There is a temple near Bangsaen Beach which has a garden full of
statues depicting what is supposed to be a Buddhist hell. The place is
called Wang Saen Suk and is only 90 minutes away from Bangkok on the
way to Pattaya. Some of the scenes depicted are pretty gruesome
although there were plenty of families there. Actually, there was one
poor boy who was a little scared because his mother had just shown him
what happens to children that don't listen to their parents (see
picture above).
According to the book "Traibhumi Phra Ruang", as soon as you die,
you go to pay respects to Phya Yom (the Death king). Four celestial
beings will check your records of good and bad deeds. All the good
deeds you have done are recorded on a gold plate and the bad deeds you
have done are recorded on a piece of dog skin. After a careful
investigation, if you have done good, the Death King will send you to
heaven to enjoy the fruit of your good deeds there. If you have
committed sins, you will be punished.
Punishment in hell varies in ways and degrees of harshness according
to the sins committed. Every form of punishment is a torture. Hell has
a large number of pits; eight large ones with 16 attachments each. That
makes 136 pits altogether. The one that is most commonly known is
"avici". This pit is at the bottom. However, even those who are sent
here still have a chance to be reborn some day. Apart from these 136
pits, there is a special one called Loganta. It is pitch dark and
extremely cold (unlike all the other pits which are extremely hot).
Those who have hurt their parents or monks physically will go to this
pit and will remain there until the end of the Buddhist era (until a
new Buddha is born on earth).
The sign on the left says "Welcome to Hell!". Once you pass this
sign, you will see scenes showing sinners being boiled in copper
cauldrons and others being torn to pieces by hell's dogs. If you are
curious to know what will happen to you in the afterlife if you perform
certain bad deeds then come back tomorrow for the grisly details!
In the Christian religion, we have the Ten
Commandments. Well, in Buddhism, they have much the same. For lay
people they have to keep five precepts. Novice monks keep ten precepts.
Adult monks have to keep 227 precepts! I will talk about some of those
later. For the time being, I want to show you these pictures I took at
Wang Saen Suk last weekend. These are the things that will happen to
you if you break each of the five precepts. You have been warned!
(One): You must not kill (Two): You must not steal
(Three): You must not commit adultery (Four): You must not tell a lie
(Five): You must not take strong drinks
The final picture shows what will happen to you if you don't give alms to the monks and keep the five precepts.
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not for my kids!