Lessons In Practical Buddhism - Sirimangalo.Org

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