Issue 284

The sound of the Lion’s roar. Lion is the king of the jungle. When the lion roars, all the animals get so terrified that they can neither stand nor run. They are frightened to helplessness. Even ferocious wild beasts such as tigers and jackals are at a loss due to fear. When they hear the lion’s roar, all the beasts are so terrorized their heads split open, meaning to say, they are frightened dumb.

The sound of the Great Lion’s roar. An average lion’s roar is severe enough, now imagine how the sound of a great lion’s roar may be heard far and wide.

The sound of thunderclouds. Sounds like thunderbolts in the clouds.

And the sound of great thunderclouds. This sound of thunder is even greater than the average sound. This means that the Buddhadharma is like a great cloud in the sky that universally shines upon the great earth, providing shade everywhere. When this thunder bolts, it is heard everywhere throughout the world, symbolizing how the Buddhadharma reaches all beings pervasively. When there are clouds and thunder, it will rain. Rain symbolizes the Buddhadharma universally nourishing all beings’ faculties so that everyone is nurtured by the rain of Dharma. When the Dharma rain falls, each receives the amount according to their needs, i.e. big trees get more, small trees get less, every flower and blade of grass get their share as well. The Buddhadharma is the same way. Living beings get nourished by the Dharma rain according to their needs. Every kind of Buddhadharma enables every category of beings to receive nourishment, augment their Dharma body and wisdom life, and open up to great wisdom.
Afterwards, Shakyamuni Buddha uttered indescribably many, a number so large that cannot be reckoned, sounds such as those described above.

Countless millions of gods, dragons, ghosts, and spirits from the Saha world and other worlds also gathered in the palace of the Trayastrimsha Heaven. They came from the Heaven of the Four Kings, the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the Suyama Heaven, the Tushita Heaven, the Blissful Transformations Heaven, and the Heaven of Comfort Gained Through Others’ Transformations. They came from the Heaven of the Multitudes of Brahma, the Heaven of the Ministers of Brahma, the Heaven of the Great Brahma Lord, the Heaven of Lesser Light, the Heaven of Limitless Light, the Heaven of Light Sound, the Heaven of Lesser Purity, the Heaven of Limitless Purity, and the Heaven of Universal Purity.

Earlier the Buddha emitted limitless clouds of great light and proclaimed various kinds of Dharma sound so that living beings will turn away from confusion and return to enlightenment, forsake deviance and return to the proper. Now there is this Saha World. Saha is a Sanskrit word for enduring patience or extreme suffering, in contrast to the extreme bliss in the Western Land. There is the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West, whereas this Saha world of ours is the land of ultimate suffering. ‘Saha’ also means “enduring patience” because living beings can patiently endure this kind of suffering.

Countless millions of gods, dragons, ghosts, and spirits from the Saha world and other worlds, as opposed to the Saha world, also gathered in the palace of the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the palace of the Heaven of Thirty-Three. There is the so-called Heaven of the Four Kings. The Four Heavenly Kings are also called the Four Kings Who Protect the World. The Heaven of the Four Kings is situated in the middle of Mt. Sumeru; the Trayastrimsha Heaven is situated at the summit. In the Heaven of the Four Kings, there is a heavenly king in each of the four directions. In the east is Heavenly King Who Upholds Nations; in the south, Heavenly King of Growth; in the west, Heavenly King Huge Eyes; in the north, Heavenly King of Erudition. Beings in the Heaven of the Four Kings enjoy a lifespan of 500 years, of which one day and one night is equivalent to 50 years on earth. The Heaven of the Four Kings is closest to us. The Four Heavenly Kings oversee all the people in this world, keeping tab of the good deeds and bad deeds they do. This is the Heaven of the Four Kings.

The Trayastrimsha Heaven. We have already explained earlier that the Sanskrit word “Trayastrimsha” means the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. The lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is also called ‘Capable of Being Heavenly Lord’.

The Suyama Heaven is a place where neither sunlight nor moonlight reaches. So is it a dark place? No. All beings in the Suyama Heaven radiate light from their bodies so they do not need sunlight or moonlight. How come this heaven is called the Suyama Heaven? Suyama is a Sanskrit word that means “fine divisions of time”. This heaven is so high that neither sunlight nor moonlight can reach it. So, in this heaven, time is reckoned by the folding and unfolding of the lotus flower. It is day when the lotus flowers unfold; it is night when the lotus flowers fold. Beings in the Trayastrimsha Heaven have a lifespan of 1,000 years, of which one day and night is equivalent to 100 years on earth. Beings in the Suyama Heaven have a lifespan of 1,500 years. The height of beings in the Suyama Heaven is one and a half miles; in the Trayastrimsha Heaven, one mile; in the Heaven of the Four Kings, half a mile. Ascending from one heaven to the next that is higher, lifespan increases by 500 years and the height of beings increases by half a mile — the higher the heaven, the longer the lifespan and the taller the beings.

