Destiny of Gods

VOLUME 7, Chapter 4

 

 

H6 The destiny of gods.
I1 Lists the heavens.
J1 The six desire heavens.
K1 Relates the cause for this birth.

Sutra:

Ananda, there are many people in the world who do not seek what is eternal and who cannot yet renounce the kindness and love they feel for their wives.

Commentary:

Ananda, there are many people in the world who do not seek what is eternal. This can mean that they do not seek to eternally abide in the world, and it can also mean that they do not seek the eternally abiding nature of the true mind. They cannot yet renounce the kindness and love they feel for their wives.

K2 Desire divides into light and heavy.
L1 Heaven of four kings.

Sutra:

But they have no interest in deviant sexual activity and so develop a purity and produce light. When their life ends, they draw near the sun and moon and are among those born in the Heaven of the Four Kings.

Commentary:

But they have no interest in deviant sexual activity. Having sexual activity with someone other than one.s spouse is called .deviant. That which occurs within the marriage is not considered to be lust and is not deviant. However, it is better to be sparing about such activity, even in marriage. It should not be excessive. When you cultivate the Way, no matter how much merit and virtue you may have, you must not engage in deviant lustful activity. If you cultivate, but cannot cut off such activity, then you won't be successful no matter how hard you work at cultivation. These people being discussed in the text here are not interested in deviant lust, and so develop a purity and produce light. If one does not pursue lustful activity, one will be pure, and out of that purity will come light . the natural light of virtue. So it is said:

Of all the myriad evils,
lust is the foremost.
Don't go down that road to death!

If one does not engage in deviant lust, then one.s essence, breath, and spirit will be full and complete. From that fullness comes the virtuous light. During one.s life one will glow and radiate with light. When their life ends, they draw near the sun and moon and are among those born in the Heaven of the Four Kings. This kind of rebirth includes a lot of people. One knows not how many people fit this category.
The Heaven of the Four Kings is located halfway up Mount Sumeru. It is the heaven closest to our human realm. The gods in this heaven have a lifespan of five hundred years. One day and night in that heaven is equivalent to fifty years in the human realm. So their lifespan is nine million years if calculated according to our time.

L2 Trayastrimsha heaven.

Sutra:

Those whose sexual love for their wives is slight, but who have not yet obtained the entire flavor of dwelling in purity, transcend the light of sun and moon at the end of their lives, and reside at the summit of the human realm. They are among those born in the Trayastrimsha Heaven.

Commentary:

Those whose sexual love for their wives is slight, but who have not yet obtained the entire flavor of dwelling in purity, transcend the light of sun and moon at the end of their lives. Those born in the Heaven of the Four Kings did not engage in deviant sex, but had not managed to decrease their involvement with their own wives. However, they remained faithful to their wives and did not get involved with any other woman. The same holds true for women: they did not get involved with any man other than their own husbands. Beings born in the Heaven of the Four
Kings did not have lovers when they were in the human realm. Now the text discusses people who have decreased their sexual activity within the marriage. It can apply either to wives with regard to their husbands, or husbands with regard to their wives. Slight means that they very, very seldom engaged in this practice. They might not get involved with one another even once in a year, or they might go for several years getting involved only once. They do not look upon sexual activity as important.

Why do some people have such heavy sexual desire? It's because of the heaviness of their karmic obstacles. Someone with few karmic obstacles, however, will not have such thoughts. Heavy karmic obstacles pursue people and cause them to think of nothing else but sex from morning till night. Such thoughts never stop. But it's just in the midst of such heavy karmic obstacles that you should wake up and realize that you should decrease your karmic obstacles. If you simply go along with your karmic obstacles, then the farther you go, the further you fall. In the future it's for certain
you will become a cow or horse, a pig or a dog. And this kind of rebirth will go on and on without cease. Why? Because your emotional desire is too heavy. It will certainly cause you to fall. It's very dangerous.

