The Buddhist Cosmos

by Punnadhammo Mahathero

  The Buddha then easily vanishes from the sight of Baka and his assembly, but they can hear his voice as he utters some verse proclaiming that he has overcome both being and non-being. This overawes the brahmās and they recognize the supremacy of the Buddha and accept his teaching. Thus, by saving him from wrong view, the former student repaid his debt of gratitude to his former teacher of so long ago.

  Before leaving the topic of Baka, we should briefly note one small detail. In this case we have a rare instance of being able to number his brahmapurohitas. There is a reference in verse by Baka to “we seventy-two” (SN 6:4) which is not explained there or in the commentary. It can only mean himself and seventy-one attending brahmapurohitas.

  3:6:12 BRAHMĀS AT THE MAHĀSAMAYA

  The Mahāsamaya Sutta (DN 20) is a text mostly in verse which recounts in a long series of stanzas a “great assembly” (the meaning of mahāsamaya) of various devas and other beings who have come to honour the Buddha. One stanza lists the brahmās who were in attendance:

  Subrahmā and Paramatta, sons of the potent one,

  Together with Saṅankumāra and Tissa,

  Came to the meeting in the forest.

  A thousand mahābrahmās from a thousand brahmalokas (“brahmā worlds”) came.

  Reborn brilliantly, of great power, with awe-inspiring forms (bhismākāyo, or “terrible bodies”)

  Here ten lords (issara) have come, each individually wielding power.

  And there in their midst is Hārita with his retinue.770

  Interpreting the text with the help of the commentary we learn that “the potent one” (iddhimant) is the Buddha, and the identification of these brahmās as his “sons” implies that they are ariyabrahmā, “noble brahmās”, meaning that they have some degree of awakening.

  Turning to the individually named brahmās: Paramatta is just a name to us, he occurs here and nowhere else, and Saṅankumāra we have already met. Tissa had been a bhikkhu under the Buddha and recently died and been reborn as a brahmā. In the brahmā world, he was known as Brahmā Tissa, of great power and glory (mahiddhiko mahānubhāvo). On two separate occasions Moggallāna used his psychic power to visit Tissa in his brahmā world in order to ask him about the degree of spiritual attainment among the devas. On the first occasion, Tissa tells Moggāllana that some, but not all, devas in each of the sensual saggas are indeed sotāpannas (AN 6:34). On the second visit, he speaks about the brahmā worlds and says that those brahmās who are content with a brahmā’s life-span, beauty, happiness, glory771 and power and who do not know of an escape higher than that do not have knowledge of who among humans is liberated. But those who are not contented with those attributes of a brahmā, and who do conceive of a higher state, are able to know who is liberated (AN 7:56).

  Of the “ten lords”, the commentary says only that although each of the thousand brahmās wields his own power, ten are lords. This indicates that there is a defined hierarchy among the brahmās. Hārita, who walks in their midst and is probably meant to be one of the ten, is mentioned several times in the texts as an example of one enjoying a large or glorious retinue.772 The commentary to the Mahāsamaya Sutta says he is “foremost” (jeṭṭhaka) among the brahmās, just as Sakka is among the devas and that his retinue is one hundred thousand strong (DN-a 20). Nothing more is known about him.

  Subrahmā is identified as a paccekabrahmā. The word pacceka is defined as “single, by oneself, separate”(PED). A paccekabrahmā is a brahmā who “goes about alone, without a retinue.”773 Despite being so defined, in the three suttas (other than the Mahāsamaya) in which he appears Subrahmā is always accompanied by another paccekabrahmā named Suddhāvāsa.774 In all three suttas, which occur sequentially in the Saṃyutta Nikāya, the two paccekabrahmās go to see the Buddha and stand by the door-posts of his meditation hut. Two of these incidents are very brief and have parallel wording. One of the two utters a brief verse lamenting the foolishness of some errant bhikkhu who has “attempted to measure the immeasurable.” Subrahmā says this of Kokālika (SN 6:7) and in the next sutta Suddhāvāsa uses almost identical language about Katamorakatissaka, a follower of Devadatta (SN 6:8).

  The first sutta in this series has a more involved story. When the two come to see the Buddha they find him deep in meditation and do not wish to disturb him. So Subrahmā says to Suddhāvāsa:

  “There is a certain brahmā world that is luxurious and opulent. The brahmā there dwells in negligence. Come, dear sir, let us go there and inspire him to diligence.”

