Various universes may have different laws of physics, because their formation was due to a different karma with different potentialities, so once they are formed, they may develop into different ways than our own universe. Because of that, what we call human beings here, may look different in another universe, although the basic emotions and karma which generate rebirth into human dimension is the same.
Neither the law of karma, nor the various physical characteristics that appear in a specific universe, are created by a supreme god. Just like when you spit in the air, it will fall in your face or when you piss against the wind, you will get wet, when you do an evil deed, you will automatically experience (in the same life or one of the next) the same suffering you inflicted on others. These things happen without the necessity that a supreme god gives a command and say, “from now on, if you spit in the air, it will fall on your face, or if you piss against the wind, you will get wet”. So, the law of karma, just like the law of gravity, has no creator, as both exist by themselves.
Because individuals and various smaller or larger groups of beings make certain choices and plant certain seeds, they reap various results which bring them for rebirth in different universes and realms that are themselves the effect of those beings’ collective karma. Thus, the difference among unenlightened beings and the worlds and dimensions in which they live do not have the origin in the will of a creator god, nor they appear by chance, but are the material imprint of individual karma and collective karma. This is a very important teaching which clearly separates Buddhism from the monotheistic religions. In short, the karma versus the will of a god are the two main explanations of the world and the beings living in it that you can chose from, and which defines you as a Buddhist disciple or an externalist (non-Buddhist).
*
According to the Buddhist teaching, there are an infinite number of world systems where rebirth[1] takes place. These were classified into three categories:
1) one small universe, which is traditionally
called “a small one thousand-world”. It consists of one thousand worlds. Each
single world (sometimes called “a Sumeru-world”) contains the various
realms/dimensions of hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, asuras and gods.
2) one middle universe, which is traditionally
called “a medium one thousand-world”. It consists of one thousand small
universes (or “a thousand small thousand-worlds”).
3) one large universe, which is traditionally called, “a great one thousand-world”. It consists of one thousand middle universes (or a thousand medium thousand-worlds).
These various world systems pass through and endless cycle of formation, existence, destruction, and annihilation after which they are again formed, come to existence, are destroyed, annihilated, and so on. The four periods of cyclic changes are called “kalpas”:
1.
Period
(kalpa) of Formation or generation (vivartakalpa)
2.
Period
(kalpa) of Duration or existence/abiding (vivarta-siddha kalpa)
3.
Period
(kalpa) of Destruction (samvarta kalpa)
4. Period (kalpa) of Annihilation or Vacuity (samvarta-diddha kalpa)
Each of these periods lasts 20 medium or intermediate kalpas[2] (antara kalpa). Four periods of 20 medium kalpas each, is 80 medium kalpas. 80 medium kalpas is one great kalpa (mahakalpa). So, one cosmic cycle composed of the four periods above is called one great kalpa.
One Buddha may assume responsibility for the spiritual care of one large universe (“a great one thousand-world”), which then becomes that Buddha’s field of action, or “Buddha-field” (Buddhakshetra in Skt). This is also called a “Buddha-land”. The one large universe in which we ourselves live together with many kinds of visible, invisible and non-human beings, is called “Saha”. The sutras say that an infinite number of such large universes, or Buddha-lands, exist in the ten directions. As they are inhabited by beings in various stages of spiritual development, it should not be confounded with the Pure Land (Sukhavati), which is an Enlightened realm (outside of Samsara) manifested by Amida Buddha.
Of course, not all the worlds and universes appear or disappear at the same time. When one universe is destroyed, another one appears while myriads of other universes are in the duration period. Also, the mind-stream of beings transmigrates through these universes and planes of existence in all the four kalpas, and the period of destruction or annihilation does not destroy them. Thus, even if the bodies they receive according to their karma are killed, they are reborn elsewhere, in another realm of the same universe or even another universe.
It is in the nature of every composed thing, including planets, worlds and universes to appear, grow, decay and dissolve themselves. When the collective karma which brought them into existence is exhausted, they are to appear again when another collective karma manifest itself.
*
Here I will explain in some detail what happens in the four periods (kalpas) of cyclic changes. I will start with the Period of Destruction:
The Period (kalpa) of Destruction lasts from the moment no being is reborn in hell anymore until the destruction of the world. Bodhisattva Vasubandhu said:
“The period that
extends from the moment when beings cease being reborn in hell until the moment
when the world is destroyed is called a samvarta
kalpa, a kalpa of
destruction.
