English
means "I, having passed away from that immediately preceding place of rebirth, was reborn here in such and such a Khattiya clan or Brāhmaṇa clan." "Thus" means "in this way." "With characteristics and with designation" means designation by way of name and clan, and characteristics by way of color, and so on. Indeed, by name and clan, a being is designated as "Tissa Kassapa." By color, and so on, "dark" or "fair" is known as a distinction. Therefore, name and clan are the designation; the others are characteristics. "He remembers his manifold past existences" - this is clear in meaning. The discourse on the knowledge of recollecting past existences is concluded. Discourse on the knowledge of passing away and reappearing. 411. In the discourse on the knowledge of the passing away and reappearing of beings, "for the knowledge of passing away and reappearing" (Dī. Ni. 1.247) means for the knowledge of passing away and reappearing. It is said that for the purpose of that knowledge by which the passing away and reappearing of beings are known, it is for the divine eye knowledge. "He directs and inclines his mind" means he directs and inclines his preparatory mind. "He" means that bhikkhu who has directed his mind. In "with the divine eye," and so on, "divine" means divine-like. Indeed, the divine sensitive eye of devas, born of good conduct, unhindered by bile, phlegm, blood, and so on, and free from defilements, is capable of perceiving objects even from afar. And this knowledge-eye, born of the power of effort and development, is likewise divine-like, hence "divine." It is also divine because it is attained through a divine abiding, and because it itself is dependent on a divine abiding. It is also divine because it has great brilliance due to its grasp of light. It is also divine because it has great range, seeing forms beyond walls, and so on. All that should be understood according to the science of words. By way of seeing, it is an eye. It is also an eye because it acts like an eye, performing the function of an eye. It is pure because by seeing passing away and reappearing, it is a cause for the purification of view. Indeed, whoever sees only passing away, not reappearing, he grasps the annihilationist view. Whoever sees only reappearing, not passing away, he new. He grasps the view of self-manifestation. But he who sees both, since he transcends both kinds of wrong view, therefore, that vision of his is a cause of purification of view. And the sons of the Buddha see both. Therefore it is said: “Pure because it is a cause of purification of view through the vision of passing away and reappearing.” Having transcended human perception, it should be understood as “transcending human” by the vision of form, or “transcending human” because it transcends the human flesh-eye. With that divine eye, purified, transcending human, he sees beings, meaning he observes beings as if with the flesh-eye of humans. Here, at “passing away and reappearing,” it is not possible to see with the divine eye at the moment of passing away or at the moment of reappearing. But those who are close to passing away, who are about to pass away now, are meant by “passing away.” And those who have grasped rebirth-linking and are just now being reborn, are meant by “reappearing.” It shows that he sees such beings both passing away and reappearing. By “lowly” means: despised, looked down upon, scorned, disregarded, on account of birth, family, possessions, etc., which are lowly, being the result of delusion. By “exalted” means: the opposite of that, being the result of non-delusion. By “fair-complexioned” means: endowed with pleasing, lovely, agreeable complexions, being the result of non-aversion. By “foul-complexioned” means: endowed with unpleasing, unlovely, disagreeable complexions, being the result of aversion. The meaning is also “unattractive, deformed.” By “well-fared” means: gone to a good destiny. Or, rich, wealthy, being the result of non-greed. By “ill-fared” means: gone to a bad destiny. Or, poor, with little food and drink, being the result of greed. By “according to their deeds” means: gone according to whatever deed was accumulated. Here, by the preceding phrases “passing away” and so on, the function of the divine eye is stated. But by this phrase, the function of the knowledge of going according to deeds. And the sequence of the arising of that knowledge is this: Here, the bhikkhu, below, extends his light towards hell, and sees the beings in hell experiencing great suffering. That vision is indeed the function of the divine eye. He thus reflects: “What deed, indeed, did these beings do they experience this suffering.” Then, a knowledge arises in him, focused on that action, thinking, “They did this.” Similarly, extending his vision upwards towards the abodes of devas, he sees beings in the Nandana Grove, the Mixed Grove, the Rough Grove, and so on, experiencing great prosperity. That vision too is the function