Article connected to first three parts of this collection of teachings:
The hells, preta and animal realms are called the three
lower realms, where suffering is more intense than in the rest of the six
planes of existence. We must not only read about the various pain and suffering
in the lower realms, but deeply contemplate on them until we become fully aware
of their reality and that we too have a great chance to be reborn there. A
master of the past once said:
"At present it is difficult to endure
sitting for merely a single day with my hand stuck in burning coals, or to
remain naked for that long in a cave of ice during the winter winds, or to go
for a few days without food and drink, or for my body to be stung by a bee and
the like. If even these are difficult to endure, how will I bear the sufferings
of the hot hells, the cold hells, the hungry ghosts, or the animals devouring
each other alive?"[1]