The Six Realms of Existence And One Little Dog

Bhavacakra via Wikimedia commons
Bhavacakra via Wikimedia commons

Theres a concept in Tibetan Buddhism (and I think used in other Buddhist traditions) called the Wheel Of Life.  It’s a great mandala, showing the cycles of the world, clutched in the hands of Yama, lord of death.  It’s a vast, symbolic work that you could spend ages analyzing as it represents the sources of suffering, the nature of living beings, and the liberation off the wheel.

Most notable – and famous – are the various realms of existence portrayed on the wheel.  The lore states that there are six realms one can be born in:

Devas – The gods.  Beings who enjoy bliss and pleasure and power.  However, Devas do age and die, and their happiness often means they don’t develop wisdom or compassion.

Asuras – The Angry Gods, sometimes translated as “Titans”.  They conted with the Devas.  Powerful, fierce, and forceful they’re also jealous and paranoid.

Humans – That’s us.  We’re usually ignorant, but also are in a balanced world and state where we can learn wisdom, compassion, and get off the Wheel via enlightenment.  We’ve got anger and bliss and so forth, but it’s not overwhelming or crippling.

Animals – The realm of creatures of instinct.  Animals tend to prefer sameness, indulge desire, and often lack humor.

Hungry Ghosts – The realm of addiction.  Hungry Ghosts are mournful spirits haunting various desolate parts of the world, seeking to consume things they desire and unable to enjoy them.  Scary-looking, they’re rather pathetic creatures.

Hell Beings – The realm of fear and anger.  Hell beings are born to torment in this horrible realm.

Metaphysically it’s an interesting cosmology, but it can also be viewed as metaphorical – that these are different psychological states we can experience.  I’ve seen the psychological model talked about by a number of people, such as Mark Epstein and Pema Chodron; it’s really fascinating.

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Why The System Fails

There are people who build The System.

There are people who maintain The System.

There are people who operate The System.

The people who operate The System rarely know how it’s built or how it’s maintained, or even what it’s for.  They may not care.

It is easy for those who operate The System to use it for great gain and benefit.  It does not mean they understand it.

In time, maintenance is not thought of because it appears to be running well.  Those who maintain must adjust and it is hard.

In time, building is not thought of as new wonders appear all the time and problems beyond the moment are not imagined.  Those who build must strive mightily or merely repeat themselves to survive.

In time, The System breaks down.

Those who run The System are startled.

Those who maintained The System are angry.

Those who built The System curse everyone’s stupidities.

Everyone grabs for what they can as the walls crash down.  History gets another chapter where we point at people’s ignorance and feel superior to them.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.

Publishing: The New Skill

Published using Nook for the first time for my latest book.  It was about as easy as Kindle, with a few less international options.  That’s pretty promising, as I’d usually have Lulu.com do the job.

It’s still a pain to self-publish merely for the amount of options, platforms, and issues one has to face.  There’s what to put the document in when you write, any conversions you have to make, then what tool to publish it in (I go from Libre Office to Jutoh myself).  It’s nice to be able to self-publish, but I wouldn’t call it simple.

The strange thing is self-publishing is basically it’s own skillset.  It’s not a gateway to easy publishing if you’re a writer since you’ve got to be more than a writer – or hire someone that can do the conversions for you.  Yes, the barrier to entry is far lower, but what was once insurmountable financially or business-wise is still a challenge because you need the skills to self-publish.

Writing well is still never enough.  The barriers and challenges to publishing have changed and even lowered, but they’re still there.  Success is still a lot of work.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.