This week's featured monastic is Ayya Santussikā.

Then the Venerable Puṇṇa approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, it would be good if the Blessed One would teach me the Dhamma in brief, so that, having heard the Dhamma from the Blessed One, I might dwell alone, withdrawn, diligent, ardent, and resolute.”

“Puṇṇa, there are forms cognizable by the eye that are desirable, lovely, agreeable, pleasing, sensually enticing, tantalizing. If a bhikkhu seeks delight in them, welcomes them, and remains holding to them, delight arises in him. With the arising of delight, Puṇṇa, there is the arising of suffering, I say. There are, Puṇṇa, sounds cognizable by the ear … mental phenomena cognizable by the mind that are desirable, lovely, agreeable, pleasing, sensually enticing, tantalizing. If a bhikkhu seeks delight in them, welcomes them, and remains holding to them, delight arises in him. With the arising of delight, Puṇṇa, there is the arising of suffering, I say.

“Puṇṇa, there are forms cognizable by the eye … mental phenomena cognizable by the mind that are desirable, lovely, agreeable, pleasing, sensually enticing, tantalizing. If a bhikkhu does not seek delight in them, does not welcome them, and does not remain holding to them, delight ceases in him. With the cessation of delight, Puṇṇa, there is the cessation of suffering, I say.

“Now that you have received this brief exhortation from me, Puṇṇa, in which country will you dwell?”

“There is, venerable sir, a country named Sunaparanta. I will dwell there.”

“Puṇṇa, the people of Sunaparanta are wild and rough. If they abuse and revile you, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta abuse and revile me, then I will think: ‘These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they do not give me a blow with the fist.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“But, Puṇṇa, if the people of Sunaparanta do give you a blow with the fist, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta give me a blow with the fist, then I will think: ‘These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they do not give me a blow with a clod.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“But, Puṇṇa, if the people of Sunaparanta do give you a blow with a clod, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta give me a blow with a clod, then I will think: ‘These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they do not give me a blow with a rod.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“But, Puṇṇa, if the people of Sunaparanta do give you a blow with a rod, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta give me a blow with a rod, then I will think: ‘These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they do not stab me with a knife.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“But, Puṇṇa, if the people of Sunaparanta do stab you with a knife, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta stab me with a knife, then I will think: ‘These people of Sunaparanta are excellent, truly excellent, in that they do not take my life with a sharp knife.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“But, Puṇṇa, if the people of Sunaparanta do take your life with a sharp knife, what will you think about that?”

“Venerable sir, if the people of Sunaparanta take my life with a sharp knife, then I will think: ‘There have been disciples of the Blessed One who, being repelled, humiliated, and disgusted by the body and by life, sought for an assailant. But I have come upon this assailant even without a search.’ Then I will think thus, Blessed One; then I will think thus, Fortunate One.”

“Good, good, Puṇṇa! Endowed with such self-control and peacefulness, you will be able to dwell in the Sunaparanta country. Now, Puṇṇa, you may go at your own convenience.”

Then, having delighted and rejoiced in the Blessed One’s statement, the Venerable Puṇṇa rose from his seat, paid homage to the Blessed One, and departed, keeping him on his right. He then set his lodging in order, took his bowl and outer robe, and set out to wander towards the Sunaparanta country. Wandering by stages, he eventually arrived in the Sunaparanta country, where he dwelt. Then, during that rains, the Venerable Puṇṇa established five hundred male lay followers and five hundred female lay followers in the practice, and he himself, during that same rains, realized the three true knowledges. And during that same rains he attained final Nibbāna.

Then a number of bhikkhus approached the Blessed One … and said to him: “Venerable sir, the clansman named Puṇṇa, who was given a brief exhortation by the Blessed One, has died. What is his destination? What is his future bourn?”

“Bhikkhus, the clansman Puṇṇa was wise. He practised in accordance with the Dhamma and did not trouble me on account of the Dhamma. The clansman Puṇṇa has attained final Nibbāna.”

SN 35.88: Puṇṇasutta—Bhikkhu Bodhi

Tranquility is stillness that lasts only for a little while. The stillness is the foundation for insight. Insight is seeing clearly, understanding more clearly than you did before. Insight is not simply still. The stillness of tranquility is like running away from noises to a wilderness where there’s no noise. If you have lots of children, you run away to a wilderness where there are no children. When you don’t see your children or don’t hear any noise, you find stillness. But that kind of stillness is like having a wound, stitching it up, and covering it up with a bandage until it looks like it’s healed. But actually there’s still an infection inside. When the infection flares up, you cut it open, stitch it up again, put medicine in it, and the wound heals over. But there’s still infection inside. It’s not really healed. That’s tranquility. With insight, you have to remove all the infected tissue so that it can heal from the inside.

