A KORA OF KORAS

Buddha was once asked, “How are you different from other beings?” He
responded, “I was disturbed by old age, disease and death. That is what made me
seek for liberation; others were not so disturbed.”
To recognize not just one’s own person or personal fate, but the nature of this
whole world is suffering (like Kisagotami) makes one a ‘stream-enterer’ (sotapanna),
one who has ‘heard the teaching.’ A sotapanna has entered into the stream of
religious understanding29 and only on this basis begins to practice the Buddha
Dharma and walk the ‘liberating’ path of life.
Buddha was once asked, ‘For the sake of awakening and practicing the Dharma;
is it better to be born in the heaven realm, the hell realm, or the earth realm?’
Buddha replied,
“In the hell realm, the suffering is so intense and the pain so overwhelming that
the focus of one’s existence is avoiding more pain and one either tries to numb
oneself or escape the overwhelmingly painful conditions. Because of such
circumstances, beings in hell have little interest in the Dharma and do not practice
the way.
“In the heaven realm of the demi-gods, the length of life is so long and the
pleasures available so exquisite that beings who live there forget their situation will
ever come to an end and are therefore not interested in the Dharma or practice
of the way.