| Along with the Ten Factors there is also the Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds. These are states of mind that fluctuate in response to phenomena. They are, from lowest to highest, Hell, Hunger, Animality, Anger, Tranquility, Rapture, Learning, Realization, Boddhisattva, and Buddhahood. These states of mind each possess each other [Mutual Possession] so that a person can exhibit a subordinate state within a base state. In other words, the Buddha's base state is Buddhahood and the subordinate state could be tranquility or even hell. The Buddha does experience the lower worlds, but in a different way than unenlightened people. An example would be that the Buddha is angry that people live in a fundamental state of unenlightenment, or he can experience the state of hell that people live in through empathy.
Hunger is not just hunger for food, but also hunger for fame, power, fortune, drugs, sex; you name it and people hunger for it. Hunger is one of the category "Lower Three Worlds." Anger follows in the category of the "Lower Four Worlds." These lower worlds are the states of mind that generally produce the most bad causes which lead to bad effect, however, the Buddha also experiences these lower four worlds but from the standpoint of a purified mind. It is not the Buddha's intent that people eliminate desire, but purify that desire.
Rapture is what people generally believe to be happiness, but this is not so. Rapture is merely a feeling of joy that is temporary in nature. True happiness is more readily experienced as tranquility which is the base state. The states of learning and realization are academic in nature and can be best described by our scientific and academic communities, while the state of Boddhisattva is best described as a state where the individual delays their own enlightenment in an attempt to teach others and put them on the path of Buddhism.
The Mutual Possession of the Ten Worlds can be observed in all forms of life, albeit some forms are harder to observe than others. People tend to complicate their lives to the point that it becomes difficult, but not impossible. Animals such as dogs and apes are easily observable in that they don't complicate their lives.
The concept of the Ten Worlds and their Mutual Possession is extremely profound in that it advances the notion of the inherent Buddha nature that we all possess and is the basis for original enlightenment theory (Hongaku Shiso). T'ien-t'ai states the following: "If the appearance of Bodhi and the Buddha nature are different, could one be permanent and one be impermanent? ... Like the soothsayer who saw that both the appearance and the nature of the king were most exalted, how could the appearance of Bodhi and the Buddha nature not be identical?"
It is notable that those that oppose Hongaku Shiso are really not opposing original enlightenment theory, but statements made in the Lotus Sutra that emphasize that once a person forms a relationship with the sutra they will attain enlightenment in the future. Of course we are not all Buddha's, but the potential does exist according to the sutra.
This concept is also indicative of the One Moment that encapsulates the past, present, and future, which is known as the "Three Existences." The One Moment can be seen as the potentiality of life in any given circumstance, in that we have the volition to go beyond our conditioning and choose to act in an ethical manner instead of being drawn into the lower worlds. This potentiality is also expressed in Quantum Physics.
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