Destiny of Gods

VOLUME 7, Chapter 4

 

K2 Listing the four heavens.
L1 Heaven of the station of boundless emptiness.

Sutra:

Those who dwell in the thought of renunciation and who succeed in renunciation and rejection, realize that their bodies are an obstacle. If they thereupon obliterate the obstacle and enter into emptiness, they are among those at the Station of Emptiness.

Commentary:

We have finished the discussion of the four dhyanas and now begin the explanation of the four stations of emptiness. Those who dwell in the thought of renunciation and who succeed in renunciation and rejection, realize that their bodies are an
obstacle. These gods accomplish renunciation of bliss and rejection of suffering. They know that physical bodies are an obstruction, and so, if they thereupon obliterate the obstacle and enter into emptiness, they are among those at the Station of Emptiness. They don.t want to be hindered by anything and so they contemplate their bodies as being just like empty space. In this way they wipe out that obstacle. These beings then take the other road at the fork and enter the Heaven of the Station of Boundless Emptiness.

L2 Heaven of the station of boundless consciousness.

Sutra:

For those who have eradicated all obstacles, there is neither obstruction nor extinction. Then there remains only the alaya consciousness and half of the subtle functions of the manas. These beings are among those at the Station of
Boundless Consciousness.

Commentary:

For those who have eradicated all obstacles, there is neither obstruction nor extinction. At the summit of the four dhyana heavens, those who wished to progress upward felt that the body was an obstacle. So they obliterated the obstacle and entered emptiness. Now that they have advanced to the formless realm, there is no more hindrance of physical form. There's no obstacle, and so there is nothing to extinguish either. Then there remains only the alaya consciousness and half of the subtle functions of the manas. At this point there is no body, only a consciousness. That consciousness is the alaya, or eighth, consciousness, also
known as the storehouse consciousness. The storehouse is actually the treasury of the Thus Come One, but at this point it has not yet completely returned to the nature of the treasury of the Thus Come One, and so it is still called a consciousness. Every move you make, every word you speak, everything you do and encounter in the course of every day is stored in this consciousness. For these beings, the alaya consciousness remains, along with half of the subtle functions of the manas. The manas is the seventh consciousness, also known as the defiling consciousness. Transformations take place in this consciousness. It is true that we say ignorance arises in the eighth consciousness, but here it is extremely close to becoming the nature of the treasury of the Thus Come One and to being free of defilement. It is only when the information stored in the eighth consciousness passes to the
seventh consciousness that it becomes defiling. Now, however, even the manas is functioning only at half its capacity and so the defilement that remains is extremely subtle. These beings are among those at the Station of Boundless Consciousness. They are born into the Heaven of the Station of Boundless Consciousness.

L3 Heaven of the station of nothing whatsoever.

Sutra:

Those who have already done away with emptiness and form eradicate the conscious mind as well. In the extensive tranquility of the ten directions there is nowhere at all to go. These beings are among those at the Station of Nothing Whatsoever.

Commentary:

When they reach this level there isn't anything at all. This is really a case of:

The house is destroyed,
People are gone.
It's hard to find words to express it.
Everything is gone.

Those who have already done away with emptiness and form now eradicate the conscious mind as well. The house is destroyed, the people are gone. In the station prior to this there still was consciousness, but now consciousness is gone as
well. It's hard to find words to express it. If you don't even have a consciousness, how are you going to talk? There's basically nothing that can be said, anyway. In the extensive tranquility of the ten directions there is nowhere at all to go. All the worlds of the ten directions throughout the entire dharma-realm have disappeared.
A stillness pervades. There's nowhere to go. Nor is there anywhere to come to. There's no coming and no going. These beings are among those at the Station of Nothing Whatsoever. Although there.s nothing whatsoever, nonetheless the nature of these beings still remains. Their nature is the same as emptiness. Therefore, the gods at the Station of Nothing Whatsoever still have a lifespan. How long is it? Sixty thousand great aeons. Since the gods. lifespan and physical height increases to such vast proportions in the realms of form and formlessness, I haven't mentioned the figures, they are too huge. I decided to wait till the end and impress you with one gigantic number. If you want to know all the numbers between, you can look them up. This, then, is the second-to-last heaven, and the lifespan of the gods is sixty thousand great kalpas. We call it a lifespan, but actually these gods are in samadhi for that long. At the end of that time their samadhi is destroyed, and then they once again transmigrate into the other realms of existence. It's not for sure what path
of rebirth they will wind up in. These are the beings in the Heaven
of the Station of Nothing Whatsoever.

