To My Teachers
My Parents, and
My Husband
Contents
· I. Introduction
· II. The Buddha Teaches Deities
· III. Devas and Brahmas Honor the Buddha
· IV. The Role of Devas in the Buddha's Career
· V. Liberation for Humans, Devas, and Brahmas
· Notes
· Abbreviations
· Bibliography
I. Introduction
In the canonical formula for contemplation of the Buddha, nine epithets of the
Awakened One are mentioned. One of these, likely to be overlooked, is sattha
devamanussanam, "teacher of gods and humans." The present essay focuses
on one aspect of this epithet: the Buddha's role as teacher of the devas or
gods. In the pages to follow we will carefully consider the instructions and
techniques he used when teaching beings of divine stature. If we study these
teachings we will gain deeper understanding of how we should purify our own
minds, and by studying the responses of the gods we can find models for our
own behavior in relation to the Master and his teaching.
Many religious leaders consider themselves prophets whose authority stems from
an Almighty God, but as our epithet implies, the Buddha's relationship to divinity
was very different. He instructed deities, as well as humans, on how to end
all suffering (dukkha) by eradicating ignorance and other unwholesome states.
The gods came to the Buddha to request instruction and clarification, to support
his Sasana or Dispensation, to praise his incomparable qualities, and to pay
homage at his feet. Devas and brahmas are often mentioned throughout the Pali
Canon. They regularly manifest themselves on the human plane and participate
in many episodes of the Buddha's career. Some of these higher beings are foolish,
some exceedingly wise; some are barely distinguishable from well-off people,
others are extremely powerful, long-lived, and magnificent. The multiple connections
between the Buddha and beings of the higher planes can inspire meditators to
develop the Noble Eightfold Path that leads to the end of suffering.
This essay will explore: (1) the Buddha's direct instructions to devas and how
they can help human meditators practice the Dhamma; (2) how devas, out of gratitude
and faith, honor the Buddha and support his Dispensation; and (3) the process
of attaining liberation for devas, brahmas, and humans.
The Buddhist universe consists of thirty-one planes of existence (see chart
below). Every being lives on one or another of these planes. After death all
beings, except the arahants, will be reborn in a realm and under circumstances
that accords with their kamma -- their volitional actions of body, speech, and
mind made in that existence or in any previous one. We will often refer to this
chart to indicate where, in the cosmic hierarchy, the deities we meet come from.
Thirty-One Planes of Existence
· Four planes of the Immaterial Brahma Realm:
· (31) Plane of Neither Perception-nor-non-Perception
· (30) Plane of Nothingness
· (29) Plane of Infinite Consciousness
· (28) Plane of Infinite Space
· Sixteen planes of the Fine Material Brahma Realm:
· 7 Fourth Jhana Planes:
· 5 Pure Abodes:
· (27) Highest (Akanittha)
· (26) Clear Sighted (Sudassi)
· (25) Beautiful (Sudassa)
· (24) Serene (Atappa)
· (23) Durable (Aviha)
· (22) Non-percipient, matter only, no mind
· (21) Great Fruit
· 3 Third Jhana Planes:
· (20) Third Jhana, highest degree
· (19) Third Jhana, medium degree
· (18) Third Jhana, minor degree
· 3 Second Jhana Planes:
· (17) Second Jhana, highest degree (Abhassara)
· (16) Second Jhana, medium degree
· (15) Second Jhana, minor degree
· 3 First Jhana Planes:
· (14) First Jhana, Maha Brahmas
· (13) First Jhana, Brahma's ministers
· (12) First Jhana, Brahma's retinue
· Eleven planes of the Sensuous Realm :
· Seven Happy Sensuous Planes:
· Six Deva planes:
· (11) Control others' creations
· (10) Rejoice in their own creations
· (9) Tusita -- Delightful Plane
· (8) Yama
· (7) Realm of the Thirty-three
· (6) Catummaharajika -- 4 Great Kings
· (5) Human Beings
· Four Lower Realms of Woe:
· (4) Ghosts
· (3) Asuras
· (2) Animal realm
· (1) Hell realms
The lowest area (planes 1-11) is called the sensuous realm; here sense experience
predominates. Next comes the fine-material realm (12-27) attained by practicing
the fine-material absorptions (rupa-jhanas). Above that is the immaterial realm
(28-31) attained by practicing the immaterial absorptions (arupa-jhanas).
Although humans appear to be rather low on the scale, many intelligent deities
long for rebirth on the human plane. Why? Because the best opportunity to practice
the Dhamma and attain liberation is right here on earth. On the lower four planes,
little progress can be made as suffering is gross and unrelenting and the opportunity
to perform deeds of merit is rarely gained. The very bliss of the higher planes
beclouds the universal characteristics of all phenomena: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness,
and the lack of any lasting, controlling self. And without fully comprehending
these principles, there is no motivation to develop the detachment from the
world that is essential to liberation.
Before examining the chart in detail, a few notes on terminology are in order.
We will use the word "deva" to include deva, devata, and devaputta
referred to in the Suttas, as all three terms are almost synonymous. Although
"deva" is often used in the Pali texts to refer to all super-human
beings, "deva" and "brahma" can generally be distinguished.
"Deva" in its more limited sense refers to beings in the six planes
immediately above the human one (6-11), the sensuous heavens. When "deva"
refers specifically to these sense-sphere beings, the term "brahma"
is used for those residing in the fine-material planes (12-27) and immaterial
planes (28-31). If in a particular discourse "deva" is used for a
being who clearly fits into the category of brahmas (as sometimes happens),
we will call him a brahma; if the deva is actually a sense-sphere being (or
if his identity is unclear) we will retain "deva." For variety, we
occasionally use "deity" and "god" as translations for deva
in all its senses.
Let us now study some features of the chart. The lower beings and humans do
not have fixed lifespans, but higher beings do. As you go up the chart from
the sixth plane to the thirty-first, each successive group of deities lives
longer than the group below it. The lifespans of devas are measured in multiple
centuries. The duration of a brahma's existence can only be expressed in aeons.
The Buddha defines these extremely long periods of time by analogy. An aeon
is the length of time it would take to wear away a mountain of solid rock six
miles high and six miles wide, rubbing over it with a fine piece of muslin once
every hundred years. The highest brahmas of the immaterial sphere live for 84,000
aeons.
All beings -- human, sub-human, devas, and brahmas -- die. All except Arahants
are reborn in one or another of the thirty-one planes. No being lasts forever.
Arahants have eradicated all mental defilements and have thereby eliminated
the causes for rebirth with its attendant suffering. They are not reborn after
death. Instead, they attain Parinibbana, the complete, permanent cessation of
every form of existence. For all non-Arahants, death is immediately followed
by rebirth. The plane of birth is determined by the kamma that becomes operative
at the moment of death. This could be any volition created in the present life
or in any previous existence. Even the three lower kinds of noble ones (ariya)
must be reborn. They have effaced some of the mental defilements, are assured
of eventually attaining Nibbana, and will never again be reborn in the lower
planes. Noble ones of the two lower kinds -- stream-enterers and once-returners
-- can be reborn in the deva planes. For anyone who is not an ariya -- and this
includes most devas and brahmas -- the destination of rebirth is uncertain.
It may be on the same plane or on a higher one; but most often it is on a lower
plane. Rebirth is neither arbitrary nor controlled by a God. It takes place
strictly due to kamma, the deeds we have performed and continue to perform all
our lives. Brahmas too die and are reborn, and also suffer, even though their
lives are so extremely long that they may be deluded into believing they are
permanent.[1]
The devas of the sensuous sphere are said to enjoy sense pleasures in far greater
abundance than can be found in the human world. Their bodies emit light and
they have subtle sense organs, similar to ours but far more powerful and acute.
That is why the supernormal powers of seeing various realms and hearing at great
distances are referred to as deva vision and deva hearing. On the deva planes
there are stream-enterers and once-returners. For example, Sakka, king of the
gods in the heaven of the Thirty-three, became a stream-enterer while discussing
the Dhamma with the Buddha, as we will see below.[2] However, only few among
the devas have any understanding of the Dhamma. In fact, all that is needed
to be reborn in these heavens is the meritorious kamma of generosity and good
morality. Mental development through meditation is not a prerequisite for rebirth
on the higher sensuous planes.
The fine-material brahmas have extremely subtle bodies of light; their powers
are great but not unlimited. A being is reborn among these brahmas by cultivating
the appropriate jhana, perfecting it, and retaining it at the moment of death.
Jhanas are states of deep concentration that can be attained by unifying the
mind through meditation. They are all wholesome states of a very lofty and sublime
nature. But one can get "stuck internally" in any of the jhanas and
thereby block one's progress towards awakening.[3] There are four fine-material
jhanas. The beings in the brahma planes spend most of their time enjoying their
respective jhanas. Brahmas experience no ill will or hatred, but only because
they have suppressed it by their jhana, not because they have uprooted it from
their mental continuum. Thus when a brahma is eventually reborn as a deva or
human being he or she can again be beset by hatred. (After one birth as a deva
or human, a former brahma can even fall to one of the lower planes of the grossest
suffering.) The brahmas also are prone to conceit and belief in a permanent
self, as well as to attachment to the bliss of meditation. Fine-material brahmas
can interact with the human plane if they so choose, but to appear to humans
they must, like the devas, deliberately assume a grosser form.[4] Later we will
meet a number of brahmas who converse with the Buddha.
The immaterial brahmas of the four highest planes have no material bodies whatsoever.
They consist entirely of mind. They attained this kind of birth by achieving
and maintaining the immaterial jhanas, four kinds of absorption taking non-material
objects, and it is this kamma that became operative at their death. These brahmas
can have no contact with the human or deva planes, for they have no physical
bodies; thus we will rarely mention them. They spend countless aeons in the
perfect equanimity of meditation until their lifespan ends. Then they are reborn
in the same plane, a higher immaterial plane, or as devas. After that they too
can be reborn on any plane at all. So even existence without a body is not the
way to permanently eliminate suffering.
Only practicing the Noble Eightfold Path can bring suffering to an end. In fact,
immaterial brahmas are in the unfortunate position of being unable to start
on the path. This is because one has to learn the Dhamma from the Buddha or
one of his disciples to attain the first stage of awakening, to become a stream-enterer.
That is why the sage Asita, called by the Buddha's father to examine the newborn
Bodhisatta, wept after predicting that Prince Siddhattha would become a Buddha.
The sage knew he was going to die before the prince attained Buddhahood. He
had cultivated these immaterial absorptions so he would have to be reborn in
the immaterial realm and would thereby lose all contact with the human plane.
This meant he would not be able to escape samsara under Gotama Buddha. He was
sorely distressed to realize that he would miss this rare opportunity to gain
deliverance and would have to remain in the round of rebirth until another Buddha
appears in the remote future. He could see into the future and thus understood
the precious opportunity a Buddha offers, but he could neither postpone his
death nor avoid rebirth into the immaterial realm.
II. The Buddha Teaches Deities
The Buddha teaches deities when they visit the human plane where he normally
resides,[5] and sometimes too by visiting them on the higher planes. On some
occasions devas and brahmas come to the Buddha for clarification of Dhamma problems.
On other occasions the Buddha becomes aware, through his supernormal knowledge,
that a god needs some instruction to correct a wrong view or to goad him further
on the path to awakening. Then the Buddha travels to the higher plane and gives
the deity a personal discourse.