While mindfulness establishes this steady platform, Sampajañña, or clear comprehension, takes the practice a step further by injecting sharp, contextual wisdom straight into your daily routine. It acts like an internal radar system that evaluates your impulses across different layers of reality. In the classic Buddhist commentaries, this tool is broken down into specific operational aspects that function perfectly amid our modern digital chaos. First, there is Sātthaka-sampajañña—the clear awareness of purpose. The exact microsecond your hand automatically reaches for that glowing screen, this internal voice asks: "Is opening this app right now actually beneficial, or is it just a knee-jerk escape from this boring task?" >

Right behind it follows Sappāya-sampajañña—the awareness of suitability. It forces you to look at the larger picture, asking: "Does jumping down this digital rabbit hole actually match my deeper life goals, my core values, and the work I deeply care about?" By constantly running these quiet, intuitive checks in the background, you stop treating your precious attention like a piece of cheap scrap metal that any app developer can claim. You reclaim it as a sacred, deliberate resource. Through this lens, you quickly realize a massive truth: the craving doesn't actually live inside the smartphone or the notification badge. It is a deeply conditioned habit pattern existing entirely inside your own mind, which means you can stop wasting energy trying to fix the outside world and focus on cultivating a clean, steady awareness right where you sit.

If one were to ask what the most beautiful hope in a young woman’s life is, the answer given without a second thought would be marriage.

Within a young woman’s dream world, there is a great desire for a good family background, a good bridegroom, a grand wedding ceremony, the traditional Poruwa rituals, and so forth.

Such beautiful hopes hopes bound up with life, hopes that kept life going....

When hopes maintained with the perceptions, “Marriage is my life; life is marriage; marriage is my self,” are broken, shattered, lost, or deliberately destroyed by another person, how great is the mental anguish that arises within an innocent young woman?

When such hopes have been created within an innocent young woman’s mind and are then destroyed—when her most beautiful dream is killed—what kinds of mental states will arise within her?

Should she die while in such mental states, take her own life, or be killed, what will happen to her in the next world?

Do you think that the hope she had made into her very self will simply be abandoned and that her mind will cease?

Do you think that her taṇhā and upādāna towards the palaces of dreams she constructed, the gold and silver jewellery she collected, the salary she saved, and the bridal saris she selected will simply be abandoned and that her mind will cease?

That is not what happens.

Then what might happen?

While a bhikkhu was dwelling in samādhi, he was able to see a vision of this kind.

It was a vision of a female peta in the peta realm—a pattern of behaviour through which she was undergoing the results of kamma. It revealed the nature of the suffering she experienced because of the strength of the upādāna to which she had clung.

The female peta was a young woman approximately twenty-five years of age.

She was dressed in the white sari and bridal clothing worn by a bride on her wedding day.

She was an extremely dark-complexioned bride, with a mysterious face upon which no pleasant quality could be seen.

Although she walked about dressed as a bride, she was like a walking corpse. Her face had the appearance of a dead body.

In the human world, when a young woman dies, her body is sometimes dressed and decorated like a bride before being placed in a coffin.

After approximately two days, however, the body becomes dark.

The appearance of the peta bride described above was similar to this.

Dressed as a bride and holding a bouquet of flowers, she wandered through the peta realm.

Because the body of a peta is subtle in nature, she cannot be seen with your physical eyes. Her subtle body can be seen by a mind established in samādhi.

At the moment when she appeared to the bhikkhu, she was in a place resembling a wedding celebration in the human world.

It may perhaps have been the reception hall of a hotel. It appeared, however, to be a high-class wedding ceremony.

The bhikkhu felt that the female peta was walking about with an intense desire to marry and with the expectation that someone would marry her.

It appeared that the peta bride possessed an extremely strong need to get married.

The bhikkhu saw her walking through the hall and sitting among the guests attending the wedding.

She was deeply unfortunate.

The hope of marriage that she had maintained in the human world had still not been abandoned in the peta realm.

The bhikkhu understood that the peta bride was hoping to marry one of the men who had come to the wedding ceremony.

This was a sorrowful scene revealing the innocent and helpless nature of her upādāna.

Although she was in the peta realm, because of the strength of her upādāna or because of her kamma-vipāka, the person she hoped to marry may have been a human man.

She may have received this kamma-vipāka because she had destroyed another person’s marriage through gossip, lies, or deception.

Alternatively, it may have occurred because another person had destroyed her own dream of marriage.

In any event, it is perfectly clear that she acquired this deformed condition because she had cultivated hatred, anger, and jealousy while alive and at the time of death.

It is also possible that, at the moment of death, she developed hatred and anger towards the person who had destroyed her marriage, took her own life through hatred towards him, and consequently became a deformed female peta after death.

