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Dictionary of Key Spiritual Terms


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Wylie | Tibetan

hell

See also world

dmyal ba/ 

[Gr. Gehenna, Hades]

Biblical: lus hril po dmyal bar dbyug pa/  one's whole body to be thrown into hell (Mt. 5:29), lus sems gnyis po dmyal ba'i nang tshar bcad nus pa khong la 'jigs shig be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Mt. 10:28), dmyal ba'i chad pa las khyod ci ltar thar 'ong /  how will you escape being condemned to hell (Mt. 23:33).

Buddhist: There are eight hot hells tsha ba'i dmyal ba brgyad/  (CNG 100), eight cold hells grang ba'i dmyal ba brgyad/  (CNG 101), and two additional hells, the nye 'khor ba/  and the nyi tshe ba/  making a total of eighteen. Within the hot and cold hells, the misery of each is double that of its predecessor, and the lifespan of the inhabitants of each is exceedingly long. Rebirth in dmyal ba'i me'i/  the fires of hell (TRC 286) is a feared consequence of non-virtue: mi dge ba'i las chen po byas pas rnam smin dmyal ba/  through performance of a great non-virtue, maturation is birth among the denizens of hell (TRC 245). Even a moment of anger towards a boddhisattva is a cause for rebirth in hell (MTB 75). Perhaps not surprisingly, there are believed to be more beings in hell than in any of the other possible rebirths (JPG 136). There are many colorful descriptions of the miseries of hell-beings (JPG 181). For the place of the hells in Bst. cosmology, see world.

Proverbs: dge sbyong nyid du spyod nyes pas/,,dmyal ba dag to nye bar 'dren/  the ascetic life, wrongly lived, leads to hell (DMP 156).