The "Road Maps" of Hell

 I am reading Surangama Sutra Part IX Chapter 6, on the Hells. I have to admit that reading this chapter can send chills down my spine. I don't think it's so much to do with some faraway realm called "Hell" as it does the psychological landscapes that the sutra elaborates. I do believe that human beings often go to a similar place of "hell" many times in their lives, similar to the kinds of Hells that Sartre describes in his play No Exit. The psychological aspect of Hell has to do with how we create traps with our minds, especially when we are complicated by thoughts and desires. And reading about Hell in the sutra creates a contrary longing for a simpler life which arises when a person is able to cut off the complexity of their thoughts through contemplative practices.
  Is it necessary to travel through these hells in order to reach a state of longing for this simpler way of being? Sometimes it can be helpful. I think of it like this: for a traveler to truly know themselves and what journey they are taking, it is often necessary to know what steps they have already taken, even if it's not always pretty or beautiful to trace all the twists and false paths that we have taken on the journey. Unless the twists and turns are somehow illuminated, the way forward will always be tainted by the wrong twists and turns that one has already taken. I am thinking in particular about the mythical equivalent of Theseus and the Minotaur, where Theseus needs to lay out a round of string in order to navigate his way out of the labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur. Without knowing the habits and patterns we have traveled before, there is no way of knowing whether we will get lost or ensnared again in the same way.
  Buddhism has a very multi-layered cosmography of different realms that beings travel, depending on their previous causes and intentions. Sometimes, a practitioner might wonder what this has to do with present moment awareness, and whether mindfulness can be practiced without being acquainted with this system. I start to feel more and more that the system is essential to true self-awareness, because without it, we would not understand how we interact with phenomena and the complex ways we can delude ourselves in the phenomenal world. Hell is not something to fear, but perhaps lacking awareness of Hell is much scarier. This realm needs to have one's respect and attention.