Whatever the cause may have been, she still wanders through the peta realm carrying her dream of becoming a bride, dressed in a bridal sari and blouse and holding a completely white bouquet of flowers.

This peta bride wandering in the peta realm is looking for a partner.

She is dark in colour and approximately five feet five inches tall.

Her religion is micchā-diṭṭhi.

Her race is the race of petas.

Her caste is the four apāyas.

Should you wish to become her partner, commit the same kinds of unwholesome kamma that she committed and meet her in the peta realm.

You do not need to search for a bridal sari or a bouquet for her, because she already wanders through the peta realm wearing them and hoping for an immediate marriage.

There, her beliefs are far more entrenched than they were in the human world.

The bhikkhu would not be surprised if a human being in this world—blinded by avijjā and burdened by sensual desire—were attracted even to the proposal given above.

He would be surprised only if no one were attracted to it.

Do you now understand that brides do not exist only in the human world?

This bride, who wanders through the peta realm wearing a white bridal sari and blouse and carrying a white bouquet, teaches us a good lesson—a rare lesson, a lesson that makes the flesh tremble.

A human daughter wears bridal clothing for only one day in her life.

But in the peta realm, because of her kamma-vipāka, she may wear bridal clothing for many kappas, suffering without a partner.

If a marriage does not succeed or is delayed for a son or daughter in the human world, that person may live for sixty years and then die.

But this peta bride may have to continue wearing her bridal clothing and searching for a bridegroom for many more kappas.

Because of her kamma-vipāka, she will never obtain a bridegroom.

Consequently, hatred, anger, jealousy, lust, and sensual desire will continue to grow within her.

These are extremely grave unwholesome mental qualities.

Because of these unwholesome qualities, she becomes increasingly deformed and increasingly involved in conflict, until she finally falls upon the flames of hell.

Look at this daughter who, because of something another person did, developed hatred, anger, and jealousy, and now suffers in the peta realm because of others.

Do not develop hatred and anger towards others merely because they destroyed your hopes or shattered your dreams.

This is because hopes do not belong to you.

Why do you take a hope that does not belong to you and cannot be kept under your control as “mine,” and then suffer because of it?

Hopes are what keep us living.

When one hope collapses, another hope arises.

Hopes are life.

We run after hopes, making them our own.

We do not understand that hope is a mirage.

You have now seen the misfortune that befell the peta bride because she ran after the mirage called hope, have you not?

How many thousands of matrimonial advertisements are published in every language in weekend newspapers?

How many relationships do people form while travelling on pilgrimage, going to work, or travelling by train and bus?

How many deceitful things are concealed within these relationships?

How much fraud, deception, and misleading behaviour is present within them?

For the sake of personal desire, personal pleasure, and personal continuity, human beings engage in such deception with great willingness.

Society does not possess the feeling:

“This is my own sister.”

“This is my own brother.”

For this very reason, society is filled with hatred and anger.

A person sets fire to a marriage certificate soaked in tears and is then burned by that very fire because of this anger.

A bridal sari is thrown over a roof beam, and that same bridal sari becomes a noose around the neck, because of this hatred and anger.

Be wise.

For the sake of your own happiness, do not destroy another person through hatred and anger.

Do not make the innocence of innocent people a victim of your own thoughtlessness.

Even when you, an innocent person, are afflicted by such an irresponsible person, do not generate hatred and anger because of him.

Do not become the inheritor of a great mass of suffering because of a single suffering.

You are not yet too late.

You still have time to correct yourself and come to the right place.

For the peta bride in the peta realm, however, it is now too late.

She now has no refuge.

The innocent woman continues to move from one suffering to another.

She now has no opportunity to correct herself.

If only, at the moment of death, this innocent woman had seen that the hatred and anger arising in her mind were impermanent.

If only she had seen:

“This mind is not mine.”

Even if she had lacked such an understanding, had she thought at the moment of death:

“May all beings be well.

May all beings be free from suffering.

May all beings be healthy.”

Or had she recollected one quality of the Supreme Buddha, brought an image of the Buddha to mind, or remembered a bhikkhu wearing a saffron robe—then, heavens!—she would have escaped that peta suffering.

She would certainly have obtained rebirth in a sugati.

Look at what occurred because she lacked sati and awareness, because she had not listened to the true Dhamma, because she had not cultivated recollection of the Buddha’s qualities, and because she had not cultivated mettā.

What came to her aid was hatred and anger, together with upādāna towards what she desired.

When what is wholesome has been abandoned, it is what is unwholesome that is grasped.

At the time of writing this account, the bhikkhu was residing in a forest monastery.

A large hall had been constructed in that monastery for the lay devotees to prepare dāna.

