The three lifetimes:
striving, indulging, paying the price.
Buddhism speaks of a cycle of three lifetimes.
In the first, a person strives to be good. Having little, he gives whatever he can, soothes others’ fears and worries, and remains ever vigilant for ways to help. He thus amasses good fortune.
In the second lifetime, due to all this good fortune, he becomes arrogant. After all, he has status, wealth, power. There’s much to be proud of. Caught up in personal indulgence, he ignores others’ suffering. Now, instead of watching for opportunities to help, he pursues opportunities to wield his power, to awe others, to control, and create fear. To dominate. The more power he has, the more lives are affected. And destroyed. One with great power, for example the leader of a country, can affect the lives of millions, even billions, of beings.
In the third lifetime, having blown his good fortune and created untold suffering, he plummets into the deepest of the hells.
Such is the terrible fate of misusing our second lifetime.