清淨道論 白話全本 · 冊13Visuddhimagga · Complete Vernacular · Vol. 13

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 The Meaning of the Divine Ear Element and Explanation of the Canonical Phrases 〔CSCD §400〕

Thirteen: Exposition of Direct Knowledge

Discussion of the Divine Ear Element

Now the sequence has reached the explanation of the divine ear element. Here, both for this direct knowledge and for the three that follow it,¹ the meaning of such phrases as “with his mind thus concentrated ...” should be understood according to the method already stated; throughout, we shall explain only what is distinctive. In “with the divine ear element,” “divine” first means resembling that of the deities. Deities possess a sensitive divine ear element born of the kamma of wholesome conduct, unobstructed by bile, phlegm, blood, and the like, and capable of apprehending a distant object because it is free from imperfections. The knowledge-ear element of this bhikkhu, born through the power of energetic cultivation, is just like that; it is therefore “divine” because it resembles the divine. It is also divine because it is obtained by reliance on divine abiding and itself relies on divine abiding. It is an “ear element” in the senses of hearing and of being lifeless; and because it performs the function of an ear element, like an ear element, it too is an “ear element.” Thus: “with that divine ear element.”

“Purified” means fully purified and free from imperfections. “Surpassing the human” means that it surpasses the human range: in hearing sounds it passes beyond the human fleshly ear element and stands beyond it. “He hears both kinds of sound” means that he hears two kinds. Which two? Divine and human—that is, the sounds of deities and humans. From this, the limited inclusion² should be understood. “Whether far or near” means that he hears whatever sounds are far away, even in another world-system, and whatever sounds are near, even those of creatures dependent on his own body. From this, the unlimited inclusion should be understood.

§2 Method of Cultivation—the Sound Sign from Coarse to Subtle 〔CSCD §400〕

How, then, is this divine ear element to be brought about? The bhikkhu should enter the jhāna that is the basis for direct knowledge³ and emerge from it. With a mind in preliminary concentration,⁴ he should first advert to a distant coarse sound within range of the ordinary ear—the sound of lions and the like in the forest. He then adverts to the sound of the gong in the monastery, the sound of a drum, the sound of a conch; the sound of recitation as novices and young bhikkhus recite with full effort; the sound of people conversing ordinarily, saying, “What is it, venerable sir? What is it, friend?”; the sound of birds, wind, footsteps, boiling water hissing, palmyra leaves drying in the sun, and tiny ants and ants. Beginning with every coarse sound in this way, he adverts in due order to subtle sounds. He should then attend to the sound sign⁵ of sounds in the east. He should attend to the sound sign of sounds in the west, north, south, below, above, and in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast. He should attend to the sound sign of both coarse and subtle sounds. To him those sounds are clear even to the ordinary mind, but exceedingly clear to the mind in preliminary concentration.

§3 Arising, Expansion, and Mark of Accomplishment of the Knowledge 〔CSCD §400〕

As he attends to the sound sign in this way, thinking, “Now the divine ear element will arise,” mind-door adverting⁶ arises with one of those sounds as its object. After it ceases, four or five impulsions run. The first three or four are sense-sphere states called preliminary work, access, conformity, and change-of-lineage;⁷ the fourth or fifth is an absorption state⁸ of the form sphere belonging to the fourth jhāna. Whatever knowledge arises together with that absorption state should be understood as the divine ear element. After this, he has entered its current. One who wishes to strengthen it should delimit a space one finger wide with the thought, “I shall hear sounds within this range,” and expand it. Thereafter he should repeatedly delimit and expand it by two fingers, four fingers, eight fingers, a span, a cubit, an inner room, a portico, a mansion, a dwelling, a monastery park, the alms village, the district, and so on, as far as the world-system,⁹ or still farther.

One who has obtained direct knowledge in this way can hear with direct knowledge even the sounds in the space touched by the object of the foundational jhāna, without entering the foundational jhāna again. When hearing in this manner, even if the whole region up to the Brahmā world becomes one tumult of conches, drums, small drums, and so forth, if he wishes to distinguish each sound individually he can determine, “This is the sound of a conch; this is the sound of a drum.”

Thus ends the discussion of the divine ear element.

Notes

¹ Direct knowledge (abhiññā): this treatise presents five direct knowledges. Supernormal power is treated in Chapter 12, “Supernormal Power”; knowledge of the divine ear element, knowledge that penetrates minds, knowledge of the recollection of past lives, and knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings are treated in this chapter.

² Limited inclusion and unlimited inclusion (padesapariyādāna・nippadesapariyādāna): the former includes a portion by class of sound—divine and human—while the latter includes without omission according to whether sounds are far or near.

³ Jhāna that is the basis for direct knowledge (abhiññāpādakajjhāna): the jhāna on which direct knowledges depend; this passage itself identifies it as the fourth jhāna of the form sphere.

⁴ Preliminary concentration (parikammasamādhi): concentration established on the preparatory act of attention before absorption; it is developed in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa.”

⁵ Sound sign (saddanimitta): what is attended to is not the sound itself but the sign of the sound.

⁶ Mind-door adverting (manodvārāvajjana): the beginning of a cognitive process, turning the mind toward the object appearing at the mind door; it is established in the discussion of the consciousness aggregate in Chapter 14, “The Aggregates.”

⁷ Preliminary work, access, conformity, and change-of-lineage (parikamma・upacāra・anuloma・gotrabhu): the names of the four successive states in the cognitive process before absorption; they are established in Chapter 3, “Taking a Meditation Subject,” and Chapter 14, “The Aggregates.”

⁸ Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi): a level of concentration in which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered. In absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi), the mind is fully immersed in its object and does not move.

⁹ World-system (cakkavāḷa): the boundary of a single world; the measure of its encircling mountain is given in a verse in Chapter 7, “Six Recollections.”

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Meaning of Knowledge That Penetrates Minds 〔CSCD §401〕

Discussion of Knowledge That Penetrates Minds

In the discussion of knowledge that penetrates minds, “for knowledge that penetrates minds”: here, it is “penetration” because it thoroughly takes up; the meaning is delimitation. Penetration of a mind is another’s mind; since this penetration of another’s mind is also knowledge, it is knowledge that penetrates minds. “For that,” is what is meant. “Of other beings” means of beings other than oneself. “Of other persons” has the same meaning, but the wording differs for the sake of those to be tamed and through skill in teaching. “Mind with mind” means knowing their minds with one’s own mind. “Having thoroughly taken up, he understands” means that after delimiting it, he understands it in various aspects, as possessing greed and so forth.

§2 Method of Cultivation—the Three Marks of Heart-Materiality and the Commentary’s Questions and Answers 〔CSCD §401〕

How, then, is this knowledge to be brought about? It is accomplished by means of the divine eye,¹ which serves as its preliminary work. The bhikkhu should therefore expand the light and, with the divine eye, see the color of the blood that occurs in dependence on another’s heart-materiality,² and seek out that person’s mind. When a mind accompanied by joy³ occurs, the blood becomes red like the fruit of a banyan tree; when a mind accompanied by grief occurs, it becomes black like a rose-apple fruit; when a mind accompanied by equanimity occurs, it is like clear sesame oil. Seeing the color of the blood in another’s heart, he should seek out the mind by determining, “This color is produced by the faculty of joy; this color is produced by the faculty of grief; this color is produced by the faculty of equanimity,” and so strengthen knowledge that penetrates minds. When it has been strengthened in this way, he progressively understands every sense-sphere mind and the minds of the form and formless spheres, entering directly from mind into mind, without needing to see heart-materiality. The Commentary⁴ likewise says: “When one wishes to know the mind of another in the formless realm, whose heart-materiality does one see? Whose alteration of the faculties does one see? One sees no one’s. This is the range of one who possesses direct knowledge: wherever he adverts to a mind, he understands the sixteen kinds of mind. This statement, however, concerns one who has not yet made a resolution.”

§3 Analysis of the Sixteen Kinds of Mind 〔CSCD §401〕

In the phrases beginning “a mind possessing greed,” the following should be understood. The eight kinds of mind associated with greed are “a mind possessing greed”; the profitable and indeterminate minds of the other four planes⁵ are “a mind without greed.” The two minds accompanied by grief and the two accompanied by doubt and agitation—these four do not enter into this pair, though some elders⁶ include them. The two kinds of mind accompanied by grief are called “a mind possessing hate”; all profitable and indeterminate minds of the four planes are “a mind without hate.” The other ten unprofitable minds do not enter into this pair, though some elders include them.