Once a brahman admirer of the Buddha recounted as best as he could evidence
of the greatness of the Buddha. He was trying to convince other brahmans to
meet the Buddha. His proof included the fact that "many thousands of deities
have gone for refuge for life to the recluse Gotama" (MN 95.9). Devas,
like humans, develop faith in the Buddha by practicing his teachings. In Chapter
III we will see how grateful devas express this confidence. When devas come
to visit the Buddha late at night, their luminous bodies light up the monastery
as they pay respects to the Exalted One and ask their questions.
We will start with a god who was agitated by fear arisen from his sensual desire,
and conclude with one who becomes a stream-enterer during his conversation with
the Buddha.
Devas Come to the Buddha for Help
Subrahma deva
Subrahma deva was not a very sophisticated god; he delighted in sensuality,
like many other devas of the sensuous sphere. He had been playing in sport with
his thousand nymphs when half of them suddenly vanished. Subrahma used his deva
vision to find where they had gone and he saw that they had died and been reborn
in a hell realm. Anxious that he and his remaining nymphs might soon suffer
the same fate, he came to the Buddha looking for a way to end his fear:
"Always frightened is this mind,
The mind is always agitated
About problems not yet arisen
And about those that have appeared.
If there exists release from fear,
Being asked, please explain it to me."
The Buddha does not offer simplistic short-term solutions to the suffering beings
go through when their loved ones die; he did not console the deva. Instead,
he told Subrahma that only by developing wholesome mental states through meditation
and by giving up all attachments can anyone find security:
"Not apart from enlightenment and austerity,
Not apart from sense restraint,
Not apart from relinquishing all,
Do I see any safety for living beings." (KS I, 77; SN 2:17)
The deva and his remaining nymphs apparently comprehended these words, as the
commentary says that at the end of this discourse they all became stream-enterers.
How to escape suffering
One deva who came to visit the Buddha seemed to be already trying to practice
the Dhamma, for he was concerned about how beings can eliminate their internal
and external bondage:
"A tangle inside, a tangle outside,
This generation is entangled in a tangle.
I ask you this, O Gotama,
Who can disentangle this tangle?"
The Buddha replied that to untie these knots of misery one must cultivate morality,
mindfulness, concentration, and insight. He added that the Arahants are indeed
freed from the twists and bonds of rebirth:
"A man who is wise, established on virtue,
Developing the mind and wisdom,
A bhikkhu who is ardent and discerning:
He can disentangle this tangle.
Those in whom lust and hatred too
Along with ignorance have been expunged,
The arahants with taints destroyed:
For them the tangle is disentangled." (KS I, 20; SN 1:23)
A second deva concerned with liberation spoke a verse which is partly praise
of the Buddha and partly a request for teaching. Using various similes from
the animal world, this god showed his admiration and reverence for the Exalted
One. In the last line, with all humility, he posed the question that the Buddha's
teachings are designed to answer:
"Having approached you, we ask a question
Of the slender hero with antelope-calves,
Greedless, subsisting on little food,
Wandering alone like a lion,
An elephant indifferent to sensual pleasures:[6]
How is one released from suffering?"
The Buddha treated this deva's serious query directly and with a minimum of
words. He replied that the way out of suffering is to cultivate detachment from
the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind:
"There are five sensual cords in the world,
Mind is declared to be the sixth.
Having made desire fade out here,
It is thus one is released from suffering." (KS I, 25; SN 1:30)
These two gods apparently had already prepared themselves for the Dhamma and
did not need the kind of graduated discourse usually given to human beings,
which begins with the benefits of generosity and ethics. We can contemplate
and practice the Buddha's advice to the deities to cultivate the detachment
and insight that lead to liberation.
Friendship with the good
Once a group of six devas came to visit the Buddha at Savatthi, while he was
residing in Jetavana, the monastery offered by Anathapindika. The first deva
spoke the following verse:
"One should associate only with the good,
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learned the true Dhamma of the good,
One becomes better, never worse." (KS I, 27; SN 1:31)
The other five concurred and spoke verses that differed only in their point
of emphasis. One said association with the good brings wisdom, another that
friends dry our tears, another that wise friendship brings one a good reputation,
another that it leads to a happy rebirth. The last stated that a good friend
is a source of bliss. The Buddha approved their verses and then added one of
his own:
"One should associate only with the good,
With the good one should foster intimacy.
Having learned the true Dhamma of the good,
One is released from all suffering."
Maha-mangala Sutta
The popular Maha-mangala Sutta -- the Great Discourse on Blessings -- originated
when a radiant deva approached the Blessed One at Jetavana and respectfully
requested a teaching on the highest good: "Many gods and men, wishing for
well-being, have pondered over those things that constitute blessings. Tell
us what is the highest blessing (mangalam uttamam)." When gods cannot concur
among themselves they go to the Fully Self-Awakened One, "the light of
the triple world," the source of all wisdom. The Buddha enumerated thirty-eight
"blessings," among them: rebirth in a good location, supporting one's
parents, avoiding intoxicants, hearing the Dhamma, and knowing the Four Noble
Truths (Sn vv. 258-69). This sutta to a deva is one of the select number of
parittas, suttas recited for protection from harm, and is popular among Buddhists
even to this day.
A discouraged meditator
A deva named Kamada had been trying to follow the Buddha's teachings but found
the task too demanding. He sounds depressed, as we human meditators feel when
we cannot see any "progress" in our practice and lose sight of the
long-term perspective. Discouraged, Kamada complained to the Buddha about how
difficult it is to practice the Dhamma.
The Buddha took a positive approach. He did not coddle or comfort the deva,
but praised those bhikkhus who leave the household life to work steadfastly
towards the goal:
"They do even what is difficult to do,
(O Kamada," said the Blessed One),
"The trainees who are composed in virtue,
Steadfast are they in their hearts.
For one who has entered the homeless life
There comes contentment that brings happiness."
Kamada remained disconsolate, insisting on the difficulties: "It is hard
to win this serene contentment, Blessed One." The Buddha repeated that
some beings do it, those "who love to achieve the mastery of the heart,
whose minds both day and night, love to meditate." Meditation on the universal
characteristics of change, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self is the way to ultimate
contentment because it leads to detachment from all worldly concerns. Kamada,
however, complained that it is hard to compose the mind. The Buddha agreed the
task is not easy, but added: "Yet that which is hard to compose, they do
compose it" and, calming their restless minds, they attain the stages of
awakening.
"The path is impassable and uneven, Blessed One," the deva complained.
He seems to crave some magic to make everything easy. But that is not how the
Buddhas teach: they only show the way, and we ourselves must put forth the energy
to walk on. Liberation takes consistent, persistent, diligent effort. To Kamada,
not yet a noble one, training the mind seemed to be an endless task:
"Though the path is impassable and uneven,
The noble ones walk along it, Kamada.
The ignoble fall down head first,
Straight down on the uneven path;
But the path of the noble ones is even,
For the noble are even amidst the uneven." (KS I, 68-69; SN 2:6)
Would an Arahant say "I" or "mine"?
Other devas had more sophisticated queries. One deva, for example, asked the
Buddha if an Arahant could use words that refer to a self:
"Consummate with taints destroyed,
One who bears his final body,
Would he still say 'I speak'?
And would he say 'They speak to me'?"
This deva realized that Arahantship means the end of rebirth and suffering by
uprooting mental defilements; he knew that Arahants have no belief in any self
or soul. But he was puzzled to hear monks reputed to be Arahants continuing
to use such self-referential expressions.
The Buddha replied that an Arahant might say "I" always aware of the
merely pragmatic value of common terms:
"Skilful, knowing the world's parlance,
He uses such terms as mere expressions."
The deva, trying to grasp the Buddha's meaning, asked whether an Arahant would
use such expressions because he is still prone to conceit. The Buddha made it
clear that the Arahant has no delusions about his true nature. He has uprooted
all notions of self and removed all traces of pride and conceit:
"No knots exist for one with conceit cast off;
For him all knots of conceit are consumed.
When the wise one has transcended the conceived
He might still say 'I speak,'
And he might say 'They speak to me.'
Skilful, knowing the world's parlance,
He uses such terms as mere expressions." (KS I, 21-22; SN 1:25)
Crossing the flood
Once late at night a deva came into the Buddha's presence, shedding bright light
over the whole of Jetavana. He saluted the Lord, stood to one side, and asked:
"How, dear sir, did you cross the flood?" This god knew that the Buddha
had gone beyond samsara's deluge of misery and wanted to learn how he had achieved
this.
The Buddha replied: "By not standing still, friend, and by not struggling
I crossed the flood." The deva, perplexed by this paradox, asked for clarification.
To clear up the analogy, the Exalted One told him: "When I came to a standstill,
friend, then I sank; but when I struggled, then I got swept away. It is in this
way, friend, that by not standing still and by not struggling I crossed the
flood." The metaphor describes balanced effort. He "sank" when
he did not work hard enough, but if he strained too hard he became agitated
and got "swept away." When he discerned how to cross over with just
the right balance between energy and calm, he transcended the flood of suffering
fully and permanently. This deva rejoiced that at long last he had met a real
Arahant, a true holy man:
"After a long time at last I see
A brahman who is fully quenched,
Who by not standing still, not struggling,
Has crossed attachment to the world." (KS I, 2; SN 1:1)
The delighted deva had correctly perceived what set the Buddha apart from others:
he had transcended death, rebirth, and all suffering by eliminating all the
mental impurities. The deva began with a modicum of faith in the Buddha and
received personal instruction from him. As a result, the commentary indicates,
he became a stream-enterer. After the Buddha approved the deva's verse, he paid
respects and departed.
Downfall
On a similar occasion a deva asked the Buddha to explain the causes of the downfall,
or moral decline, of beings. In reply, the Buddha first gave a summary: "He
who loves Dhamma progresses, he who hates it declines." Then he named ten
specific dangers to avoid: (1) the company and teachings of the vicious, (2)
excessive sleep and talk, (3) being irritable, (4) not supporting aged parents
if one has the resources to do so, (5) lying to a monk or Dhamma teacher, (6)
being stingy, (7) being conceited about birth, wealth, or community, (8) running
around with many women, (9) drinking, gambling, and adultery, and (10) marrying
a woman many years younger than oneself.
The Buddha concluded, "Reflecting thoroughly on those causes of downfall
in the world, the wise one, endowed with insight, enjoys bliss in a happy state."
Meditation on this negative subject makes wisdom grow, through avoidance, while
encouraging insight and bringing pure happiness (Sn vv. 91-115).
Sakka's questions
Sakka, king of the devas in the heaven of the Thirty-three, played many roles
in the Buddha's mission. He attended on the Bodhisatta at his final birth and
at the Great Renunciation, visited the Buddha under the Bodhi Tree, and several
times proclaimed his confidence in his unique qualities. A discourse called
Sakka's Questions (DN 21) took place after he had been a serious disciple of
the Buddha for some time. The sutta records a long audience he had with the
Blessed One which culminated in his attainment of stream-entry. Their conversation
is an excellent example of the Buddha as "teacher of devas," and shows
all beings how to work for Nibbana. For these reasons we will study Sakka's
Questions in depth to see what message it has for us today.[7]
From his vantage point in the Tavatimsa plane, Sakka was a keen observer of
the behavior of humans and other beings. He saw that while beings would like
to live with each other peacefully, they rarely succeed. Thus his opening question
to the Buddha attempted to unravel this contradiction:
"By what fetters, sir, are beings bound -- gods, humans, asuras, nagas,
gandhabbas, and whatever other kinds there may be -- whereby, although they
wish to live without hate, harming, hostility or malignity, and in peace, they
yet live in hate, harming one another, hostile and malign?"