The Tushita Heaven. Tushita is also Sanskrit. It means “contentment”. This is the Heaven of Contentment. There are inner courts and outer courts in the Tushita Heaven. The inner court is where Maitreya Bodhisattva now lives, the outer court is where the regular heavenly beings dwell. The three forms of disasters cannot get at the inner court of the Tushita Heaven, whereas the outer court will be destroyed by the three forms of disasters.

The Blissful Transformations Heaven enjoys a happiness that comes forth by transformation.

The Heaven of Comfort Gained Through Others’ Transformations. Joy in this heaven comes forth by transformation from other heavens. Beings in this heaven have spiritual power and they transfer the joys of other heavens to this heaven. Heavenly demons, not real spirits or gods, take abode in the Heaven of Comfort Gained Through Others’ Transformations.

The aforementioned heavens are called the Six Desire Heavens, i.e. the Heaven of the Four Kings, the Trayastrimsha Heaven, the Suyama Heaven, the Tushita Heaven, the Blissful Transformations Heaven, the Heaven of Comfort Gained Through Others’ Transformations. Why are these called the Six Desire Heavens? Even though they have been born in the heavens, these heavenly beings still have lust and impure thoughts. When I lectured on the Shurangama Sutra in summer, I talked about these Six Desire Heavens. However, I believe you didn’t like it and you returned it to me. So now, I am giving it to you again.

Heavenly beings of the Six Desire Heavens have lust. Beings in the Heaven of Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha Heaven engage in lust, similar to human beings. How come? They all have a physical form. The beings in the Heaven of Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha Heaven also marry. They have husband-and-wife relationships, father-and-son relationships. A newborn in the Heaven of Four Kings is the size of a five-year-old in the human realm. A newborn in the Trayastrimsha Heaven is the size of a seven-year-old in the human realm. A newborn in the Suyama Heaven is the size of a ten-year-old in the human realm. Newborns this big come out and sit on the knees of the heavenly beings. After they are born, they wait to eat a kind of natural, celestial dew that forms spontaneously. Shortly afterward, they attain the size of regular heavenly beings, which is half a mile in height and 500 years in lifespan. This is the Heaven of Four Kings.

Here’s a four-line gatha that I have explained during the summer. I will now explain it again; otherwise, I believe you all will forget.

In the Heaven of Four Kings and
Trayastrimsha Heaven,
beings engage in desire through embrace.
Suyama, through hand-holding;
Tushita, through smiling.
Bliss from Transformations, long gazes;
Bliss from Others, quick glances.
These are the joys of desire in the six heavens.

As it is said, “In the Heaven of Four Kings and Trayastrimsha Heaven, beings engage in desire through embrace.” In the Heaven of the Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha Heaven, sexual desires are carried out in the same way as humans do. “Suyama, through hand-holding; Tushita, through smiling.” Emotional desires between men and women in the Suyama Heaven are demonstrated simply by holding hands, similar to Westerners greeting each other by shaking hands. In this heaven, holding hands is enough to count as sexual activity between couples. This is the Suyama Heaven. How about Tushita Heaven? Men and women engage in sexual activity simply by smiling at each other. Heavenly beings there normally do not smile. Why? Their emotional desire is very light, almost none. In the Six Desire Heavens, the higher the heaven, the lighter the desire.

Why do people who cultivate the way have to cut off desire and love, and be free of thoughts of desire? It is because the more thoughts of desire we have, the more foolish delusions we have. With less thoughts of desire, wisdom increases. Thoughts of desire belong to the Evil World of Five Turbidities. What turbidity? Thoughts of desire are most turbid and most unclean. Thoughts of desire in the Heaven of the Four Kings is similar to the emotional desires of people in the human realm. In comparison, that in the Trayastrimsha Heaven is less than that in the Heaven of the Four Kings. Whereas, in Suyama Heaven, a simple handshake suffices.“Suyama through hand-holding and Tushita through smiling.”

In the Tushita Heaven, they just smile at each other. We people think smiling is a good thing. No, it is not! A smile conveys emotional desires. Heavenly beings in the Suyama Heaven wish to work hard in cultivating the way. There are very few who would shake hands, which is equivalent to sexual activity between couples. In the Tushita Heaven, they simply smile at each other.

Bliss from Transformations, long gazes. In the Heaven of Bliss from Transformations, this consists of long gazes between men and women. “Long” may be one minute or five minutes. They just look at each other for as long as one or two minutes. Bliss from Others, quick glances. In the Bliss of Others’ Transformations, a quick glance is enough, not a long glance.

These are the joys of desire in the six heavens. This is the way sexual behavior between men and women work in the Six Desire Heavens. The higher the heaven, the lighter the desire becomes. If your desires were heavy, you would not be born in the heavens either. When you are in those heavens, you do not have many desires. This is the joy of desire in the Six Desire Heavens.