The top of the 31 levels of existence, as seen on the cosmography. Photo: John Hessler. Geography and Map Division.
This is a guest post by John Hessler, a specialist in the Library’s Geography and Map Division, focusing on computational geography and geographic information science. He’s also the Library’s curator of the Jay I. Kislak Collection.
Recently, the Library’s Geography and Map Division acquired a rare 18th-century carving of a Theravãda Buddhist cosmography that originated in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma).
The panel, which is more than 9 feet high when its three parts are fully assembled, shows the many levels that are the temporary resting places for living beings as they make their way to the ultimate goal of nirvana. The carving shows the levels that spiritual entities humans, animals or gods – transmigrate. It pictures these way stations as floating palaces. It gives their names, the geography of the cosmos and the life of beings who temporarily
The mysterious death of Ajhan Jinawamsa Thera from the Netherlands gives us a reminder that things could go wrong even on a remote hermitage which most people think is the ideal place for mental progression.
Ajhan Jinawamsa Thera came to Sri Lanka eight years ago and seemed to have ended his search of true Buddhism when he landed at Polgasduwa Island Monastery. He has received good reviews from his peers and teacher monks after his death, but stories that the monk might have been depressed is a talk that’s doing the rounds. Expatriate monks getting depressed and a few having premature deaths or becoming insane as a result have been recorded in history.