Who is of higher status?

johnny1 SG

hmm, not sure if anyone actually posted this query....

just wanna know who is of high status in Hell? Issit Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva or Hell God "Yan Luo Wang"?

An Eternal Now SG

Buddha and Bodhisattvas, who are enlightened beings, are higher than all worldly kings and rulers.

Spnw07 SG

I personally think AEN's answer can elaborated further.

All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are given the highest respect and admiration by all sentient beings, especially those who truly understand the all their virtues and efforts made in delivering all sentient beings from endless cycles of birth and death.

All Buddha and Bodhisattvas do not crave a single bit, the worldly status and power enjoyed by or entitled to kings, rulers, CEO, etc.

Hence when Buddhists say Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are higher than all worldly kings and rulers, this actually means that their great virtues, their countless skilful means used in helping all sentient beings to attain true and ultimate bliss, places them above all known titles of power and authority. This is the kind of status given out of utmost respect and admiration for their countless contributions to serving all sentient beings. This is not something any human can attain by birth, academic or any worldly achievements known to man.

The above is my own personal understanding from what I learnt so far from talks in audio-visual formats and books by Venerables and the Buddhist community.

I may be wrong in my understanding, so if there's any one who has a correct and much better understanding and explanation of the above issue, I would be most happy to learn from him/her.

wilsonhao SG

Yan Luo Wang or King yama is not a single entity, but a rank or position or you name it. There are in actual many king yamas in various types of hell, acting as a fair judge. King Yama is a very fair hell judge. When an entity fall into hell, he will be sent to the judgement hall and the two consort Bai Wu Chang & Hei Wu Chang will fight one's merit and bad karma out. If the merit outweighs the bad deeds, king yama will send him to his supposingly realm

goldevil SG

i dun think buddha see themselves higher than us .

what if repentence is found before one's death and he did much evil previously ?

An Eternal Now SG

Bai Wu Chang and Hei Wu Chang is Taoist, in Buddhist we don't teach such things. We should not mistake Chinese folk traditions with Buddhism.

An Eternal Now SG

i dun think buddha see themselves higher than us .

what if repentence is found before one's death and he did much evil previously ?

I don't understand your second question.

The Buddha sees all as equal -- he sees the Buddha nature in all of us. However, it is a fact that Buddha is the highest -- as soon as he was born, the Buddha walked seven steps and announced: 'I am the highest in the world; I am the best in the world; I am the foremost in the world. This is my last birth; now there is no renewal of being for me'.

Spnw07 SG

I don't understand your second question.

May I elaborate a little on AEN's answer. The above proclamation by the Buddha as soon as he was born, was actually done so in praise of the Buddha nature in all of us. Essentially speaking, in Buddhism, there is no highest, lowest, or any absolute comparisons. For all things, in its innermost nature, are 'empty' of self and ego; meaning they are not permanent, unchanging states or bodies with strong and fixed notion of 'I', 'You' and 'Me'.

Hence the "I" that is used by the Buddha in the above quote and in all the teachings he taught, refers to the true Awakened state of mind, which is free from ego, greed, anger, hatred or unwholesome views towards life and the workings of Cause and Effect.

An Eternal Now SG

Conventionally speaking you can certainly say that the Buddha is the highest, while ultimately it is the same as what you said above.

wilsonhao SG

Yes, bai wu chang & hei wu chang are taoism. But if you read the tibetan book of the dead, you will notice that when people visit the hall of the dharma king, there will be many judges with animal faces which sees a person's karma. There will be a black entity and a white entity at the side of the indivisual. The black entity will present the person's evil karmic seed to the dharma king, and the white one will present the person's good karmic seed to the dharma king. If the evil karmic seed outweights the good ones, then it will determine the realm of the indivisual.

An Eternal Now SG

Interesting..

cheskiz SG

Why is buhdda the highest?

I see myself and any being equal to buhdda.

Everyone is the same in status but everyone is different in a way or so.

No Buhdda's mind is same as the other buhdda's mind.

" Emptiness is a form, Form is empty "

" To exist or not to exist have no difference "

This 2 quote isnt it what most buhddist have heard of?

Apply it to the topic and give some thinking, so is it that important in ranking since dharma says all being is equal. We are not different from our status, physical appearance and.. but by our character and heart.

So since the above 2 quotes have rendered the purpose of topic meaningless, so why not say we are all the same.

We respect buhdda for who he is

You say he is big, but is he really big? You say he is weak but is he really weak.( we know ourself best like buhdda never need pple to say he is good, he know himself well enough )

Lol, really amusing when pple start bringing in ranking and stuff to buhddism. It only add on to your suffering which is not accordance to the purpose of buhddism.

Buhddism is not about karma and stuff but about relieving from suffering. If you cant see the point, no point wasting time.

I think buhddism is great but i am not great enough for it.

An Eternal Now SG

Why is buhdda the highest?

I see myself and any being equal to buhdda.

Everyone is the same in status but everyone is different in a way or so.

No Buhdda's mind is same as the other buhdda's mind.

" Emptiness is a form, Form is empty "

" To exist or not to exist have no difference "

This 2 quote isnt it what most buhddist have heard of?

So since the above 2 quotes have rendered the purpose of topic meaningless, so why not say we are all the same.

We respect buhdda for who he is

You say he is big, but is he really big? You say he is weak but is he really weak.( we know ourself best like buhdda never need pple to say he is good, he know himself well enough )

Lol, really amusing when pple start bringing in ranking and stuff to buhddism. It only add on to your suffering which is not accordance to the purpose of buhddism.

Buhddism is not about karma and stuff but about relieving from suffering. If you cant see the point, no point wasting time.

I think buhddism is great but i am not great enough for it.

Buddha is the greatest in terms of perfections of virtues, wisdom, liberation.

All Aryas are worthy of veneration because they have become liberated from Samsara (and most of us have not), and among the Aryas (enlightened beings) the Buddha is the highest because he has accomplished all virtues and skillful means.