The Buddha explained that two mental factors -- jealousy and avarice -- cause
all this trouble; from these two qualities almost all the aggression in the
world arises. In this way the Buddha began a step-by-step lesson in Buddhist
psychology: causes and conditions govern everything that happens in the universe.
Sakka next asked about the origin of jealousy and avarice. Behind jealousy and
avarice, the Buddha said, lie liking and disliking, and the source of both liking
and disliking is desire.
As this is such a basic problem, Sakka wanted to understand even more deeply
the causes of desire. The Buddha told him that desire is triggered by thinking.
Although he did not specify what sort of thinking, he must have been referring
to unsystematic mental activity, the random thoughts in which the untrained
mind indulges. When Sakka asked about the cause of thinking, the Buddha said
it is the "tendency to mental proliferation." This is what brings
about random thinking, which leads to desire, which in turn culminates in like
and dislike. These in turn condition jealousy and avarice, from which arise
the conflicts in our daily lives.
Sakka next shifted to a more directly practical issue: "How does one destroy
this sequence that leads to so much misery?" He requested the Buddha to
explain what should be done to eliminate this tendency to endless proliferation
of mental activity. The Buddha replied that one should not blindly follow after
every feeling that arises in the mind. Rather, meditators should pursue a feeling
-- whether it be a pleasant, painful, or neutral one -- only if doing so contributes
to the growth of wholesome qualities. If we are alert to our reactions and see
that pursuing a feeling strengthens unwholesome tendencies, then we should relinquish
that feeling. We will not get carried away by desire for more enjoyable feelings
or by aversion towards pain and unhappiness.
Sakka once again was very appreciative of the Buddha's words and he next asked
more specifically about the practice of bhikkhus. The deva knew that monks practice
the Dhamma to the highest degree, in the purest form. As a god he could not
become a monk, but he wanted to discover how monks acquire the restraint required
by the monastic disciplinary code. The Buddha replied that the good bhikkhu
pursues only bodily conduct, conversation, and goals which are conducive to
the growth of wholesome qualities, to the attainment of Nibbana. He rigorously
restrains himself from everything detrimental to these aims.
Sakka had one more question about mind training: "How do bhikkhus control
their senses?" Again the Buddha spoke of avoiding whatever leads to evil
while cultivating the positive, this time referring to all kinds of objects
-- forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tactile objects, and ideas. This is a basic
Dhamma theme: always avoid unwholesome actions while one works to create wholesome
kamma.
Sakka wanted to take full advantage of his lengthy audience with the Blessed
One, so he embarked on another series of queries. These deal with the variety
of religious teachers he had seen in the world. Even a deva can be confused
by the range of doctrines taught by "holy" people. He genuinely sought
to learn: (1) if these teachers all taught the same thing, and (2) if they are
all liberated. How often do we hear today, "All paths lead to the same
goal," or "All spiritual teachings are the same beneath their superficial
differences." But the Buddha, the Fully Self-Awakened One, replied negatively
to both of Sakka's questions. He explained that spiritual teachers do not all
teach the same thing because they have different perceptions of the truth. From
this it logically follows that they cannot all be fully liberated.
Proclaiming where true liberation lies, the Buddha instructed Sakka that only
those "who are liberated by the destruction of craving are fully proficient,
freed from the bonds, perfect in the holy life." When evaluating spiritual
teachers, bear in mind that liberation means destroying desire. Sakka approved
of the Buddha's statement and remarked that passion pulls beings to repeated
rebirth in happy or unhappy circumstances.
Sakka was so at ease with his Teacher that he then related a story which shows
an unexpected aspect of deity-human relationships. Long ago he had gone to various
human ascetics for advice on these matters with utterly unilluminating results.
None of the yogis that Sakka had hoped to learn from had told him anything.
In fact, as soon as they realized he was the king of the devas, one and all
decided to become his disciples. Ironically, Sakka found himself in the awkward
position of having to tell them what little Dhamma he understood at the time.
They had no teachings to give him.
Sakka had been delighted with this whole conversation. He declared that it had
given him a unique happiness and satisfaction "conducive to dispassion,
detachment, cessation, peace, higher knowledge, enlightenment, Nibbana."
This was the direction he had longed to travel, literally for ages. He had at
last made substantial progress with the guidance of the Blessed One.
Inviting Sakka to delve further into his mental processes, the Buddha then asked
him what thoughts contribute to this great satisfaction. In his final reply,
Sakka declared he was joyful because he foresaw six facts about his future:
(1) As king of the devas he had gained "fresh potency of life." (2)
At the end of this life, he would mindfully choose where to be reborn, in a
human or higher realm. (3) In that future life too, he would follow the Buddha-Dhamma
with wisdom, clear comprehension, and mindfulness. (4) He might attain Arahantship
in that existence. (5) But if not, he would become a non-returner (anagami)
and, after dying there, be reborn in the highest Pure Abode. (6) Finally Sakka
knew that that existence would be his last; before it ended he would become
an Arahant.[8]
The king of the devas then spoke a verse in gratitude to the Buddha:
"I've seen the Buddha, and my doubts
Are all dispelled, my fears are allayed,
And now to the Enlightened One I pay
Homage due, to him who's drawn the dart
Of craving, to the Buddha, peerless Lord,
Mighty hero, kinsman of the Sun!"
The sutta then indicates that Sakka gained the stainless "vision of the
Dhamma" by which he became a stream-enterer. All his uncertainties about
the path to final awakening had been dispelled by the Buddha's masterly replies
to his questions, and his own past merits bore their proper fruit.
There is another discourse with Sakka as questioner (MN 37). It is set later
on, at the monastery built by the woman lay devotee Visakha for the Buddha in
Savatthi. This time Sakka asked the Buddha: "How in brief is a bhikkhu
liberated by the destruction of craving... one who is foremost among gods and
humans?"
In reply, the Buddha summarized the sequence that leads a bhikkhu to liberation:
"A bhikkhu has heard that nothing is worth adhering to. When a bhikkhu
has heard that nothing is worth adhering to, he directly knows everything...
he fully understands everything... whatever feeling he feels, whether pleasant
or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant, he abides contemplating impermanence
in those feelings, contemplating fading away, contemplating cessation, contemplating
relinquishment. Contemplating thus, he does not cling to anything in the world.
When he does not cling he is not agitated... he personally attains Nibbana.
He understands 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had to
be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.'"
The cycle of dependent origination (paticca-samuppada) explains that contact
leads to feeling which in turn conditions craving, and craving causes clinging,
which leads to rebirth and suffering. So by contemplating feeling and by seeing
it as impermanent, unsatisfactory, and non-self, the bhikkhu gives up all craving
and clinging. That is Nibbana here and now. Delighted, Sakka paid respects to
the Buddha and returned to the Tavatimsa deva plane.
The Buddha Goes to Teach Deities
In several episodes the Buddha travels to higher planes to teach the beings
dwelling there. While he generally visited the lower brahma planes for this
purpose, his most important course of instruction to the gods took place on
the Tavatimsa deva plane (No. 7 on the chart). The Pali commentaries report
that during the seventh rains retreat after his Enlightenment, the Buddha spent
three months in the Tavatimsa heaven teaching the entire Abhidhamma to his mother
along with numerous other devas and brahmas. They had gathered there from the
various deva planes of ten thousand world systems in order to listen to his
exposition of this extremely precise philosophical psychology.[9]
Only higher beings could have remained sitting in a single posture this long,
and continuity of attention is essential for properly grasping the Abhidhamma.
"Infinite and immeasurable was the discourse, which went on ceaselessly
for three months with the velocity of a waterfall" (Expos 19). But as the
Buddha was a human being, his body required normal food. Thus everyday, in the
terrestrial forenoon, he created an image of himself to continue preaching in
Tavatimsa, while in his natural body he came to earth to collect almsfood and
partake of a meal. Venerable Sariputta met him daily at the Anotatta Lake, and
there the Buddha summarized for him what he had taught the deities the previous
day. Sariputta gradually passed all this material on to his own group of five
hundred bhikkhu pupils, elaborating and organizing it to make it easier to comprehend.
The Buddha gave this profound teaching in a higher plane as it demanded super-human
attentiveness. His chief student there was his mother, who had died a few days
after his birth and was reborn in the Tusita deva-world. By teaching her the
most subtle aspects of the Dhamma, the seven sections of the Abhidhamma Pitaka,
the Buddha expressed his gratitude to his mother for having carried him in her
womb and bringing him into this world.
Maha Brahma
The stories of a Buddha going to teach a brahma take place on the plane of Maha
Brahma, the third of the fine-material planes (No. 14). Many people worship
Maha Brahma as the supreme and eternal creator God, but for the Buddha he is
merely a powerful deity still caught within the cycle of repeated existence.
In point of fact, "Maha Brahma" is a role or office filled by different
individuals at different periods.
The Buddha has directly seen the origins of Maha Brahma and understands what
it requires to be reborn in his world. In the Brahmajala Sutta (DN 1) the Buddha
describes how a supposed Creator God came to believe himself omnipotent and
how others came to rely on his sovereignty. His description was based, not on
speculation or hearsay, but on his own direct knowledge. The Buddha explains
that when our world system disintegrates, as it regularly does after extremely
long periods of time, the lower sixteen planes are all destroyed. Beings disappear
from all planes below the seventeenth, the plane of the Abhassara gods. Whatever
beings cannot be born on the seventeenth or a higher brahma plane then must
take birth on the lower planes in other remote world systems.
Eventually the world starts to re-form. Then a solitary being passes away from
the Abhassara plane and takes rebirth on the plane of Maha Brahma. A palace
created by his kamma awaits him there: "There he dwells, mind-made, feeding
on rapture, self-luminous, moving through the air, abiding in glory. And he
continues thus for a long, long time." After ages pass, he becomes lonely
and longs for other beings to join him. It just so happens that shortly after
the brahma starts craving for company, other beings from the Abhassara plane,
who have exhausted their lifespans there, pass away and are reborn in the palace
of Brahma, in companionship with him.
Because these beings seemed to arise in accordance with the first brahma's wish,
he becomes convinced that he is the almighty God: "I am the Great Brahma,
the Vanquisher... the Lord, the Maker and Creator, the Supreme Being."
The other brahmas, seeing that he was already present when they took birth in
his world, accept his claim and revere him as their creator.
Eventually this misconception of a Creator God spreads to the human plane. One
of the other brahmas passes away and is reborn here. He develops concentration
and learns to recollect his previous life with Maha Brahma, but none of his
lives before that. Recollecting that existence he recalls that Maha Brahma was
considered the "father of all that are and are to be... permanent, stable,
eternal." As he is unable to remember further back, he believes this to
be absolute truth and propounds a theistic doctrine of an omnipotent Creator
God (Net 69-70, 155-66).
The Venerable Ledi Sayadaw, a highly renowned Myanmar scholar-monk of the first
part of this century, gave a careful analysis of the powers of Maha Brahma in
his Niyama Dipani (MB pp. 138-39). He states that although Maha Brahma can perform
all sorts of transformations, he cannot actually create independent creatures,
change the kammic law of cause and effect, or keep anyone from growing old or
dying. Brahma can use his special powers to transport a man to the brahma plane
for a short visit, but he cannot ensure that someone will be reborn there.
Sikhin Buddha and Abhibhu
This story of a former Buddha's encounter with brahmas was recounted by Gotama
Buddha to his disciples as follows. Buddha Sikhin took his chief disciple, Abhibhu,
along on a visit to a brahma world where he told him to give a discourse to
the brahma, his ministers, and his retinue.[10] Venerable Abhibhu then "instructed,
enlightened, incited, and inspired" the audience with a talk on Dhamma.
