Rebirths Take Place According to Abhisaṅkhāra
Rebirths take place according to
abhisaṅkhāra cultivated. That mechanism is explained in
Akusala-mula Paticca Samuppāda.
Three Types of Abhisaṅkhāra Leading to Rebirth in the 31 Realms
1. As we have discussed, the 31 realms in this world (
loka) are distributed among three levels:
kāma loka, rupa loka, and
arupa loka.
–
Kāma loka has 11 realms: the four lowest realms (
apāyās,) the human realm, and the six
Deva realms.
–
Rupa loka consists of the sixteen
rupāvacara Brahma realms.
–
Arupa loka has four
arupāvacara Brahma realms.
In previous posts, we saw that three types of
abhisaṅkhāra are generated with the
Akusala-mula Paticca Samuppāda process that leads to rebirths among the 31 realms. See, #8 of “Saṅkhāra – Should Not be Translated as a Single Word.”
2. Those three types of
abhisaṅkhāra lead to rebirths among the 31 realms as follows:
- The worst type,
apuññābhisaṅkhāra, lead to rebirths in the four lowest realms.
- The next higher level of
puññābhisaṅkhāra leads to rebirths in the higher seven realms in the
kāma loka and the 16 realms in the
rupa loka.
- The best type of
āneñjābhisaṅkhāra lead to rebirths in the highest four realms of this world belonging to the
arupa loka.
Akusala-Mula Paṭicca Samuppāda Dictates the Rebirth Process
3. The
Akusala-Mula Paṭicca Samuppāda describes how rebirths (
jāti) take place in this world starting with “
avijjā paccayā (abhi)saṅkhāra” step.
- As we discussed,
saṅkhāra in the step “
avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” refers to “
abhisaṅkhāra.” “
Paṭiccasamuppāda Vibhaṅga” (
https://suttacentral.net/vb6/pli/ms?lay ... ript=latin) explains the step “
avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” as, “
Tattha katame avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā? Puññābhisaṅkhāro, apuññābhisaṅkhāro, āneñjābhisaṅkhāro.”
Translated: “
What is meant by ‘avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā?’ That means
puññābhisaṅkhāra, apuññābhisaṅkhāra, āneñjābhisaṅkhāra.” For details, see “Sankhāra – What It Really Means.”
- Such
abhisaṅkhāra can be
kāya, vaci, or
mano saṅkhāra that we discussed above. But only a part of
kāya, vaci, and
mano saṅkhāra are
abhisaṅkhāra.
- In other words,
abhisaṅkhāra leads to
kamma done with
lobha, dosa, moha, and
mundane versions of alobha, adosa, amoha.
- They are
akusala kamma or
dasa akusala (three with the body, four with speech, and three with the mind). They can be
kāya kamma, vaci kamma, and
mano kamma. See, “Ten Immoral Actions (Dasa Akusala)."
Apuññābhisaṅkhāra – Connection to Lobha, Dosa, moha
4.
Apuññābhisaṅkhāra (“worst
abhisaṅkhāra“) can lead to rebirths in the four lower realms (
apāyās.) Such “bad
abhisaṅkhāra“ arise due to
lobha, dosa, moha (and other related
cetasika like jealousy.)
- Such
apuññābhisaṅkhāra (“
apuñña abhisaṅkhāra”) lead to
apuñña kamma (or “
pāpa kamma.“) That is the worst form of
akusala kamma based on
lobha (greed),
dosa (hate/anger),
moha (worst than
avijjā).
5. “
Paṭiccasamuppāda Vibhaṅga” explains
apuññābhisaṅkhāra as follows: “
Tattha katamo apuññābhisaṅkhāro? Akusalā cetanā kāmāvacarā—ayaṁ vuccati “apuññābhisaṅkhāro” OR “
apuññābhisaṅkhāra are
akusala cetanā associated with the
kāma loka.”
-
Akusala cetanā (ot intention of doing an
akusala kamma) is in “
akusala citta” or “defiled thoughts.”
