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Thread: The Six Realms part 2 Titans

  1. #1

    The Six Realms part 2 Titans

    Titans. The Buddhist name for them is Asura. They are the jealous gods who lost heaven, because heaven, like all states of being, is impermanent.


    Traditionally the Titans are depicted as four faced giants, inhabiting the foot of Mount Sumeru. They are always fighting amongst each other for territory, obsessed with a status they feel they deserve but are denied. They are motivated by perpetual grievance, in pain, and vicious when crossed. Heaven was a state of blissful “oneness”, where they were one-with, and as, all things. There was no ‘other”, no sharp boundaries... and therefore no territory. Having no territory they were sovereign, meeting no one who displeased or questioned them. Their palaces were populated with sycophants, telling them what they wanted to hear, and justifying as noble and good, everything they did.

    According to legend they enjoyed all the pleasures of a world vibrating at a very fine and refined frequency of beauty. Every sense was pleased. Then, inexorably, it began to slip. Their great powers of perception detected a subtle disturbance, and became tinged with paranoia. As the new and bewildering need to protect dawned, all their senses became enlisted to that end. Suddenly there was competition, territory, and the god was no longer the Soveriegn, but a soveriegn among sovereigns, all becoming aware of territory, all becoming desperate. The heaven became heavy, contracting into an iron world, no longer refined, but hard. Stones were gathered for walls. Threats were in every direction, and for each direction a face was born to keep watch. Eventually the titans forgot heaven, while keeping a formless grievance. Forgetfulness seems to be a part of this kind of mythology. As the beings circle in samsara they become absorbed completely in each new birth, each new state of being.


    I invite you to research this subject yourself. There are as many interpretations as there are Buddhists. The interperatation I am giving here is what has shaken out in this mind, after absorbing the subject and exploring it creatively. I’m a painting teacher, not a Dharma teacher, so please seek an “official” understanding from a Dharma teacher if you are interested. Post a link on this thread if you like.

    There is a very rich tradition depicting the denizens of the six realms. Some of the most imaginative and skillful are Japanese depictions of Hungry Ghosts, but there are two other realms to talk about first before we get to them. I am not taking a position on the issue of people taking myth literally or not. This is the art forum, and these myths have the value of human imagination and cultural DNA. We are free to look into them for ourselves.

    Like last time I’m writing this while in a coffee shop after grocery shopping, but will post traditional pictures of asuras later in the day. please post anything you like... before or after the retreat.

    Thanks for reading... be creative .


    Gassho
    Daizan

    sat today/LAH
    Last edited by RichardH; 11-30-2017 at 06:30 PM.

  2. #2
    Daizan - this depiction is awesome, thank you!

    Gassho,

    Rish
    -st/lah

  3. #3
    Thank you, Daizan. Really interesting background information and hopefully will inspire a great deal of creativity.

    Gassho
    Kokuu
    -sattoday/lah-

  4. #4
    This brings to mind the people I encounter that seem to spend a lot of time in this realm, forgetting all the good things life has brought them.
    Gassho
    Jakuden
    SatToday/LAH


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  5. #5
    It was interesting to to search for traditional images of asuras and find them all over pop culture, especially in manga.

    google asura.jpgPhoto 2017-11-30, 6 51 03 PM.jpg


    More traditional imagery... Photo 2017-11-30, 6 49 01 PM.jpgPhoto 2017-11-30, 6 55 16 PM.jpg

    The origins of the Asura are murky, origination in "Hindu" mythology. They also take on different roles, as protectors and so forth. They, like all of these wonderful beings were the first memes, idea/symbols with a viral life across cultures. They are still a potent source of inspiration today.

    Please feel free to post any imagery, musings, random thought, on this topic



    Gassho
    Daizan

    sat today/LAH

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Jakuden View Post
    This brings to mind the people I encounter that seem to spend a lot of time in this realm, forgetting all the good things life has brought them.
    Gassho
    Jakuden
    SatToday/LAH


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    It also brings to mind this person. I can be asura sometimes, and a hungry ghost too... more so a hungry ghost.. or a "beast". The beast realm is next. I'm always being born into something..

    Gassho
    Daizan


    sat today/LAH

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Daizan View Post
    It also brings to mind this person. I can be asura sometimes, and a hungry ghost too... more so a hungry ghost.. or a "beast". The beast realm is next. I'm always being born into something..

    Gassho
    Daizan


    sat today/LAH
    Haha! I think I spend a lot of time in the beast realm, looking forward to eating and sleeping.

    Gassho
    Jakuden
    SatToday/LAH


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    Domyo Burk did a nice 3 part series on her Zen Studies Podcast about the realms. They make dandy metaphors for states of mind. Similar to our seeds practice really if you look at the negative mental states as realms. There's always a Buddha in each realm with an offering to assist beings out of that particular state.

    Gassho,
    Hōkō
    #SatToday
    LAH

    Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
    法 Dharma
    口 Mouth

  9. #9
    Here are links to the podcasts...

    https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms1/
    https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms2/
    https://zenstudiespodcast.com/sixrealms3/



    ....and here is a traditional depiction of the six realms, I've circled the Bodhisattvas in the corners.
    sixrealms.jpgsixrealms detail.jpg
    According to this mythology only beings passing through human form (the fifth realm on the top left) can realize liberation from becoming. Beings in the other realms are too absorbed in passions, unhappy or happy, to do this. It is always iffy to generalize, but probably safe to say, most "western" Buddhists see these beings and realms as symbolic. For example a cave-like fiery hell is a poetic way to describe rage. It is literal in the sense that when I experience strong anger, I feel hot. Blood pressure rises and my awareness is closed down, limited to the object of anger. It is a miserable, but temporary, state of being. In many traditional Buddhist countries there are people who believe such a hell is not poetic, but an objectively existing place, looking like these pictures.


    Gassho
    Daizan


    sat today/LAH
    Last edited by RichardH; 12-01-2017 at 01:52 PM.

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