Heaven is a Many Splendored Thing — Isn’t it?

Some people get a glimpse of where they are headed just before they die. My sister-in-law did. Terminal with lung cancer, we thought that she had passed away early one morning when she abruptly stopped breathing, but after a few minutes, she woke up! She told us that she had just been in a beautiful place, with beautiful people and beautiful music. Then her personality changed. She became a sage - self-assured, confident, and completely different from what she was in life.

She died about an hour later, but during that hour she gave advice to all of her relatives, including her husband. She told him that he could never go to where she just was! That he had to get "on the path," which was a strange term for a devout Catholic. The interesting thing about this last hour of her life was that previously, she was receiving many liters of oxygen by mask, and many more by a nose tube, which was the only way that she could breathe. Yet during this implausible hour of advice - the mask and nose tube sat discarded on her bed.

I think she visited, and ended up in the "beautiful heaven" (see below).

When I was a Catholic, it was easy; I was going to heaven (like singular -- one heaven), or so I hoped. Not so simple for a Buddhist; our heavens are nothing but revolving doors, populated for a time before we move on (and the time can be a long time, too; millions of years). But we always end up as human being-type people somewhere, wherever there is a hospitable planet.

Where, as a Catholic, I had all of my eggs in one basket (this one lifetime on earth), as a Buddhist, I get to travel around the universe! And if I mess up a little, well, there is always the next lifetime! (It kind of takes the pressure off). Of course, the ideal is to get out of the revolving door of various existences as described below, but that requires enlightenment -- not the easiest of achievements, but not impossible either. So here are the Buddhist Realms of Existence:

The Lower Realms:

Hell Realm. This is the realm of continuous suffering, but only temporary, as all realms are until our bad karma is neutralized.

Animal Realm. Beings are born into the animal realm because of bad karma, but not quite bad enough to send them into the hell realms.

Hungry Ghosts. These populate the lower realms and are usually invisible, living in the woods or in awful situations. When they can be glimpsed, they are always hungry and have distorted bodies. They have a little more awareness than the animals.

The realm of the asuras is a lower realm of just plain dullness and misery, but above the hungry ghosts.

The Human Realm

This is the only realm from which to escape all existential realms. All occupants of all realms, high and low, will eventually make their way here. This is the opportunity for enlightenment, bypassing all future realms and entering Nibbana.

The Deva Realms

These are realms where the occupants enjoy sensual pleasures for long periods of time, sometimes millions of years. They are blissful abodes of celestial planes occupied by what are called devas, or spirits. The future Buddha, Metteyya is said to dwell here, as well as all future Buddhas. This a realm of great happiness where the Gods who dwell here create things by their thoughts, and make these creations serve their own needs. But alas, they will all return to human form again when all of their good karma is burned up.

Planes of the first jhana nn(Jhanas are both meditative stages of concentration and descriptions of personal spiritual achievements. Once one has mastered a certain jhana or achieved a certain spiritual level, their destination is secured in the appropriate realm).

The realm of the great Brahmas

The realm of the Brahma's ministers

The realm of Brahma's retinue

Planes of the second jhana

The heaven of radiant Gods

The heaven of infinite luster

The heaven of minor luster

Planes of third jhana

The heaven of Gods full of steady aura

The heaven of Gods of infinite aura

The heaven of Gods of minor aura

Planes of fourth jhana

The supreme heave

The clear sighted heave

The beautiful heave

The serene heave

The durable heave

Planes of the fifth through the eighth jhana

The realm of infinite space

The realm of infinite consciousness

The realm of nothingness

The realm of neither perception nor non-perception nnn