But the great brahma and his cohorts did not appreciate what they heard. Instead
of paying careful heed to the chief disciple's words, they felt insulted that
a disciple should preach in the presence of the Master. In their pride, they
considered themselves worthy of the direct attention of the Buddha himself.
Sikhin of course knew the brahmas' unwholesome thoughts. Without addressing
them directly, he urged Abhibhu to continue and "agitate them exceedingly"
in order to force them to acknowledge that they were not all-powerful, permanent,
or superior to this Arahant.
Abhibhu followed his master's instructions by working supernormal feats while
continuing his discourse. Only rarely does a Buddha himself perform supernormal
acts or permit one of his disciples to do so in the human plane. But in a brahma
world, where deeds that seem impossible to us are the norm, these tactics are
appropriate. At times Abhibhu made his body invisible while speaking to the
brahmas, at times half visible, at times fully visible. This masterful performance
did humble those brahmas. They became more receptive, and realizing the monk
was no ordinary human being, they exclaimed, "This is a marvellous thing:
the great magic power and might of the recluse!"
Abhibhu then remarked to the Lord that while speaking in a normal voice in the
Brahma world, he could make the beings in the surrounding thousand realms hear
what he said. The Buddha, deeming this relevant to the occasion, urged him to
show his prowess. By projecting and broadcasting his speech, the disciple strove
further to stimulate a sense of urgency in the brahmas so they would realize
the need to stop the cycle of birth and death. Although the lives of brahmas
are full of the bliss of jhana, they remain subject to continual subtle change,
to death and rebirth, and to suffering. Abhibhu declaimed:
"Arouse your energy, strive on!
Exert yourself in the Buddha's Teaching.
Sweep away the army of Death
As an elephant does a hut of reeds.
One who dwells diligently
In this Dhamma and Discipline
Will abandon the wandering on in birth
And make an end to suffering."
Then Buddha Sikhin and his chief disciple left that brahma realm. They had done
everything they could to make the brahmas see their own limitations and encourage
them to practice the Dhamma (KS I, 194-96; SN 6:14).
Baka Brahma
A brahma known as Baka once reflected privately that he and his plane of existence
were everlasting. He thought that there could be no higher plane of rebirth
and was convinced he had overcome suffering. The Buddha discerned his deep-seated
wrong view and decided to pay him a visit. When he appeared in that brahma world,
Baka Brahma welcomed him formally but immediately announced:
"Now, good sir, this is permanent, this is everlasting, this is eternal,
this is total, this is not subject to pass away; for this neither is born nor
ages nor dies nor passes away nor reappears, and beyond this there is no escape."
(MN 49)
The Buddha, however, contradicted him, pointing out that every one of his claims
was wrong. Just then Mara the Evil One joined the conversation. Mara's task
is to prevent beings from being won over to the Dhamma, to keep them trapped
in the cycle of birth and death, his own personal domain.[11]
Taking possession of one of the brahma's attendants, Mara urged the Buddha,
with a display of sympathy, to accept this brahma as God, the creator of all
beings. He told the Buddha that recluses of the past who delighted in things
of this life and "who lauded Brahma" won happy births afterwards,
while those who rejected Brahma had to endure terrible punishment. The Exalted
One let him have his say and then called his number:
"I know you, Evil One. Do not think: 'He does not know me.' You are Mara,
Evil One, and the Brahma and his assembly and the members of the assembly have
all fallen into your hands, they have all fallen into your power. You, Evil
One, think: 'This one too has fallen into my hands, he too has fallen into my
power'; but I have not fallen into your hands, Evil One, I have not fallen into
your power."
All beings subject to craving -- humans, subhumans, devas, or brahmas -- are
said to be in Mara's power because they can all be moved by defilements and
must drift along in the current of birth and death. But the Buddha and the Arahants
have permanently and completely escaped Mara's ken and power, for they have
eliminated all defilements. They have exhausted the fuel of rebirth and thus
have vanquished the Lord of Death.
Baka Brahma next speaks up on his own behalf. He reminds the Buddha of his opening
statement on permanence. He warns him that it is futile to seek "an escape
beyond" his own realm, then he cajoles and threatens him in the same breath:
"If you will hold to earth... beings... gods... you will be close to me,
within my domain, for me to work my will upon and punish." The Buddha agrees
that if he clung to earth (or any other aspect of existence) he would remain
under the control of Maha Brahma (and Mara too), but he adds: "I understand
your reach and your sway to extend thus: Baka the Brahma has this much power,
this much might, this much influence." The Buddha points out that beyond
the thousandfold world system over which Baka reigns there are planes of existence
of which he is totally unaware, and beyond all conditioned phenomena there is
a reality that transcends even "the allness of the all" -- a consciousness
without manifestation, boundless, luminous on all sides -- to which Baka has
no access. Demonstrating his superiority in knowledge and power, the Buddha
uses his psychic powers to humble Baka and his entire assembly. By the end of
the discourse, these once haughty beings marvel at the might of the recluse
Gotama: "Though living in a generation that delights in being... he has
extirpated being together with its root."[12]
A brahma with wrong view
Once an unnamed brahma gave rise to the deluded thought, "No recluse is
powerful enough to reach my realm." The Buddha read his mind and proved
him wrong by simply appearing before him and sitting at ease in the air above
his head, while radiating flames from his body in a dramatic display of supernormal
powers. Four great Arahant disciples -- Mahamoggallana, Kassapa, Kappina, and
Anuruddha -- independently realized what had happened and decided to join their
Master on this brahma plane. Each disciple sat in the air respectfully below
the Buddha -- but above the brahma -- in one of the cardinal directions, shedding
fire around himself.
A short dialogue in verse took place between Mahamoggallana, the Buddha's second
chief disciple, and the brahma:
"Today, friend, do you still hold that view,
The same view that you formerly held?
Do you see a radiance
Surpassing that in the Brahma-world?"
"I no longer hold that view, dear sir,
(I reject) the view I formerly held.
Indeed I see a radiance
Surpassing that in the Brahma-world?"
Today how could I assert the view
That I am permanent and eternal?"
According to the commentary to this story, the brahma gave up his belief in
his own superiority when he observed the magnificence of the Buddha and the
Arahants. When the Buddha preached the Dhamma to him, he was established in
the fruit of stream-entry and stopped thinking of himself as permanent. When
this brahma saw his own impermanence clearly and distinctly for himself, his
former tenacious opinion that his world and life were immortal was uprooted.
Many aeons of preparation, the brahma's quick intellect, the Buddha's perfect
timing, and the support of the four Arahants bore fruit in the deity becoming
a stream-enterer.
After the Buddha and his Arahants left and returned to Jetavana, the great brahma
wanted to learn more about the powers of bhikkhus. He sent a member of his retinue
to ask Mahamoggallana whether there are even more bhikkhus who can perform such
feats. Moggallana replied:
"Many are the disciples of the Buddha
Who are Arahants with taints destroyed,
Triple knowledge bearers with spiritual powers,
Skilled in the course of others' minds." (KS I, 182-84; SN 6:5)
Not only do large numbers of bhikkhus have such special powers and the ability
to know other people's minds, but there are numerous fully purified Arahant
disciples of the Buddha as well. The emissary was glad to hear this answer,
as was the brahma when he received the report.
Maha Brahma knows his own limits
Once a bhikkhu with psychic powers visited the various celestial realms seeking
an answer to the question, "Where do the great elements -- earth, water,
fire, and air -- cease without remainder?" An exhaustive inquiry led him
from one realm to the next, until he finally came to Maha Brahma. The first
three times the monk asked his question, Brahma replied evasively: "Monk,
I am Brahma, Great Brahma, the Conqueror, the Unconquered, the All-seeing."
Exasperated, the bhikkhu demanded a decent reply, "Friend, I did not ask
if you are Brahma... I asked you where the four great elements cease without
remainder."
At this point Maha Brahma took the monk by the arm, led him aside, and told
him, "The brahmas of my entourage believe there is nothing Maha Brahma
does not see, there is nothing he does not know, there is nothing he is unaware
of. That is why I did not speak in front of them." Admitting his ignorance,
he advised the monk to return to his Master, the Awakened One, who rephrased
the question and gave the appropriate answer.
In this discourse we have more evidence that a Buddha is far beyond Maha Brahma
in power, teaching skill, and understanding, and much of the proof is volunteered
by the Great Brahma himself (DN 11.67-85).
Devas Learn as the Buddha Teaches Humans
We have observed devas and brahmas approach the Buddha and ask him questions
and we have followed the Buddha on his journeys to fine-material planes to uproot
the delusions of brahmas. The Buddha also instructs gods indirectly, when they
overhear him teaching humans. In such situations, devas with the requisite supporting
conditions from previous lives can attain awakening along with the human auditors.
A number of suttas conclude with a statement that the discourse was applauded
by many devas and brahmas who attained one or more of the stages of awakening
while listening in. One example is a discourse the Buddha gave to his son Rahula.
The Buddha had been instructing Rahula gradually from the time he was ordained
as a novice at seven years of age. The training became more profound as he grew
in years and powers of discretion. By the time Rahula was twenty-one, the Buddha
decided it was time to lead him towards Arahantship. So one day, after the Blessed
One had finished his meal, he told the young monk to come along with him to
the Blind Men's Grove near Savatthi for the afternoon. Rahula agreed and followed.
But they were not alone, for the text tells us that "many thousands of
deities followed the Blessed One, thinking: 'Today the Blessed One will lead
the Venerable Rahula further to the destruction of the taints.'" The commentary
says that these gods had been companions of Rahula's during a previous life
in which he first made the aspiration to attain Arahantship as the son of a
Buddha.
The Buddha sat down at the root of a tree and Rahula also took a seat. The Buddha
asked Rahula if each sense organ, each sense object, each kind of sense consciousness,
and each kind of contact is permanent or impermanent. Rahula stated that they
are all impermanent. We can deduce that the devas, invisibly present, were listening
and simultaneously meditating on the appropriate answers. The Buddha asked:
"Is what is impermanent pleasant or suffering?" Rahula acknowledged
that anything that is impermanent must be unsatisfactory or suffering. Then
the Teacher queried: "Is what is impermanent, suffering, and subject to
change fit to be regarded thus: 'This is mine, this I am, this is my self'?"
"No" came the reply. The invisible audience too must have drawn the
same conclusion.
Next the Buddha asked Rahula if the feeling, perception, mental formations,
and consciousness that arise through the contact of the six sense organs with
their objects are permanent or not. These are the four mental aggregates that
-- along with material form -- constitute a being. Rahula again said that they
are impermanent. He must have deduced that since the contact between the sense
organs and their objects changes every instant, the aggregates that derive from
them must also be transitory. And again he recognized that whatever is impermanent
is unsatisfactory. He also understood that it is untenable to consider anything
impermanent and unsatisfactory as "I, mine, or myself," as the concept
of control is at the heart of our ideas of "I" and "mine."
The Buddha then concluded that once one understands these facts fully, and sees
how all these things are causally connected, one becomes disenchanted with all
conditioned things:
"Being disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his
mind] is liberated. When it is liberated there comes the knowledge: 'It is liberated.'
He understands: 'Birth is destroyed, the holy life has been lived, what had
to be done has been done, there is no more coming to any state of being.'"