It was a new hall.

The devotees had built it with great effort and painted it white.

Someone had carried a sack of cement approximately two kilometres through the forest to build it.

Yet telephone numbers had been written all over the white walls of this newly constructed hall.

The names of men and women had been written beneath those numbers.

Adjacent to these, the home addresses and vehicle registration numbers has been written.

Perhaps not even the rooms of a mental hospital have writings of this kind upon their walls.

What do we see covering the walls of this hall used for preparing dāna?

We see the way in which human beings seek to experience the gratification of sensual desire.

This is a distortion.

It is a mirror reflecting a restless, unsettled, and distracted mind.

Meritorious children, the path you are clearing while still young is not a path leading towards what is wholesome. It leads directly towards what is unwholesome.

The markings you make upon the white walls with pieces of charcoal, and the course upon which you are entering, may in the future bring you to the same miserable destiny as the peta bride, who fell into the peta realm with a mind filled with hatred and anger because her hopes had been shattered.

Therefore, be careful.

Sensual desire is dangerous.

When sensual hopes collapse, the empty space they leave is filled by hatred and anger.

These are the dangers and disadvantages of sensuality.

Whether you grasp your hopes associated with sensual desire or whether those hopes collapse, the result is anger and hatred.

Therefore, what you must do is abandon them with understanding.

You must gradually train in that abandonment and make it familiar within your life.

You must develop within your life the confidence that you will not fall into the four apāyas.

Instead of thoughts of hatred and anger, repeatedly contemplate thoughts of mettā.

Instead of bringing to mind the image of your opponent or the person who caused you suffering, recollect the image and qualities of the Supreme Buddha.

Recollect and contemplate the infinite qualities of the Dhamma-ratana and the Saṅgha-ratana.

Rather than inheriting the suffering of the four apāyas, have compassion for yourself so that you may obtain rebirth in a sugati.

Apart from you, who else will have compassion for you?

Source: https://dahampoth.com/pdfj/view/a2.html

why did you pick Buddhism(specifically Theravada or whatever tradition you are from) over all the other religions and internal sects.

I vaguely remember this saying, it goes: "If one is experiencing too much pleasure, then one will not practice. And if one is experiencing (too much) pain, then one will not practice either."

Where did I get this from ?

Not the best title but it will do. I have studied Theravada Buddhism in Thailand and practiced for a long time.I have been taught Lord Buddha intended not to focus on eternalism or the complex and difficult to navigate ideas of the afterlife. Coming from a Christian upbringing I try and steer clear of discussion from the afterlife as well- not as avoidance but it was instilled on me at a young age that heaven was the most important goal. I now try to stay in the present and remove my emphasis from heaven. My goal is to work on myself in the present moment, not as a way to reserve myself for a holy place in the future, not as a way to ensure nibbana, but instead simply because I want to maintain peace and put an end to suffering now.

So when I read from the Pali Canon I notice very often the descriptions and detail the Buddha puts in on the afterlife. He details it several times in countless Suttas. MN 12 was one my most recent examples. I understand that suffering leads to the cycle of rebirth but a lot of cycles put emphasis on rebirth.

I try to explain it myself as- the foundational teachings of the four noble truths introduce us to samsara. So of course that cycle will have a heavy emphasis. Still in a lot of ways my retired Christian brain reaches out trying to grasp at the heavens and hells and animal and ghost realms and the great hereafter and I find a sense of unease after I read.

Sorry for the typos- if any. All thoughts are welcomed. I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

When people hear the expression “the four apāyas,” and when they hear of the suffering experienced by the beings there, fear and alarm arise within them. Because of this very fear and alarm, some people remove the expression “the four apāyas” from their storehouse of memory, treating it as though it were a forbidden expression.

Even while seeing with their own eyes the suffering of animals in the animal realm, human beings think:

“We will not be reborn in the animal realm.”

When a person becomes accustomed to thinking in this way, it becomes very easy for the evil companion called the mind—the treacherous friend—to establish within that person the causes required for rebirth in the animal realm. It can give you, in this very world, a life fertile in unwholesome deeds and well suited to producing a barren rebirth in the animal realm.

Of the four apāyas, the realm visible to our physical eyes is the animal realm. Although you cannot see the peta realm, the asura realm, or the hell realms belonging to the four apāyas, you have some awareness of hell and of the peta realm.

However, what is going to be explained here is the asura realm, which belongs to the four apāyas but is not spoken about as frequently.

We pay little attention to the asura realm. Yet, in comparison with the peta realm, the asura realm must be greater in extent.

The asura realm is situated in association with the great ocean, which covers three quarters of the earth’s surface. This great ocean is the native domain of the asuras.

Why is a being reborn in this asura realm?

