Ten worlds (Buddhism)

These are the states of life described in Nichiren Soshu Buddhism. The first six arise spontaneously without any effort, but the four noble paths require inner effort. All ten worlds are possessed by everyone, but each individual tends to have one dominating, for one anger, another bodhisattva, and so on. Any activity under the influence of another world with tend to be coloured by the dominant world, for example compassionate acts by an anger-dominated person will tend to be accompanied by feelings of superiority. Thus each of the ten worlds may be said to possess the others. Mutual possession also explains why one can move from one state to another. The world of hell contains the world of rapture, for example, so that good news can still cheer one in a hellish state. All worlds not being experienced are nonetheless latent, in a state of ku.