That is, he attains full awakening, Arahantship, and is no longer subject to
rebirth. As Rahula listened to his father's words, his mind was released from
the taints through non-clinging. By fully penetrating the discourse he had become
an Arahant, fully liberated from suffering.
All the deva and brahma spectators listening to the discourse attained the paths
and fruits: "And in those many thousands of deities there arose the spotless
immaculate vision of the Dhamma: 'All that is subject to arising is subject
to cessation.'" Some of them, according to the commentary, became stream-enterers,
some once-returners, some non-returners, and some Arahants. This variety was
due to the differences in their prior preparation and present effort at the
time of the sutta. Even though this discourse was geared to a young monk, while
the Buddha spoke higher beings developed their own insight through hearing it
and purified their minds (MN 147; also at SN iv, 105-107).
III. Devas and Brahmas Honor the Buddha
Everyone who has even glimpsed the magnificence of the Dhamma feels tremendous
esteem for the Buddha. Deities realize that he had dedicated innumerable lifetimes
to perfecting himself so that he could teach others the way beyond suffering.
Because of their devotion to the Exalted One, devas gratefully come down to
the human plane -- though the earth is said to be repulsive to their refined
senses[13] -- to express their homage and affirm their devotion to the Supreme
Teacher. This is the reciprocal aspect of the Buddha as "teacher of devas":
his deva and brahma disciples acknowledge their debt to their incomparable master.
They venerate him for his extraordinary purity and unique capacity to train
others. These Dhamma beneficiaries from the higher planes rejoice and offer
profound homage to the Buddha because they see, over a broader temporal range
than is perceptible to ordinary humans, how he offers beings the way out of
the misery of samsara.
We will look at several examples of how the gods paid respect to the Buddha,
finishing with the Great Occasion. Not only do these incidents help illuminate
the relationship between gods and the Buddha, but they can also serve as sustenance
for our own Buddhanussati, meditation on the qualities of the Buddha. This kind
of contemplation creates wholesome kamma by increasing our confidence in the
Teacher and prepares the mind for deeper concentration and insight.
Sakka's praises reported by Pañcasikha
Once Pañcasikha, a celestial musician, messenger, and attendant on the
deva planes, appeared before the Buddha. He reported that Sakka, king of the
gods of the Thirty-three, especially honored the following qualities of the
Buddha and his teaching:
1. The Lord has striven out of compassion for beings, like no other teacher
they can find.
2. The doctrine he teaches is "well proclaimed by the Blessed One, visible
here and now, immediately effective, inviting inspection, onward leading, to
be experienced by the wise for themselves."
3. He distinguishes and proclaims what is good and what is bad.
4. He explains the path to Nibbana.
5. He has taught beings to become learners (i.e., stream-enterers, once-returners,
and non-returners) and Arahants.
6. Gifts to the Buddha are well-given (because they bear great fruit) and are
accepted by him without any conceit.
7. He practices what he teaches and teaches what he practices. There are absolutely
no contradictions between his verbal and physical actions.
8. The Lord has gone beyond all doubt and accomplished his aim in regard to
the goal and the supreme holy life.
Pañcasikha reported that when Sakka had said all this, the gods of the
realm of the Thirty-three were delighted. Sakka then concluded by telling them
to cultivate the wish: "May this Blessed Lord continue to live long...
free from sickness..." as that would benefit devas and humans (DN 19.1-14).
What Sakka recommends is a simple form of meditation on universal love. His
audience must have been a group with mixed potential for Dhamma comprehension
and he showed them a simple way to create wholesome mental kamma. Since they
all agreed that the Buddha was a very great being, they were happy to listen
to his praises from Sakka. This induced them to wish him good health so that
he could teach more beings the way to Nibbana.
Brahma Sanankumara
Sakka is often shown leading his fellow devas in some Dhamma activity. Here
he praises human beings who became noble ones and took rebirth on the plane
of the Thirty-three, where they outshine the other gods in fame and splendor:
"The gods of the Thirty-three rejoice, their leader too,
Praising the Tathagata, and Dhamma's truth,
Seeing new-come devas, fair and glorious
Who've lived the holy life, now well reborn.
Outshining all the rest in fame and splendor,
The mighty Sage's pupils singled out.
Seeing this the Thirty-three rejoice, their leader too,
Praising the Tathagata, and Dhamma's truths." (DN 18.13)
For Sakka and his cohorts, the great renown and beauty of the new devas confirm
the value of the Buddha's teachings. They are glad and therefore honor the Buddha
and the Dhamma.
This verse comes at the beginning of a complex sutta which makes a number of
interesting points about gods. Ven. Ananda had asked the Buddha where many deceased
disciples of the Magadha area had been reborn. Before answering, the Buddha
directed his mind to find their plane of rebirth. While he was investigating
in this way, a deva came to him and announced that he was the former King Bimbisara,
a stream-enterer. As a man, he had been a devoted lay disciple for many years
and had now been reborn among the Four Great Kings (plane No.6). This deva related
to the Buddha a long incident from the past that began with Sakka's remarks
about newly arrived devas. The episode provided the answer to Ananda's original
question.
After Sakka finished speaking, the gods noticed that an unusually brilliant
light shone on the assembly. Then its source, Brahma Sanankumara, approached
the gathering. The former Bimbisara explained that whenever a brahma descends
to a deva plane he assumes a grosser form "because his natural appearance
is not such as to be perceptible to their eyes." Brahma Sanankumara then
gave the devas a Dhamma talk in which he surveyed the central teachings of the
Buddha. He began by praising the Blessed One's compassion:
"Since the Lord, out of compassion for the world and for the benefit and
happiness of the many, has acted to the advantage of devas and mankind, those...
who have taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha and have observed
the moral precepts have, at death... arisen in the company of... devas."
Sanankumara concluded his discourse with words of great homage for the Buddha
and the Dhamma. He said that if one were to praise the Dhamma as well proclaimed,
etc., and then to add "Open are the doors of the Deathless!" one would
be speaking in accordance with the highest truth (DN 18.27).
In the final portion of Brahma Sanankumara's speech, he numbered the stream-enterers
and once-returners who had recently been born in the deva planes. But he did
not venture to comment on the number of worldlings who had acquired merit:
"But of that other race indeed
Of those who partake of merit,
My mind can make no reckoning,
For fear that I should speak untruth."
Sanankumara appears in several other suttas, where he always reveres the Buddha
and the noble Sangha. One of his stanzas, in which he extols the Buddha, is
quoted several times in the Pali Canon:[14]
"The noble clan is held to be
The best of people as to lineage;
But best of gods and humans is one
Perfect in true knowledge and conduct." (MN 53.25)
Bahiya Daruciriya
In the next story a brahma intervenes to help a human being receive the Dhamma.
Bahiya Daruciriya was a non-Buddhist ascetic. The brahma, a non-returner (anagami)
from the Pure Abodes,[15] had been one of Bahiya's companions at the time of
the previous Buddha Kassapa,[16] when they were members of a group of monks
who had made a determined effort to win Arahantship. Bahiya had then failed
in the attempt and was now reborn at the time of Gotama Buddha.
Bahiya had lived as a recluse for many years and he was respected by the multitude
as a saint, even to such a degree that Bahiya himself almost came to believe
this. But one day, out of compassion for him, his old friend in the Pure Abodes
appeared to him in a visible body and shocked him out of his complacency: "You,
Bahiya, are neither an Arahant nor have you entered the path to Arahantship.
You do not follow the practice whereby you could be an Arahant or enter the
path to Arahantship."
This had the desired effect, and Bahiya begged his benefactor, "Then, in
the world including the devas, who are Arahants or have entered the path to
Arahantship?" His desire for release from the world was so sincere that
he had the humility to admit his limitations and ask for a teacher to show him
the true path to holiness.
The brahma replied that a Buddha had arisen in the world and was living at Savatthi:
"There the Lord now lives who is the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One.
That Lord, Bahiya, is indeed an Arahant and he teaches the Dhamma for the realization
of Arahantship." As a non-returner since the time of the previous Buddha,
the brahma knew precisely what Bahiya needed and he spoke the succinct truth
about Buddha Gotama and his teaching. Thanks to the intervention and the guidance
of his lofty benefactor, Bahiya Daruciriya was directed to the Blessed One,
whose brief and cryptic discourse had such a powerful impact that Bahiya achieved
Arahantship right on the spot (Ud 1.10, pp.18-19). After his death, the Buddha
declared Bahiya the foremost bhikkhu with respect to quickness of understanding.
A goddess honors the Buddha
Once a devata, a goddess named Kokanada, visited the Blessed One at Vesali and
recited verses in his praise:
"I worship the Buddha, the best of beings,
Dwelling in the woods at Vesali
Kokanada I am --
Kokanada the daughter of Pajjunna.
Earlier I had only heard that the Dhamma
Has been realized by the One with Vision;
But now I know it as a witness
While the Sage, the Sublime One teaches.
Those ignorant folk who go about
Criticizing the noble Dhamma
Go to the terrible Roruva hell
And experience suffering for a long time.
But those who in the noble Dhamma
Are endowed with acceptance and inner peace,
When they discard the human body,
Will fill up the heavenly hosts of devas." (KS I,40-41; SN 11:39)
Although this was apparently her first direct encounter with the Buddha, Kokanada
understood a great deal about kamma and rebirth. She saw that people are reborn
in lower realms (including hell) because they lack insight and disparage the
Dhamma. She also perceived that humans can attain deva or brahma births by discerning
the Four Noble Truths: suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the Noble Eightfold
Path leading to its cessation. Her knowledge of Dhamma does not seem to go beyond
this.
The Maha-samaya Sutta
The Maha-samaya Sutta, or Discourse on the Great Assembly,[17] is the most stunning
illustration of higher beings coming to the human plane expressly to pay respects
to the Buddha along with the Arahants. This "mighty gathering" took
place when the Lord returned to the land of his ancestors, near Kapilavatthu.
Five hundred recently ordained bhikkhus, from the Sakyan and Koliyan clans,
came to him to declare their attainment of Arahantship. Devas from many thousands
of world systems approached to observe the occasion.
Four brahmas from the Pure Abodes, noticing that most of the other devas had
gathered in the Great Wood to see the Buddha and Arahants, decided to visit
too. So they assumed grosser form, appeared before the Buddha, saluted him,
and stood respectfully to one side. The first one announced why they had come:
"Great is the assembly in the forest here, the devas have met
And we are here to see the unconquered Sangha."
Although "Sangha" can refer either to the community of monks or to
all noble disciples, the adjective "unconquered" implies that the
brahmas were admiring the Arahant monks led by the Buddha.
The second brahma said:
"The monks with concentrated minds are straight:
They guard their senses as the driver does his reins."
The third used more similes to describe the achievement of Arahants:
"Bars and barriers broken, the threshold-stone of lust torn up,
Unstained the spotless seers go, like well-trained elephants."
The last one spoke these lines:
"Who takes refuge in the Buddha, no downward path will go:
Having left the body he'll join the deva hosts." (DN 20.3)
This brahma knew that anyone who has genuine faith in the Buddha will not create
kamma that could lead to a lower plane of existence. That is how taking refuge
in the Buddha assures us of a deva birth, not some magical power of his.
The Buddha then told the monks that devas and brahmas from the surrounding world
systems come frequently to see the Tathagata and the Sangha. It is not Gotama
the Sakyan prince that they honor, but Gotama the Buddha and the community of
noble ones. The Buddha indicates that this is a general rule. Wise deities used
to come to pay obeisance to past Buddhas and will do the same for future ones
too.