‘Destruction’ is
of two types: destruction of the realms of rebirth, and destruction of the
Dhatu (the four elements or dhatu: earth, fire, water and wind).
It is again of two types: destruction of living beings, and destruction of the physical world.
When no being is
reborn in hell—even though beings in hell continue to die—the period of twenty kalpas during which the world lasts (Period
of Duration) is terminated and the period of destruction begins. When not a
single being remains in the hells, the destruction of beings in hell is
achieved, and the world has been destroyed to that extent: if a being of this
universe has committed any actions which should be retributed in hell, the
force of these actions causes him to be reborn in the hell of another universe not
in the process of destruction.
So too is the destruction
of animals and Pretas. The animals that reside in the great ocean disappear
first; those that live with humans will disappear at the same time as do humans.”[3]
To disappear means to die in that realm and re-appear or being reborn elsewhere depending on karma.
According
to Vasubandhu, some human beings of our continent (Jambudvipa) but also those
of the continents (or parallel worlds) of Purvavideha and Avaragodaniya enter
naturally, without a teacher into the First Dhyana (first meditative
concentration/absorption) and after their physical death they are reborn into
the World of Brahma – to be more precise, they go to the First Dhyana Heaven of
the Brahma world[4].
I
guess this happens with the humans who have good karma and are spiritually
advanced while the others are reborn in the hells, pretas and animal realms of
other universe that are in the period of duration. The humans of the continent
of Uttarakuru also enter into the first dhyana but due to their incapacity of
detaching themselves from desire they go after death to one of the gods realms
of the world of desire (Kamadhatu).
Bodhisattva Vasubandhu said:
“Among humans of Jambudvipa (our human world), a person enters by himself, without a teacher, by
reason of Dharmata[5],
into the First Dhyana (first meditative concentration/absorption). Coming
out of this Dhyana (meditative concentration/absorption), he exclaims, ‘Happy
is the pleasure and the joy that arise from detachment! Calm is the pleasure
and joy that arise from detachment!’. Understanding these words, other persons
also enter into absorption and, after their death, pass into the world of Brahma.
When, by this continual process, there does not remain a single person in
Jambudvipa, the destruction of the persons of Jambudvipa is finished.
The same for the
inhabitants of Purvavideha and Avaragodaniya. The inhabitants of Uttarakuru are
incapable of detaching themselves from Kamadhatu and, as a consequence, of
entering into dhyana (meditative
concentration/absorption), they
are also reborn, not in the world of Brahma, but among the gods of Kamadhatu
(world of desire).
When a single human being no longer remains, the destruction of humans is finished, and the world has been destroyed to this extent.”[6]
The gods of the World of Desire (Kamadhatu) also enter naturally into the First Dhyana (meditative concentration/absorption) and after death are reborn into the world of Brahma:
“The same then holds for the gods of Kamadhatu, from the Caturmaharajakayikas (The Heaven of the Four Kings) to the Paranirmitavasavartins (Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Manifestations by Others), who enter into dhyana and are reborn in the world of Brahma, and who successively disappear. When a single god no longer remains in Kamadhatu, the destuction of Kamadhatu is finished.”[7]
Then
after a while is the time for the First Dhyana Heaven (the Heaven of Brahma
with its three realms) to disappear. Here is how this happens:
“It then happens,
by reason of Dharmata, that a god
of the world of Brahma enters into the Second Dhyana. Coming out of this
Dhyana, he exclaims, ‘Happy is the pleasure and joy that arise from absorption!
Calm is the pleasure and joy that arise from absorption!’ Understanding
these words, other
gods of the world of Brahma enter into the Second Dhyana and after their death,
are reborn in the heaven of the Abhasvaras (Heaven of Supreme Light). When a
single being no longer remains in the world of Brahma, the destruction of
beings is finished and the world
has been destroyed to that extent.”[8]
The Heaven of the Abhasvara or the Heaven of Supreme Light is the highest heaven in the Second Dhyana group of three heavens[9].
