The Vast Plane of Misery

Monks, suppose a man were to cut up the grass, sticks, branches, and foliage in this Jambudīpa (one of the great continents) and collect them into a single heap. Having done so, he would impale the large creatures in the ocean on the large stakes, the middle‑sized creatures on the middle‑sized stakes, and the small creatures on the small stakes.

Still, Monks, the gross creatures in the ocean would not be exhausted even after all the grass, sticks, branches, and foliage in this Jambudīpa had been used up and exhausted.

The small creatures in the ocean that could not easily be impaled on stakes, would be even more numerous than this.

For what reason?

Because of the narrowness of their bodies.

So vast, Monks, is the plane of misery. The person who is accomplished in view, freed from that vast plane of misery, understands as it really is: This is discontentedness; This is the cause of discontentedness; This is the elimination of discontentedness; This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.

Therefore, Monks, an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the cause of discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the elimination of discontentedness’; an effort should be made to understand: ‘This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness.’

(Reference: SN 56.36)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how there are countless beings in the animal realm. A plethora of beings exist in the animal realm. Even with 99% of all animals that once existed now extinct, there are still an enormous amount of beings that still exist in the animal realm.

While many of the beings in the animal realm have moved on to other realms and/or attained Enlightenment from the human or heavenly realms, there are still countless beings in the animal realm that need to be reborn into the human or heavenly realms to have the opportunity to attain Enlightenment. This is one of the reasons why human beings should not continue to rely on animal products to sustain our life. Through selfishly sustaining our life on animal products, those beings are then unable to develop enough wholesome Kamma in their short life span to experience an improved rebirth.

The vast majority of all beings born into the human realm have been reborn from the animal realm into the human realm. This is why we have seen a decrease in beings within the animal realm through extinction while there has simultaneously been an increase in the number of beings in the human realm.

With Gotama Buddha predicting that a new Buddha would arise 2,500 years after his death, the human realm is now full of beings who are able to attain Enlightenment.

Over the course of the coming years, the animal realm will continue to decrease with the human population continuing to increase. As more and more humans experience Enlightenment, the number of beings in the human realm will gradually decrease over many generations until all beings have attained Enlightenment.

The Buddha explains, “So vast, Monks, is the plane of misery. The person who is accomplished in view, freed from that vast plane of misery, understands as it really is: This is discontentedness; This is the cause of discontentedness; This is the elimination of discontentedness; This is the way leading to the elimination of discontentedness”. The Buddha is explaining that there are countless beings in the lower realms and it is when a Practitioner is accomplished and well established in “Right View” that they are then freed from the lower realms. A Practitioner who is accomplished and well established in “Right View”, along with many other criteria, will have attained the first Stage of Enlightenment as a Stream-Enterer. Once the first Stage of Enlightenment as a Stream-Enterer is attained, one is finished with the lower realms never to be reborn there again. It is only a matter of time before a Stream-Enterer will attain Enlightenment. They will either attain Enlightenment in this very life or a maximum of seven (7) more rebirths.

The Buddha encourages Students to make an effort to understand The Four Noble Truths because it is understanding and practicing The Four Noble Truths that allows a Practitioner to become accomplished and well established in “Right View” to become freed from the lower realms (i.e. the plane of misery).