Then, so the monks could learn their identities, the Buddha announced the names
of the groups of devas and brahmas as they presented themselves before him.
The list included earth-bound devas, the Four Great Kings with their retinues,
asuras, Sakka, residents of the Tusita and Yama planes, occupants of the sun
and moon, denizens of the two highest deva planes, and Maha Brahma "shining
bright with all his train." The Buddha related that the devas were saying:
"He who's transcended birth, he for whom
No obstacle remains, who's crossed the flood,
Him cankerless, we'll see, the Mighty One,
Traversing free without transgression, as
It were the moon that passes through clouds." (DN 20.19)
This discourse illustrates another aspect of the relationship between the Buddha,
the Supreme Teacher, and heavenly beings. Some of them only yearn for an audience
so they can express their confidence in him, acclaiming him in public.
IV. The Role of Devas in the Buddha's Career
At pivotal moments in the Buddha's career, deities often played supporting roles.
We read of devas showing respect at these turning points, helping him to overcome
obstacles, and frequently proclaiming his feats far and wide.
The Bodhisatta's last birth
At the moment of the Bodhisatta's final conception the gods rejoiced. They knew
that such a special being was arising after the long "darkness of ignorance"
that set in when the Buddha Kassapa's Dispensation disappeared. After having
perfected all the paramis, every Bodhisatta is born on the Tusita deva plane
(No. 9) in his next to last existence. There he waits until all the requisite
conditions on earth are ripe for the rekindling of the Dhamma. Then the Bodhisatta
passes away and enters his mother's womb, and after ten months he is born. The
attainment of Buddhahood requires a human existence with its characteristic
combination of suffering and pleasure.
From the Venerable Ananda, the Buddha's personal attendant, we learn about "the
Tathagata's wonderful and marvellous qualities," which he himself had heard
directly from the Buddha:
"Mindful and fully aware... the Bodhisatta appeared in the Tusita deva
plane... Mindful and fully aware the Bodhisatta remained in the Tusita deva
plane... for the whole of his lifespan... When the Bodhisatta passed away from
the Tusita deva plane and descended into his mother's womb, then a great immeasurable
light surpassing the splendor of the gods appeared in the world with its gods,
its Maras and its Brahmas, in this generation with its recluses and brahmans,
with its princes and its people... When the Bodhisatta had descended into his
mother's womb, four young deities came to guard him at the four quarters so
that no humans or non-humans or anyone at all could harm the Bodhisatta or his
mother." (MN 123.7-8)
The conception of a Buddha-to-be in his final body causes unusual physical phenomena
in various realms. In fact, certain natural laws govern the major events in
the careers of all Buddhas, past, present, and future: "It is the rule,
monks, that when a Bodhisatta descends from Tusita into his mother's womb,"
such a light appears and all these special phenomena occur (DN 14.1.17). The
devas protect the Bodhisatta's foetus inside his mother so he can grow perfectly.
They shelter the mother so she is at peace, free from sensual desire, and relaxed,
enabling the baby to develop in ideal conditions.
The description of his final birth in this discourse shows how important the
devas are to this unique baby. Queen Mahamaya gave birth standing under a tree
in the woods near the village of Lumbini:
"When the bodhisatta came forth from his mother's womb, first the gods
received him, then human beings... He did not touch the earth. The four young
gods [the Four Great Kings of plane No. 6] received him and set him before his
mother saying: 'Rejoice, O queen, a son of great power has been born to you.'...
Then a great immeasurable light surpassing the splendor of the gods appeared
in the world... And this ten-thousandfold world system shook and quaked and
trembled, and there too a great immeasurable light surpassing the splendor of
the gods appeared." (MN 123.17-21)
The recluse Asita, who was associated with the court of the Bodhisatta's father,
witnessed these heavenly celebrations. Asita was visiting the deva worlds at
the time so he asked them, "Why are you all so happy and joyful?... I've
never seen such excitement as this." The devas explained to him:
"In a village called Lumbini, in the Sakyan country... a bodhisatta has
been born! A being set on Buddhahood has been born, a superlative being without
comparison, a precious pearl of the health and goodness of the human world.
That's why we're so glad, so excited, so pleased. Of all beings this one is
perfect, this man is the pinnacle, the ultimate, the hero of beings! This is
the man who, from the forest of the Masters, will set the wheel of Teaching
turning -- the roar of the lion, King of Beasts!" (Sn vv. 679-84)
Some of these devas were probably ariyas themselves, and others would have been
aware of the infant's future destiny. They rejoiced that the way to the end
of suffering would soon be expounded, and Asita, stirred by their revelation,
went to see the new-born child with his own eyes.
Period of renunciation and asceticism
After living a refined life as a prince for many years, the Bodhisatta gradually
became dissatisfied with this tedious round of hollow sense pleasures. His paramis,
built up for aeons, came to the fore, ripe for the attainment of Buddhahood.
He knew he had to find the way to release from suffering, so on the very night
his wife gave birth to their only child he renounced the home life to become
a recluse. Over the next six years he mastered the stages of concentration under
various gurus and tormented his flesh with the most severe ascetic practices.
Deities observed his progress from the deva planes and occasionally intervened.
For example, when the Bodhisatta considered abstaining from all food, deities
came and offered to infuse heavenly food through the pores of his skin, but
the Bodhisatta refused:
"Deities came to me and said: 'Good sir, do not practice entirely cutting
off food. If you do so, we shall infuse heavenly food into the pores of your
skin and you will live on that.' I considered, 'If I claim to be completely
fasting while these deities infuse heavenly food... and I live on that, then
I shall be lying.' So I dismissed those deities saying, 'There is no need.'"
(MN 36.27)
The gods, observing the Great Being, would not let him kill himself through
voluntary starvation, but he on his part would not allow himself to speak untruth
even by implication; thus he would not accept their offer. Although the Bodhisatta
undertook long grueling fasts, he still did not come any closer to what he really
sought: the way to uproot all the causes of suffering and so end rebirth once
and for all.
Under the Bodhi Tree
After the Bodhisatta spent six years pursuing ascetic practices to their limit,
he finally set out alone to discover another method to fulfill his aim. He had
realized that self-torture was not the solution, so he started to consume normal
food again. He walked to the place now known as Bodh Gaya in Bihar, India. There
he began to meditate under a tree, using a method he recalled from a spontaneous
childhood experience of meditation. He was determined either to attain full
liberation then and there or else to die in the attempt.
According to tradition, as the Bodhisatta struggled against Mara beneath the
Bodhi Tree, when Mara challenged his right to attain awakening, he asked the
earth to witness how he had perfected himself for so long to reach Buddhahood.
Many devas and brahmas joined the battle, vouching for his completed paramis.
Thereupon Mara, along with his evil troops, was routed and fled the scene. This
"calling the earth to witness" is memorialized in innumerable paintings
and statues: the Bodhisatta, seated cross-legged in meditation posture, touches
the ground by his knee with his right hand, a gesture intended to draw forth
its testimony.
In the eighth week following the awakening, while the newly enlightened Buddha
was still near the Bodhi Tree, he hesitated to teach the Dhamma, apprehensive
that it would be too profound for human comprehension. Brahma Sahampati then
became aware of what was going on in the Buddha's mind. This brahma, according
to the commentaries, had become a non-returner under a previous Buddha and resided
in one of the Pure Abodes. Distressed at the Buddha's hesitancy, he thought:
"The world will be lost, utterly perish since the mind of the Tathagata,
Arahant, Supreme Buddha inclines to inaction and not towards preaching the Dhamma!"
So he appeared before the Buddha, respectfully stooped with his right knee to
the ground, paid homage and appealed to him to teach:
"Let the Exalted One preach the Dhamma! There are beings with little dust
in their eyes; they are wasting from not hearing the Dhamma. There will be those
who will understand the Dhamma." (MN 26.20)
The Buddha then gazed out upon the world with his "eye of a Buddha,"
and having seen that there are beings "with little dust in their eyes"
who would be capable of understanding the truth, he announced, "Open for
them are the doors to the Deathless" -- a gift that has come down to us
through the centuries. Brahma Sahampati was gratified and joyously thought,
"Now I am one who has given an opening for the Buddha to teach the Dhamma
to beings." The Brahma then bowed to the Buddha and vanished.[18]
One might wonder why the Buddha, who had prepared himself for numerous lifetimes
just to teach the Dhamma to other beings, needed the prompting of Brahma Sahampati
to set out on his mission. The commentary offers two explanations: (1) only
after he had attained Buddahood could the Buddha fully comprehend the actual
scope of the defilements saturating the minds of beings and the profundity of
the Dhamma; and (2) he wanted a brahma to request him to teach so the numerous
followers of Maha Brahma would be inclined to listen to the Dhamma.
Turning the Wheel of the Dhamma
Now that he was committed to transmit the Dhamma, the Lord had to find his first
students. He determined that the five ascetics who had assisted him in his struggle
for the last few years would be the appropriate auditors. Aware that the group
was staying at Isipatana, a royal deer reserve not far from Varanasi, he made
his way there in stages. When the ascetics first caught sight of him in the
distance, they decided not to greet him, for they believed he had reverted to
a comfortable life and had abandoned the search for truth. However, as the Buddha
approached, his unique demeanour dispelled this assumption and they listened
keenly when he spoke. He taught them the Middle Way between the extremes of
asceticism and immersion in sense pleasures, the path which he himself had followed
when he abandoned futile austerities. The Buddha next explained the Four Noble
Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. While he spoke devas and brahmas paid close
attention, and at the conclusion they sounded their applause upwards from the
lowest plane of the earth-bound devas, through each of the six sense-sphere
deva planes, even up through the Brahma-world:
"The matchless Wheel of Dhamma, which cannot be stopped by any recluse,
brahman, deva, Mara, brahma, or by anyone in the world, has been set in motion
by the Blessed One in the Deer Park at Isipatana near Varanasi." (KS V,
360; SN 56:11; also Vin. I,10)
Under the impact of this momentous event, the entire ten-thousandfold world
system shook and reverberated, and a brilliant light appeared, far superior
to that of all the devas and brahmas, matched only by wisdom illuminating the
Truth. The gods were messengers conveying this wonderful news throughout the
universe.
When the Buddha was ill
Devas came to the Buddha several times when he was physically unwell. Once the
renegade monk Devadatta, who wanted to take over the Sangha by force, hurled
a massive boulder at the Buddha. The stone splintered before it hit the Lord,
but a small fragment lodged in his foot, causing severe pain. So for some time,
the Buddha lay down "mindful and discerning," observing the painful
sensations (KS I, 38-40; SN 1:38). Then a large group of devas came to see the
Teacher, anxious for his welfare. Impressed by the perfect equanimity he displayed
despite the wound, they spoke in turn, praising him as a bull elephant, a lion,
a thoroughbred, a bull, an ox, for his ability to patiently endure painful bodily
feelings -- "racking, sharp, piercing, harrowing, disagreeable" --
mindful and clearly comprehending, without becoming distressed.
A few months before the Parinibbana, the Buddha spent the rains retreat near
Vesali, where he suffered from dysentery. According to the Dhammapada Commentary
(to vv. 206-8) Sakka, king of the devas, found out the Blessed One was ill and
came to nurse him. The Buddha told him not to bother as there were many monks
to handle this task, but Sakka stayed on and looked after the Buddha's physical
needs until he had recovered. Some monks were surprised to see the great deva
doing such menial chores. The Buddha explained to them that Sakka was so devoted
to the Tathagata because he had gained stream-entry by learning the Dhamma from
him (see above p.20). The Buddha then pointed out that it is always good to
associate with the wise, to be in their presence and learn from the example
of their actions as well as from their verbal teachings.