As to “deluded” and “undeluded,” when the factors specific to each individual type are considered, only the two associated with doubt and agitation are “deluded.” But since delusion is present in all that is unprofitable, all twelve unprofitable minds should be understood as “deluded,” and the rest as “undeluded.” A mind following sloth and torpor is “contracted”; one following agitation is “distracted.” A mind of the form or formless sphere is “exalted”;⁷ the rest are “unexalted.” Minds of all three planes are “surpassable”; the supramundane are “unsurpassed.” Those reaching access or absorption are “concentrated”; those reaching neither are “unconcentrated.” Those reaching the five kinds of liberation—by substitution of opposites, suppression, complete cutting off, tranquillization, and escape⁸—are “liberated”; those reaching none of the five are “unliberated.” In this way, the bhikkhu who has obtained knowledge that penetrates minds understands every kind: “a mind possessing greed as a mind possessing greed” ... and so on as before ... “an unliberated mind as an unliberated mind.”

Thus ends the discussion of knowledge that penetrates minds.

Notes

¹ Divine eye (dibbacakkhu): the divine eye is the preliminary work for knowledge that penetrates minds; its cultivation is taught in this chapter’s unit on knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings.

² Heart-materiality (hadayarūpa): the material basis of mind; it is established in Chapter 18, “Purification of View.”

³ Joy, grief, and equanimity (somanassa・domanassa・upekkhā): joy is pleasant mental feeling, grief is painful mental feeling, and equanimity is neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. In its fivefold analysis of feeling, this treatise likewise renders somanassa as “joy,” distinct from the bodily pleasant feeling called “pleasure.”

⁴ Commentary (aṭṭhakathā): the general designation for the earlier commentarial tradition inherited by this treatise.

⁵ Four planes (catubhūmaka): the sense sphere, form sphere, formless sphere, and supramundane; their division appears in the discussion of the consciousness aggregate in Chapter 14, “The Aggregates.”

⁶ Some elders (Keci therā): here the commentator reports, without deciding, an alternative classification held by earlier elders; the phrase occurs twice in this unit.

⁷ Exalted (mahaggata): minds of the form and formless spheres are called exalted because they transcend the littleness of the sense sphere.

⁸ Substitution of opposites, suppression, complete cutting off, tranquillization, and escape (tadaṅga・vikkhambhana・samuccheda・paṭipassaddhi・nissaraṇa): names of the five kinds of liberation; their places are explained in the chapters beginning with Purification of View.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Meaning of the Recollection of Past Lives 〔CSCD §402〕

Discussion of Knowledge of the Recollection of Past Lives

In the discussion of knowledge of the recollection of past lives, “for knowledge of the recollection of past lives” means for the knowledge within the recollection of past lives. “Past lives” are the aggregates lived in during former births. “Lived” means inhabited and experienced, arisen and ceased within one’s own continuity; alternatively, “things formerly lived.” They were “lived” by the abiding of one’s range: known and delimited by one’s own consciousness. Or, in the recollection of those whose track has been cut off and so on, they may have been known by another’s consciousness—only Buddhas can attain those. “Recollection of past lives” is the mindfulness¹ by which past lives are recollected. “Knowledge” is the knowledge associated with that mindfulness. Thus “for this knowledge of the recollection of past lives” means for the realization and acquisition of this knowledge.

§2 Six Kinds of Recollector, Their Limits, and Two Sets of Similes 〔CSCD §402〕

“Various” means many kinds, or occurring and described in many aspects. “Past lives” means the continuity lived in here and there beginning with the immediately preceding existence. “He recollects” means that he repeatedly follows and remembers according to the sequence of the aggregates or according to death and rebirth-linking. Six kinds of person recollect past lives: adherents of other schools, ordinary disciples, great disciples,² chief disciples, Paccekabuddhas, and Buddhas.

Of these, adherents of other schools recollect only forty aeons and no more. Why? Because their understanding is weak. Their understanding is weak because they are without the delimitation of mentality-materiality.³ An ordinary disciple recollects a hundred aeons and also a thousand, because understanding is strong. The eighty great disciples recollect a hundred thousand aeons. The two chief disciples recollect one incalculable period⁴ and a hundred thousand aeons. A Paccekabuddha recollects two incalculable periods and a hundred thousand aeons, for the extent of their aspirations is just that much. For Buddhas there is no such limit.

Adherents of other schools remember only by the sequence of the aggregates; they cannot abandon that sequence and remember by death and rebirth-linking. Like blind people, they cannot enter a place at will. As a blind person walks without letting go of a staff, so they remember without letting go of the sequence of the aggregates. Ordinary disciples recollect by the sequence of the aggregates and also pass onward by death and rebirth-linking. The eighty great disciples do likewise. For the two chief disciples there is no proceeding by the sequence of the aggregates: seeing the death of one individuality, they see its rebirth-linking; then seeing another’s death, they see its rebirth-linking. Thus they advance only by death and rebirth-linking. Paccekabuddhas do likewise.

For Buddhas there is neither proceeding by the sequence of the aggregates nor passing onward by death and rebirth-linking. Through innumerable millions of aeons, whatever place above or below they wish to see is clear to them. Even when the span is innumerable millions of aeons, they abbreviate it as one abbreviates a canonical passage, enter wherever they wish, and travel by the lion’s leap. As they do so, their knowledge is like an arrow shot by an archer trained to split a hair, such as Sarabhaṅga: it is not caught on trees or creepers in between but lands precisely on the target, neither impeded nor missing. In the same way, it is not caught among the intervening births and does not miss, but takes precisely whatever place is wished for.

Among these beings who recollect past lives, when the vision of past lives arises, that of an adherent of another school is like the light of a firefly; an ordinary disciple’s, the light of a lamp; a great disciple’s, torchlight; a chief disciple’s, the light of the healing star; a Paccekabuddha’s, moonlight; and a Buddha’s, the disc of the autumn sun adorned with a thousand rays.

The recollection of past lives by an adherent of another school is like a blind person following the tip of a staff; an ordinary disciple’s is like crossing a staff bridge; a great disciple’s, a footbridge; a chief disciple’s, a cart bridge; a Paccekabuddha’s, a broad footpath; and a Buddha’s, a great carriage road.

What is intended in this section is a disciple’s recollection of past lives. Hence the statement: “‘He recollects’ means that he repeatedly follows and remembers according to the sequence of the aggregates or according to death and rebirth-linking.”

§3 Method of Cultivation—Working Backward from the Last Sitting 〔CSCD §403〕

Therefore a beginner bhikkhu wishing to recollect in this way should return from alms after the meal, withdraw alone in a secluded place,⁵ enter the four jhānas in sequence, emerge from the fourth jhāna that is the basis for direct knowledge, and advert to the last sitting. He should then advert to spreading out the seat, entering the lodging, putting away bowl and robe, the time of eating, returning from the village, walking for alms in the village, entering the village for alms, leaving the monastery, paying homage at the shrine court and the Bodhi-tree court, washing the bowl, taking up the bowl, what was done between taking up the bowl and washing his face, what was done at dawn, during the middle watch, and during the first watch. In this way he adverts, in reverse sequence, to everything done over the whole day and night. This much is clear even to the ordinary mind and exceedingly clear to the mind in preliminary concentration.

If anything is unclear, he should re-enter the foundational jhāna, emerge, and advert to it. That alone makes it clear, as though a lamp had been lit. In the same way, in reverse sequence, he should advert to what was done on the second, third, fourth, and fifth day, through ten days, half a month, a month, and up to a year. By this same method he adverts over ten years, twenty years, as far as his own rebirth-linking in this existence. Having done so, he should advert to the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death in the preceding existence. A discerning bhikkhu can break through rebirth-linking⁶ on the first attempt and take as object the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death.

Yet because the mentality-materiality of the previous existence ceased without remainder and another arose, that point is obstructed, like darkness, and difficult for one of weak understanding to see. Even so, he should not abandon the yoke with the thought, “I cannot break through rebirth-linking and take as object the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death.” He should repeatedly enter that same foundational jhāna and repeatedly emerge and advert to that point.

§4 The Tree-Felling Simile and Arising of Knowledge of the Recollection of Past Lives 〔CSCD §403〕

One who practices in this way is like a strong man felling a great tree to make the pinnacle of a multi-storied mansion. After he has cut only the branches and foliage, the edge of his axe is damaged. Though he cannot yet fell the tree, he does not abandon the yoke: he goes to a smithy, has a sharp axe made, returns, and chops again; whenever it is damaged, he again has it made and resumes chopping. As he chops, what has already been severed need not be cut again, while what remains is cut away, and before long he brings down the great tree. Likewise, after emerging from the foundational jhāna, he does not advert again to what he has already adverted to but only to rebirth-linking. Before long he breaks through rebirth-linking and takes as object the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death. The same meaning can be illustrated by a wood-splitter, a barber, and so on.