After the beings in the World of Desire and those in the First Dhyana Heaven are reborn somewhere else, the world up to the Second Dhyana Heaven is destroyed by fire. Bodhisattva Vasubandhu explains:
“Then, by reason
of the exhaustion of the collective action which has created the physical
world, and by reason of the emptiness of the world, seven suns successively
appear, and the world is entirely consumed from this sphere with its continents
to Meru. From this world thus inflamed, the flame, conducted by the wind, burns
the houses of the world of Brahma (First Dhyana Heaven)”. [10]
Thus,
the entire World of Desire and the first part of the World of Form, up until
the Second Dhyana Heaven, are consumed by fire. The scholars differ in some
interpretation of how many times fire occurs but as I do not wish to complicate
the minds of my readers with such details I will continue with the explanations
of what comes next after the fire. But first we must understand why the
elements fire, water and wind appear in the Period (kalpa) of Destruction.
I think that in the case of beings in the World of Desire which comprise the hells, pretas, animals, humans and the six classes of gods up until the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Manifestations by Others (Paranirmitavasavartin) fire is the element of destruction because desire resembles fire and, as the name of this world shows, desire is the main karmic cause of rebirth here. Desire is also the main element which obstructs beings in this world to advance further.
But why fire is also present in the destruction of the First Dhyana Heaven? As we know, the Four Dhyana Heavens in the World of Form are caused by various incomplete meditative concentrations or absorptions, so they are destroyed by the element representing each of them. In the case of the First Dhyana Heaven (Brahma World), the presence of wrong investigation and examination in the meditative concentration that caused rebirth there resembles fire, so even if this is a different type of fire than that of the World of Desire, the Brahma World is also destroyed by the fire element.
As Jamgon Kongtrul explained (words in brackets are my own):
“The
lower three levels of meditative concentrations are destroyed by fire, water,
and wind because these contemplations are imperfect.
The
imperfection of the first level of meditative Concentration (the First Dhyana
Heaven/World of Brahma), the presence of investigation and examination,
resembles fire.
The
imperfection of the second (the Second Dhyana Heaven), the presence of joy and
bliss, resembles water.
The
imperfection of the meditative concentration in the third (the Third Dhyana
Heaven)[11], the inhalation and
exhalation of the breath, resembles wind.
Because of these imperfections, each meditative concentration is destroyed by the element corresponding to its imperfection.”[12]
Thus, the World of Desire and the First Dhyana Heaven (the World of Brahma) are destroyed by the fire element, the Second Dhyana Heaven is destroyed by the water element and the Third Dhyana Heaven is destroyed by the wind element[13]. Each disappearance of these worlds is preceded by the beings in those realms being reborn in higher places. Thus, before the First Dhyana Heaven is destroyed by fire, the beings living there are reborn in the Second Dhyana Heaven. Before the Dhyana Heaven is destroyed by water, the beings living there are reborn in the Third Dhyana Heaven and before this heaven is destroyed by wind, they are reborn in the Fourth Dhyana Heaven.
Because the Fourth Dhyana Heaven[14] has none of the imperfections contained by the other three it is not destroyed by external elements. The places of dwelling of gods in the Fourth Dhyana Heaven are mentally created and come into existence when they are born in this heaven and disappear when they die. As Jamgon Kongtrul explained:
“Because
the fourth meditative concentration (The Fourth Dhyana Heaven) has none of
these imperfections, it is not destroyed by external elements. However,
sentient beings of this level of meditative concentration are said to undergo
birth and destruction together with their mentally
created celestial palaces and other possessions.”[15]
The gods in the World of Non-form (Arupyadhatu)[16] also have no specific environments that can be destroyed by external elements. They appear and die when the karma that brought them there is exhausted.
After the world is destroyed as described above it stays destroyed for twenty intermediary kalpas. This period is called the Period (kalpa) of Annihilation or Vacuity (samvarta-diddha kalpa). There is only space where those worlds once were.
As all things are cyclic in samsara, a new Period (kalpa) of Formation or generation (vivartakalpa) appears.
The Buddha Dharma explains that the collective karma of beings who are to be born in the new universe (world system) produce energy winds that generate that universe. Such energy karmic winds are the initial cause for the apparition of the new world system[17].