Puññābhisaṅkhāra and Āneñjābhisaṅkhāra – Connection to (Mundane) Alobha, Adosa, Amoha
6. Then there are two types of “good
saṅkhāra” that lead to rebirths in the higher 27 realms. Those “relatively good”
abhisaṅkhāra lead to rebirths in the “good realms” at or above the human realm. Those are
puññābhisaṅkhāra and
āneñjābhisaṅkhāra. Those two categories arise based on the
mundane versions of alobha, adosa, moha (i.e., without comprehension of the Four Noble Truths/Tilakkhana/Paṭicca Samuppāda.)
-
Puñña kamma with
puññābhisaṅkhāra can bring “good results” in this world, including rebirths in the human realm and the six
Deva realms. Giving, moral living, and meditation come under
puñña kamma; see, “Puñña Kamma – Dāna, Sīla, Bhāvanā.”
-
Puññābhisaṅkhāra also includes cultivation of
rupāvacara jhāna (first four
jhāna) that lead to rebirths in the 16
rupāvacara Brahma realms.
-
Āneñjābhisaṅkhāra comes into play in the cultivation of the four higher (
arupāvacara)
jhānās that lead to rebirths in the four
arupāvacara Brahma realms.
-
Akusala kamma is any
kamma that keeps one in the rebirth process. Thus,
puñña kamma done without comprehension of the Four Noble Truths/
Tilakkhana/
Paṭicca Samuppāda belong to
akusala kamma. That is why
puññābhisaṅkhāra and
āneñjābhisaṅkhāra also arise due to
avijjā.
Three Levels of Abhisaṅkhāra
7. Therefore, now we have an easy way to remember what types of
abhisaṅkhāra lead to rebirths among the 31 realms in this world. To summarize:
- Worst form of
akusala kamma are
apuñña kamma or
pāpa kamma. They are done with
apuñña abhisaṅkhāra (
apuññābhisaṅkhāra) and lead to the rebirths in the lowest four realms. Those four realms are collectively called
apāyās and deliver the worst forms of suffering.
- The next (higher) level of
abhisaṅkhāra are
puññā abhisankahara (
puññābhisaṅkhāra.)
Punna kamma (like giving to charity, taking care of parents/elders/
bhikkhus, etc) lead to rebirths in the human realm and the six
Deva realms. There is a higher level of
puññābhisaṅkhāra that leads to rebirths in the 16
rupāvacara Brahma realms; those involve the cultivation of
rupāvacara jhāna. Thus,
puññābhisaṅkhāra lead to rebirths in 23 realms.
- The highest level of a
bhisaṅkhāra is
āneñja abhisaṅkhāra (
āneñjābhisaṅkhāra.)Those involved the cultivation of the four highest
jhāna, the
arupāvacara jhāna. They, of course, lead to rebirths in the four
arupāvacara Brahma realms.
Thus we can now clearly see how the rebirth process takes place among the 31 realms according to the types of
abhisaṅkhāra cultivated via “
avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra.”
All Types of Abhisaṅkhāra Arise Due to Avijjā!
8. As explained in #1 above, all types of
abhisaṅkhāra within the three categories arise due to
avijjā. What is
avijjā?
- “
Paṭiccasamuppāda Vibhaṅga” explains
avijjā as follows: “
Tattha katamā avijjā? Dukkhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhasamudaye aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhe aññāṇaṁ, dukkhanirodhagāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇaṁ—ayaṁ vuccati “avijjā”.
Translated: “What is
avijjā? It is the ignorance of the Four Nobel Truths or the
absence of four types of knowledge (ñāṇa): absence of knowledge about the Truths on suffering (
Dukkhe aññāṇaṁ), the origin of suffering (
dukkha samudaye aññāṇaṁ), cessation of suffering (
dukkha nirodhe aññāṇaṁ), and the way to reach the cessation of suffering (
dukkha nirodha gāminiyā paṭipadāya aññāṇaṁ.)
- As we saw above, starting with the “
avijjā paccayā saṅkhāra” step in
Akusala-mula PS different types of existences (
bhava) and corresponding rebirths (
jāti) arise among the 31 realms.
Connection to Tilakkhana and Paṭicca Samuppāda
9. The key here is to understand the First Noble Truth. In other words, instead of “
dukkhe aññāṇaṁ” (not comprehending the Noble Truth on Suffering) to get to “
dukkhe ñāṇaṁ” (knowledge of the Noble Truth on Suffering.)
- What is dukkha (suffering)? It is not the relatively minor sufferings that we experience in this life. Most people are happy with their lives.
- To understand the REAL suffering, one must understand the “wider worldview” seen by the Buddha upon his Enlightenment. He saw that most living beings are trapped in the four lowest realms for very long times. That is the suffering referred to by the Buddha!
- Even though relatively reduced levels of suffering manifest in the higher realms at or above the human realm, ANY given sentient-being spends most time in the apāyās.
- More details at, “Paṭicca Samuppāda, Tilakkhana, Four Noble Truths.”:
https://puredhamma.net/paticca-samuppad ... le-truths/
Apuññābhisaṅkhāra Done With Moha or Avijjā
10. The worst form of
apuññābhisaṅkhāra is done with the
worst form avijjā of moha. One may FREQUENTLY act with
moha if one still has one or more of the ten types of
micchā diṭṭhi.
- With the removal of the ten types of
micchā diṭṭhi the tendency to act with moha and generate
apuññābhisaṅkhāra will be reduced.
- But as long as one has not comprehended the Four Noble Truths/
Tilakkhana/
Paticca Samuppāda, one may act with avijjā and may generate
abhisaṅkhāra of all three types.
- As we saw above,
Paticca Samuppāda clearly explains how different types of rebirths arise due to
avijja. That is why it is critical to understand that process.
Cultivation of Anariya Jhāna Done With Avijjā
11. We can clearly see now that the cultivation of all types of
anariya jhāna is done with
avijjā (
anariya means "non-Buddhist). Such
anariya jhāna are cultivated using
anariya meditation techniques such as
kasina mediation (using
kasina objects) and breath meditation (which is NOT
Ānapānasati meditation.) The sole purpose of such efforts is to attain such
jhānās, and NOT
Nibbāna. Cultivation of such
jhāna leads to rebirths in the
Brahma realms, as we saw above.
-
Any effort to seek a rebirth anywhere in the 31 realms is done with avijjā because ANY such existence will have a finite lifetime.
- When that existence in such
Brahma realm comes to an end, rebirths in lower realms will take place, inevitably ending up in the
apāyās. That is why such efforts will NOT lead to the ending of
saṁsāric suffering.
- The only way to stop future suffering is to stop the rebirth process.
- Thus, we can see that another way to describe
avijjā is as follows: As long as one has the mindset that “existence ANYWHERE among the 31 realms is beneficial,” one would have
avijjā. That is why the cultivation of (
anariya)
jhāna is done with
avijjā!
12. Note that
Ariya jhāna is NOT cultivated with the goal of getting a rebirth in a
Brahma realm.
Ariya jhānās are realized automatically by some people with
magga phala (if one has cultivated
anariya jhānās in recent past lives.)
- But some
Arahants have cultivated
Ariya jhāna deliberately and the Buddha had recommended that too. A good example is Ven. Moggalana. After the cultivation of such
jhānās, he developed
abhiññā powers. Then he frequently visited
Deva and
Brahma realms to teach Dhamma to those
Devas and
Brahmas.
- By the way, there is a series of
suttas that describe how Ven. Moggalana attained all
jhānās in sequence. That series starts with the “
Paṭhamajhānapañhā Sutta (SN 40.1).” (
https://suttacentral.net/sn40.1/pli/ms? ... ript=latin) Those who have questions about the terms
vitakka/vicāra,
avitakka/avicāra, and
savitakka/savicāra should read that series of
suttas.