Because of liking, chanda-rāga, and upādāna towards the great ocean, after death one obtains rebirth in the asura realm and descends into the great ocean.

You know that the regions surrounding Sri Lanka are referred to as the coastal belt. Relate this also to coastal regions in other countries of the world.

The people living near the sea throughout the world make the sea their very life. When they step outside their houses or look out of their windows, what they see is the sea.

The roar of the sea, the wind, the waves....

They even go to the sea to relieve themselves. They play and enjoy themselves on the beach or in the great ocean. Their entire life is the ocean.

These coastal people support themselves through the fishing industry. This is not limited to our own country.

Throughout the whole world, some people spend the time from morning until night catching fish with fishing rods. Others, without even considering the danger to their lives, make the sea “mine” and make it their self, spreading fishing nets in the great ocean from a small raft.

Some go out to sea in their boats in the evening and return to land only at dawn the following day. Others go to sea in multi-day fishing vessels and return only after several weeks or months.

Still others travel in ships, catch fish, pack them into tins, and continue travelling for several more months. That is the most extensive or advanced technology.

Every one of these people engaged in the fishing industry has taken up the great ocean through upādāna.

Their life is the great ocean. Their wife and children are the great ocean. Their happiness and hopes are the great ocean. The ocean is their self.

They expect to obtain pleasure through this self.

Having taken up the great ocean in this manner, what they bring back to land is the harvest of taking life.

The harvest of taking life consists of the tonnes of dead fish they bring ashore. It is not limited to small fish. Turtles, large sharks, whales, sea cucumbers, lobsters....

These are the harvest of killing gathered by people who have taken the sea up through upādāna.

There is another group in the world. They take the great ocean up through a different perception.

They take the great ocean as an object of upādāna for amusement, happiness, relaxation, sport, and education.

We call these people domestic and foreign tourists.

In countries with beautiful beaches, this has developed into a highly advanced and widespread business.

Tourists travel tens of thousands of miles through distant lands to visit different countries. Hundreds of thousands of tourists travel to the Maldives each year.

For what purpose?

To take the great ocean as an object of upādāna.

It is the same in our own country.

Wherever in the world a tourist hotel is located, rooms facing the great ocean are more expensive than rooms facing the land. This has come about because tourists have taken the sea up through upādāna.

They search for happiness within the great ocean by bathing, diving, rowing boats, traveling in motorboats, and participating in various water sports.

They expose themselves to the blazing sunlight on the beach. The sea becomes like a part of their lives.

They touch the salt water and its saline quality with intense liking and taṇhā.

You can observe this condition along the beautiful tourist beaches of our country.

Their entire life is the great ocean. Their food is the great ocean.

Their eyes demand the beauty of the sea.

Their ears demand the roar of the breaking waves.

Their noses demand the fishy smell.

Their tongues demand the taste of seafood.

Their bodies demand the saline quality of seawater.

Their minds demand that all the above are still not enough. The mind continues to say, “Not enough; give me more.”

Your evil companion called the mind, hidden within the cave called the body, deceives you by telling you:

“The sea is my self. It is pleasure. It is the world.”

There is another group in the world. They are the employees and passengers of great passenger and cargo ships travelling across the ocean. There are also lighthouse workers who send signals to ships.

There are also people in Western countries who, upon retiring from employment, gather all the benefits they have received, buy a small sailing boat, and spend the remainder of their lives travelling from country to country and from port to port.

People in all these categories live by travelling continuously for many months without setting foot on land.

They enjoy themselves and experience pleasure. They eat well and drink well. They do not understand that they are in a prison cell in the middle of the great ocean.

Because of their taṇhā for the ocean, they see this prison cell as a palace of dreams.

Although we do not know this with certainty, it is said that even when their ship is sinking, they continue playing music with the band, saying:

“Pleasure! Pleasure!”

They possess the perception that even dying in the great ocean is pleasurable.

Their lives consist only of intoxication and the gratification of the senses. They make the sea “mine,” make the sea their self, and search for pleasure within that self.

There is another group in the world. They are divers and explorers.

They too search for pleasure in the ocean. They search for resources.

Carrying the weight of an oxygen cylinder on their backs, they dive into the deep and terrifying sea. They regard this as pleasure and search for the wonders, wealth, and unseen world hidden within the ocean.

To them, the saline quality of the sea and the terrifying nature of the ocean depths are insignificant. This is because their upādāna towards the great ocean is stronger than those dangers.

These people too make the sea their self and search for pleasure within it.

Billions upon billions of fish, turtles, and birds such as seagulls live in association with the great ocean.

These beings too have taken the sea up through upādāna. They gratify their five senses through food obtained from the great ocean.

Their life is the great ocean.