L4 Heaven of the station of neither thought nor non-thought.

Sutra:

When the nature of their consciousness does not move, within extinction they exhaustively investigate. Within the endless they discern the end of the nature. It is as if it were there and yet not there, as if it were ended and yet not ended. They are among those at the Station of Neither Thought nor Non-
Thought.

Commentary:

This is the Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought, the highest of the heavens. The lifespan of these heavenly beings is eighty thousand great aeons. However, after enjoying that long period of heavenly blessings, they too fall back into rebirth. In the
Heaven of the Station of Boundless Consciousness, the consciousness still functions occasionally, but now it doesn't move at all. When the nature of their consciousness does not move, within extinction they exhaustively investigate. Ultimately even investigation and all other forms of pursuing knowledge come to an end. Within the endless they discern the end of the nature. The endless. refers to the absence of anything, as just described. Within it they discern the end of the nature which is endless. When they discern this nature, however, it is as if it were there and yet not there, as if it were ended and yet not ended. It seems to be gone but it isn't. They are among those at the Station of Neither Thought nor Non-Thought. There is a bit of thought left, but at this station it does not function. They remain in samadhi for eighty thousand great aeons. They are the gods with the longest lifespan. People who cultivate the Way should not give rise to thoughts.
Once your mind is set in motion and thoughts arise, you will be stuck with the retribution in the future. You'll have to work it off.

For example, there was an old cultivator in the past who cultivated the samadhi of neither thought nor non-thought, and he could probably have entered the Heaven of the Station of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought. One day, as he was cultivating by the seashore and was just on the verge of entering samadhi, a fish in the water disturbed him. In the Chan hall, people who are incessant talkers are dubbed machine guns. They are always able to think up reasons to interrupt others with questions and discussions which disturb the hall To create disturbances is to be a pest who gives other people trouble. In this case, it was a fish that created the
disturbance. It flipped out of the water with a plunk, and that little feat of acrobatics prevented the cultivator from entering samadhi. Unable to enter samadhi, the cultivator got angry, and he thought, "What a nuisance that fish is! I want to enter samadhi, and he comes to trouble me. I don't have any spiritual penetrations yet, but
when I get them, I'm going to come back as a kingfisher and eat his species up. That.s what he.ll get for obstructing my practice!"

Of course, since he was so angry the fish didn.t dare play around with him anymore. It was scared away. Left undisturbed, the cultivator accomplished his cultivation and was born in the Heaven of the Station of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought. However, after he enjoyed eighty thousand great aeons of residence in that heaven, guess what happened. The retribution came ripe from that one thought of anger he'd had by the seashore that day. He fell into the animal realm and was reborn as a kingfisher. His entire existence consisted of eating fish from the sea. This continued until
Shakyamuni Buddha came into the world and came to where he was to speak the dharma for him. Only then was he able to relinquish the body of a kingfisher and become a person. He once again left the home life and cultivated the Way, and this time he was certified to the fruition of Arhatship.

Whatever you do in cultivation of the Way, then, don't get angry. Whether people are good to you or not, you should maintain thoughts of loving kindness for them, thoughts of compassion and protection. Don't feel hatred toward anyone, don't be upset by them. It won.t be a problem if you perfect your cultivation and transcend the triple world. But if you remain in the triple world, you will have to undergo retribution for your hatred. There's a saying that is appropriate here:

You can move the waters of a thousand rivers,
But you can.t disturb the mind of a cultivator of the Way.
To disturb a cultivator and cause him to get angry is a serious
matter, and the cause and effect will ripen in the future.

K3 The rise and fall of sages and ordinary people.

Sutra:

These beings who delve exhaustively into emptiness, but never fathom the principle of emptiness, go from the Heaven of No Return down this road which is a dead end to sagehood. They are among those known as dull Arhats who do not turn their minds around. Just like those in the Heaven of No Thought and the heavens of externalists who become engrossed in emptiness and do not want to come back, these beings are confused, prone to outflows, and ignorant. They will accordingly enter the cycle of rebirth again.