Here, the knowledge occurring from the last sitting up to the point at which rebirth-linking is taken as object is not called knowledge of past lives; it is called knowledge of preliminary concentration.⁷ Some call it knowledge concerning the past,⁸ but that is inappropriate because it belongs to the form sphere. When the bhikkhu passes beyond rebirth-linking and takes the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death as object, mind-door adverting⁹ arises and ceases; then four or five impulsions run with that same mentality-materiality as their object. The rest is as stated above: the earlier impulsions are sense-sphere states called preliminary work¹⁰ and so forth, and the last is a form-sphere absorption state belonging to the fourth jhāna. The knowledge arising together with that state is then called knowledge of the recollection of past lives. With the mindfulness associated with that knowledge, he recollects various past lives: one birth, two births ... and so on as before ... thus recollecting various past lives in their aspects and particulars.

§5 Explanation of One Birth and So Forth, and the Headings of Dissolution and Evolution Aeons 〔CSCD §404〕

Here, “one birth” is the continuity of aggregates comprised within one existence, rooted in rebirth-linking and ending in death. The method is the same for “two births” and so forth. In “many aeons of dissolution” and so on, a contracting aeon should be understood as an aeon of dissolution, and an expanding one as an aeon of evolution.¹¹ “Dissolution” also includes the period of remaining dissolved because it is rooted in dissolution; “evolution” likewise includes the period of remaining evolved. Thus all four in the statement, “Bhikkhus, there are these four incalculable periods of an aeon. Which four? Dissolution, remaining dissolved, evolution, and remaining evolved,” are included.

There are three kinds of dissolution: by water, by fire, and by wind. There are three limits of dissolution: the Streaming-Radiance realm, the Refulgent-Glory realm, and the Great-Fruit realm.¹²

When an aeon dissolves by fire, all below Streaming Radiance is burned. When it dissolves by water, all below Refulgent Glory is dissolved. When it dissolves by wind, all below Great Fruit is destroyed. Broadly speaking, it is always one Buddha-field that dissolves.

There are three kinds of Buddha-field: the field of birth, the field of authority, and the field of range. The field of birth is bounded by ten thousand world-systems and trembles when a Tathāgata takes rebirth-linking and at other such times. The field of authority is bounded by a hundred thousand million world-systems; within it the protective power of the Jewel Discourse, the Aggregates Protection, the Banner-Pinnacle Protection, the Āṭānāṭiya Protection, and the Peacock Protection operates. The field of range is boundless and immeasurable: “whatever he wishes” means that a Tathāgata knows whatever he wishes to know. Of these three Buddha-fields, one field of authority dissolves, and when it dissolves the field of birth dissolves as well. They dissolve together and are established together. Their dissolution and establishment should be understood in this way.

Notes

¹ Mindfulness (sati): the mental factor that retains its object without forgetting it; in the treatise it continually operates together with knowledge, energy, and concentration. It belongs to a different category from the broad awareness commonly called “mindfulness” today and should be read according to this treatise’s definition.

² Ordinary disciples, great disciples, and chief disciples (pakatisāvaka・mahāsāvaka・aggasāvaka): three grades of disciple—two chief disciples, eighty great disciples, and all others ordinary disciples. The unit distinguishes their powers by the limits of their recollection and two sets of similes.

³ Delimitation of mentality-materiality (nāmarūpapariccheda): the view that delimits a being into mentality and materiality; established in Chapter 18, “Purification of View.”

⁴ Incalculable period (asaṅkhyeyya): an uncountable measure of time, used here for the recollection limit of chief disciples and Paccekabuddhas.

⁵ Withdrawn in seclusion (paṭisallīna): sitting alone away from commotion. Units on recollection in Chapters 7 and 8 use the same rendering in the same syntactic position. “Delight in seclusion” (paṭisallānārāma) in the requisites unit of Chapter 1 is a compound in a different position: one form, two functions.

⁶ Break through rebirth-linking (paṭisandhiṃ ugghāṭeti): crossing the threshold of rebirth-linking in this life and taking as object the mentality-materiality occurring at the moment of death in the preceding existence.

⁷ Knowledge of preliminary concentration (parikammasamādhiñāṇa): the knowledge occurring from the last sitting up to rebirth-linking; it is not yet called knowledge of the recollection of past lives.

⁸ Knowledge concerning the past (atītaṃsañāṇa): a name some give the preceding knowledge; the commentator rejects it because that knowledge is a form-sphere state.

⁹ Mind-door adverting (manodvārāvajjana): the beginning of a cognitive process, turning the mind toward the object appearing at the mind door; established in the consciousness-aggregate discussion in Chapter 14, “The Aggregates.”

¹⁰ Preliminary work (parikamma): the first of four successive states before absorption, followed by access, conformity, and change-of-lineage; developed in Chapter 4, “The Earth Kasiṇa.”

¹¹ Aeon of dissolution and aeon of evolution (saṃvaṭṭakappa・vivaṭṭakappa): a contracting aeon is dissolution and an expanding aeon evolution; with the periods of remaining dissolved and remaining evolved, they make the four incalculable periods of an aeon.

¹² Streaming Radiance, Refulgent Glory, and Great Fruit (ābhassara・subhakiṇha・vehapphala): three heavens of the form sphere; here they are the respective limits reached by dissolution through fire, water, and wind.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Dissolution by Fire—the Cessation of the Great Cloud and Appearance of the Seven Suns 〔CSCD §405〕

When an aeon dissolves by fire, first the great aeon-destroying cloud¹ arises and pours down a great rain throughout a hundred thousand million world-systems. People rejoice, bring out every kind of seed, and sow them. But when the shoots have grown high enough for cattle to eat, the cloud makes a sound like a donkey and does not release a single drop. Then the rain ceases once and for all. Referring to this, the Blessed One said: “Bhikkhus, there comes a time when for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, many hundreds of thousands of years, no rain falls.” Beings that live on rain die and are reborn in the Brahmā world, and so do deities who live on flowers and fruits. After a long time in this way the water everywhere dries up. Fish and turtles then die in turn and are reborn in the Brahmā world, as are beings in the hells. Some say that beings in the hells perish when the seventh sun appears.

[Question:] Without jhāna one is not reborn in the Brahmā world, but some of these beings are afflicted by famine and some are incapable of attaining jhāna. How are they reborn there? [Answer:] By means of jhāna obtained in the deva world. At that time sense-sphere deities called World Arrangers² think, “After a hundred thousand years the dissolution of the aeon will begin.” With hair loose and disheveled, faces weeping, wiping away tears with their hands, dressed in red, and appearing extremely disordered, they wander along human paths and proclaim: “Good people, a hundred thousand years from now the dissolution of the aeon will begin. This world will be destroyed; the great ocean will dry up; this great earth and Sineru, king of mountains, will burn and perish. The world will be destroyed as far as the Brahmā world. Good people, cultivate loving-kindness! Cultivate compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity!³ Attend upon your mothers and fathers, and honor the elders of your families!”

Hearing them, most humans and earthbound deities become spiritually stirred and tenderhearted toward one another. Having made merit through loving-kindness and the other practices, they are reborn in a deva world. There they consume divine ambrosial food and, doing preliminary work on the wind kasiṇa,⁴ obtain jhāna. The others are reborn in a deva world through kamma to be experienced in later lives,⁵ for no being wandering in saṃsāra is without such kamma. There too they likewise obtain jhāna. Thus, by means of jhāna obtained in a deva world, all are reborn in the Brahmā world.

After the rain has ceased and a long time has passed, the second sun appears. The Blessed One also spoke of this: “Bhikkhus, there comes a time ...”—the discourse on the seven suns should be given in full. When the second sun appears, night and day can no longer be distinguished. One sun rises as another sets, and the world is under continual scorching. The ordinary sun has a sun deity, but the sun of aeon-dissolution does not. When the ordinary sun travels, clouds and smoky vapor move through the sky; when the sun of dissolution travels, the sky is free of smoke and cloud, stainless like the face of a mirror. Except for the five great rivers, the water in the smaller rivers and elsewhere dries up.

After another long interval, the third sun appears. With its appearance, the great rivers too dry up.

After another long interval, the fourth sun appears. With its appearance, the seven great lakes in the Himalayas that are the sources of the great rivers—Lion’s Fall, Swan’s Fall, Cropped-Ear, Chariot-Maker, Anotatta, Six-Tusk, and Kuṇāla—also dry up.

After another long interval, the fifth sun appears. With its appearance, not even enough water to wet one finger joint gradually remains in the great ocean.

After another long interval, the sixth sun appears. With its appearance, the whole world-system becomes one mass of smoke, its moisture entirely consumed by smoke. The same occurs throughout a hundred thousand million world-systems.

After another long interval, the seventh sun appears. With its appearance, the whole world-system together with a hundred thousand million world-systems becomes one mass of flame. Peaks of Sineru measuring hundreds of leagues and more collapse and vanish into space. The flame rises and takes the realm of the Four Great Kings;⁶ after consuming palaces of gold, jewels, and gems there, it takes the realm of the Thirty-three. By the same process it reaches as far as the plane of the first jhāna. After burning the three Brahmā worlds there, it touches Streaming Radiance⁷ and stops. As long as any formations remain, even as minute as the finest particle, it does not go out. When all formations have been utterly consumed, it goes out like a flame burning ghee, leaving not even ash. The space below and space above become a single great darkness.

