Monday, June 17, 2019

Rebirth: What are the "Abodes of Beings"?

Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

In the sutra texts (e.g., D.33, A.IX.24) nine abodes of beings or satta vasa are mentioned. According to the Buddha: "There are, O meditators, nine abodes of beings, namely:

1. "There are beings who are different in body and different in perception (mind), such as human beings, some celestial beings [akasha devas], and some beings living in the world of suffering (vinipātika).
  • [The "human world" is a plane of existence (loka) not limited to earth. It extends in 10,000 directions to many other places in the universe, wherever there are humanoids.]
2. "There are beings who are different in body but equal in perception, such as the first-born brahmas (a kind of deva) of the Brahma-world (i.e., at the beginning of each new world-formation or great aeon, maha kalpa; see Deva II).

3. "There are beings who are equal in body but different in perception, such as the radiant devas (ābhassara, see Deva II).

4. "There are beings who are equal in body and equal in perception, such as the all-illuminating devas (subha-kinha; see Deva II).

5. "There are beings without perception and feeling, such as the unconscious beings (asañña-satta).

6. "There are beings who -- through the complete overcoming of perceptions of matter (rūpa-sañña), the disappearance of perceptions of sense-reaction (patigha-sañña), and non-attention to perceptions of variety -- by thinking 'Boundless is space' are reborn in the Sphere of Boundless Space (see Deva III; Jhāna 5).

7. "There are beings who -- through the complete overcoming of the Sphere of Boundless Space -- by thinking 'Boundless is consciousness' are reborn in the Sphere of Boundless Consciousness (see  Jhāna 6).

8. "There are beings who -- through the complete overcoming of the Sphere of Boundless Consciousness -- by thinking 'Nothing is there' are reborn in the Sphere of Nothingness (see Jhāna 7).

9. "There are beings who -- through the complete overcoming of the Sphere of Nothingness -- are reborn in the Sphere of Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception (see Jhāna 8) (A.IX.24).
 
Commentary
According to the Commentary to this division of the sutra texts, the partially enlightened beings of the "Pure Abodes" (suddhāvāsa) are not mentioned here because they exist only in those world-periods (aeons, kalpas) in which fully enlightened teaching buddhas appear. Compare with viññāna-tthiti. Source

No comments: