The Dharma Realm of Gods
Explained by the Venerable Master
Hua in 1972 at Gold Mountain Monastery, San Francisco,
USA
Beings of the Six Desire and the Brahma heavens,
Practice the five precepts and the ten good deeds
Planting seeds with outflows,
They cannot terminate their transmigration.
Commentary:
Beings of the Six Desire and the Brahma heavens. First of all,
there are the Six Desire Heavens, which are the Heavens of the
Desire Realm. There are heavens in the Desire Realm, the Form
Realm, and the Formless Realm-in all of the Three Realms.
Our world is located under the first of the six heavens of the
Desire Realm-the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. This heaven,
which is directly above us, is governed by the four Heavenly Kings.
It is located halfway up Mount Sumeru, which means that half of
Mount Sumeru is within the human realm, while the other half is
above the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. The parts of this
heaven located on the north, south, east, and west sides of Mount
Sumeru are governed by the four Heavenly Kings, as are the four
continents of our world: Purvavideha to the east, Jambudvipa to the
south, Aparagodaniya to the west, and Uttarakuru to the north. If
we were to go into detail, we would never finish our discussion of
this heaven.
The beings in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings have a life
span of 500 years, but that's not the same as 500 years in our
world. One day and night in that heaven is equal to 50 years on
earth. Figure it out: How many years on earth is 500 years in the
Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings? The beings in that heaven live
for 500 years. One of their days is 50 human years. How many human
years is 365 of their days? If you know math, you can figure it
out.
The second heaven in the Desire
Realm is the Trayastrimsha Heaven. Trayastrimsha is a Sanskrit
word. You don't know what that means? Then let's call it the "Don't
Know Heaven." The Don't Know Heaven is just the Trayastrimsha, a
Sanskrit word that means "thirty-three." Shakra, known as yin tuo
la ye (Indra) in the Shurangama Mantra, resides in the center of
these heavens. He is the "God" revered in Christianity, and in
China he is known as the Jade Emperor. The Book of History
(Shu-jing) refers to him as the Supreme Lord and says, "Bathe and
observe purity in order to worship the Supreme Lord."
In ancient China no one knew about the Buddha; they knew only about
the Supreme Lord. In the Shang Dynasty, Emperor Tang used a black
bull as an offering to the Supreme Lord and said, "I, Lü, but a
small child, presume to use this black bull in venturing to make
known to the Supremely Exalted Ruling Lord that if I have offenses,
they are not the people's, and if the people have offenses, the
offenses rest with me."
Emperor Tang's name was Lü, and he referred to himself as a small
child out of respect for the Supreme Lord. He very sincerely
offered a black bull and told the Supreme Lord that if he made
errors, the citizens should not be blamed, and that if the common
folk of his country committed offenses, the responsibility should
rest with the Emperor for not having taught them correctly.
The ancients blamed themselves in that way, unlike people of today
who clearly know that they are in the wrong but say, "Don't look at
me! It's his fault! How can you blame me?" and complain, "God is
unjust. Why does he confer wealth on others and make me so poor?
Why does he bestow honor on some and leave me so wretched?" They
blame heaven and curse mankind, looking for faults in others
instead of admitting their own wrongs. The ancients acknowledged
their own mistakes.
In the Trayastrimsha Heaven, Shakra resides in the middle, with
eight heavens surrounding him to the north, south, east, and west,
making thirty-three in all.
The third of the Desire Heavens is the Yama [Suyama] Heaven. Yama
is a Sanskrit word which means "time period." In this heaven, the
gods are so happy that they sing songs about their bliss day and
night. They sing, "How happy I am! I'm so happy!" They are joyful
throughout the six periods of the day and night. Hence, the name of
this heaven is translated as "time period." Every time period is
filled with happiness.
The fourth of the Desire Heavens is the Tushita (Tushiita) Heaven,
which translates as "happiness and contentment." The beings there
are always happy and satisfied. Those who know contentment are
always happy. That heaven is also called the "Heaven of
Contentment," because the beings there never have a worry or care
from morning to night. They don't have any afflictions or
worries.
The fifth of the Desire Heavens is the Heaven of the Transformation
of Bliss (Nirmanarati). The beings in this heaven can derive
happiness from transformations. In the previous heaven of
"happiness and contentment," the beings are happy and content
regardless of whether there are transformations; they are content
even in unhappy situations. In this heaven, the beings bring about
happiness through transformations.
The sixth of the Desire Heavens is the Heaven of the Transformation
of Others' Bliss (Paranirmita-vashavartin). The beings of this
heaven haven't any bliss of their own, but they can take it from
beings in other heavens for their own enjoyment. Many demons live
in this heaven along with their retinues. Why do they take the
happiness of beings in other heavens? Because they are
unreasonable. Common thieves in the world of men are generally gods
fallen from the Heaven of the Transformation of Others' Bliss.
Having fallen, they still have the habit of stealing money from
others.
The Brahma Heavens include the Great Brahma (Mahabrahma) Heaven,
the Multitudes of Brahma (Brahmakayika) Heaven, and the Ministers
of Brahma (Brahmapurohita) Heaven. Beings of the Six Desire Heavens
and the Brahma Heavens practice the five precepts and the ten good
deeds. Because these beings cultivated the five precepts and the
ten good deeds, they obtain the blessings and rewards of the
heavens. However, the cultivation of the five precepts and the ten
good deeds plants good roots that have outflows, so the verse says:
Planting seeds with outflows. It has nothing to do with anyone else
at all. [Note: This last line is actually from the verse for the
Dharma Realm of People.] You yourself are responsible.
It's not easy to explain the Dharma in the Sutras. When I speak, I
don't prepare ahead of time. "The Master said it wrong," some of
you are thinking, but you don't dare to say it aloud. However, once
you say it in your mind, strangely enough, I receive your telegram.
So I'll correct the last line: They cannot terminate their
transmigration. Am I right this time? Did you say in your mind that
I said it wrong? [Disciple: "Yes."] Ha! It wasn't just one person
who thought that way. The rest of you should also admit it if you
were having such thoughts. [Another disciple: "Yes, I was."] You
have to be honest. If you aren't honest, you will never attain the
Way. [Other disciples also admit that they were thinking that
way.]