  They travel together to that brahmā world and attempt to encourage the brahmā there to go and see the Buddha for his own edification.

  But the brahmā failed to heed their words. He manifested his own form multiplied one thousand times and said, “Do you see, dear sir, my power (iddhi) and majesty (anubhāva)?”

  “I see, dear sir, that such is your power and majesty.”

  “When such is my power, and such is my majesty, why then should I go to see any samaṇa or brahmin?”

  Then the paccekabrahmā Subrahmā manifested his own form multiplied two thousand times. “Do you see, dear sir, my power and majesty? The power and majesty of the Buddha is greater than either yours or mine. You, dear sir, should go and pay your respects to the Buddha.”

  There follows an exchange of verses:

  (The brahmā of that world)—Three hundred supaṇṇas, four hundred geese,

  And five hundred tiger-birds; (created by) meditation (jhāyino).

  This vimāna shines, illuminating the northern direction.

  (Subrahmā)—However much your vimāna shines, illuminating the northern direction,

  Having seen the fault of form (rūpa), how it ever trembles,

  The wise person takes no delight in form.

  The brahmā has fallen into pride because of his ability to manifest various forms but Subrahmā declares the unreliable and insubstantial nature of these phenomena. Rūpa (“form”) is a complex word with different nuances depending on context. It can refer to the object of visual consciousness, i.e. a “visible form” or to the aggregate of matter or body in general. The level of the cosmos inhabited by these brahmā beings is called the rūpaloka, “the world of form.” It seems that Subrahmā is playing with various levels of meaning here, chiefly to free the errant brahmā from being lost in the illusion of his own “forms.” The sutta concludes with the statement that the brahmā did go to see the Buddha “at a later time.

  3:6:1 SECOND JHĀNA LEVEL—THE ĀBHASSARA BRAHMĀS

  Although the mahābrahmās and their human worshippers may imagine that they represent the summit of the cosmos, this is not so. As the Buddha explained to Baka, there are realms higher and more subtle yet. The realm of the Ābhassara deities corresponds to the second jhāna. The ordinary consciousness of the beings there is the equivalent to that experienced by a human meditator who has entered second jhāna, and if he does not “fall away” (aparihīnajjhāna) from that state upon his death he will be reborn there.775 The meditation on karuṇā (“compassion”) is also given as a way to rebirth among the Ābhassara brahmās. Just as brahmins seek rebirth in the brahmaloka as their goal, the Ābhassara realm is said to be the goal of “great ascetics” (mahātāpasa) (MN-a 11).

  We have seen that the first jhāna is characterized by five factors: vitakka (“initial application of mind”), vicāra (“sustained application of mind”), pīti (“rapture”), sukha (“bliss”) and ekaggatā (“gone to oneness”). The progression through the jhānas is always toward greater simplicity and subtlety and at each successive stage, factors are dropped. The second jhāna is marked by the presence of either three or four factors: vitakka falls away and eventually vicāra as well, leaving pīti as the dominant factor of this mental state.776

  The beings in the Ābhassara realm dwell “feeding on rapture” (pītibhakkha). Although this adjective is also applied to the brahmās of the first jhāna level, (e.g. DN 1) applied to the Ābhassara beings it becomes almost proverbial. After M�
�ra invaded the mind of some villagers to deny the Buddha alms food, the Buddha says he will instead “feed on rapture like the Ābhassara devas” (SN 4:18). The best sound in the entire cosmos is said to be the sound of the Ābhassara beings continually exclaiming, “Oh! The bliss! Oh! The bliss!” (aho sukhaṃ) (AN 5: 170). They are said to be “overflowing with happiness, drenched with happiness, completely filled with happiness, immersed in happiness.”777 The physical realm inhabited by the Ābhassara brahmās is described as a “most excellent jewel covered level plain.”778

  The name Ābhassara can be interpreted as “shining body” (ābhā + sarīra),779 and the description of these beings emphasizes their radiance. Their bodies are like the flickering flame of a torch (DN-a 15 & MN-a 1). This association with fire is also found in their cosmological role as the lowest level which survives when all the lower realms are destroyed by fire at the end of a kappa. Their realm is said to be the limit (sīma) of the fire element, and when an illustration of fire going a long distance is sought, it is said to be able to go “as far as the Ābhassara realm” (SN-a 6:13 & SN-a 44:9). At the end of a cycle which is destroyed by fire, beings are mostly reborn here and from here populate the new worlds at the beginning of the next cycle.780 The Bodhisatta long ago spent seven kappas being reborn as an Ābhassara brahmā and then at the onset of the next kappa, being reborn as a mahābrahmā in an empty vimāna (It 1:3,2).

