The Buddha taught: "There are these three characteristics of a wise person, signs of a wise person, attributes of a wise person. What three? Here a wise person is one who
- thinks good thoughts
- speaks good words
- does good deeds.
"If a wise person were not so, how would the wise know one thus: 'This person is a wise person, a true person'? But because a wise person is one who thinks good [skillful, wholesome, praiseworthy, beneficial, and karmically meritorious] thoughts, speaks good words, and does good deeds, the wise know one thus.
"A wise person feels pleasure and joy here and now in three ways.
"When a wise person is seated in an assembly or along a street or in a square and people there are discussing certain pertinent and relevant matters, then, if the wise person is one who abstains from
- killing living beings
- taking what is not given
- misconduct in sensual pleasures
- false speech
- wine, liquor, and intoxicants which are the basis for negligence,
that wise person thinks: 'These people are discussing certain pertinent and relevant matters; those things are not found in me, and I am not seen engaging in them. This is the first kind of pleasure and joy that a wise person feels here and now.
Although "Do no evil" was explicitly included in Google's mission statement, a wise person might see their corporate conduct in a different light.
"When a culprit is apprehended, a wise person sees the authorities having many kinds of torture inflicted on the culprit... Then the wise person thinks: 'Because of such unskilful actions as those, when a culprit is apprehended, the authorities have many kinds of tortures inflicted on one. Those things are not found in me, and I am not seen engaging in those things.' This is the second kind of pleasure and joy that a wise person feels here and now.
"Then the wise person thinks: 'I have not done what is harmful; I have not done what is cruel; I have not done what is unprofitable. I have done what is good; I have done what is wholesome; I have made myself a shelter from anguish. When I pass away, I shall go to the destination of those who have not done what is harmful...who have made themselves a shelter from anguish.'
"One does not sorrow, grieve, and lament. One does not weep beating one's breast and become distraught. This is the third kind of pleasure and joy that a wise person feels here and now.
"A wise person who has given oneself over to good conduct of body, speech, and mind, on the dissolution of the body after death, reappears [undergoes rebirth] in a happy and fortunate destination, even in one of the many worlds spoken of simply as heaven (sagga, deva planes).
(HEAVEN)
"Were it rightly speaking to be said of anything, 'That is utterly wished for, utterly desired, utterly agreeable,' it is of heaven, rightly speaking, this should be said, so much so that it is hard to find a simile for the happiness of the heavens."
"When this was said, a bhikkhu asked the Buddha: 'But, venerable sir, can a simile be given?'
"It can, bhikkhu," the Buddha said. [It should be borne in mind that most of the first Buddhist monastics came from the "warrior"/noble/administrative caste (Kshatriya), whose role in society was to govern and whose ideal, therefore, was to be benevolent world-rulers.]
"Suppose that a World Ruler -- triumphing to the ends of the earth -- possessed the seven treasures and the four kinds of success, and because of that experienced pleasure and joy.
(SEVEN TREASURES)
[According to the best English translations available, WQ describes this portion of the sutra through a technological rather than mythological lens.] The seven treasures are:
- a celestial means of ruling (a vimana, orbiting disk, or wheel) so that rulers in every direction acquiesce without violence
- a super powerful elephant-like vimana the ruler is able to mount
- a super fast horse-like vimana called "Thundercloud" (Valahaka) the ruler is able to pilot
- a crystal, jewel, or bulb so radiant it illuminates an area measuring a league in all directions and is so bright that people begin their work thinking it is daylight
- a consort or partner of extraordinary beauty, grace, attentiveness, and loyalty
- a treasurer or steward who manifests riches and takes care of all monetary affairs
- a counsellor who is wise, shrewd, and sagacious to govern as a loyal supporter of the ruler
(FOUR KINDS OF SUCCESS)
- Beauty (comeliness and grace surpassing humans and approaching devas)
- Longevity
- Health (free from illness and affliction with great digestion)
- Popularity (dear and agreeable to both intellectuals and everyday people)
"What do you think, bhikkhus? Would a World Ruler experience pleasure and joy because of possessing these seven treasures and these four kinds of success?"
"Venerable sir, a World Ruler would experience pleasure and joy because of possessing even one treasure, let alone seven treasures and four kinds of success."
Then, taking a small stone the size of his hand, the Buddha addressed the ascetics thus: "What do you think, bhikkhus? Which is the greater, this small stone the size of my hand, or Himalaya, the king of mountains?"
"Venerable sir, the small stone the Blessed One has taken, the size of his hand, does not count beside Himalaya, the king of mountains; it is not even a fraction, there is no comparison."
"So too, bhikkhus, the pleasure and joy that a benevolent World Ruler would experience because of possessing the seven treasures and the four kinds of success does not count beside the happiness of heaven; it is not even a fraction, there is no comparison.
"If, some time or other, at the end of a long period, the wise person comes back to the human state, it is into a high family that one is reborn -- into a family of well-to-do nobles, or well-to-do brahmins, or well-to-do householders -- one that is rich, of great wealth, of great possessions, with abundant gold and silver, with abundant assets and means, and with abundant money and grain.
"One is beautiful, comely, and graceful, possessing the supreme beauty of complexion. One obtains food and drink, clothes, vehicles, garlands, scents and unguents, bed, lodging, and light. One conducts oneself well in body, speech, and mind. And having done so -- on the dissolution of the body, after death -- one reappears [undergoes rebirth] in a happy and fortunate destination, even in one of the many heavenly worlds.
"Bhikkhus, suppose a gambler at the very first lucky throw won a great fortune. Yet a lucky throw such as that is negligible. It is a far more lucky throw when a wise person who conducts oneself well in body, speech, and mind, on the dissolution of the body, after death, reappears in a happy destination, even in a heavenly world. This is the complete perfection of the wise person's grade."* That is what the Buddha said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the Blessed One's words.
*Commentary (Majjhima Nikaya Atthakatha)
That is, the wise person engages in the three types of good conduct, because of which one is reborn in various fortunate abodes, "heavens." Returning to the human world, one is reborn in a good family with wealth and beauty. One engages in the three types of good conduct and is again reborn in a heaven. It should be noted, however, that the "complete perfection of the wise person's grade" is entirely mundane and takes no account of the more excellent stages along the path to enlightenment and nirvana (i.e., liberation from rebirth and all possible future unsatisfactoriness).