Although the people discussed in this passage of text have very little regard for sexual activity, they still have not obtained the entire flavor of dwelling in purity. They have not gained genuine purity and its advantages, because they don.t know how to
cultivate. At the end of their lives, then, they will transcend the light of sun and moon and reside at the summit of the human realm. Because they don.t have much emotional desire, the light of their self-nature comes forth. Anyone who does not have emotional desire will have light and will be able to be reborn in the heavens.
These people are among those born in the Trayastrimsha Heaven.

Trayastrimsha is Sanskrit and means Heaven of the Thirty-three. The lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-three resides above our heads. There are eight heavens in the east, eight in the west, eight in the north, and eight in the south, making thirty-two;
the thirty-third is located among the others in the center and is at the peak of Mt. Sumeru.

How did the lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-three get reborn there? Originally she was a poor woman who saw a stupa which was falling apart. She resolved to repair it and set about begging and working to make the money to do it. Meanwhile, she got together with thirty-two friends; they had a meeting and decided to repair the stupa with their combined efforts. After they died, the thirty-two became lords of the accompanying heavens and the woman became the lord of the thirty-third heaven.
The lifespan of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-three is a thousand years. A hundred years of human time makes up one day and night in that heaven. As we progress upwards, the inhabitants of each higher heaven have a lifespan double that of the heaven below. The heights of the gods also increase proportionately. But it's rather tedious to go into all that, and so if you want to know about it in detail, you can investigate it on your own.

L3 Suyama heaven.

Sutra:

Those who become temporarily involved when they meet with desire but who forget about it when it is finished, and who, while in the human realm, are active less and quiet more, abide at the end of their lives in light and emptiness where the illumination of sun and moon does not reach. These beings have their own light, and they are among those born in the Suyama
Heaven.

Commentary:

There is a certain category of people in the world who become temporarily involved when they meet with desire but who forget about it when it is finished. This refers to the activity of married couples. Although occasionally they engage in sexual intercourse, these people forget about it when it.s gone by. They
don't think about it afterwards. While they are in the human realm, are active less and quiet more. That means they spend the greater part of their time practicing Chan samadhi. They will abide at the end of their lives in light and emptiness where the illumination of sun and moon does not reach. The light of the sun
and moon do not shine where these people go. These beings have their own ligh when they reach that place in emptiness. Their own bodies emit an everlasting light, and so at that place there is no day and night. It.s always light there. How then do they reckon the passage of time? They use the lotus flower. When the flower opens
they know it is day; when the flower closes, it is night. These beings are among those born in the Suyama Heaven. Their average height is two hundred twenty-five feet. Their lifespan is two thousand of their years. Suyama means well-divided time. because it's always light there, day and night.

L4 Tushita heaven.

Sutra:

Those who are quiet all the time, but who are not yet able to resist when stimulated by contact, ascend at the end of their lives to a subtle and ethereal place; they will not be drawn into the lower realms. The destruction of the realms of humans and gods and the obliteration of kalpas by the three disasters will not reach them, for they are among those born in the Tushita
Heaven.

Commentary:

In this heaven there is an inner and an outer court. In the outer court the common gods dwell, and in the inner court sages dwell. At present, Maitreya Bodhisattva dwells in the inner court of the Tushita Heaven. He is explaining about the samadhi of mindconsciousness only. Those who are quiet all the time, but who are not yet able to resist when stimulated by contact, ascend at the end of their lives to a subtle and ethereal place; they will not be drawn into the lower realms. At all times and in all situations they never move. They are very tranquil. However, when an
occasion arises for sexual intercourse, it.s not for certain that they will not get involved. But they don.t really want to get involved. They may occasionally indulge in this activity, but very, very rarely. At death these people who have few desires and are content will ascend; their souls will go to a subtle and ethereal place and will not fall down. The destruction of the realms of humans and gods and the
obliteration of kalpas by the three disasters will not reach them, for they are among those born in the Tushita Heaven. The three disasters are.

1) the disaster of fire
2) the disaster of water
3) the disaster of wind

Fire burns through the first dhyana, water drowns the second dhyana, and wind devastates the third dhyana. But because Bodhisattvas reside in this Tushita Heaven, the three disasters cannot reach it. Tushita means having few desires and being content. They simply don't have any greed. They are devoid of sexual desire. So if you want to get reborn in the heavens, just have few desires and be content. To have strong emotions and to forever be thinking of that kind of thing, never being able to put it down for even an instant, though that's very dangerous indeed. It is, in fact,
the most perilous matter of all. It's the source of one.s fall. If you don't fear the fall, then think about that kind of stuff as much as you want. If you are afraid of falling, then quickly stop those emotional thoughts. If you don't stop, there.s no telling where you'll end up in the future.

L5 Heaven of bliss by transformation.

Sutra:

Those who are devoid of desire, but who will engage in it for the sake of their partner, even though the flavor of doing so is like the flavor of chewing wax, are born at the end of their lives in a place of transcending transformations. They are among those born in the Heaven of Bliss by Transformation.

Commentary:

Those who are devoid of desire, but who will engage in it for the sake of their partner, even though the flavor of doing so is like the flavor of chewing wax, are born at the end of their lives in a place of transcending transformations. I don't have any desire at all, but you persist. You insist we do this thing. That's what transpires between couples where one partner is devoid of sexual desire while the other isn't. The one with desire pursues the one without desire. Have you ever chewed wax? Well, you can chew forever but you.ll never get any taste from it. That's the analogy used to indicate that this kind of person gets no pleasure out of sex. They just don.t have any thoughts of lust. After hearing this principle, you should certainly take care to control yourself. Don't be loose any more. Don't run headlong down the road to death. The rebirth of the kinds of beings discussed here transcends
those of the heavens discussed earlier. They are among those born in the Heaven of Bliss by Transformation. Everything in their environment is transformed. It is an extremely blissful place. unspeakably joyous. But the bliss referred to is not like that of ordinary sexual involvement. It is a natural bliss. However, it is not an ultimate place of rebirth. It is still within the six desire heavens. The gods in this heaven are three thousand and seventy-five feet tall. One day and night in that heaven is equal to eight hundred years among people, and their lifespan is eight thousand of their years.

L6 Heaven of the comfort from others' transformations.

Sutra:

Those who have no kind of worldly thoughts while doing what worldly people do, who are lucid and beyond such activity while involved in it, are capable at the end of their lives of entirely transcending states where transformations may be present and may be lacking. They are among those born in the Heaven of the Comfort from Others. Transformations.

Commentary:

Those who have no kind of worldly thoughts of sexual desire while doing what worldly people do, who are lucid and beyond such activity while involved in it. these are people who occasionally involve themselves in intercourse with their marriage partner. But for them, not only does it have the flavor of wax, it's as if nothing were happening at all. They are capable at the end of their lives of entirely transcending states where transformations may be present and may be lacking. They reach a state where they can go out of their bodies and transform as they please, endlessly. They are among those born in the Heaven of the
Comfort from Others. Transformations. Everything in the environment of the heaven those beings go to does not originate there, but is rather a transformation made as an offering by beings in other heavens. It's extremely comfortable there. The bliss is vast, and there's no work to be done. There aren't any servants in that
heaven people who work for a living would starve there because everything happens naturally and spontaneously. The bliss is extreme. It's a lot better than the human realm, that's for sure. But even though it.s such a fine place, the beings there will nevertheless fall one day. Once they use up their heavenly blessings, they will fall back to the human realm or even into the hells there's nothing fixed about it. Those heavenly beings are an average of four thousand five hundred feet tall. One day and night in that heaven is equal to fifteen hundred years on earth, and their lifespan is sixteen thousand of their years. Those, then, are the six desire heavens. All of the beings in those heavens still have sexual desire in varying degrees.