§2 Beginning of Evolution—the Great Cloud, Earth-Essence, Sun and Moon, and Mountains 〔CSCD §406〕

After a long time, a great cloud arises and first rains in exceedingly fine drops. Gradually the streams become as thick as lotus stalks, poles, pestles, and palmyra trunks. Having filled every burned place throughout a hundred thousand million world-systems, the cloud vanishes. Winds arising below and at the sides gather the water and make it compact and round, like a drop of water on a lotus leaf. [Question:] How can so great a mass of water be made compact? [Answer:] By giving it space: the winds provide openings here and there. Thus gathered, compacted, and gradually diminished by the winds, the water descends by stages. As it descends, Brahmā worlds appear in the former locations of Brahmā worlds, and deva realms appear in the locations of the upper four sense-sphere heavens.

When the water reaches the former location of the great earth, powerful winds arise. They block it and give it no outlet, like water held inside a filter whose mouth has been closed. As the sweet water gradually diminishes, earth-essence⁸ forms on its surface. It is complete in color, fragrance, and flavor, like the skin that forms on milk-rice made without water.

At that time, beings who first arose in the Streaming-Radiance Brahmā world fall from there when their lifespan or merit is exhausted and are reborn here. They are self-luminous and travel through the air. Following the account in the Discourse on the Arising of the World, they taste the earth-essence, are overcome by craving, and begin to form it into lumps and eat it. Their intrinsic light then disappears and darkness comes to be. Seeing the darkness, they are afraid.

Then a disc of the sun, fifty leagues in extent, appears to dispel their fear and produce courage. Seeing it, they rejoice, saying, “We have obtained light.” They name it the “sun,” saying, “It has risen dispelling the fear of us who were afraid and producing courage; therefore let it be the sun.”

When the sun has given one day’s light and sets, they become frightened again, saying, “The light we obtained has also vanished.” They think, “It would be good if we could obtain another light.” As though knowing their minds, a disc of the moon forty-nine leagues in extent appears. Seeing it, they rejoice even more, saying, “It has risen as though knowing our desire; therefore let it be the moon.” Thus they give it the name “moon.” After the sun and moon appear, the constellations and colors of the stars also appear.

From then on night and day can be distinguished, followed in sequence by months, half-months, seasons, and years. On the very day the sun and moon appear, Sineru, the world-system’s encircling mountain, and the Himalayan mountains also appear. They appear neither before nor after one another, precisely on the full-moon day of Phagguna. How? When millet gruel is boiling, bubbles arise all at once: some places swell upward, some sink, and some remain level. In the same way, raised places become mountains, depressed places become seas, and level places become continents.

§3 Beings’ Gradual Fall, the Appointment of the Great Elect, and the Four Incalculable Periods 〔CSCD §406〕

As those beings consume earth-essence, some gradually become well-colored and some poorly colored. The well-colored despise the poorly colored. Because of their excessive conceit, the earth-essence disappears and earth-cakes arise. By the same process these disappear and creepers arise; these in turn disappear, and rice ripening without cultivation arises, free of bran and husk, pure, fragrant, and with grain as its fruit.

Then vessels arise for them. They put the rice into vessels and place them on a stone; a flame arises by itself and cooks it. The rice is like a sumana flower and needs no broth or curry. Whatever flavor they desire is the flavor it acquires. When they eat this coarse food, urine and excrement arise. Openings break forth to discharge them, and male and female characteristics appear.

Women then gaze excessively at men and men at women. Because of their excessive gazing, the fever of sensual desire arises and they engage in sexual intercourse. Reproached and harassed by the wise for practicing what is improper, they build houses to conceal it. Living in houses, they gradually follow the idea of a lazy being and begin to store food. From then on bran and husk cover the grain, and what has been reaped no longer grows again.

They gather and lament: “Good people, evil states have appeared among beings. Formerly we were mind-made!”—the account should be given in full according to the Discourse on the Arising of the World. Then they set boundaries. One being takes a portion not given by another. After being rebuked twice, on the third occasion he is struck with hands, clods, and sticks. When taking what was not given, rebuke, false speech, and punishment with sticks have thus arisen, they gather and deliberate: “Let us jointly appoint one being who will rightly censure those who should be censured, rebuke those who should be rebuked, and banish those who should be banished; in return, we shall give him a share of rice.”

When the beings make this decision, the Blessed One, then the Bodhisatta in this aeon, is the most handsome and impressive among them, of greatest authority, endowed with intelligence, and capable of rebuke and reward. They approach and jointly appoint the Bodhisatta. Because he is appointed by the great multitude, he is Mahāsammata,¹⁰ “the Great Elect”; because he is lord of the fields, he is Khattiya; because he gladdens others through Dhamma and impartiality, he is Rājā, “king.” Thus he is known by three names. Wherever something rare first appears in the world, the Bodhisatta is the first person in it. In this way, beginning with the Bodhisatta, the Khattiya order is established, and afterward the Brahmin and other classes are established in sequence.

Of these periods, from the great aeon-destroying cloud until the flames cease is one incalculable period,¹¹ called “dissolution.”

From the cessation of the flames of dissolution until the great cloud of evolution fills a hundred thousand million world-systems is the second incalculable period, called “remaining dissolved.”

From the great cloud of evolution until the moon and sun appear is the third incalculable period, called “evolution.”

From the appearance of the moon and sun until the great aeon-destroying cloud appears again is the fourth incalculable period, called “remaining evolved.” These four incalculable periods make one great aeon. Thus dissolution and establishment by fire should first be understood.

§4 Dissolution by Water 〔CSCD §407〕

When an aeon dissolves by water, the statement “first the great aeon-destroying cloud arises” should be given in full as above. What is distinctive here is this: where the second sun appeared there, here a great cloud of caustic water for the aeon’s destruction arises. At first it rains in exceedingly fine drops, then gradually in great streams and fills a hundred thousand million world-systems. Wherever the caustic water touches, the great earth, mountains, and so forth dissolve; winds on every side hold up the water. From the great earth the water reaches the plane of the second jhāna. After dissolving the three Brahmā worlds there, it touches Refulgent Glory and stops. As long as any formation remains, even as minute as the finest particle, it does not stop. When it has overwhelmed every formation that follows the water, it suddenly stops and vanishes. Space below and space above become one great darkness, as described above. The only distinction is that here the world begins to appear starting with the Streaming-Radiance Brahmā world, and beings falling from Refulgent Glory are reborn in Streaming Radiance and so on.

From the great aeon-destroying cloud until the waters of dissolution cease is one incalculable period. From the cessation of the water until the great cloud of evolution is the second. From the great cloud of evolution ... and so on as above ... these four incalculable periods make one great aeon. Thus dissolution and establishment by water should be understood.

§5 Dissolution by Wind 〔CSCD §408〕

When an aeon dissolves by wind, the statement “first the great aeon-destroying cloud arises” should be given in full as above. What is distinctive here is this: where the second sun appeared there, here wind arises for the aeon’s destruction. It first lifts coarse dust, then fine dust, fine sand, coarse sand, pebbles and great stones, eventually lifting rocks as large as multi-storied mansions and great trees standing on rugged ground. Rising from the earth into the sky, these no longer fall but are shattered there and vanish.

Then wind gradually arises beneath the great earth, overturns it, turns its roots upward, and hurls it into the sky. Portions of earth a hundred leagues across, then two, three, four, and five hundred leagues across, break apart, are flung upward by the wind, and are shattered and vanish in the sky. The wind lifts the encircling mountain and Mount Sineru and hurls them into the sky. They strike one another, shatter, and perish. In the same way it destroys palaces on the earth and in the sky, destroys the six sense-sphere deva worlds,¹² and destroys a hundred thousand million world-systems. Encircling mountains collide with encircling mountains, Himalayas with Himalayas, and Sinerus with Sinerus; they shatter and perish. From the great earth the wind reaches the plane of the third jhāna. After destroying the three Brahmā worlds there, it touches Great Fruit and stops. Having destroyed all formations in this way, it too ceases. Space below and space above become one great darkness, as described above. The only distinction is that here the world begins to appear starting with the Refulgent-Glory Brahmā world, and beings falling from Great Fruit are reborn in Refulgent Glory and so on.

From the great aeon-destroying cloud until the winds of dissolution cease is one incalculable period. From the cessation of the wind until the great cloud of evolution is the second ... and so on as above ... these four incalculable periods make one great aeon. Thus dissolution and establishment by wind should be understood.