The Parinibbana
Devas and brahmas were active at several phases of the Maha Parinibbana -- the
Buddha's final passing away at Kusinara -- as recorded in the Maha Parinibbana
Suttanta (DN 16). This event was not just the demise of a greatly revered being
but it also represented the personal consummation of his teachings. It was the
utter, permanent cessation of the aggregates of the one who discovered and taught
the way to the end of suffering.
A short while before the Buddha attained final Nibbana, he lay down to rest
between two sal-trees. They began flowering profusely, out of season. After
some time, the Buddha told the monk who had been fanning him to go away. Then
the Venerable Ananda, his devoted attendant, asked him why he had dismissed
that monk. The Buddha replied:
"Ananda, the devas from ten world-spheres have gathered to see the Tathagata.
For a distance of twelve yojanas around the Mallas' sal-grove near Kusinara
there is not a space you could touch with the point of a hair that is not filled
with mighty devas, and they are grumbling, 'We have come a long way to see the
Tathagata. It is rare for a Tathagata, a Fully Enlightened Buddha, to arise
in the world, and tonight in the last watch the Tathagata will attain final
Nibbana, and this mighty monk is standing in front of the Lord, preventing us
from getting a last glimpse of the Tathagata!'" (DN 16.5.5)
The indomitable Ananda, who had permission to ask the Buddha any question, next
wanted to know what kinds of devas were around them. The Buddha said he saw
lower devas who are "weeping and tearing their hair" in distress,
moaning, "All too soon the Blessed Lord is passing away, all too soon the
Well-Farer is passing away, all too soon the Eye of the World is disappearing!"
But there were devas free from craving who endured this patiently, saying. "All
compounded things are impermanent -- what is the use of this?" (DN 16.5.6).[19]
After passing through the successive jhanas, the Buddha finally expired, attaining
Parinibbana, the immutable cessation of rebirth. At that moment the earth quaked,
as it does whenever Buddhas pass away. Brahma Sahampati, who had entreated the
Buddha to teach forty-five years earlier, spoke a verse as a short eulogy:
"All beings in the world, all bodies must break up:
Even the Teacher, peerless in the human world,
The mighty Lord and perfect Buddha has expired."
Sakka repeated a verse of the Buddha's on the theme of impermanence.[20] While
Sahampati used conventional speech adoring the deceased Lord, Sakka spoke in
impersonal and universal terms. His verse makes an excellent theme for meditation
and is often chanted at Buddhist funerals:
"Impermanent are compounded things, prone to rise and fall,
Having risen, they're destroyed, their passing is truest bliss." (DN 16.6.10)
All the "compounded things," which make up everyone and everything
in all the world, come into being and perish. Only when they cease utterly never
to rearise ("their passing") can there be the perfect bliss, Nibbana.
These stanzas by the renowned brahma and the king of the devas show how the
beings on the higher planes applied their insight into impermanence and suffering,
even to the Parinibbana of their Lord and Master.
After they had honored the Buddha's body for a full week, the Mallas of Kusinara
decided it was time for the funeral. They began to prepare for the cremation
but could not lift the body and carry it out the southern gate of the city.
Puzzled, they asked the Venerable Anuruddha what was wrong. This great elder,
renowned for his "divine eye," told the devotees that the devas had
their own ideas of how to arrange the funeral. The deities, he said, planned
first to pay "homage to the Lord's body with heavenly dance and song"
and then take it in procession through the city of Kusinara to the cremation
site. The devas intended the cremation to be at the Mallas' shrine known as
Makuta-Bandhana. The Mallas were happy to change their plans and proceeded unhindered
to arrange the funeral as the devas wished. Out of respect the gods participated
in all phases of the funerary proceedings. It is said that "even the sewers
and rubbish-heaps of Kusinara were covered knee-high with [celestial] coral
tree flowers. And the devas as well as the Mallas... honored the Lord's body
with divine and human dancing and song."
They transported the body to the Makuta-Bandhana shrine and placed it there.
They wrapt it many times in layers of finest cloth, built the pyre of scented
wood, and placed the bier bearing the Buddha's body on top. But when the men
tried to light the fire it would not ignite. Again the reason lay with the devas.
Anuruddha explained that the devas would not allow the pyre to be lit until
the Venerable Maha Kassapa arrived for the cremation. Once Maha Kassapa and
his group of bhikkhus had arrived and paid their last respects to the Exalted
One's body, the pyre blazed up spontaneously, burning until almost nothing remained
behind. (DN 16.6.22-23)
V. Liberation for Humans, Devas, and Brahmas
The encounter with suffering
Human beings, devas, and brahmas are the broad categories of beings in the "happy
realms of existence." The human world is marked by a pervasive admixture
of happiness and suffering. This dual nature is the main reason why Buddhas
are born here. The uneven quality of human life enables us to realize the unreliable
nature of happiness and inspires in us a sense of urgency about the need to
win deliverance from suffering.
Unlike the beings in the lower planes, few humans are overwhelmed by unmitigated
and excruciating pain. We do, of course, experience physical pain and mental
stress, but such experience is generally intermittent. For the most part our
suffering is of a more subtle character. We can observe that every pleasure
brings along some measure of dissatisfaction. Our contentment is unsteady and
secured with difficulty. We must struggle to satisfy our needs and desires,
but become anxious the moment we succeed. Even when we are relatively happy
we are beset by a deep, subtle kind of suffering. This suffering, which lies
below the threshold of painful feeling, stems from the momentary vanishing of
all the conditioned formations of body and mind. In spite of our pain, human
beings with an inclination for the Dhamma can make the effort to live by the
Five Precepts of morality. We can find the energy to train our minds towards
the concentration and insight required for awakening.
In contrast, devas see far less of the evident kinds of misery in their daily
existence. Some brahmas meet no gross suffering except when they look down at
beings on lower planes. Many devas instantly obtain whatever sense object they
wish for. Brahmas dwell in sublime bliss and equanimity. In the fine-material
and immaterial spheres ill will is suppressed, and without it there is no mental
unhappiness.
It is difficult for deities to appreciate that everything changes and to recognize
that their present pleasure and bliss do not last forever. Like Baka Brahma,
many imagine that they are eternal. The subtler forms of suffering tend to escape
them as well. Without help from a Buddha or one of his disciples, they do not
understand that the impersonal conditions that will terminate their felicity
are already in operation. Many of the higher beings, as we have seen, have no
idea that they will die, that their worlds and lives are in flux, that they
are not fully in control, but are decaying at every instant. So in spite of
their excellent concentration and present opulence, they are even at a disadvantage
compared to human beings, who are driven by pain and frustration to seek the
path to deliverance.
How then can such beings be induced to meditate? Why should they become concerned
with suffering and its cessation? We have indicated the answers to those questions
in preceding chapters. This is the job of the Buddha as "teacher of the
gods."
The devas aspire to be human
Some devas long to be reborn as human beings because they are aware of the greater
possibility of comprehending impermanence, suffering, and non-self on the human
plane. There is no real illness on the deva planes. When a deva faces death,
his aura begins to fade and dirt appears on his clothes for the first time.
When the gods see these indications of impending death, they tell their friend:
"Go from here, friend, to a good bourn. Having gone to a good bourn, gain
that which is good to gain. Having gained that which is good to gain, become
firmly established in it."
The Buddha then explained the devas' concept of a good birth and of what is
"good to gain":
"It is human existence, bhikkhus, that is reckoned by the devas to be a
good bourn. When a human being acquires faith in the Dhamma-Vinaya taught by
the Tathagata, this is reckoned by the devas to be a gain that is good to gain.
When faith is steadfast in him, firmly rooted, established and strong, not to
be destroyed by any recluse or brahman or deva or Mara or brahma or by anyone
else in the world, this is reckoned by the devas to be firmly established."
The last sentence refers to a stream-enterer. Only stream-enterers (and other
noble ones) have such steadfast confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
They will definitely attain final awakening and release, and until then will
never be reborn on a plane below the human one. To become an ariya is the greatest
achievement for any being lost in the round of rebirth. Only by entering the
stream to awakening can beings proceed to eliminate all the causes of suffering.
The Buddha explained that the devas view a human existence as an excellent opportunity
for growth in morality, giving, faith, and understanding. With compassionate
concern for their dying cohort, they say:
"Go, friend, to a good bourn,
To the fellowship of humans.
On becoming human acquire faith
Unsurpassed in the true Dhamma.
That faith made steadfast,
Become rooted and standing firm,
Will be unshakeable for life
In the true Dhamma well proclaimed.
Having abandoned misconduct by body,
Misconduct by speech as well,
Misconduct by mind and whatever else
Is reckoned as a fault,
Having done much that is good
Both by body and by speech,
And done good with a mind
That is boundless and free from clinging,
With that merit as a basis
Made abundant by generosity,
You should establish other people
In the true Dhamma and the holy life.'" (It 83)
The devas urge their friend to become a morally upright human being. He should
give up everything unwholesome, be generous, and, once established in faith
and meritorious deeds, help spread the Buddha's message.
Not only do wise gods long for human birth to practice the Dhamma, they also
rejoice when they observe people establishing themselves in the way to the cessation
of suffering. Such deities are convinced that human beings like these are greater
than themselves. In spite of all the magnificent sights, appealing perfumes
and tastes, melodious music, and other sensual pleasures they have at their
beck and call, these devas understand the unsatisfactory nature of existence
sufficiently to value the effort to put an end to samsaric wandering.
In the sutta preceding the one quoted above, the Buddha spoke of "joyous
utterances" devas give forth in three situations: (1) when a man is preparing
to ordain as a bhikkhu; (2) when a person is "engaged in cultivating the...
requisites of enlightenment";[21] and (3) when someone attains the goal,
utterly destroying the mental defilements. Whenever devas notice people engaged
in the first two deeds, they rejoice saying, "A noble disciple is doing
battle with Mara." When the devas see that someone on the human plane has
become fully awakened, they declare: "A noble disciple has won the battle.
He was in the forefront of the fight and now dwells victorious." They commend
and extol the Arahant in verse (It 82).
Paths to awakening and happy births
The Buddha has explained in many ways that liberation is infinitely more valuable
than any state of existence. Even blissful lives in the deva and brahma planes
invariably include subtle suffering, end in death, and are followed by uncertain
rebirth. In a discourse called "Reappearance according to one's Aspiration,"
he said:
"A bhikkhu possesses faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and wisdom. He
thinks: 'Oh, that on the dissolution of the body, after death, I might reappear
in the company of well-to-do nobles!' He fixes his mind on that [idea], establishes
it, develops it. These aspirations and this abiding of his, thus developed and
cultivated, lead to his reappearance there. This, bhikkhus, is the path... that
leads to reappearance there."
The Buddha repeated the same statement in regard to every happy plane as far
as the highest realm of existence. The good kamma generated by positive mental
qualities, conjoined with the aspiration for a particular birth, can bring about
rebirth on that plane. So by cultivating these traits one can be reborn in any
of the six deva planes. With the support of the requisite jhana, one can take
birth in any of the fine-material or immaterial planes. If, additionally, one
has destroyed the five lower fetters and become a non-returner, one can be reborn
spontaneously in the Pure Abodes.
The supreme aim, however, is Arahantship. If one has purified one's mind totally
of greed, hate, and delusion, one would experience "the destruction of
the taints." Hence the discourse culminates with a monk aspiring for Arahantship:
"Oh, that by realizing for myself with direct knowledge, I might here and
now enter upon and abide in the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom
that are taintless with the destruction of the taints!' And by realizing for
himself with direct knowledge, he here and now enters upon and abides in the
deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction
of the taints. Bhikkhus, this bhikkhu does not reappear anywhere at all."