of the divine eye. He reflects thus: “What action did these beings perform to experience this prosperity?” Then, a knowledge arises in him, focused on that action, thinking, “They did this.” This is called the knowledge of the passing away of beings according to their deeds. This has no separate preliminary work, just as with the knowledge of past lives, so too with the knowledge of future lives. Indeed, these arise together with the divine eye, as they are based on the divine eye. In “by bodily misconduct” and so on, “misconduct” means conduct that is bad, or conduct that is defiled and rotten. “Bodily misconduct” means misconduct by the body, or misconduct arising from the body. The same method applies to the others. “Endowed with” means possessed of. “Revilers of the Noble Ones” means those who, being ill-disposed towards the Noble Ones —Buddhas, Paccekabuddhas, and disciples, down to even lay stream-enterers— revile, abuse, and blame them, either by a final accusation or by disparaging their virtues. For instance, one who says, “These have no ascetic practice; they are not ascetics,” reviles by a final accusation. One who says, “These have no jhāna, no liberation, no path, no fruit,” and so on, is understood to revile by disparaging their virtues. Whether he reviles knowingly or unknowingly, in both cases it is reviling of the Noble Ones. It is a grave action, similar to an immediate karma, and obstructs heaven and obstructs the path, but it is curable. To illustrate this, the following story should be known. It is said that in a certain village, an elder and a young bhikkhu were going for alms. Right in the first house, they received a ladleful of hot gruel. The elder was suffering from stomach wind. He thought, “This gruel is suitable for me. Before it gets cold, I will drink it.” "Water!" he said. He sat on a piece of wood brought by people to be a threshold, and drank. The other, disgusted, said, "The old man is overcome by a small thing, he did something we should be ashamed of." The elder, having wandered for alms in the village, went to the monastery and asked a young monk, "Friend, do you have a footing in this teaching?" "Yes, venerable sir, I am a Stream-Enterer," he replied. "Then, friend, do not strive for the higher paths. You have reviled one whose defilements are destroyed." So he asked for his forgiveness. Then that deed of his became normal. Therefore, whoever else reviles an Arahant, if the one reviling is older, he should go and, sitting on his haunches, say, "I said such and such to the venerable one, please forgive me for that," and ask for forgiveness. If he is younger, he should bow, sit on his haunches, raise his joined hands, and say, "Venerable sir, I said such and such to you, please forgive me for that," and ask for forgiveness. If the Arahant has gone to another direction, he should go himself, or send a resident pupil or others, and ask for forgiveness. And if it is not possible to go or to send, he should go to the monks who live in that monastery. If they are younger, he should sit on his haunches; if they are older, he should act in the manner described for older ones, and say, "Venerable sirs, I said such and such to the venerable such-and-such, may that venerable one forgive me," and ask for forgiveness. Even if he does not forgive face-to-face, this same should be done. If he is a monk who wanders alone, and his dwelling place or his destination is not known, he should go to a wise monk and say, "Venerable sir, I said such and such to the venerable such-and-such, and remembering it, I feel remorse. What should I do?" He will say, "Do not worry. The elder forgives you. Calm your mind." Then he should raise his joined hands in the direction the Arahant went and say, "May he forgive me." If he has attained final Nibbāna, the one who has attained final Nibbāna having gone to that place, having gone even to the charnel ground, one should ask for forgiveness. When this is done, there is no obstruction to heaven, no obstruction to the path, it is just normal. "Those of wrong view" means those of perverted vision. "Undertaking actions of wrong view" means various actions undertaken due to wrong view, and those who cause others to undertake other bodily actions, etc., rooted in wrong view. Here, it should be understood that even though slandering noble ones is included by the mention of verbal misconduct, and wrong view is included by the mention of mental misconduct, the repetition of these two is to show their great blameworthiness. For slandering noble ones is greatly blameworthy, being similar to an immediate karma. And it has been said: "Just as, Sāriputta, a bhikkhu endowed with virtue, endowed with concentration, endowed with wisdom, might achieve something in this very life, even so, Sāriputta, I say this: without abandoning that speech, without abandoning that mind, without relinquishing that view, he is cast down as he was brought, thus into hell" (M.N. 1.