a productive meditation sit?
- π How much is the minimal time for practicing Vipassana in daily life for achieving better mindfulness?
- π Why is contributing to the market demand for meat not wrong?
- π Which is the Buddhist holy book? Where can it be read?
- π Will working for a company that engages in animal experimentation to alleviate suffering of humans be wrong livelihood?
- π What is the motivation for the list of 5 deadly sins?
- π Was meditation not practiced for most of the history of Buddhism?
- π What is the antidote for conceit (mana)?
- π What are the Pali translations for mindfulness?
- π Historically, where do the concepts of Karma, Nirvana, Dharma and Samsara come from?