(MN 120.37)
That bhikkhu's demise is parinibbana, the end of all possible forms of suffering
forever.
Although devas and brahmas have very long lives pervaded by inconceivable bliss,
they are not inherently greater than human beings. As we have seen, they are
all subject to repeated becoming. A deva may well be reborn on one of the lower
planes. Brahmas can fall to a ghostly or hellish existence after one intermediate
life as a deva or human. The Buddha states that even lives lasting many aeons
in the highest formless planes can end in lower births.
Therefore such lives provide no security, but only temporary remission of the
underlying disease, and if they are not dedicated to progress towards Nibbana
their value is virtually nil. One who has understood the noble Dhamma will look
upon such modes of existence with revulsion and dispassion (see GS V, 41; AN
X,29).
Only by becoming an ariya can one be sure that one faces no more lower rebirths
and is headed for the complete cessation of samsara. To become a stream-enterer
requires three things. One has to (1) develop confidence in the Buddha, Dhamma,
and Sangha, (2) relinquish any idea that rituals lead to liberation, and most
important, (3) eliminate the deep-seated view "I am real and lasting"
that characterizes all worldlings. By uprooting that deluded view, noble ones
remove their tendency to create the heavy bad kamma that leads to birth in the
realms of woe.
Sometimes lay people, not yet ripe enough to desire liberation, asked the Buddha
how to be successful in their mundane endeavors or how to be reborn on a celestial
plane after death. The Master would reply with a discourse suited to their limited
ability and inclination. He would tell them to give generously and live a moral
life. He would specifically urge them to observe the Five Precepts without a
breach and to undertake the Eight Precepts on special occasions. Generating
such good kamma is the way to general well-being, now and after death. These
basic steps form the starting point of the gradual training that leads all the
way to Arahantship. The Dhamma is consistent from start to finish.
When the Buddha describes the entire course of a bhikkhu's training, from leaving
home to Arahantship, he devotes considerable attention to the jhanas, the highest
form of concentration. One who can keep the mind absorbed on a single object
can apply this capacity for attention to insight, the wisdom section of the
path. One skilled in jhana can easily discern the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness,
and selfless nature of the aggregates for extended periods. The jhanas also
create strong wholesome kamma, as they are all associated with some form of
wisdom.
Individuals who practice the jhanas but do not reflect on them with insight
may think the jhanas permanently efface their unwholesome tendencies. The Buddha
found, however, that mental defilements are only suppressed -- perhaps for a
very long time -- by these meditative states. Such absorptions bring bliss and
peace here and now, generate wholesome kamma, and may bring rebirth in a plane
of the brahma world. However, they do not uproot the latent defilements and
thus cannot cut off the root causes of samsara. For this one needs insight-wisdom,
the discernment of the three universal marks of impermanence, suffering, and
non-self.
Conclusion
Let us human beings apply ourselves wholeheartedly and take up the unique opportunity
given by our present birth. In the round of samsara it is extremely rare to
rise above the realms of woe, where the way out of suffering cannot be followed,
and a human birth is even more favorable to awakening than birth in the realm
of the gods. Devas envy us our place, ostensibly so low on the cosmic scale,
and wish to be reborn as humans. The Buddha Sasana still thrives, the Dhamma
is available in full, there are excellent teachers who are true disciples of
the Master, and we are on the best plane for striving.
Final awakening does not bring "eternal life" in some heaven as many
religions promise. Nibbana means letting go of everything -- relinquishing every
state of being anywhere in the cosmos. It is our attachments and cravings, rooted
in ignorance, that keep us revolving in samsara's misery. Wisdom shows how all
existence is bound up with suffering and thereby illuminates the futility of
all craving for being. Then all old kamma is burnt up and no new fuel for birth
is created. The process of birth and death just stops, once and for all. This
is not the end of an existing being, as no such being ever was. It is only the
end of a process, of the flux of physical and mental phenomena arising and vanishing
due to complex networks of causes and conditions. There is no controlling or
enduring self of any sort at any time.
What the Buddha taught deities, he taught people; what he taught people, he
taught devas and brahmas: just the universal fact of suffering, and the way
to the cessation of suffering -- morality, concentration, and wisdom.
For the Welfare of Many
The teacher, the great sage,
Is the first in the world;
Following him is the disciple
Whose composure is perfected;
And then the learner training
On the path, one who has
Learned much and is virtuous.
These three are chief
Amongst devas and humans:
Illuminators, preaching Dhamma,
Opening the door to the Deathless,
They free many people from bondage.
Those who follow the path
Well taught by the unsurpassed
Caravan-leader, who are diligent
In the Sublime One's dispensation,
Make an end of suffering
Within this very life itself. (It 84)
Notes
In some cases my quotations from existing translations have been modified, especially
when quoting from GS. Quotations from MLDB invariably, and from Ud, It, and
LDB usually, are exactly as they occur in these contemporary translations. Bhikkhu
Bodhi's draft translation of SN is quoted verbatim.
1. Only ariyas, noble ones, can be sure that they will never suffer the agony
of rebirth in one of the lower realms where suffering is incredibly intense
and all-pervasive.
2. It seems probable that some devas become anagamis or even Arahants while
practicing the Buddha's teachings in the celestial planes, but I cannot cite
any canonical texts to support this.
3. This phrase comes from Ven. Mahakaccana's elucidation of a brief remark by
the Buddha: "And how, friends, is the mind called 'stuck internally'? Here,
quite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, a bhikkhu
enters upon and abides in the first jhana, which is accompanied by applied and
sustained thought, with rapture and pleasure born of seclusion. If his consciousness
follows after the rapture and pleasure born of seclusion, then his mind is called
'stuck internally.'... If his consciousness does not follow after the rapture
and pleasure born of seclusion... then his mind is called 'not stuck internally'"
(MN 138.12). Clinging to a jhana one has attained can prevent one from attaining
awakening.
4. This phenomena is mentioned several times. Once, for example, a bhikkhu named
Hatthaka had become an anagami. When he died, he was reborn in the Aviha brahma
plane, the lowest of the Pure Abodes. Shortly after arising there he came to
see the Buddha. Hatthaka intended to stand "in the presence of the Exalted
One," yet he was "unable to do so, but sunk down, collapsed, could
not stand upright." Seeing this, the Buddha told him, "Create a gross
body form." Once he had done so, he could stand at one side and have a
discussion with the Buddha (GS I, 257; AN III, 125).
5. The opening section of the Samyutta Nikaya is devoted entirely to dialogues
between the Buddha and various gods.
6. The Pali word naga is used to refer to any powerful creature, particularly
the cobra and the bull elephant. In relation to the Buddha and the Arahants
it is used in this latter sense; see Dhp. Nagavagga (Chap. 23).
7. Direct quotations from the sutta are from the Walshe translation unless otherwise
noted. See Bibliography for details of all translations consulted for this discourse.
8. This paragaraph is based on Sister Vajira's translation.
9. The commentary points out that the Buddha himself first penetrated the Abhidhamma
during the fourth of the seven weeks he spent meditating near the Bodhi Tree
immediately following his awakening (Expos 16-17).
10. We may deduce that they proceeded to the third plane of the first jhana,
No. 14. The brahma must have been the incumbent Maha Brahma, the God All-Mighty
of many religions. That would make his ministers and retinue the occupants of
the two brahma planes lower than Maha Brahma's own realm, Nos. 13 and 12 respectively.
11. That the being Mara is a deva on the highest deva plane accentuates the
fact that the gods are not necessarily wise or good. Mara also stands for death
and defilements.
12. The part of the discourse about the brahmas ends here, but Mara was unhappy
with this turn of events and interceded again, urging the Buddha not to share
what he had learned with others. See MLDB for the complete sutta (No. 49).
13. The Arahant Kumara Kassapa once said, "Human beings are generally considered
unclean, evil-smelling, horrible, revolting by the devas," so they rarely
visit this world. See DN 23.9.
14. For example by Ananda at MN 53.25; by the Buddha at DN 3.1.28.
15. The Pure Abodes are the highest fine-material brahma planes (Nos. 23-27)
and are populated exclusively by anagamis and Arahants. The anagamis will never
be reborn on a plane below the Pure Abodes because they have eliminated all
traces of ill will and desire for sense pleasures. When they have become Arahants
in the Pure Abodes, they will, of course, have no more births anywhere at all.
16. The same brahma helped another member of that group attain Arahantship under
Buddha Gotama. The brahma gave a detailed riddle to Kumara Kassapa and told
him to ask the Buddha its meaning. When the bhikkhu received the explanation
of the imagery, he attained Arahantship. See MN 23.
17. DN 20. See also Sayagyi U Chit Tin, The Great Occasion.
18. This story appears at MN 26.19-21; SN 6:1 (= KS I, 171-74); also at Vin.
I, 4-7.
19. "Devas who are free from craving" refers to brahmas from the Pure
Abodes.
20. See LDB 290, DN 17.2.17.
21. These are the thirty-seven bodhipakkhiya dhamma, such as the four foundations
of mindfulness, etc. See DN 16.3.50.
Abbreviations
AN ..... Anguttara Nikaya
DN ..... Digha Nikaya
Dial ..... Dialogues of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya)
Expos ..... Expositor (trans. of Atthasalini)
GS ..... Gradual Sayings (trans. of Anguttara Nikaya)
It ..... Itivuttaka
KS ..... Kindred Sayings (trans. of Samyutta Nikaya)
LDB ..... Long Discourses of the Buddha (trans. of Digha Nikaya)
MN ..... Majjhima Nikaya
MB ..... Manuals of Buddhism
MLDB ..... Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha (trans. of Majjhima Nikaya)
MLS ..... Middle Length Sayings (trans. of Majjhima Nikaya)
Net ..... Net of Views (Brahmajala Sutta)
SN ..... Samyutta Nikaya
Sn ..... Sutta-nipata
Vin ..... Vinaya Pitaka
Bibliography
References to MN and DN are by sutta and section number of MLDB and LDB respectively;
to SN (and its translation KS), by chapter and sutta number, with page numbers
of KS; to AN (and its translation GS), by nipata and sutta number, with page
numbers of GS; to the Udana, by chapter and section; to It, by sutta number.
Verses of SN are from a draft translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi (in progress).
· Pali Text Society:
· Kindred Sayings
· Gradual Sayings
· Middle Length Sayings
· The Group of Discourses
· Dialogues of the Buddha
· The Expositor
· Buddhist Publication Society:
· Udana, trans. John D. Ireland, 1990
· The Itivuttaka, trans. John D. Ireland, 1991
· The Dhammapada, trans. Acharya Buddharakkhita, 1985
· The All-Embracing Net of Views (Brahmajala Sutta), trans. Bhikkhu Bodhi,
1978
· Sakka's Quest, trans. Sister Vajira (Wheel No. 10)
· Wisdom Publications:
· Long Discourses of the Buddha, trans. Maurice Walshe, 1987, 1995
· Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, trans. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli
& Bhikkhu Bodhi, 1995
· Other:
· The Sutta-Nipata, trans. H. Saddhatissa. London: Curzon, 1985
· Manuals of Buddhism, Ledi Sayadaw. Rangoon, 1981
· The Great Occasion, Sayagyi U Chit Tin. Sayagyi U Ba Khin Memorial
Trust, U.K.
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