Every one of these animals searches for pleasure in the great ocean. They perceive the great ocean as “mine.” They perceive the great ocean as their self.

As described above, there is an enormously large number of both human beings and animals who take the sea up through upādāna for the fishing industry, education, exploration, and the maintenance of life.

When any of these beings who have taken the sea up through upādāna, made the sea “mine,” and searched for pleasure within it eventually reaches the moment of death, if liking, upādāna, or chanda-rāga arises towards the great ocean to which that being was bound by taṇhā during life, there is a very great possibility that the being will be reborn in the asura realm.

After living by taking the ocean up through upādāna and then descending into the asura realm, those asuras can continue to make the great ocean “mine.”

They can stir up the ocean, swim, and dive.

Because the asura has obtained the object of liking for which he longed, he does not regard the asura life as suffering.

Even during his previous human life, he did not regard the seawater, its saline quality, the heat of the sun, the sea breeze, or the terrifying nature of the ocean as suffering.

When a person who regarded all these things as pleasure even while possessing an excellent human life falls into the asura realm belonging to the four apāyas, will he regard that condition as suffering?

No.

He regards it as an immense pleasure he has obtained.

Just as a small child plays with his own urine and excrement, the asuras take every form of dukkha and domanassa in the great ocean to be immense pleasure, and they delight in it.

They exercise authority over the great ocean.

They quarrel and fight over ownership and territories within the ocean.

Human beings are already immersed in asura-like perceptions such as:

“This area of the sea belongs to us. Others may not fish here.”

“This beach belongs to our hotel. Others may not come here.”

Therefore, these same things occur on a much broader scale in the asura realm.

Consider how a diver acts within the great ocean.

He swims on the surface of the water. He dives beneath the water. He dives into deep waters.

In the same way as this diver, asuras dive in the great ocean and experience the five kinds of sensual pleasure.

They fight with members of their own kind over the sea. They search for pleasure in the sea.

That is the nature of the asura realm.

A fish lives in the seawater, perceiving it as pleasurable. It swims and dives, creates beautiful movements and forms, and experiences happiness....

Although the fish regards it as pleasure, it is the animal realm.

The fish consumes hundreds of thousands of smaller fish and continues accumulating further kamma. In the end, it becomes caught in someone’s net and sacrifices its life.

Asuras grasp the great ocean through taṇhā. Wanting to divide and possess the ocean, they develop hatred, anger, and craving. In the end, they are destroyed and fall from one state of suffering into another.

While a bhikkhu was dwelling in samādhi, he saw several beings diving and enjoying themselves upon and within the waters of the great ocean.

The bhikkhu identified them as asuras.

However, these few asuras were extremely majestic and powerful, possessing full, human-like bodies. They were entirely milk-white in colour.

They had heads larger than a human head.

These asuras joyfully dived into the water, came back to the surface, and enjoyed themselves.

All this appeared to indicate that the few asuras seen by the bhikkhu were leaders among the asuras.

Although they lived in the asura realm, they did not appear to be experiencing suffering. Their subtle bodies appeared full and did not display a deformed nature.

The bhikkhu supposes that this may happen in the following manner. However, he does not know with certainty and therefore cannot state that it is definitely so.

There are millionaire businesspeople and tourists who are deeply fond of the sea.

These people engage in much social service, dāna, and similar activities. Through these actions, kusala develops within them.

However, at the moment of death, what arises within these millionaires may not be a memory of the social services they performed or the help they gave to others.

Instead, upādāna towards the ocean may arise.

A fear may arise:

“Oh, I am going to lose the pleasures of the sea.”

A longing for that pleasure may arise.

Furthermore, because some of these millionaires and tourists hold micchā-diṭṭhi and do not believe in merit and demerit, they may not believe that the beneficial results of dāna will be received in a future existence.

Consequently, such wholesome actions do not come to their minds at the time of death.

What comes to mind is their grasping towards the things they did and the things they liked.

For this reason, after death, there is a strong possibility that they will be reborn as asuras in the very ocean they loved.

It is also possible that, in the asura realm, such people may be reborn as majestic asura leaders or regional rulers, possessing the powerful personalities seen by the bhikkhu.

Consider the following example.

There is a fishing-business owner who follows Christianity or Islam. There is no problem with that. It is the freedom of those gentlemen.

A bhikkhu thinks that, for a follower of such a religion, the fishing industry may not be regarded as an occupation that should be rejected. Forgiveness is requested if this is incorrect.

From the perspective of Buddhism, however, the fishing industry is an occupation that should be rejected.

Suppose this fishing-business owner possesses ten trawlers.

Whenever the weather is good, these vessels travel into the deep sea and bring large harvests of fish back to land.