§6 Causes of Dissolution and the Sequence of Seven by Fire and One by Water 〔CSCD §409〕

For what reason does the world dissolve in this way? The roots of the unprofitable¹³ are the reason. The world dissolves when the unprofitable roots are prominent. When greed is most prominent, it dissolves by fire; when hate is most prominent, by water. Some, however, say the reverse: fire when hate is prominent and water when greed is prominent. When delusion is most prominent, the world dissolves by wind. The sequence of dissolution is seven consecutive times by fire and the eighth by water, then seven by fire and the eighth by water. Thus every eighth dissolution is by water. After seven dissolutions by water there are another seven by fire. At this point sixty-three aeons have passed. Then, although the turn for water has arrived, it is prevented; wind obtains its opportunity and destroys the Refulgent-Glory devas whose lifespan is sixty-four aeons, and the world dissolves.

§7 Recollection of Aeons and Word-by-Word Explanation of the Canonical Phrases 〔CSCD §410〕

A bhikkhu recollecting past lives and aeons recollects among these aeons many aeons of dissolution, many aeons of evolution, and many aeons of dissolution and evolution. How? According to the method beginning, “I was there.”

“I was there” means, “In some aeon of dissolution I was in such a mode of existence, birth, destination, station of consciousness, abode of beings, or class of beings.”¹⁴ “Named thus” means named Tissa or Phussa. “Of such a clan” means a Kaccāyana or Kassapa. This is said of his recollecting his own name and clan in a past existence. If he wishes to recollect his appearance at that time, whether his livelihood was coarse or refined, whether pleasure or pain predominated, or whether life was short or long, he can recollect that too. Hence it is said: “Such was my appearance ... and so on as above ... such was the limit of my lifespan.”

Here, “such was my appearance” means fair or dark. “Such was my food” means eating rice and meat or fallen fruit. “Such was my experience of pleasure and pain” means experiencing in various aspects bodily and mental pleasure and pain, with distinctions such as savoring food and not savoring it. “Such was the limit of my lifespan” means a lifespan of a hundred years or of eight million four hundred thousand aeons.¹⁵ “Passing from there, I arose there” means: “After passing from that mode of existence, birth, destination, station of consciousness, abode of beings, or class of beings, I arose in another such mode, called such-and-such.” “There too I was” means, “Then, in that mode of existence, birth, destination, station of consciousness, abode of beings, or class of beings, I again existed.” For “named thus” and the rest, the method is as already stated.

Furthermore, “I was there” is the recollection at will of one tracing backward in sequence, while “passing from there” is the review made by one returning forward. “Arose there,” therefore, is said with reference to the place of birth immediately preceding birth here. “There too I was” and the rest show his recollection of name, clan, and so on in the place of birth immediately before this one. “Passing from there, I arose here” means, “After passing from that immediately preceding place of birth, I arose here in a Khattiya or Brahmin family called such-and-such.” “Thus” means in this manner. “In its aspects and particulars” means particularized by name and clan and characterized by appearance and so forth. Beings are particularized as “Tissa” and “Kassapa” by name and clan; by appearance and the rest they are known as “dark” and “fair” and otherwise characterized. Name and clan are therefore particulars; the rest are aspects. The meaning of “he recollects his various past lives” is clear.

Thus ends the discussion of knowledge of the recollection of past lives.

Notes

¹ Great aeon-destroying cloud (kappavināsakamahāmegha): the common beginning of the three kinds of dissolution; it first pours down a great rain, after which rain ceases.

² World Arrangers (lokabyūhā): a class of sense-sphere deities named in this treatise who wander among humans a hundred thousand years before dissolution and announce its approach. The treatise gives only their name and proclamation and does not further explain the name.

³ Loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity (mettā・karuṇā・muditā・upekkhā): the four divine abidings; their cultivation is taught in Chapter 9, “Divine Abidings.”

⁴ Wind kasiṇa (vāyokasiṇa): a kasiṇa meditation subject that takes wind as its object; its cultivation is taught in Chapter 5, “The Remaining Kasiṇas.”

⁵ Kamma to be experienced in later lives (aparāpariyavedanīyakamma): kamma whose result is experienced neither in this life nor in the next, but in later lives.

⁶ Four Great Kings and Thirty-three (cātumahārājika・tāvatiṃsa): the lowest two of the six sense-sphere heavens; the six are named in the recollection of deities in Chapter 7, “Six Recollections.”

⁷ Streaming Radiance, Refulgent Glory, and Great Fruit (ābhassara・subhakiṇha・vehapphala): three form-sphere heavens and the respective limits reached by dissolution through fire, water, and wind.

⁸ Earth-essence (rasapathavī): the essence arising on the earth after the waters descend, complete in color, fragrance, and flavor.

⁹ Mind-made (manomaya): made by mind; Chapter 12, “Supernormal Power,” lists mind-made supernormal power as the third of ten kinds.

¹⁰ Mahāsammata: the name means “appointed by the great multitude.” Chapter 8, “Recollection Meditation Subjects,” lists him first among five wheel-turning monarchs; this unit explains the origin of the name.

¹¹ Incalculable period (asaṅkhyeyya): an uncountable measure of time; dissolution, remaining dissolved, evolution, and remaining evolved make four incalculable periods in one great aeon.

¹² Six sense-sphere deva worlds (chakāmāvacaradevaloka): the six heavens from the Four Great Kings through those who wield power over others’ creations; they are named in the recollection of deities in Chapter 7, “Six Recollections.”

¹³ Roots of the unprofitable (akusalamūla): greed, hate, and delusion; their names and meanings appear in Chapter 14, “The Aggregates,” and Chapter 17, “Dependent Origination.”

¹⁴ Mode of existence, birth, destination, station of consciousness, abode of beings, and class of beings (bhava・yoni・gati・viññāṇaṭṭhiti・sattāvāsa・sattanikāya): names for various positions in which beings take birth; the numbers of stations of consciousness and abodes of beings appear in Chapters 14, “The Aggregates,” and 16, “Faculties and Truths.”

¹⁵ Eight million four hundred thousand aeons (caturāsītikappasatasahassa): the base text’s compound literally says “eighty-four hundred-thousands of aeons”—caturāsīti, eighty-four, times kappasatasahassa, a hundred thousand aeons—and this edition gives the product directly according to ordinary numerical usage.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Six Meanings of “Divine” 〔CSCD §411〕

Discussion of Knowledge of Death and Rebirth

In the discussion of knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings,¹ “for knowledge of death and rebirth” means for knowledge of death and for knowledge of rebirth. The knowledge by which one knows the death and rebirth of beings is intended; that is, knowledge of the divine eye.² “He directs and inclines his mind” means that he directs and inclines the preliminary-work mind.³ “He” means the bhikkhu who has thus directed the mind. In “with the divine” and so forth, it is divine because it resembles that of the deities. Deities possess a sensitive divine eye born of the kamma of wholesome conduct, unobstructed by bile, phlegm, blood, and the like, and capable of apprehending distant objects because it is free from imperfections. This bhikkhu’s knowledge-eye, born through the power of energetic cultivation, is just like that, and is therefore divine because it resembles the divine. It is also divine because it is obtained through divine abiding⁴ and itself depends upon divine abiding; because, through taking up light, it has great illumination; and because, seeing forms beyond walls and so forth, it has great range. All this should be understood in conformity with linguistic analysis.⁵

§2 Explanation of Eye, Purified, Surpassing the Human, and Seeing Death and Rebirth 〔CSCD §411〕

It is an “eye” in the sense of seeing, and because it performs the function of an eye, like an eye. It is “purified” because seeing both death and rebirth makes it a cause for Purification of View.⁶ One who sees only death but not rebirth takes up the annihilation view;⁷ one who sees only rebirth but not death takes up the view that new beings appear. One who sees both transcends attachment to those two views, and that vision becomes a cause for Purification of View. The sons of the Buddha see both. Hence the statement: “It is purified because seeing death and rebirth makes it a cause for Purification of View.”

It is “surpassing the human” because it sees forms beyond the human range, or because it surpasses the human physical eye. “With the divine eye that is purified and surpasses the human”—“he sees beings” means that he looks upon beings as a person does with the physical eye.

In “passing away and being reborn,” death at the actual moment of death and birth at the actual moment of birth cannot be seen by the divine eye. Those approaching death and about to die are said to be “passing away”; those who have taken rebirth-linking and have just arisen are said to be “being reborn.” The canonical statement shows that he sees precisely such beings who are passing away and being reborn.

“Inferior” means despised, greatly despised, looked down upon, and greatly looked down upon in respect of low birth, clan, wealth, and so forth, because of association with an outcome of delusion. “Superior,” associated with an outcome of non-delusion, is the opposite. “Beautiful” means possessing an agreeable, lovely, pleasing appearance because of association with an outcome of non-hate. “Ugly,” associated with an outcome of hate, means possessing a disagreeable, unlovely, displeasing appearance; “unhandsome” means deformed. “In a good destination” means reborn in a good destination, or wealthy and of great riches because of association with an outcome of non-greed. “In a bad destination” means reborn in a bad destination, or poor and short of food and drink because of association with an outcome of greed.