Jamgon Kongtrul explained on the basis of various scriptures and treatises, including Vasubandhu (please remember that we must use human language to explain something that its beyond our capacity to understand):
“After the
previous age had reached completion and the twenty intermediate ages (kalpas)
that constitute the age (period) of vacuity had elapsed, winds arose from each
of the ten directions. The powerful convergence and compression of these winds
created a configuration of wind in the shape of a cross - solid, extremely
hard, and indestructible. In the space above the wind,
a thick cloud
resembling a golden yoke formed. From this cloud, rain fell continuously over a
long period of time. The size of raindrops ranged from large [ones to raindrops
as big as the
diameter of] the
main shaft of a chariot. This deluge produced an immense mass of water,
supported by the wind. At the center of this great ocean, a thousand golden
lotuses appeared.
Upon seeing this,
the gods and goddesses of the pure domains (the five highest heavens within the
fourth level of meditative concentration of the realm of non-form) knew it to
be a sign that one thousand Buddhas would appear, and so they declared: ‘How
wonderful! This is the dawn of the Fortunate Age!’ According to the White Lotus
of Compassion Scripture, this age is known as a fortunate one because the gods and
goddesses made this announcement. Similarly, the Blossomed Wisdom Scripture refers
to this age as ‘the age when one thousand lotuses are seen.’
The churning of
the great mass of water by the wind produced a golden foundation (a disc) above
the water while rain continued to fall uninterruptedly. As a result, a great
outer ocean [which contained various elements] formed above the golden disc.
Intense churning of the ocean by winds [arising from] various directions
gradually developed the three grades of elements superior, medium, and base.
The superior elements became the central, massive Mount Meru (Sumeru), which is
made of four precious substances. The elements of medium quality formed the
seven ranges of golden mountains. The base elements formed the four continents,
surrounded by the eight neighboring islands and many other islands, as well as
the outer rim of iron mountains.
On this subject,
the master Vasubandhu explains in detail that the waters [of the ocean]
contained only various potentials for the elements, [not the actual elements].
When these seeds were driven apart by winds with special agencies, the different
types [of elements] were produced.
The base of Mount
Meru and the bases of each of the seven mountain [ranges], the four continents,
and the outer rim of mountains extend eighty thousand leagues (yojanas) below
the ocean's surface and rest on the golden disc called Mighty. Mount Meru rises
eighty thousand leagues above the surface of the ocean.
[Viewed from
above,] Mount Meru is square, with four square slabs [of decreasing size in
ascending order]. The eastern face of Mount Meru is composed of crystal; the
southern, blue beryl; the western, ruby; and the northern, gold. The color of
each face is clearly reflected in the sky around it. Four [square] slabs form
four tiers of terraces around Mount Meru, beginning at
sea level and
reaching halfway up its height. Beyond Mount Meru and completely surrounding it
like curtains are seven mountain ranges, each forming a square. These seven
golden mountain ranges [are named according to the shape of their peaks:] Yoke,
Plough, Acacia Forest, Pleasing-to the- Eye, Horse's Ear, Bent, and Rim. The
spaces between [the mountain ranges] are filled with what are known as the
seven seas enjoyed [by the nagas], the waters of which have eight qualities:
cool, tasty, light, soft, clear, odorless, harmless to the throat if swallowed,
and harmless to the stomach.
The four
continents are [situated in the outer ocean]. Majestic Body lies east of Mount
Meru; the Land of Jambu is south; Bountiful Cow is west; and Unpleasant Sound
is north. Adjacent to
these are eight
islands: Body and Majestic Body are situated [near Majestic Body] in the East;
Tail-Fan and Other Tail-Fan [near the Land of Jambu] in the South; Crafty and
Treading the
Perfect Path,
[near Bountiful Cow] in the West; and Unpleasant Sound and Moon of Unpleasant
Sound, [near Unpleasant Sound] in the North. The four main continents have the
following shapes: semicircular, trapezoidal, round, and square, respectively.
Moreover, the eight islands have the same shape as the principal continent in
their respective directions.
There are numerous
unspecified little islands.
Only these twelve
land masses are mentioned in the discourses of the Buddha since these are the
principal ones. […] In fact, an inestimable number of little islands whose
names, dimensions, and shapes are not specified [in the scriptures] are located
adjacent to each of the four continents.