It is this harvest that Buddhist people also consume as food. If it is offered to members of the Saṅgha, they too may consume it.

A single one of the above vessels kills and brings ashore thousands of fish.

How enormous, then, is the mass of fish killed each day by ten vessels?

Throughout their lifetimes, how many fish do such business owners participate in killing?

The business owner comes to the seashore in the morning and becomes happy when he sees and examines the harvest of fish.

As the harvest increases, the happiness, smiles, and expectations of the business owner and the workers also increase.

On some occasions, there may be millions of living young inside the bodies of the dead fish—young that have not yet been born into the world.

These young fish also die.

The amount of akusala accumulated by people engaged in such activities throughout an entire lifetime cannot be expressed in numbers.

Because of such unwholesome kamma, there is a very great tendency for them to be reborn as extremely weak and deformed asuras, or as “rock petas” at the bottom of the ocean.

These rock petas at the bottom of the sea remain associated with a rock, a coral reef, or a marine plant.

These petas arise within rocks, coral reefs, and large beds of marine vegetation.

They make these places their homes and dwellings and live there.

From within these dwellings, they guard and watch over the ocean that they grasped through taṇhā, retaining it under the perception:

“Mine.”

Two or three times a day, these rock petas raise their heads out of the rocks and carefully inspect the surrounding ocean with taṇhā.

They look to see whether anyone has arrived and whether someone else has taken possession of it.

They examine the treasures on the ocean floor, sunken ships, and the resources of fish. Then they become like rocks again.

When human beings descend to the bottom of the sea to obtain or inspect these treasures, these beings torment and frighten them.

These are the beings that people call ghosts.

Because of these circumstances, their hatred, anger, and craving increase further and further.

These beings continue moving from one form of suffering into another.

They fall from the asura realm into the peta realm, and from the peta realm into hell, where they suffer for many aeons.

Now consider yourself.

Should you be a person who has grasped the great ocean for a livelihood or for entertainment, taking it up through taṇhā, or should you be someone who brings the harvest of killing from the great ocean back to land, pay attention to the nature of the asura realm belonging to the four apāyas and to the causes required for paṭisandhi in the asura realm.

Understand that, should you obtain paṭisandhi in the asura realm, you may not be able to rise out of it for many aeons.

Free yourself from unnecessary liking for salty tastes.

Free yourself from taṇhā towards the terrifying great ocean.

Otherwise, just as you wished, you may be able to spend many aeons making the salty taste, the saline water, the fishy smell, the deep and shallow sea, and the treasures found within it your own.

Because of avijjā, you will take as “mine” something that does not belong to you and cannot be maintained under your control.

You will turn into pleasure something that can only become a cause of suffering for you, and you will be compelled to suffer through it.

Every moment in which you delight in the great ocean inevitably clears and prepares the road leading towards the asura realm.

Become free from liking and taṇhā towards the great ocean, and close the road leading to the asura realm.

Free the human life you have obtained from the four apāyas and experience lokuttara happiness.

See the terrifying nature of the great ocean precisely as terrifying.

See the loneliness of the great ocean, the unshaded heat of the sun, its saline quality, and its fishy smell as repulsive.

Do not make these things your own.

Become skilful in seeing the great ocean as an “ocean of Māra,” which gives beings only a harvest of unwholesome kamma and, through that unwholesome kamma, causes them to inherit the suffering of the asura realm.

Free yourself from liking for the great ocean and become free from the asura realm.

Source: https://dahampoth.com/pdfj/view/a2.html

~Based From The Cakkavatti Sutta

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homcide ➡️ Lifespan Decline(80000,40000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Lifespan Decline(40000,20000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️Lifespan Decline(20000,10000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Lifespan Decline(10000, 5000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Harsh Speech ➡️ Worthless Speech ➡️ Lifespan Decline(5000,2500,2000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Harsh Speech ➡️ Worthless Speech ➡️ Covetousness & Malevolence ➡️ Lifespan Decline(2500, 1000)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Harsh Speech ➡️ Worthless Speech ➡️Covetousness & Malevolence ➡️ Wrong View ➡️ Lifespan Decline(1000,500)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️ Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Harsh Speech ➡️ Worthless Speech ➡️ Covetousness & Malevolence ➡️ Wrong View ➡️ Baseless Greed ➡️ Excessive Lust ➡️ Wrong Dhamma ➡️ Lifespan Decline(500, 250, 200)

Poverty ➡️ Theft ➡️ Violence ➡️Homicide ➡️ Lying ➡️ Backbiting ➡️ Sexual Misconduct; Adultery ➡️ Harsh Speech ➡️ Worthless Speech ➡️ Covetousness & Malevolence ➡️ Wrong View ➡️ Baseless Greed ➡️ Excessive Lust ➡️ Wrong Dhamma ➡️ Disrespect For Parents ➡️ Disrespect For Ascetics & Brahmins ➡️ Failure To Honor Elders ➡️ Lifespan Decline(250, 100)

How Does A Society Experience Growth? We must do this in reverse. We must refrain from theft, violence, killing, lying, backbiting, sexual misconduct, harsh speech, empty speech, covetousness & malevolence, wrong view, baseless greed, excessive lust, wrong dhamma, disrespect for parents, disrespect for ascetics & brahmins, dishonor for elders. When we refrain from these unwholesome states, our lifespans and beauty will grow!

