THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS a Actual 4ab The names, the hells and so forth, show Five wanderers Saying the names in the three realms, the hells and so forth, animals, hungry ghosts, humans, and gods, show five types o f wanderers.129 These include all sentient beings of the previous state.130 The Level? 31 says that demigods are lesser gods Others explain them as hun gry ghosts Gandharvas are gods The Yaksha demons are probably gods but are also explained as hungry ghosts Naga serpents, kinnaras, and garudas are animals Kumbhandas, ghouls, banshees, and other demons are mostly hungry ghosts b Particulars of elements b -d They’re unafflicted And neutral Sentient beings are called, But not those in the between state In terms of their self-isolate, they, the five wanderers, are unafflicted, and they are neither virtue nor nonvirtue, but unobscurerd neutral only If that were not so and they were either afflicted or virtuous, the different beings would become mixed up, and those who have severed the roots of virtue and nobles would not be included among wanderers As the environment o f the world is not a wanderer, only sentient beings are called wanderers, b u t those in the between state are not From the Prajhaptisastra: The four modes o f birth included the five wanderers, but the five wanderers not include the four modes o f birth W hat is not included? you ask The between state Therefore the Great Exposition proposes that beings are unobscured neutral only, because they are separate from the cause that establishes them, karmic becoming This pervades because the full ripening propelled by karma is a wanderer c Elaboration on these points This has four topics: i The seven places of consciousness, ii The nine places for beings, iii The four places o f conscious ness, and iv Analyzing the four possibilities of the four places and seven places 219 YOUTHFUL PLAY * AREA III i The seven places of consciousness This has two points (1) Actual A different body and conception; A different body, same conception; Reverse; same body and conception; And the three places without form 6a Are seven places of consciousness In these three realms o f the five wanderers, seven places of consciousness are explained, i) Gods and hum ans o f Desire, and those who arise in the first dhyana in later epochs have a different body and conception 2) Great Brahma and the assembly of gods around him have different robes, colors, and shapes, so they have a different body, but as they all conceive that, “Great Brahma created me,” and Brahma also conceives that “I have created these beings,” so they have the same conception 3) In the reverse o f the preceding, the gods of the second dhyana have bodies that are the same in that their nature is light, but their conception is sometimes pleasure and sometimes equanimity, so their conceptions arise differently This is because the pleasure of this level is not stable 4) The gods of the third dhyana are the same in having a body that is light by nature and the conception o f pleasure, because the pleasure of this level is stable These four places that have form and the three places w ithout form of 5) Infinite Space, 6) Infinite Consciousness, and 7) Nothingness are the seven places o f consciousness These seven places are taught in the sutras These are called the places of consciousness because in them the manner of craving supports and develops the consciousness (2) W h at is not that 6b The others have that which destroys it T he others that were not m entioned— the three lower realms, the fourth dhyana, and the Peak o f Existence— are not places o f consciousness because the lower realms have suffering, the fourth dhyana has both the causal and re sultant conception-free absorption, and on the Peak there is the absorption of cessation, so they have th at w hich destroys it, consciousness ii The nine places for beings This has two points 220 THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS (1) Actual 6cd W ith beings on Peak and Concept Free, They’re said to be nine places for beings Along w ith beings on the Peak of Existence and in C onception Free, they, these seven places of consciousness, are said to be the nine places for beings This is because sentient beings always remain there with pleasure (2) W h at is not that 7ab Since one remains against one’s wishes, The others are not Since their nature is that one remains in them against one s wishes— one is forced to stay by the demons o f karma— the other three lower realms are not places for beings They are, for example, like prisons iii The four places of consciousness This has two points (1) Actual 7b -d Four more places: Four aggregates that are defiled, O n their own level There are four more places in another manner than the seven taught in a sutra: T he places for consciousness are approaching form, and approaching feeling, conception, and formation Their nature is the four aggregates o f form and so forth th at are defiled and that are on their own level, but not those that are undefiled or on other levels This is because the undefiled is the antidote for consciousness, and it is not logical that one level be the support o f another level’s consciousness (2) W hat is not that 7d 8a Consciousness Alone is not explained as a place Here, in differentiating the basis for staying and what stays, the Teacher says 221 YOUTHFUL PLAY # AREA III that the consciousness, which is what stays, alone is n ot explained as a place for consciousness For example, it is like not m entioning the king himself iv Analyzing the four possibilities of the four places and seven places 8b Combined, there are four alternatives Do the seven include the four, or the four include the seven? you ask If you examine how they can be combined, there are four alternatives The first alternative (included in the seven but not in the four) is the consciousness on the seven places The second alternative (included in the four but not the seven) is the defiled aggregates other than consciousness in the three lower realms, in the fourth dhyana, and on the Peak The third alternative (included in both) is the first four defiled aggregates in the seven places The fourth al ternative (included in neither) is consciousness in the lower realms, fourth dhyana, and Peak; and undefiled dharmas Classifying in the four modes of birth This has three topics: a W here one enters: the classification of the modes of birth, b W hat enters: the explanation of the between state, and c The m anner it goes to the place of birth a W here one enters: the classification of the modes of birth This has two topics: i Actual classification, and ii Examining which beings have which modes o f birth i Actual classification 8cd There sentient beings have four modes O f birth: from egg, et cetera There, in those three realms, sentient beings are known to have four modes o f birth: there is birth from egg, et cetera, including birth from womb, birth from warm th and moisture, and miraculous birth The so-called modes of birth are birth They group together many different types of sentient beings who have their type of birth in common For that rea son, they are similar, and so these are the modes of birth ii Examining which beings have which modes of birth This has three points 222 THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS (1) Which are possessed by humans and animals 9a Humans and animals have four W hich wanderers have how many modes o f birth? you ask H um ans and an imals can have any o f the four modes The elders Saila and Upasaila, for ex ample, are humans born from eggs Present humans are born from the womb Mandhatar, Amrapali and so forth are born from warm th and moisture H u mans o f the first aeon and Noble Aryadeva have miraculous birth Three of the modes o f birth for animals are easy to understand; some nagas and garudas, for example, are born by miraculous birth (2) Which are possessed by hell beings, gods, and so forth 9bc Hell beings have miraculous birth, As gods and the between states Hell beings have miraculous birth only, as gods and beings in the be tween states (3) Which are possessed by hungry ghosts 9d From the womb as well are hungry ghosts Most hungry ghosts are born by miraculous birth, but from the wom b as well are some hungry ghosts born Among all the modes o f birth, miraculous birth is the best, but the Teacher demonstrated birth from the womb in order not to fulfill the predictions of non-Buddhists, who had prophesied that a magician would appear and deceive the world He also took birth from the womb to bring his Shakyan kinsfolk into the Dharm a and leave relics of his body b W hat enters: the explanation of the between state This has two topics: ii The essence and proof, and ii Distinctions o f bodily form and so forth i The essence and proof This has three topics: (1) Essence, (2) Dispelling doubts, and (3) Proof (1) Essence lOab In this, it is that which arises Between the states o f death and birth 223 ... created these beings,” so they have the same conception 3) In the reverse o f the preceding, the gods of the second dhyana have bodies that are the same in that their nature is light, but their... examine how they can be combined, there are four alternatives The first alternative (included in the seven but not in the four) is the consciousness on the seven places The second alternative (included... in the four but not the seven) is the defiled aggregates other than consciousness in the three lower realms, in the fourth dhyana, and on the Peak The third alternative (included in both) is the