The outer iron
mountain range, [called the Horse-faced] Mountain Range, surrounds the
continents and forms the outer border or outer rim [of this world-system]. This
range is composed of volcanic iron. Except for the continents, the area beyond
the golden mountains as far as the outer rim is filled with salt water and is
known as the Salt Water Ocean. Furthermore, the edge of this ocean touches the
Horse-faced Mountain Range; the volcanic fires of this mountain range cause the
ocean [to evaporate so that it does] not exceed its limits.”[18]
Only the Buddhas, very advanced Bohisattvas, Arhats and Pratyekabuddhas know every detail about the arrangements of the various world systems and universes while we can only receive some hints in human language of something that is beyond our capacity to understand. As Jamgon Kongtrul explained:
“The configuration
of the realms of the Infinite Oceans world-system remains the field of experience
solely of Buddhas and the bodhisattvas who have attained the pure stages (the
eight, the ninth and the tenth stages of the Bodhisattva Path). The Treasury of
Phenomenology states:
The saintly (Arhats), the rhinoceros (Pratyekabuddhas) and the Buddhas have seen, [respectively,] the second-order thousand (a middle universe or a medium one thousand-world), third-order thousand (one large universe or a great one thousand-world), and countless world-systems.”[19]
Thus, until we ourselves attain Buddhahood we can only read and accept what the Buddha Dharma has to say (in human language and adapted to our limited minds) about this topic.
The various beings populating the new universe appear in various stages with the hell beings the last to appear. As Bodhisattva Vasubandhu explained:
“The kalpa of creation[20] (period of formation or generation – vivartakalpa) lasts from the primordial wind until the production of hellish beings. From the primordial wind (prdgvayu) until the moment when beings arise in hells.”[21]
There is no reason to insist on the order of apparition of various beings from the heavens until the hell beings during this kalpa of generation, so I will go directly to the human beings.
The explanations I offer here are related to humans living in our “continent” of Jambudvipa. According to the Buddhist geography of the universe there are many “continents” or parallel worlds of human beings: 1) Jambudvipa (our world of human existence), 2) Purvavideha, 3) Aparagodania and 4) Uttarakuru. Each of these “continents” or realms have various adjacent “subcontinents” or smaller realms where there are also human beings with different characteristics and lifespans.
According to Abhidharmakosabasyam by Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, the lifespan of humans in Jambudvipa is not fixed, people dying at any age even if theoretically anybody can live around 100 years. In other worlds the lifespan of humans is fixed. For example, in Purvavideha is 250 years, in Aparagodanya is 500 years and in Uttarakuru is 1000 years. The lifespan and other specific features of each “continent” is due to karmic differences between us and humans living there. The human beings living in the other three “continents” (worlds) don’t have all the eight sufferings[22] because their lifespan is fixed, without premature death. They have no illness, the plants appear easily, they do not grow old but simply die when their time comes, etc.[23]
The first human being appears in our plane of existence (“continent of Jambudvipa”) when a god dies in the Heaven of Supreme Light (Abhasvara) which is the third heaven in the Second Dhyana Heaven in the world of form. His birth in the human realm is not from a father and mother but birth by transformation, that is, birth by spontaneous apparition[24] similar with birth in the realms of gods, pretas and others. As time went by more gods in the Heaven of Supreme Light died and took birth by transformation in the human realm so the numbers of inhabitants increased greatly. Things were great at the beginning with these first human beings as they had radiant bodies, could travel through space and were sustained by the nourishment of meditative concentration like the gods in the world of form[25]. However, their state degraded in time due to various karmic causes and desires. Master Jamgon Kongtrul explained, based on various sutras and treatises, including Vasubandhu:
“Later, a white
earth-nectar that tasted like honey appeared. Eating copiously of this, they
began to crave it. Consequently, the nourishment of meditative concentration
and other qualities,including
miraculous powers and even the earth-nectar itself, disappeared.
Then appeared a
creamy orange earth-food, and they ate that. Because they began to crave it,
both the food and the radiance of their bodies gradually deteriorated. At that point,
due to the forces of collective evolutionary actions (collective karma) and the
natural laws of existence, the sun and moon began to illuminate the world.
In the same way,
other earth-nectars as well as fields of sprouts appeared and disappeared. Subsequently,
fields of huskless sali rice grew; reaped in the morning the crop could grow
[again] in the evening. Digestion of this rice produced bodily wastes such as
feces and urine.
Eating these
coarse foods caused the male and female genitals to appear. Gradually, opposite
genders became attracted to each other and engaged in sexual intercourse.
Others reviled
and threw mud at
them, whereupon they became ashamed; regarding their sexual activity as
inappropriate, they abandoned it for periods of up to seven days. Some of the
most depraved
individuals
constructed houses in order to protect themselves from the embarrassment of
being observed while copulating.
