Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org
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ealms would be intense suffering, and that they should be<br />
avoided at all costs. Some people think that rebirth as an<br />
animal would be quite pleasant; a meditator who has seen<br />
clearly the truth of things will not harbor such ideas; they will<br />
rather be horrified at the thought of being born in such a<br />
state of intense ignorance, helplessness, and suffering.<br />
Even rebirth in heaven, however, should not be desired by<br />
one who truly wishes to be free from suffering. There is a<br />
story of a monk who practiced walking meditation all night,<br />
every night, and, because he hadn’t eaten enough food,<br />
there arose some sort of nerve damage, and he died while<br />
doing walking meditation. His concentration was quite<br />
strong, but the body couldn’t handle it. This is why we tell<br />
meditators not to fast. Even though your mind can take it,<br />
the body will collapse without enough food. This happens<br />
sometimes, where a meditator decides to fast and then<br />
reaches a point where they can’t continue in the practice.<br />
Even though their mind is okay, the body can’t handle it. So<br />
this is why we eat at least a little bit every day.<br />
For the monk in this story, however, it was too late. He died<br />
and was born in heaven. He wasn’t enlightened, but the<br />
commentary says that if you die in meditation, you will<br />
certainly be reborn in heaven based on that good karma.<br />
Now of course this can’t mean that simply by walking back<br />
and forth or sitting still one will be born in heaven. A person<br />
may have nasty thoughts during meditation and be born in a<br />
bad place as a result of them, but for one who is honestly<br />
trying to develop their mind, even if they don’t give rise to<br />
insight or tranquility, at least the merit of their good<br />
intention in line with truth, purity, and wisdom, will lead<br />
them to heaven as the commentary says. So, he was born<br />
an angel prince in heaven, with a great host of attendant<br />
female angels, who recognized him as their prince and said,<br />
“Oh, here’s our new lord and master.” They assumed he<br />
would be keen to partake in the pleasures of heaven, so they<br />
enjoined him to “come, dance and sing!” and so on. The<br />
new angel, however, didn’t realize that he had died, and so<br />
he thought he was still a monk and that these women had<br />
come to the monastery. As a result, he didn’t even look at<br />
them, inclining his head downward and trying to focus on his<br />
meditation practice, afraid he might become attracted by<br />
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