Seeing the past Causes & their present Effects!
Once when the Venerable
Anuruddha was dwelling at
Savatthi
in Jeta's Grove,
in
Anāthapindika's Park, a number of Bhikkhus went
to
the Venerable
Anuruddha &
exchanged polite
greetings with him.
Then they sat down & asked the Ven.
Anuruddha:
Venerable
Sir: What has the Venerable Anuruddha developed and cultivated so
that
he has attained to his famous greatness of direct knowledge?
It is, friends, because I
have developed and cultivated these four
Foundations of Awareness
that I have won
great direct
knowledge.
What 4? Here, friends, I dwell constantly contemplating upon:
The
Body as a formed
frame, neither as any me-I-ego, anything lasting, nor as pleasure!
The
Feelings
as passing sensations, neither as belonging to me or mine, nor as pleasure!
The
Mind
just
as temporary moods and mentalities, neither as I-Mine, nor as any soul!
All
Phenomena
just
as conditioned mental states, and neither as substance, nor any real!
while eager,
clearly comprehending,
and
aware, thereby removing all desire & frustration
rooted in this world! It is because I have developed these
Four
Foundations of Awareness
that I have become empowered with these supra-human forces: With the
divine eye,
which
is purified & surpasses the human, I see beings passing away and being reborn,
as inferior
or superior, beautiful or ugly, fortunate or unfortunate, & I understand how beings travel
on in accordance with their
past actions (=kamma)
thus: The beings who misbehaved bodily,
verbally and mentally, who reviled the Noble Ones, held wrong views, and did
actions based
on their wrong views, with the break-up of their body, right
after death, they have been
reborn in
a state of
misery, in a painful
destination, in the lower worlds, even in hell...!
But these other beings,
who engaged in good behaviour bodily, verbally and mentally,
who did
not revile the Noble Ones, who held right view, and undertook actions
based on
this right view,
with the break-up of their body, after death, they are
reborn in
a superior and exceedingly
happy destination, even a divine world!
Thus with the divine eye,
which is purified &
surpasses
the human, I see beings passing away and being reborn, inferior and superior,
beautiful & ugly,
fortunate and unfortunate, and I understand how beings are
reborn
and fare on in this round
all in accordance with their past
kamma
(past life behaviour).
Buddha once said:
It is kamma that separates beings into inferiority and superiority!
MN iii 203
Source (edited extract):
The
Grouped Sayings of the Buddha. Samyutta Nikāya.
[V:305]
section 52: Anuruddha. Thread 23: The Divine Eye!
About
Abhiññā:
The
6 suprahuman forces, supernormal knowledge's see:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/a/abhinna.htm
About
Kamma:
The
accumulation of intention, with spurious effects see:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Kamma_and_Fruit.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Kamma_is_improvable.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/III/Inevitable_Consequences.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Rebirth.htm
About Retro-cognition and
the Divine Eye:
The
Dibba-Cakkhu see:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/The_Divine_Eye.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/b_f/dibba_cakkhu.htm
On folly longing after
a now unreal past, that has passed never ever to return:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/No_Nostalgia.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/At_All_Times.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anti-EGO-Tool.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Seing_the_Past.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Hidden_Horror.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Seing_Past_Lives.htm