Then, because
people stored and hoarded the grain, even the sali rice, which required no
cultivation, disappeared. In its place grew a grain with a husk. Because this
grain, once harvested, had to be planted again, land was apportioned and fields
were farmed. Eventually, people began to steal one another 's crops and
disputes erupted. Consequently, a person of fine physical stature known for his
outstanding qualities was chosen from the community to be master of the fields.
Honored by everyone, he was offered a portion of the produce, and came to be known
as King Honored by Multitudes; he was the world's first king. His descendants were
referred to as royalty because they were lords of the fields, and also because
they safeguarded the well-being of
society.
Gradually, people
became predominately evil and violated the king' s laws. Regardless how
stringent the disciplinary measures, people failed to obey the laws, and so
capital punishment
was instituted.
Fearing death, people began to lie and commit other evil acts. Eventually, the
five forms of degeneration evolved, culminating in periods of plague, war, and
famine.”[26]
The five forms of degeneration are what Shinran called “the five defilements” of the last Dharma age (mappo) in which we live now: 1) the defilement of views, when incorrect, perverse thoughts and ideas are predominant, 2) the defilement of passions, when all kinds of transgressions are exalted, 3) the defilement of human condition, when people are usually dissatisfied and unhappy, 4) the defilement of life-span, when the human life-span as a whole decreases – according to the sutras, when it is less or close to one hundred years, 5) the defilement of the world-age, when war and natural disasters are rife.
Thus, unlike the monotheistic view that man was created by a supreme god or the nowadays science theory of man evolving from a monkey, the Buddha Dharma says that the first humans were former gods and that modern man is an involution from a higher, more spiritually evolved and advanced human being. We are a decadence of what we were and we continue to decay as we go through history. Science, technology and the various skills we have at growing and producing food and all our necessities do not show an evolution but an involution from a state in which we did not need anything as we were supported by nourishment of meditative concentration just like the gods in the Heaven of Supreme Light (Abhasvara) of the Second Dhyana Heaven. While our desires grew for various substances that appeared spontaneously on the surface of the earth due to karma our decline grew more and more until the human bodies started to differentiate themselves between men and women. It is very interesting to notice here that the apparition of male and female organs as well as sexual desires are linked with our nourishment becoming more solid and the abandonment of the spiritual aspects of life. The less spiritual we were, the more entangled we became in the material world.
Social and political organization started when people became ego centric and so they needed laws and leadership. Then, after a long time, we reached the era of mappo where the five forms of degeneration or the five defilements strive everywhere.
According
to Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, “humans, at
the end of the period of generation, have infinitely long lifespan; their
lifespan diminishes when generation is achieved (when beings appeared in all
samsaric places, including hells), until it is not more than ten years in
length.”[27]
As I mentioned earlier, the Period (kalpa) of Formation or generation (vivartakalpa) of a samsaric universe lasts from the primordial wind until the moment the first beings are born into hells. The highest heavens are populated first, then the human world, and after that beings start to appear into the lower realms – animals, pretas (hungry ghosts) and hell dwellers. When this period of generation is complete and all the six realms of that samsaric universe are occupied by their respective beings, human lifespan start to decrease. This decrease corresponds with the degradation of their spiritual life as we have seen above, and is accompanied by the apparition of the male and female sexual organs and the increase of material needs.
There are many cycles of increase and decrease in human life-spans during the existence of a samsaric universe, and many other things to say, but those will be explained in a future article.
[1] There are four modes of birth: (1) birth from womb, like human beings, some animals and devas (gods) inhabiting the earth, (2) birth from the egg, like birds and fishes, (3) from moisture, like some insects and worms, and (4) spontaneous birth, such as gods, pretas (hungry spirits) and hell-dwellers. The characteristics of these beings were described in detail in my book The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma.
[2] A single small kalpa is so long that it can only be described metaphorically. According to one metaphor, it is even longer than the period of time required of a person to empty a walled city full of poppy seeds, one cubic yojana (a unit equivalent to the distance which a royal army can march in a day) in size, by removing one seed every hundred years. According to another metaphor it is the length of time required for a rock, 40 cubic ri in size, to be worn away as a celestial maiden passes over the rock once every three years touching it lightly with its feather robe. Some scholars say that one kalpa is the equivalent of 1,000 yugas, or 4,320,000,000 years.