If we’re looking to cultivate the four Brahmaviharas, then Mettā is first. And how do we cultivate Mettā? We do so by cultivating non-hatred. As the Dandavagga says..

All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill. All tremble at violence; life is dear to all. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.

Establishing Mettā, Karuna is there. Establishing Karuna, Muditā is there. Establishing Muditā, Upekkha is there.

Sutta Pitaka
Samyutta Nikāya
Volume IV –– Saḷāyatanavaggo
Samyutta 34 –– Saḷāyatana Saṃyutta
Chapter 8 –– Gilāna Vaggo

34. 8. 2.

(75) Gilāna 2 –– An Ailing Monk 2

1. It occurred in Sāvatthi.

2. Then a certain monk approached the Blessed One. Repeat.

3. Sitting on a side that monk said to the Blessed One: “Venerable sir, in the monastery of such and such name there is a certain novice who is gravely ill. He knows very little. Good if the Blessed One would approach him out of compassion.

4. The Blessed One hearing that he is an ailing novice and that he does not know much, approached that monk.

5. That novice seeing the Blessed One approaching in the distance, moved in his bed to get down

6. The Blessed One said to that monk: “Monk, do not get down from the bed, there are seats prepared, I will sit,” and the Blessed One sat on a prepared seat.

7. Sitting the Blessed One said to that monk: “Monk, are you all right, and are you enduring well? Are unpleasant feelings decreasing and not going beyond? Is the decreasing end or the increasing end that is evident?”

“Venerable sir, I am not all right, and not enduring, my unpleasant feelings are increasing not decreasing, it is the increasing end and not the decreasing end that is evident.”

1. “Monk, do you have any doubts or remorse?” “Venerable sir, many are my doubts and I have remorse.”

2. “Do you have any remorse about your virtues?” “No, venerable sir, I have no blames about my virtues.”

3. “Monk, since you have no blames about your virtues, on account of what do you have doubts and remorse?” “Venerable sir, I do not know the essence of the Teaching of the Blessed One about the purity of virtues.”

4. “Monk, you do not know the essence of my Teaching in the purity of virtues. Then what essence do you know of my Teaching?”

“Venerable sir, I know the essence of the Teaching of the Blessed One as non-remaining extinction.”

1. “Excellent! Monk, you know the essence of my Teaching as non-remaining extinction. Monk, it is for non-remaining extinction, that I teach.

2. “Monk, is the eye permanent or impermanent?” “Impermanent venerable sir.”

Monk, is the ear, nose, tongue, and body, permanent or impermanent?” “They are impermanent.”

“Monk, is the mind permanent or impermanent?” “Venerable sir, it is impermanent.”

“Those impermanent things are they unpleasant or pleasant?” “Venerable sir, they are unpleasant.”

“Those impermanent, unpleasant, changing things are they suitable to be considered they are mine, I am there, they are my self?” “That is not so, venerable sir.”

1. “Monks, the learned, noble disciple seeing it thus turns from the eye, ear nose, tongue, body, and the mind. Turning loses interest. Losing interest is released. Released, knowledge arises to him, I am released, birth is destroyed, the holy life is lived to the end, duties are done, I have nothing more to wish.”

2. The Blessed One said thus, that monk delighted in the words of the Blessed One. When this disposition was given the stainless eye of the Teaching, ‘whatever rises, is of the nature of ceasing’ arose to that monk.

Knowledge is like a knife. You hone it until it’s sharp—really sharp. Then you put it away. The knife can cause both benefits and harm. When a person of discernment uses it, it’s sharp. A person of discernment can get lots of benefits from it because it’s sharp. But a person without discernment can use it to destroy the nation, destroy happiness, destroy harmony—all kinds of things. And he can do it easily because the knife is sharp. When knowledge comes to a fool, it’s like putting a weapon in the hands of a bandit or an evil person. He’ll shoot people all over the place, kill all over the place. When knowledge comes to a wise person, the nation and its people get along easily. These days we pin our hopes on knowledge. We worship knowledge. We rarely worship goodness or correctness.

Do we have any mention or building or something about buddhism before Mauryan Dinasty?