Commentary:

These beings who delve exhaustively into emptiness, but never fathom the principle of emptiness, go from the Heaven of No Return down this road which is a dead end to sagehood. You.ll remember that at the summit of the form realm the road is forked. One path leads to the great Arhats who turn their minds around. Now we.ve come to the end of the road which the other fork leads to the Arhats who do not turn their minds around. They never fathom the principle of emptiness entirely. They have cultivated, but they don.t really understand; they don't have any genuine wisdom. They are among those known as dull Arhats who do not turn their minds around. They don't have the wisdom of sages. They don't turn from the small and go toward the great. Dull means stupid and dull-witted. Just like those in the Heaven of No Thought and the heavens of externalists who become
engrossed in emptiness and do not want to come back, these beings are confused, prone to outflows, and ignorant. The beings in those heavens and the ones who pass through the four stations of emptiness and wind up at this dead end all become attached to emptiness and don.t know how to return to cultivate the
Way to Bodhi. They end up confused and stupid. They will accordingly enter the cycle of rebirth again. In cultivation you must keep yourself in line and not go down the wrong road.

K4 Understanding the difference between ordinary people and sages.

Sutra:

Ananda, each and every being in all these heavens is ordinary. They are still answerable for their karmic retribution. When they have answered for their debts, they must once again enter rebirth. The lords of these heavens,
however, are all Bodhisattvas who roam in samadhi. They gradually progress in their practice and make transferences to the Way cultivated by all sages.

Commentary:

Ananda, each and every being in all these heavens is ordinary. You shouldn't think that they have succeeded in their cultivation. They are all still ordinary beings. They have not been certified to the fruition of sagehood. They are still answerable for their karmic retribution. Despite their long lifespans, they still must go off to repay their debts when their karma catches up with them. When they have answered for their debts, they must once again enter rebirth. The lords of these heavens, however, are all Bodhisattvas. They are transformation-body Bodhisattvas, who roam in samadhi. They gradually progress in their practice and make transferences to the Way cultivated by all sages. They make
transference to Bodhi, the Enlightened Way. They are certified to the fruition and join the family of sages. The Way they cultivate is the same that is cultivated by all the sages.

K5 Conclusion of those belonging to the formless realm.

Sutra:

Ananda, these are the Four Heavens of Emptiness, where the bodies and minds of the inhabitants are extinguished. The nature of concentration emerges, and they are free of the karmic retribution of form. This final group is called the Formless Realm.

Commentary:

Ananda, these are the Four Heavens of Emptiness. They are:

1. The Heaven of the Station of Boundless Emptiness.
2. The Heaven of the Station of Boundless Consciousness.
3. The Heaven of the Station of Nothing Whatsoever.
4. The Heaven of Neither Thought Nor Non-Thought.

This is where the bodies and minds of the inhabitants are extinguished.
The nature of concentration emerges, and they are free of the karmic retribution of form. They don.t have physical bodies, and they have no minds other than a consciousness which does not move. The nature of their samadhi-power becomes evident. .They are free of the karmic retribution of form. They don't have to go through that in these heavens. This final group is called the Formless Realm. This is the end of life in the three realms. The four stations of emptiness are the heavens of the formless realm. They are the last of the heavens.

I2 Reiterates and generally concludes.

Sutra:

The beings in all of them have not understood the wonderful enlightenment of the bright mind. Their accumulation of falseness brings into being false existence in the three realms. Within them they falsely follow along and
become submerged in the seven destinies. As pudgalas, they gather together with their own species or kind.

Commentary:

The beings throughout the three realms just described have not understood the wonderful enlightenment of the bright mind. They don't have the wisdom to understand and become enlightened. Their accumulation of falseness brings into being false existence in the three realms. From the one truth, falseness arises. Ignorance is produced in the nature of wonderful true suchness. The three realms are created by living beings themselves. Once within them they falsely follow along and become submerged in the seven destinies. We usually speak of the cycle of rebirth in the six paths, but here the text mentions seven. That's because the path of the immortals is included here, having been discussed earlier in the sutra. The seven are:

1. gods,
2. asuras,
3. immortals,
4. people,
5. animals,
6. hungry ghosts,
7. hell dwellers.

They bob up and down, suddenly getting reborn in the heavens and then falling again into the hells. They go from being people to being hungry ghosts. That's what's meant by submerged. As pudgalas, they gather together with their own species or kind. Pudgala is a Sanskrit word that means sentient beings. Gathering together
with their own kind means that they undergo retribution for whatever kind of karma they have created. If they are immortals, they gather together with that kind. If their reward is the heavens, then they gather together with other gods. If they are destined to be asuras, they get together with other asuras. The same applies to the
other destinies.

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