Prologue
Life is short and impermanent. Our lives depend on the continuation of one single breath. Since there is life, it is inevitable that there will be death. There are lots of questions as to where we will go after we die. Are we going to the “World of Ultimate Bliss”? Or are we going to the Heavens? Or to the hells or to the realms of “Hungry Ghosts”? Or are we going to be re-incarnated as animals or human beings? Our ultimate destination will depend on the karma that we accumulate in our present lives.
The painting of the “Scenes of the Hells” displays the truth of human suffering after falling into the vast depths of hells. This particular painting also demonstrates that all human suffering is self-inflicted, rather than being imposed by the adjudicators in the hells. After viewing this painting, we should realise that it is truly difficult to be re-incarnated back into the human form and this idea in itself is terrifying – to have thoughts that would lead us to those sufferings in the torture of hells. The sutras say, that by sincerely confessing and repenting our past sins and misdeeds, we can eliminate misfortunes. Let us remind one another about this.