§3 Knowledge of Where Beings Go According to Kamma and Its Sequence of Arising 〔CSCD §411〕

“Going according to their kamma” means going to various destinations according to the different kamma accumulated. The preceding phrases, “passing away” and so on, concern the divine eye; this phrase concerns knowledge of where beings go according to kamma.⁸ That knowledge arises in this sequence. A bhikkhu expands light downward toward the hells and sees beings there experiencing great suffering. That seeing is the work of the divine eye. He attends: “What kamma did these beings perform to experience this suffering?” Knowledge then arises with that kamma as object: “They performed such kamma.” Likewise, he expands light upward toward the deva world and sees beings in Nandana Grove, Missaka Grove, Phārusaka Grove, and elsewhere experiencing great prosperity. That seeing too is the work of the divine eye. He attends: “What kamma did these beings perform to experience this prosperity?” Knowledge then arises with that kamma as object: “They performed such kamma.” This is called knowledge of where beings go according to kamma. It has no separate preliminary work, and knowledge concerning the future is the same. Both have the divine eye as their footing and are accomplished only together with the divine eye.

§4 Bodily Misconduct and So Forth, and the Offense of Reviling Noble Ones 〔CSCD §411〕

In “bodily misconduct” and so forth, it is “misconduct” because it is conducted badly or because conduct corrupted by defilements is itself corrupt. Misconduct of the body, or misconduct arising from the body, is “bodily misconduct”; the same method applies to verbal and mental misconduct. “Endowed” means having become possessed of it. “Revilers of noble ones” means those who, wishing harm to Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and noble disciples, even a lay stream-enterer, revile, abuse, and mock them either by making the most extreme charge or by denying their qualities. One who says, “These people have no ascetic practice; they are not ascetics,” reviles with the most extreme charge. One who says, “These people have no jhāna, liberation, path, or fruit,” and so forth reviles by denying their qualities. Whether one reviles knowingly or unknowingly, both are reviling noble ones. This is weighty kamma, comparable to kamma with immediate result;¹⁰ it obstructs both heaven and the path. Yet it can be remedied. To make that remedy clear, the following case should be understood.

It is said that in a village an elder and a young bhikkhu were going for alms. At the first house they received a ladleful of hot rice-gruel. The elder was suffering from wind in the belly. He thought, “This gruel is suitable for me; I shall drink it before it cools,” and sat on a piece of wood brought for making a threshold and drank it. The younger bhikkhu felt disgust and said, “This old man, overcome by extreme greed, has done something that brings us shame.” When the elder had finished going for alms in the village and returned to the monastery, he asked the young bhikkhu, “Friend, do you have a foothold in this teaching?” “Yes, venerable sir; I am a stream-enterer.” “Then, friend, do not strive for a higher path; the person you reviled is one whose taints are destroyed.” The young bhikkhu asked the elder’s forgiveness, and the kamma returned to its original condition.

§5 Method of Asking Forgiveness 〔CSCD §411〕

Therefore anyone else who has reviled a noble one should go and ask forgiveness. If the person reviled is senior, the offender should sit in a squatting posture and say, “I said such-and-such to the venerable sir; please forgive me.” If the person is junior, the offender should pay homage, squat with hands joined, and say, “Venerable sir, I said such-and-such to you; please forgive me.” If the person has gone away to another region, the offender should travel there or send a co-resident pupil or someone else to ask forgiveness.

If the offender can neither travel nor send someone, he should go to the bhikkhus living in that person’s monastery. If they are junior, he should squat; if senior, he should act as described for a senior, saying, “Venerable sirs, I said such-and-such to the venerable sir named so-and-so; may that venerable sir forgive me.” He should ask forgiveness in this way even if the person, when present, refuses to forgive him.

If the person reviled is a solitary bhikkhu whose dwelling and destination are unknown, the offender should approach a discerning bhikkhu and say, “Venerable sir, I said such-and-such to the venerable sir named so-and-so. Whenever I remember it, remorse arises. What should I do?” The discerning bhikkhu will say, “Do not worry; the elder forgives you. Settle your mind.” The offender should also face the direction in which the noble one went, join his hands, and say, “May the venerable sir forgive me.” If the noble one has attained final Nibbāna, the offender should go to the bed where final Nibbāna occurred, or even to the charnel ground, and ask forgiveness. Having done so, he neither obstructs heaven nor obstructs the path, and the kamma returns to its original condition.

§6 Gravity of Wrong View and Explanation of the Names of Bad Destinations 〔CSCD §411〕

“Possessing wrong view” means possessing distorted view. “Having undertaken action based on wrong view” means undertaking various actions through wrong view and encouraging others to undertake bodily actions and so forth rooted in wrong view. Here reviling noble ones is already included in verbal misconduct, and wrong view in mental misconduct. Even so, the two are mentioned again to show the magnitude of their fault. Reviling noble ones is a great fault because it is comparable to kamma with immediate result. It has also been said: “Sāriputta, just as a bhikkhu endowed with virtue, concentration, and understanding can attain final knowledge in this very life, so, Sāriputta, I say is the consummation of this reviling: if he does not abandon that speech and mind, and does not relinquish that view, he is in hell as though carried there and placed there.” No other fault is greater than wrong view. As stated: “Bhikkhus, I do not see any other single thing so greatly at fault as wrong view. Of faults, wrong view is foremost.”

“With the breakup of the body” means relinquishing the appropriated aggregates. “After death” means when taking up the aggregates that arise immediately afterward. Alternatively, “breakup of the body” means the cutting off of the life faculty, and “after death” means after the death-consciousness. “State of misery” and all the remaining expressions are merely synonyms for hell.

Hell is a “state of misery” because it is devoid of the “benefit” regarded as merit and as the cause of heaven and liberation, or because there is no “arrival” of pleasures. It is a “bad destination” because it is the destination and resort of suffering, or because it is a destination born of bad kamma through abundant hate. It is a “place of downfall” because evildoers fall there without control, or because those whose major and minor limbs are broken and being destroyed fall there. It is “hell” because there is no pleasant benefit there.

Alternatively, “state of misery” indicates the animal destination. It is a state of misery because it is excluded from a good destination, but not a bad destination because it includes powerful dragon kings and the like. “Bad destination” indicates the ghost realm, which is both a state of misery and a bad destination because it is excluded from a good destination and is a destination of suffering, but not a place of downfall because it has not fallen like the asura host. “Place of downfall” indicates the asura host, which in the senses given above is both a state of misery and a bad destination, and is called a place of downfall because it has fallen from every accumulation. “Hell” indicates Avīci and the various other hells. “Arisen” means gone there, that is, reborn there. The bright side should be understood by reversing what was said.

Here is the distinction. “Good destination” also includes the human destination; “heaven” means only the heavenly destination. A destination that is good is a good destination. It is “heaven” because foremost in the objects of appearance and so forth. And all this is “world” because of the meaning of dissolution. Such are the word meanings.

“Thus with the divine eye” and all the rest are concluding phrases. “Thus with the divine eye ... and so on as before ... he sees”—this is the meaning in brief.

§7 Cultivation of the Divine Eye—the Light Kasiṇa and the Torch Simile 〔CSCD §412〕

A beginner of good family who wishes to see in this way should first make the foundational jhāna with a kasiṇa object capable of being directed in every aspect. He should then bring near one of three kasiṇas: fire, white, or light.¹³ He should make it the object of access jhāna, expand it, and keep it established; that is, he should not produce absorption upon it. If absorption arises, it becomes the support for the foundational jhāna rather than the support for preliminary work. Of the three, the light kasiṇa is best. Therefore, according to the method stated in the kasiṇa explanation, he should produce it or one of the other two, remain only on the access plane, and expand it. The method of expansion should also be understood from that account.

Forms should be seen only within the area expanded. While he sees forms, the preliminary-work occasion passes and the light disappears. When it disappears, forms are no longer seen. He should then repeatedly enter the foundational jhāna, emerge, and suffuse light. In this sequence the light becomes strong. Whatever area he delimits with “Let there be light here,” the light remains established there. Even sitting and looking for a whole day, he succeeds in seeing forms. A person walking by night with a grass torch provides the simile.

It is said that a person was walking by night with a grass torch. The torch went out, and level and uneven ground were no longer visible. He rubbed the torch on the ground and lit it again. It burned with a light greater than before. Repeatedly relighting it whenever it went out, he continued until the sun rose. With the sun risen the torch was useless, so he threw it away and walked all day. Here, the kasiṇa light during preliminary work is like the torchlight. Not seeing level and uneven ground when the torch goes out is like the light disappearing when the preliminary-work occasion passes while he sees forms, so that he no longer sees them. Rubbing the torch is like repeatedly entering the foundational jhāna. The torch giving greater light than before is like the stronger light suffused by one who again performs preliminary work. Sunrise is like strengthened light remaining established according to the delimitation. Throwing away the torch and walking all day is like discarding the lesser light and seeing forms all day with strengthened light.

