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Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

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“Most religious cosmologies include the existence of hells somewhere in the universe, and Buddhism is no exception. "Hell" is a translation of the Indic word naraka (or niraya), "devoid of happiness." The hells are mentioned in a large number of Buddhist sūtras, either as a single entity, as in the Verses on the Law (Dhammapada, 4th-3d century B.C.E.), or as a system of individually named hells, as in the Abhidharma commentaries (very early Buddhist writings). They were certainly not systematized into an elaborate structure such as we see in the Abhidharmakośa for a very long time.”

Hell Buddhist Cosmology

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“We have seen how the Buddhist conception of the universe underwent numerous changes over time. If we view those shifts as changing responses to the problem of human suffering, we can see a steady progression in one direction: Buddhists gradually ceased to regard life as suffering.”

Suffering Buddhism

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“As people gradually stopped thinking of suffering as a threat, Buddhist cosmology, which had been constructed on the terror of suffering, steadily lost its connection to everyday reality. What had originally been a living belief turned into myth.”

Suffering Buddhist Cosmology

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“In this way the universe follows the cycle of dissolution, nothingness, creation, and duration of what is created. The length of one such cycle (eighty intermediate kalpas) is called a "great kalpa" (mahākalpa).”

Universe Buddhist Cosmology

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“According to Buddhism, the human life span today has diminished to around a hundred years, and will continue to decrease. That we are living in a time of increasing evil is a common idea among ancient people.”

Buddhism Life Span

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“The concept of the trichiliocosm is closely linked with Buddhist theories about time and human destiny. Buddhist thought is generally clouded with pessimism, and this is nowhere more obvious than in its concept of time. The notion of an eternal round of birth and death is an intolerable thought.”

Time Destiny Buddhist Cosmology

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

“In the Abhidharmakośa, time units finish with "year" (saṃvatsara). There is, however, another enormous unit of time that we could add, the kalpa, which is so long that it cannot be calculated in years. (The Chinese transliterated kalpa as kiap and translated it as "great time." In the Japanese game of Go there is a rule known as kō [Japanese for kiap] to prevent stalemates through constant repetition. Without it, the game could continue indefinitely.)”

Time Buddhist Cosmology

Book:Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins

Source: Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins