導言

人生苦短，生命无常，当一口气不来，生命即不再；而人既有生，则不免一死，死后往哪里去，我们不可不知，是往生极乐？或生天或堕地狱、或堕饿鬼、或沦为畜生或重返人间，无一不攸关此生所造之种种业果。

《地狱变相图》就是介绍人堕地狱受种种罪报的真相，同时也说明地狱果报全是自作自受，不是阎罗天子所定的罪。故我们深深期望浏览本图之后，能唤醒大家明白得人身之可贵，起心动念造作罪业堕地狱之可怕。故经云：真诚发露忏悔，即可远离罪报，愿我们一起共勉之。

Prologue

Life is short and impermanent. Our lives depend on the continuation of one single breath. Since there is life, it is inevitable that there will be death. There are lots of questions as to where we will go after we die. Are we going to the “World of Ultimate Bliss”? Or are we going to the Heavens? Or to the hells or to the realms of “Hungry Ghosts”? Or are we going to be re-incarnated as animals or human beings? Our ultimate destination will depend on the karma that we accumulate in our present lives.

The painting of the “Scenes of the Hells” displays the truth of human suffering after falling into the vast depths of hells. This particular painting also demonstrates that all human suffering is self-inflicted, rather than being imposed by the adjudicators in the hells. After viewing this painting, we should realise that it is truly difficult to be re-incarnated back into the human form and this idea in itself is terrifying – to have thoughts that would lead us to those sufferings in the torture of hells. The sutras say, that by sincerely confessing and repenting our past sins and misdeeds, we can eliminate misfortunes. Let us remind one another about this.