When forms beyond the range of his physical eye—inside the belly, dependent on the heart basis, beneath the ground, beyond a wall, mountain, or enclosure, or in another world-system—come before the knowledge-eye as though seen by the physical eye, then the divine eye should be understood to have arisen. Only it sees forms; the preliminary states cannot.

For an ordinary person this divine eye is an obstacle and danger. Why? Wherever he resolves “Let there be light here,” the light pierces earth, sea, and mountain and becomes one mass of illumination. Seeing frightening forms of yakkhas, rakkhasas, and so forth, he becomes afraid; his mind is disturbed and he loses jhāna. One should therefore be heedful in seeing forms.

The divine eye arises in this sequence. Mind-door adverting arises and ceases with a form of the kind described above as object; then four or five impulsions arise with that same form as object. All should be understood according to the method stated earlier. Here the preliminary states too have applied and sustained thought and belong to the sense sphere; the final accomplishing state¹⁴ belongs to the fourth jhāna and the form sphere. The knowledge conascent with it is called both “knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings” and “knowledge of the divine eye.”

Thus ends the discussion of knowledge of death and rebirth.

Notes

¹ Knowledge of death and rebirth (cutūpapātañāṇa): knowledge that sees the death and rebirth of beings. The commentator identifies it with knowledge of the divine eye, so one section has two names.

² Divine eye (dibbacakkhu): the eye produced through cultivation of concentration that can see forms far and near, coarse and subtle. The light produced through the fire, white, and light kasiṇas is established for this purpose.

³ Preliminary-work mind (parikammacitta): the preliminary-work state among the four states before absorption, the preliminary mind when direct knowledge is directed.

⁴ Divine abiding (dibbavihāra): the jhānas of the form sphere. The divine eye is obtained by reliance on them and itself relies on them; hence it too is called “divine.”

⁵ Linguistic analysis (saddasattha): the study of grammar and word meaning; the commentator expressly says the six explanations of “divine” should be understood accordingly.

⁶ Purification of View (diṭṭhivisuddhi): the third of the seven purifications; its name and full meaning are given in the chapter on Purification of View. This unit says only that the divine eye is a cause for it.

⁷ Annihilation view (ucchedadiṭṭhi): the view that a being is annihilated at death and never arises again; contrasted with the view that new beings simply appear, held by one who sees only rebirth.

⁸ Knowledge of where beings go according to kamma (yathākammupagañāṇa): knowledge of where beings go according to the kamma they accumulated. Together with knowledge concerning the future it is an accessory knowledge of the divine eye; the miscellaneous-discussion unit distinguishes their objects.

⁹ Stream-enterer (sotāpanna): the first of the four fruits of ascetic life; one who has entered the noble stream and does not fall back.

¹⁰ Kamma with immediate result (ānantariya): weighty kamma that brings rebirth in hell immediately after death, with no other kamma intervening. This unit says reviling a noble one is comparable to it, yet differs in being remediable.

¹¹ State of misery, bad destination, place of downfall, and hell: the commentator first explains the etymologies with all four terms referring to hell, then gives an alternative explanation in which they respectively indicate animals, ghosts, asuras, and hell. Both explanations remain, and the treatise does not adjudicate between them.

¹² Jhāna that is the basis for direct knowledge (abhiññāpādakajjhāna): the jhāna on which direct knowledges depend, namely the fourth jhāna.

¹³ Light kasiṇa (ālokakasiṇa): the ninth of the ten kasiṇas, cultivated by taking a disc of light as sign. This unit identifies it as the best of the three; its complete cultivation is given in the chapter on the Remaining Kasiṇas.

¹⁴ Accomplishing state (atthasādhakacitta): the final state in a cognitive process that accomplishes its task. Here it is a form-sphere fourth-jhāna state, and the knowledge conascent with it is knowledge of the divine eye.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Heading of the Miscellany Discussion—Seven Direct Knowledges and Four Object Triads 〔No number · base text lacks §413〕

Miscellany Discussion

The five direct knowledges stated by the Protector, the Knower of the Five Aggregates,¹

having been understood, this miscellany discussion concerning them should also be understood.

Among these, the divine eye called knowledge of death and rebirth has two accessory knowledges:² knowledge concerning the future and knowledge of where beings go according to kamma. Thus these two together with the five beginning with supernormal power make seven direct knowledges presented here. Now, so that there may be no confusion in analyzing their objects—

the four object triads³ stated by the Great Sage,

the occurrence of these seven knowledges with respect to them will be shown.

Here is the demonstration. The Great Sage stated four object triads. Which four? The limited-object triad, path-object triad, past-object triad, and internal-object triad.⁴

§2 Seven Objects of Knowledge of Supernormal Power 〔CSCD §414〕

Knowledge of supernormal power⁵ occurs with seven kinds of object: limited, exalted, past, future, present, internal, and external. How? When he makes the body depend on the mind and, wishing to travel with an invisible body, transforms the body through the mind, inserts it into and establishes it within an exalted mind, the material body is the object received in the accusative case; therefore the knowledge has a limited object. When he makes the mind depend on the body and, wishing to travel with a visible body, transforms the mind through the body, inserts the foundational-jhāna mind into and establishes it within the material body, the exalted mind is the object received in the accusative case; therefore the knowledge has an exalted object.

Because it takes as object the mind that has passed and ceased, it has a past object. For one who makes a resolution concerning the future, as Mahākassapa and other elders did at the Great Relic Deposit,⁶ it has a future object. It is said that when the elder Mahākassapa made the Great Relic Deposit he resolved: “For the next 218 years, may these perfumes not dry, these flowers not wither, and these lamps not go out.” Everything occurred just so. At the Vattaniya residence, the elder Assagutta saw the Saṅgha eating dry rice and resolved: “Before the meal each day, let the water in the pond acquire the flavor of curd.” Water taken before the meal tasted of curd; after the meal it remained only water as before. When one makes the body depend on the mind and travels with an invisible body, the object is present.

When the mind transforms the body or the body the mind, and when one creates the form of oneself as a boy and so forth, the object is internal because one’s own body and mind are taken as object. When elephants, horses, and so on are manifested externally, the object is external. The occurrence of knowledge of supernormal power with seven kinds of object should first be understood in this way.

§3 Four Objects of Knowledge of the Divine Ear Element 〔CSCD §415〕

Knowledge of the divine ear element occurs with four kinds of object: limited, present, internal, and external. How? Since it takes sound as object and sound is limited, its object is limited. Since it occurs taking presently existing sound as object, its object is present. When hearing sounds within one’s own belly, its object is internal; when hearing another’s sound, external. The occurrence of knowledge of the divine ear element with four objects should be understood in this way.

§4 Eight Objects of Knowledge That Penetrates Minds and Analysis of Three Kinds of Present 〔CSCD §416〕

Knowledge that penetrates minds occurs with eight kinds of object: limited, exalted, immeasurable, path, past, future, present, and external. How? When knowing another’s sense-sphere mind, the object is limited; when knowing a mind of the form or formless sphere, exalted; when knowing path or fruition, immeasurable.

Here an ordinary person does not know the mind of a stream-enterer, nor a stream-enterer the mind of a once-returner; the series should be extended as far as the arahant. An arahant knows the minds of all. The others who are higher know those below them; this distinction should be understood. When the path mind is the object, the object is path. When one knows another’s mind within the past seven days or future seven days, the object is past or future.

How is the object present? There are three kinds of present: momentary present, continuity present, and period present.⁷ What has reached arising, presence, and cessation is momentarily present. What is comprised within one or two continuity sequences is continuity present. A person who has sat in darkness and then goes into the light does not immediately have a clear object; the interval until it becomes clear should be understood as one or two continuity sequences. When one who has moved in the light enters a room, forms do not immediately become clear; the interval until they do should likewise be understood as one or two continuity sequences. Standing far away, one may see dyers’ gestures or the movements of striking a gong or drum but not immediately hear the sound; the interval until it is heard should also be understood as one or two continuity sequences. This was first stated by the reciters of the Middle Collection.⁸

The reciters of the Connected Collection instead speak of two continuities, material and immaterial. For a person walking through water, until the footprint in the water on the bank clears; for one arriving from a long road, until the heat of the body subsides; for one entering a room from sunlight, until the quality of darkness disappears; and for one who attends to a meditation subject in an inner room and opens a window by day, until the trembling of the eyes subsides—this is called material continuity. They call the sequence of two or three impulsions immaterial continuity, and say that both are continuity present.

