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Bhaisajaguru, for the seventh week. 8. Avalokitesvara, for another hundred days. 9. Mahasthdmaprdpta, for another year. 72 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 10. Amitabha, for another three years. 11. Aksobhya, for another seven years. 12. Akdsagarbha, and 13. Vairocana for ever. (b) Buddha Ksetra of the Amitabha school. — Turning now to the other school, we find that the Amitabha cult is based almost exclusively on rebirth in paradise through self- renouncing adoration to Amitabha, so that among the followers of this school the Buddha Ksetra doctrine received very great development. Originally but one out of many equally important realms (the Avatamsaka Sutra assigns to it a still lower position), it came gradually to assume pre-eminence among all the paradises, possibly because by chance it was placed in the west. The principal scriptural authorities for the doctrine are : (1) The larger Sukhdvati-vyuha Sutra, which, dealing with the past, tells how this marvellous land came to be created through the great vow of Dharmakara Bodhisattva, who later became Amitabha Buddha ; (2) the Amitdyur Dhydna Sutra, or the sutra of the meditation upon Amitabha, which deals with the present, or how men should so conduct themselves as to secure rebirth in Amitabha's land ; (3) the smaller Sukhdvati-vyuha Sutra, which deals with the future, i.e. the future condition of those who gain this Ksetra, and gives a long description of the great bliss that is to be found there. Apart from occasional mention elsewhere, two works in the Sastra literature of India deal more particularly with the doctrine. One of these is a Bodhisattvabhiimi, or discourse on the stages of a Bodhisattva, ascribed to Nagarjuna, the other a com mentary on the Sukhavati-vyuha called the Amitdyur- sutropadesa, ascribed to Vasubandhu. In both of these works the purely material side of the paradise doctrine is retained, and Amitabha is still but a single and semi-historical Buddha, and his paradise but a single even if important Buddha Ksetra. The rather monotonous tone of the descriptions of delights to be found in these various works may be seen from the THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS 73 translation of the three Sukhavati Sutras in the sacred books of the East. 4. THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS1 Classification of Sentient Beings. We have already seen the geographical position of the various divisions of the three dhatus. We must now study the persons who inhabit these realms. First of all in this connexion must we give the principal categories into which sentient beings are divided. These are : (1) the five or six gatis, or destinies ; (2) the seven vijnana sthitis, or bases of consciousness ; (3) the nine abodes of sentiency. The Five or Six Gatis. — This is the most important of all Buddhist classifications of sentient beings, and is the basis of the various Buddhist wheels of life or charts of existence. The five-fold division is made by most branches of Hmayana, the six-fold division by a few branches of Hmayana and most branches of Mahayana. The five gatis2 are : — 1. The inhabitants of the Narakas or hells. 2. Preta, ghouls, goblins, or demons. 3. Animals. 4. Mankind. 5. Devas or gods. Where a sixth gati is added, it consists of the Asuras — titanic, demonaic monsters, somewhat akin to the Devas, with whom, however, they are constantly at war. Those who defend the five gati theory never doubted the existence of the Asuras. They were merely not of sufficient importance to be given a place as a separate destiny, and were grouped either with the pretas or animals or both. Sentient beings when they die are reborn into one or the other of these five destinies. There is no other form of existence possible. The geographical 1 For Ceylon, M.B., chap. ii. 2 A.K. 8-5a. 74 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY relationship between the three dhatus and the five gatis has already been given. The Seven Vijnana Sthitis. — The three dhatu and the five gatis are likewise divided into those realms which do and those which do not support consciousness. Those which do are divided in a seven-fold manner, forming the seven Vijnana sthitis, which are x : — 1. Those realms in which the bodies as well as the thoughts of the inhabitants differ from one another. This includes the whole of the Kama dhatu and also the first Dhyana heavens of the Rupa dhatu, except during the period of creation. 2. Those realms in which the bodies are diverse but the thoughts uniform. This consists of the first Dhyana heavens during the period of creation, inasmuch as at that time all are filled with the single thought, " We have been created by Brahma." 3. Those realms in which the bodies are the same but the thoughts diverse. This consists of Abhasvara and the other heavens of the second Dhyana. 4. Those realms in which both the bodies and thoughts of the inhabitants are uniform. This consists of the heavens of the third Dhyana. 5. 6, 7. The last three vijnana sthitis consist of the three lower divisions of the Arupa dhatu. The three evil places (hells, pretas, and animals), the heavens of the fourth Dhyana, as well as the fourth heaven of the Arupa dhatu, are not classed as vijnana sthitis, inasmuch as life and conditions therein do not serve as stimuli or supports (sthiti) of consciousness. The Nine Abodes of Sentiency.2 — The nine so-called abodes of sentient beings consist of the above seven vijnana sthitis, with the addition of the fourth, Arupa dhatu, and the unconscious deities of the fourth Dhyana heavens. These realms are so called because sentient beings exist there willingly, or, in other words, they are suitable abodes for 1 A.K. 8-7a. a M.Vy. 169, A.K. 8-96. THE WORLD OF SENTIENT BEINGS 75 living beings. The evil realms are not included in this category, since they may be likened to prisons rather than abodes. Nor, for somewhat more metaphysical reasons, are the other sections of the fourth Dhyana included. The Four Kinds of Birth, and the Stages of the Foetus. — Sentient beings revolve in an eternal circle through the five gatis. Dying in one gati, they are reborn in another. There are four methods whereby this rebirth may take place.1 They are : (1) Birth from an egg ; (2) birth from a womb ; (3) birth from slime ; (4) apparitional birth. Instances of egg birth are various kinds of birds ; of womb birth, such animals as the horse, cow, dog, etc. ; of slime birth are mosquitoes, flies, and various other insects. Apparitional birth is so called because it is miraculous, without visible support, and with all the organs instantaneously perfectly formed. Of such birth are the inhabitants of the various heavens and hells. The normal method of birth for man is from the womb, but occasionally the other three methods occur. The animal gati also includes all four methods of birth. Three have already been mentioned. Apparitional birth takes place in the case of dragons, etc. All the denizens of the heavens and hells have no other method of birth than apparitional. Pretas are sometimes born from the womb, sometimes apparitionally. Of all the various kinds of birth, apparitional birth is the best, but Buddhas and Bodhisattvas receive womb birth that their humanity may be complete. In the case of womb birth, the foetus goes through a regular order of development. Five principal stages of embryo development are usually enumerated. These are 2 : (1) Kalala ; (2) Arbuda ; (3) Pesi ; (4) Ghana ; (5) Prasakha. The Doctrine of the Intermediate Existence? — There was a good deal of difference of opinion among the various Buddhist sects as to whether or not at death a being passed at once 1 M.Vy. 168; A.K. 8-116. 2 A.K. 9-86. J Long discussion, A.K. 8-136 ff. 76 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY into Ms new existence, or whether there is a short period of existence in an intermediate state. The Mahasanghikas denied the doctrine of the intermediate existence, while the Sarvastivadins and most of the later schools accepted the doctrine, which later was worked out in some detail. The following points concerning the Sarvastivadin doctrine on the subject may be of interest. The being in the intermediate state is possessed of a definite body, but of a very subtile kind. In shape it is of the same kind as his future existence. Thus, in the case of a person destined to be born as a man. The intermediate body is of the same size as a child 5 or 6 years of age. The organs are always complete.