  The name Ābhassara may be used as a generic term to refer to all brahmās of the second jhāna level, but it more precisely signifies only the highest grade of these, those who have mastered second jhāna to a superior degree. They have a life-span of eight kappas. Those who have mastered the jhāna only to a middling degree have a life-span of four kappas and are known as Appamāṇābha (“immeasurable radiance”) brahmās. Those who have only an inferior mastery of jhāna become Parittabha (“limited radiance”) brahmās. They have a life-span of two kappas.781 All three grades are said to dwell on the same level.782 Despite this nomenclature, the second jhāna level brahmās are classed as beings that are “alike in body, but different in perception.” The difference is said to be that some of them possess the factor of vitakka and some do not (AN-a 7:44). In one text there is an alternate way of classifying these beings: they are divided into four grades instead of three. These are called, from the highest to the lowest, Parisuddhābha (“pure radiance”), Appamāṇābha, Parittabha, and Saṃkiliṭṭhābha (“defiled radiance”). The difference is said to be in the degree of development of the meditation object (MN 127).

  The Ābhassara are beings even more subtle and refined than the mahābrahmās. Their lives are extremely joyful ones, and very long by human standards as they outlive entire world-systems which come and go beneath them. It is significant that we have no stories about individual Ābhassara beings to compare with those of the devas and first jhāna brahmās. None is known to us by name. Because their psychological make-up lacks the factor of vitakka and sometimes vicāra as well, which are associated with speech and thought, they exist in blissful inactivity. To put it simply, they are too “blissed out” to have any concern for or involvement with the worlds below them. And yet these beings too, are part of saṃsāra and when their long lives at last come to an end they are, unless they have attained to some degree of awakening, subject to rebirth in the lower realms.783

  3:6:14 THIRD JHĀNA LEVEL—THE SUBHAKIṆHA BRAHMĀS

  The third jhāna is characterized by two factors only, sukha and ekaggāta, the factor of pīti having dropped away. Mastery of this jhāna by a human meditator leads to rebirth in the Subhakiṇha realm. The practice of muditā (“sympathetic joy”) meditation is also said to lead to this realm.784 The name subhakiṇha means “strewn with beauty.”785 The two characteristics that are always mentioned in descriptions of the Subhakiṇha beings are their radiant beauty and their great happiness. Their bodies are called “one great mass of beauty” (subhena sarīrappabhāvaṇṇena ekagghanāti), and their radiance is compared favourably to that of the Ābhassara beings in that it is steady and does not “flicker” (DN-a 15). This is the difference between the jhāna factors of pīti and sukha. Pīti, which predominates on the second jhāna level, is a thrilling kind of happiness, commonly translated as “rapture”, whereas sukha (at least in the context of jhāna) is a deeper, more refined and “oceanic” kind of happiness, often translated as bliss. The happiness of these brahmās is externally manifested as a steady brilliant glow, all the flashy fireworks having been left behind. Whereas the radiance of the Ābhassara brahmās is compared to a torch, that of the Subhakiṇha brahmās is like the lustre of pure gold (MN-a 1).

  The bliss of the Subhakiṇha brahmās is described in superlative terms. Like the Ābhassara beings, they are said to be “filled with happiness, overflowing with happiness, drenched in happiness,” but that of the Subhakiṇha brahmās is also said to be santusitā, “contented” (DN 33). They are “extraordinarily blissful” (ekantasukhaṃ) (MN 57). Although the factor of sukha is present in the lower brahmā realms, here it is pure, existing without the admixture of pīti (AN-a 3:23). Indeed, it is the best kind of happiness to be found anywhere in the cosmos (AN 5: 170).