What is delimited by one existence is called period present. Regarding this, the Discourse on One Fortunate Night says: “Friend, mind and phenomena—these two are present. If consciousness is bound by sensual desire toward that present, then because consciousness is bound by sensual desire he delights in it; one who delights in it is drawn among present phenomena.” Here, continuity present appears in the Commentaries,⁹ while period present appears in the discourse.

Some say that a momentarily present mind is the object of knowledge that penetrates minds. On what ground? Because the direct knower’s mind and the other’s mind arise at the same moment. Their simile is this: in a bundle of flowers thrown into the air, one flower’s stalk necessarily pierces another flower’s stalk. Likewise, when one adverts in aggregate to the minds of a crowd with the thought “I shall know another’s mind,” one person’s mind must be pierced by one mind, either at the moment of arising, presence, or cessation. But even if one adverts for a hundred or a thousand years, the mind that adverts and the mind that knows never occur simultaneously. Moreover, the undesirable fault would follow that adverting and impulsion have different objects. The position is therefore unreasonable and has already been refuted in the Commentaries.

Continuity present and period present should be understood as the objects. Here, any mind of another in the interval measured by two or three impulsion processes, reckoned backward and forward from the currently occurring impulsion process, is called continuity present. The Commentary on the Connected Collection says, “Period present should be demonstrated through the sequence of impulsions.” This is well said.

Here is the demonstration. One with direct knowledge adverts with the wish to know another’s mind. The adverting takes a momentarily present mind as object and ceases together with it. Four or five impulsions follow. The last is a direct-knowledge state and the others are sense-sphere states; all take that same ceased mind as object and do not have different objects, because the object is present by period. Though all have one object, only the direct-knowledge state knows another’s mind; the others do not, just as in the eye door only eye-consciousness sees form and the others do not. Thus this knowledge has a present object through continuity present and period present. Or, because continuity present also falls within period present, it should be understood to have a present object solely through period present. Since another’s mind is its object, the object is external. The occurrence of knowledge that penetrates minds with eight objects should be understood in this way.

§5 Eight Objects of Knowledge of Past Lives 〔CSCD §417〕

Knowledge of past lives occurs with eight kinds of object: limited, exalted, immeasurable, path, past, internal, external, and inexpressible. How? When recollecting aggregates of the sense sphere, the object is limited; aggregates of the form and formless spheres, exalted; a path cultivated or fruition attained in the past by oneself or another, immeasurable; only the cultivated path, path. By determination its object is exclusively past.

Although knowledge that penetrates minds and knowledge according to kamma can also have past objects, the former takes only a mind within the past seven days. It does not know the remaining aggregates or what is connected with them, and is called a path object in the qualified sense because its object can be a mind associated with the path. Knowledge according to kamma takes only past volition as object. But among past aggregates and what is connected with aggregates, nothing is not an object of knowledge of past lives. In its activity regarding past aggregates and phenomena connected with them, it resembles omniscient knowledge; this distinction should be understood. Here this is the method of the Commentary. Yet because the Paṭṭhāna¹¹ says, “Profitable aggregates are object condition for knowledge of supernormal power, knowledge that penetrates minds, knowledge of the recollection of past lives, knowledge according to kamma, and knowledge concerning the future,” the four aggregates are also objects of knowledge that penetrates minds and knowledge according to kamma; for the latter there, only profitable and unprofitable aggregates are intended.

When one recollects one’s own aggregates, the object is internal; another’s aggregates, external. When one recollects names, clans, signs of the earth, and so forth according to the formula “In the past there was the Blessed One Vipassī; his mother was Bandhumatī and his father Bandhuma,” the object is inexpressible. Here “name and clan” should be regarded as the meaning of words established by convention and dependent on the aggregates, not the sounds of the words themselves; words are limited because included in the sound base. As stated: “Analytical knowledge of language¹² has a limited object.” Here, this is our position.¹³ The occurrence of knowledge of past lives with eight objects should be understood in this way.

§6 Four Objects of Divine-Eye Knowledge and Eight Objects of Knowledge Concerning the Future 〔CSCD §418–419〕

Divine-eye knowledge occurs with four kinds of object: limited, present, internal, and external. How? Since its object is form and form is limited, its object is limited. Since it occurs with presently existing form, its object is present. When one sees forms inside one’s own belly and so forth, the object is internal; when one sees another’s forms, external. The occurrence of divine-eye knowledge with four objects should be understood in this way.

Knowledge concerning the future occurs with eight kinds of object: limited, exalted, immeasurable, path, future, internal, external, and inexpressible. How? When knowing, “This person will be reborn in the sense sphere,” its object is limited; when knowing, “He will be reborn in the form or formless sphere,” exalted; when knowing, “He will cultivate the path and attain fruition,” immeasurable; when knowing only, “He will cultivate the path,” path. By determination its object is exclusively future.

Although knowledge that penetrates minds can also have a future object, it takes only a mind within the future seven days and does not know the remaining aggregates or what is connected with them. For knowledge concerning the future, according to the method stated for knowledge of past lives, nothing in the future is not an object. When knowing, “I shall be reborn there,” the object is internal; “Another person will be reborn there,” external. When knowing names and clans according to the formula “In the future the Blessed One Metteyya will arise; his father will be the Brahmin Subrahmā and his mother the Brahmin woman Brahmavatī,” the object is inexpressible according to the method stated for past-life knowledge. The occurrence of knowledge concerning the future with eight objects should be understood in this way.

§7 Five Objects of Knowledge According to Kamma and the Chapter Colophon 〔CSCD §420〕

Knowledge of where beings go according to kamma occurs with five kinds of object: limited, exalted, past, internal, and external. How? When knowing sense-sphere kamma, the object is limited; form- or formless-sphere kamma, exalted. Since it knows only the past, its object is past. When knowing one’s own kamma, internal; another’s kamma, external. The occurrence of knowledge according to kamma with five objects should be understood in this way. When what is said here to have both internal and external objects knows the internal at one time and external at another, it also comes to have internal-external objects.

In the Visuddhimagga, composed to gladden good people,

the thirteenth chapter,

called the Exposition of Direct Knowledge,¹⁴ is complete.

Notes

¹ Knower of the Five Aggregates (pañcakkhandhavidū): phrase in the opening verse referring to the Blessed One; “Protector” in the next line has the same referent.

² Accessory knowledge (paribhaṇḍañāṇa): a knowledge accomplished through another and having no separate preliminary work. Knowledge concerning the future and knowledge according to kamma are accessories of the divine eye and were named in the preceding unit.

³ Object triad (ārammaṇattika): a threefold category established in the Abhidhamma matrix according to object; this unit uses four such triads to distinguish the objects of the seven direct knowledges.

⁴ Inexpressible object (navattabbārammaṇa): an object that cannot be said to fall within the threefold count of limited, exalted, or immeasurable. Names and clans are examples in the section on knowledge of past lives.

⁵ Knowledge of supernormal power (iddhividhañāṇa): the first of the seven knowledges here. Its full cultivation is taught in the chapter on supernormal power; this unit analyzes only its objects.

⁶ Great Relic Deposit (Mahādhātunidhāna): the depositing of relics; the elder Mahākassapa’s resolution on that occasion serves as an example of a future object.

⁷ Momentary present, continuity present, and period present (khaṇapaccuppanna・santatipaccuppanna・addhāpaccuppanna): three divisions of the present according to one mind’s arising, presence, and cessation; one or two continuity sequences; and the boundary of one existence. Knowledge that penetrates minds takes only the latter two as object.

⁸ Reciters of the Middle Collection (majjhimabhāṇaka): teachers specializing in memorizing the Middle Collection; the “reciters of the Connected Collection” below are analogous. The unit records both accounts without adjudicating between them.

⁹ Commentary (aṭṭhakathā): generic term for the ancient commentaries on the canonical texts. This unit cites them four times: for a source judgment, rejection of an alternative, statement of a method, and praise of a statement.

¹⁰ Impulsion process (javanavīthi): a cognitive process whose phase is impulsion; “sequence of impulsions” counts one cycle of it.

¹¹ Paṭṭhāna: the seventh book of the Abhidhamma, which teaches twenty-four conditions; the conditions are explained in detail in this treatise’s chapter on Dependent Origination.

¹² Analytical knowledge of language (niruttipaṭisambhidā): the third of four analytical knowledges, unobstructed knowledge of linguistic expressions; the four are fully explained in the chapter on Purification by Knowledge and Vision.

¹³ Our position (amhākaṃ khanti): the commentator explicitly marks the statement as his own adopted position. Earlier in the paragraph he says “this is the method of the Commentary,” so two positions appear in one paragraph.

¹⁴ Exposition of Direct Knowledge (Abhiññāniddesa): the chapter colophon. The chapter explains knowledge of the divine ear element, knowledge that penetrates minds, knowledge of the recollection of past lives, knowledge of the death and rebirth of beings, and their miscellany discussion.