[3]
Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu,
translated into French by Louis de La
Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M. Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities
Press, p 475-476
[4]
The First Dhyana Heaven of the Brahma world contains: 1. Heaven of the
Councilors of Brahmā (Brahmaparisadya), 2. Heaven of the High Priests of Brahma
(Brahmapurohita) and 3. Heaven of Great Brahma (Mahabrahman). I explained these
heavens in the book The Four Profound
Thoughts Which Turn the Mind Towards Amida Dharma.
[5]
Dharmata is Suchness, or the true nature of reality – Buddha nature. The
expression “by reason of Dharmata” might mean naturally. So, the humans of our
world enter into meditative concentration/absorption by themselves in a natural
way, without effort.
[6]
Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu,
translated into French by Louis de La
Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M. Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities
Press, p 476
[7] Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu, translated into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M. Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities Press, p 476
[8]
Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu,
translated
into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M.
Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities Press, p 476-477
[9]
The Second Dhyana Heaven contains: 1.
Heaven of Lesser Light (Paritta-abha), 2. Heaven of Infinite Light, (Apramana-abha),
and 3. Heaven of Supreme Light (Abhasvara).
[10]
Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu,
translated
into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M.
Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities Press, p 477
[11]
The Third Dhyana Heaven contains:
1. Heaven of Lesser Purity
(Parittasubha), 2. Heaven of Infinite Purity (Apramanasubha) and 3. Heaven of
Universal Purity (Śubhakrtsna)
[12]
The Treasury
of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kalu
Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York, Boulder
Colorado, 2003, p. 142
[13]
Jamgon
Kongtrul explained that “the earth
element is not a contributing factor in these cycles of destruction because the
environmental world itself is composed primarily of the element earth”.
The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion
Publication Ithaka, New York, Boulder Colorado, 2003, p. 143
[14]
The Fourth Dhyana Heaven contains: 1.
Cloudless Heaven (Anabhraka), 2. Merit-producing Heaven (Punyaprasava), 3.
Heaven of Greater Fruits (Brhatphala), 4. Heaven Free of Trouble (Abrha)
5. Heaven without Affliction
(Atapa), 6. Heaven of Excellent Viewing (Sudrsa), 7. Heaven of Excellent
Observation (Sudarsana), 8. Highest Heaven (Akanistha)
[15]
The Treasury
of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kalu
Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York, Boulder Colorado,
2003, p. 142-143.
[16]
In the World of Non-form there are four
heavenly realms: 1. Abode of Boundless Space (akasa-anantya-ayatana)
2. Abode of Boundless Consciousness
(vijnana-anantya-ayatana), 3. Abode of Nothingness (akincanya-ayatana) and
4. Abode of Neither Thought
nor Non-thought (naiva-samjna-na-asamjna-ayatana).
[17]
The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro
Taye, Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York,
Boulder Colorado, 2003, p. 122
[18] The Treasury of
Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kalu
Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York, Boulder
Colorado, 2003, p. 108-111
[19]
The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro
Taye, Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York,
Boulder Colorado, 2003, p. 121
[20]
I mention that whenever we use the word “creation” in Buddha Dharma it actually
has the sense of formation or generation due to the collective karma (action)
of beings, as explained above.
[21] Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu, translated into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M. Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities Press, p. 477
[22]
The Eight Sufferings are: birth, old age, disease, death, encountering what is
unpleasant, separation from what is pleasant, not getting what one wants and
the suffering associated with the five aggregates (skandas).
[23]
The Buddhist
Cosmos: A Comprehensive Survey of the Early Buddhist Worldview; according to
Theravada and Sarvastivada sources, by Punnadhammo Mahathero, Independently
Published, Arrow River Forest Hermitaje, 2018, p.93
[24]
Sometimes this is called “miraculous birth”.
[25] The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York, Boulder Colorado, 2003, p. 133
[26]
The Treasury of Knowledge, Book One: Myriad Worlds, by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro
Taye, Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group, Snow Lion Publication Ithaka, New York,
Boulder Colorado, 2003,p 133-134
[27]
Abhidharmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu,
translated
into French by Louis de La Vallee Poussin, volume II, English Version by Leo M.
Pruden, printed by Asian Humanities Press, p. 478
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