All hell is gonna break loose

..."The backbone of Buddhism is the theory of karma and rebirth, the law of cause and effect. Buddhists believe not in a creator, but in beings fashioning their destiny by their own actions. In the course of their lifetime, living creatures perform virtuous or non-virtuous actions (karma) which create predispositions for rebirth in any of the six realms of cyclic existence. Virtuous actions bring about pleasant rebirths in the upper realms of gods, demi-gods and men and non-virtuous deeds, suffering and rebirth in the animal, hungry ghost and hell-beings' realms. When beings have exhausted the karma which caused their rebirth in a particular realm, in dependence on other accumulated karma, they take rebirth in another realm, wandering endlessly within the limits of cyclic existence until they find a way out to liberation or the state of Buddhahood- the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice.

Among all the creatures of the six realms, humans are the most fortunate, and have the best opportunity for attaining the ultimate achievement. Gods and demi-gods dwell in immeasurable happiness, exhausting the fruits of their positive karma, and are too distracted with worldly pleasure to seek liberation from cyclic existence. Hungry ghosts and hell beings are too disturbed with suffering and animals are too dumb. Humans, who enjoy both pleasure and pain are the only ones who can seek liberation.

The driving force of this aim for the attainment of Buddhahood is motivation, of which there are three types; motivation of beings of small, middling and great capacities. Though the ultimate goal of all three is happiness and freedom from suffering, the extent of their goals is immeasurably different. The being of smaller capacity's virtuous acts are aimed at securing a rebirth away from the hells, and his basic rule of conduct for achieving this is avoiding the non-virtuous actions which bring about lower rebirths. These are: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, slander, harsh speech, idle gossip, covetousness, harmful intent and wrong view.

The being of middling capacity seeks to go one step further and achieve liberation from cyclic existence by realizing the Four Noble Truths: true sufferings, which are like an illness, sources, the internal and external conditions that bring about that illness, cessations, the state of being curedo the illness and paths, the medicine which brings about the cure. In order to realize these Four Noble Truths, one must realize

1) the suffering of cyclic existence, like a sick person identifying his ailment,

2) that the origin of suffering is karma and defilements, like a patient identifying the cause of his illness,

3) the existence of a remedy to suffering, like a patient knowing that his illness can be cured,

4) that engaging in the paths will bring about freedom from suffering, like a patient realizing the benefit of medicine..."