  The third jhāna level brahmās are also divided according to their degree of attainment. Those who had developed third jhāna only to a lesser degree are classed as Parittasubha beings. Those who had mastered it to a middling degree are called Appamānasubha beings. Those who have fully mastered the jhāna are reborn as Subhakiṇha beings properly so called, although the designation can be used generically for all the third jhāna level brahmās, who all dwell on the same plane (MN-a 1).

  We have seen that the Ābhassara world is said to be the supreme goal of the “great ascetics.” Likewise, the Subhakiṇha level is the goal of the “wanderers” (paribbajaka) (MN-a 11). These were spiritual seekers often mentioned in the suttas. They lived a homeless life similar to that of the Buddhist bhikkhus, but were depicted as prone to false views and to disputing about those views. One encounter of the Buddha with the paribbajakas highlights for us the difference between jhāna as an attainment and a brahmā world as a state of existence. One of the paribbajakas, named Udayin, declares that the goal of his path is an “extraordinarily pleasant world” (ekantasukho loko), and that the way to it is the keeping of moral precepts and the practice of asceticism. The Buddha replies that development of the third jhāna is the way to “an extraordinarily pleasant world.” But, Udayin objects, surely that state of jhāna is itself such a world and the goal has been reached. The Buddha continues that the third jhāna is only the way to the extraordinarily pleasant world, not that world itself. At this the assembly of paribbajakas become dismayed and cry out, “We are lost! We are lost among the doctrines of our teachers!” The commentary explains that these wanderers had lost the way to attain jhāna and regarded that state as the goal toward which they strived, not realizing that it was merely the prerequisite for rebirth in the Subhakiṇha world. Of course, even that “extraordinarily pleasant world” is not the goal of the Buddhist path, and the Buddha makes that clear in the following dialogue.786 This sutta stands as a clear indication that the brahmā worlds are not to be understood as poetic metaphors for their equivalent jhāna states, but as real destinations of rebirth.

  At the end of a kappa in which the cosmos is destroyed by water, everything below the Subhakiṇha realm is submerged and destroyed. This occurs less often than the destruction by fire.787

  There is some contradiction in the texts regarding the life-span of the Subhakiṇha brahmās. The developed theory found in the Abhidhamma texts has the life-span doubling at each successive level so that the Parittasubha beings live for sixteen kappas, the Appamānasubha beings for thirty-two kappas and the Subhakiṇha brahmās for sixty-four kappas.788 However, in the sole mention of this in the suttas, which must be regarded as the oldest source, it is simply stated that the Subhakiṇha beings have a life-span of four kappas (AN 4:123). The commentary does not resolve the discrepa
ncy.

  Just as in the case of the Ābhassara brahmās, there are no stories about the Subhakiṇha brahmās and we are not told any of their names, if indeed they have any.

  3:6:15 FOURTH JHĀNA LEVEL—THE VEHAPPHALA BRAHMĀS

  The fourth jhāna transcends even the bliss of sukha and replaces it with upekkhā (“equanimity”), which is a neutral feeling (i.e neither pleasure nor pain) characterized by a deep peacefulness (Vism 14.128). Beings in the fourth jhāna level are not divided into grades like all the brahmās below them,789 but are all classed together being “alike in form and in perception” (DN-a 15 & AN-a 7:44). Their life-span is given as being five hundred kappas (AN 4: 123). Rebirth into this realm is acquired by the attainment of the fourth jhāna or, logically enough, by mastering the meditation on upekkhā, which is the fourth brahmavihāra.790 Their plane is not destroyed at the end of a kappa; the highest level of destruction is reached when the world-system is destroyed by wind which reaches as high as the Subhakiṇha level only (SN-a 16:13). The name Vehapphala means “Great Fruit”.

  The Vehapphala level is considered somewhat separate and above all the other brahmā worlds. In a couple of passages the brahmā worlds are listed as being “nine plus Vehapphala” (MN-a 26 & MN-a 41). This agrees with the role of upekkhā in meditative development. The fourth jhāna and the fourth brahmavihāra both transcend the emotive tone of the other states in their respective groups. The fourth jhāna is the only one which is not blissful, and the brahmavihāra of upekkhā is the only which does not include an aspiration (“may all beings be happy”) but just accepts beings as they are. We can also add that the state of “Equanimity about Formations” (saṅkhārupekkhā) is a critical phase in the development of insight (vipassanā) and is the prerequisite for full awakening.791