Buddhism A to Z (205) – Hells
With each cry, a small dark room awaits in the hells. (FAS-VP 24)
The hells, filled with anxiety and suffering,
Have no doors, yet one bores right in.
Out of delusion, deeds are done.
The retribution is borne in due accord. (TD 52)
What are the so-called “hells”?
Who created them?
“The term “hell” is a translation of two Chinese characters that literally mean “underground prison.”
Just as there are government prisons to house offenders in the human realm, so too are there prisons in the underworld.
Those prisons, known as the hells, differ from those in the human realm in that a governmental authority does not prepare them in anticipation of criminals.
The hells have no concrete form; they only have names.
When you fall into the hells to undergo retribution, the hells will then manifest a physical form based on your offenses. Therefore, this kind of prison isn’t created by either humans or ghosts; it’s created from each person’s own karmic power. (SPV 141)