A verse describes it:

In the Heaven of the Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha,
Desire is carried out through embracing.
In the Suyama Heaven, they hold hands,
In the Tushita, they smile.
In the Bliss by Transformation, they gaze,
In the Comfort from Others., a glance will do.
In the six desire heavens, this is the bliss they take to be true.

In the Heaven of the Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha, desire is carried out through embracing. They conduct sexual affairs the same way people do. In the Suyama Heaven they hold hands; in the Tushita they smile. The beings in the Suyama Heaven unite in mind, but not physically. All they have to do to fulfill their sexual longing is to hold hands. In the Tushita Heaven, they smile. There's no physical contact involved. In the Bliss by Transformation, they gaze. In the Comfort from Others, a glance will do. Men and women in the Bliss by Transformation Heaven need only look at one another they don't even have to smile. They stare at each other for maybe three minutes or five minutes; that's how their sexual intercourse is completed. In the next heaven a brief glance is sufficient. An instant is all it takes. The higher the heaven, the lighter the thoughts of sexual desire. This is a true principle; you should understand it clearly. Once you do, you'll be able to genuinely understand the Buddhadharma, for you will know that sexual desire is tremendously harmful. Do
you remember the earlier passage in the sutra that says Bodhisattvas look upon sexual desire as they would a poisonous snake? They know they will be bitten to death. People's ordinary flesh eyes cannot see how fierce it is. That's why they spend all their time, day and night, thinking about this nasty thing. They can't put it down. If you really understood, I think you wouldn.t be so confused and
upside down about it.

K3 Determines these belong to the desire realm.

Sutra:

Ananda, thus it is that although they have transcended the physical in these six heavens, the traces of their minds still become involved. For that they will have to pay in person. These are called the Six Desire Heavens.

Commentary:

Ananda, thus it is that although they have transcended the physical in these six heavens, the traces of their minds still become involved. Although they have transcended the physical plane, they still get hung up mentally. Their minds, natures, and bodies still act out thoughts of sexual desire. For that they will have to pay in person. These are called the Six Desire Heavens. These heavens, from the Heaven of the Four Kings to the Heaven of Comfort from Others. Transformations, are called the Six Desire Heavens. The heavens are still in the desire realm because the beings in them are not totally pure. They still have thoughts of sexual desire.

J2 The four dhyana heavens.
K1 Four divisions.
L1 First dhyana heavens.
M1 Explains three heavens with different characteristics.
N1 Heaven of the multitudes of brahma.

Sutra:

Ananda, all those in the world who cultivate their minds but do not avail themselves of dhyana and so have no wisdom, can only control their bodies so as to not engage in sexual desire. Whether walking or sitting, or in their thoughts, they are totally devoid of it. Since they do not give rise to defiling
love, they do not remain in the realm of desire. These people can, in response to their thought, take on the bodies of Brahma beings. They are among those in the Heaven of the Multitudes of Brahma.

Commentary:

Ananda, now we will talk about the form realm, the heavens of the four dhyanas. All those in the world who cultivate their minds but do not avail themselves of dhyana and so have no wisdom, can only control their bodies so as to not engage in sexual desire. They haven.t become skilled in the practice of dhyana of stilling their thoughts, and so they don.t have any genuine wisdom. What they can do is control their own bodies and refrain from engaging in lust. Whether walking or sitting, or in their thoughts, they are totally devoid of it. Walking, standing,
sitting, and lying down even in their sleep at all times and in all places they do not give rise to defiling love. No matter how beautiful an object of form they may see, they do not give rise to defiling thoughts of love, and so they do not remain in the realm of desire. These people can, in response to their thought, take on the bodies of Brahma beings. They join with other pure beings. None of them have any desire. They are among those in the Heaven of the Multitudes of Brahma. They become part of the pure beings who inhabit this heaven. Each is a part of that general heavenly multitude . one among many.

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