181. （一八一）多界经

I have heard thus:

At one time, the Buddha was traveling in the country of Śrāvastī, staying at the Jeta Grove Anāthapiṇḍada-ārāma.

At that time, Venerable Ānanda was alone in a quiet place, sitting in meditation and reflecting. He thought to himself: "All fears arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arise from ignorance, not from wisdom." Then, in the afternoon, Venerable Ānanda rose from his meditation and went to where the Buddha was. He bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, stood to one side, and said: "World-Honored One! I was alone in a quiet place, sitting in meditation and reflecting. I thought to myself: 'All fears arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arise from ignorance, not from wisdom.'"

The World-Honored One said: "So it is, Ānanda! So it is, Ānanda! All fears arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. Ānanda, it is like a fire burning a house or building from a pile of reeds or grass. Ānanda, in the same way, all fears arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. Ānanda, in the past, all fears arose from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arose from ignorance, not from wisdom. Ānanda, in the future, all fears will arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows will arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. Ānanda, in the present, all fears arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. All calamities, disasters, and sorrows arise from ignorance, not from wisdom. Ānanda, this is called ignorance having fears, while wisdom has no fears. Ignorance has calamities, disasters, and sorrows, while wisdom has no calamities, disasters, and sorrows. Ānanda, all fears, calamities, disasters, and sorrows can be obtained from ignorance, not from wisdom."

Then Venerable Ānanda wept with tears streaming down, joined his palms towards the Buddha, and said: "World-Honored One! How is a bhikṣu ignorant and not wise?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu does not know the realms, does not know the abodes, does not know the causes and conditions, and does not know what is possible and what is not possible, Ānanda! Such a bhikṣu is ignorant and not wise."

Venerable Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu is ignorant and not wise. World-Honored One! How is a bhikṣu wise and not ignorant?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu knows the realms, knows the abodes, knows the causes and conditions, and knows what is possible and what is not possible, Ānanda! Such a bhikṣu is wise and not ignorant."

Venerable Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu is wise and not ignorant. World-Honored One! How does a bhikṣu know the realms?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu sees the eighteen realms and knows them as they truly are: the eye realm, form realm, and eye consciousness realm; the ear realm, sound realm, and ear consciousness realm; the nose realm, smell realm, and nose consciousness realm; the tongue realm, taste realm, and tongue consciousness realm; the body realm, tactile object realm, and body consciousness realm; the mind realm, mental object realm, and mind consciousness realm. Ānanda! Seeing these eighteen realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the six realms and knowing them as they truly are: the earth realm, water realm, fire realm, wind realm, space realm, and consciousness realm. Ānanda! Seeing these six realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the six realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of desire, the realm of anger, the realm of harm, the realm without desire, the realm without anger, and the realm without harm. Ānanda! Seeing these six realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the six realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of pleasure, the realm of pain, the realm of joy, the realm of sorrow, the realm of equanimity, and the realm of ignorance. Ānanda! Seeing these six realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the four realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of perception, the realm of conception, the realm of volition, and the realm of consciousness. Ānanda! Seeing these four realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the formless realm. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of form, the formless realm, and the realm of cessation. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are.

"Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the past realm, the future realm, and the present realm. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the excellent realm, the not excellent realm, and the middle realm. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the wholesome realm, the unwholesome realm, and the indeterminate realm. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the three realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm of training, the realm of no-more-training, and the realm of neither training nor no-more-training. Ānanda! Seeing these three realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the two realms and knowing them as they truly are: the realm with taints and the realm without taints. Ānanda! Seeing these two realms and knowing them as they truly are. Furthermore, Ānanda! Seeing the two realms and knowing them as they truly are: the conditioned realm and the unconditioned realm. Ānanda! Seeing these two realms and knowing them as they truly are. Ānanda! Seeing these sixty-two realms and knowing them as they truly are. Ānanda! Such a bhikṣu knows the realms."

Venerable Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu knows the realms. World-Honored One! How does a bhikṣu know the sense bases?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu sees the twelve sense bases and knows them as they truly are: the eye sense base and form sense base, the ear sense base and sound sense base, the nose sense base and smell sense base, the tongue sense base and taste sense base, the body sense base and touch sense base, the mind sense base and mental phenomena sense base. Ānanda! Seeing these twelve sense bases and knowing them as they truly are. Ānanda! Such a bhikṣu knows the sense bases."

Venerable Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu knows the sense bases. How does a bhikṣu know the causes and conditions?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu sees the causes and conditions and knows them as they truly are: because of this, there is that; without this, there is no that; this arises, that arises; this ceases, that ceases. That is to say, conditioned by ignorance, there are volitional formations, up to conditioned by birth, there is old age and death. If ignorance ceases, then volitional formations cease, up to if birth ceases, then old age and death cease. Ānanda! Such a bhikṣu knows the causes and conditions."

Venerable Ānanda said: "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu knows the causes and conditions. How does a bhikṣu know what is possible and what is impossible?"

The World-Honored One replied: "Ānanda! If a bhikṣu sees what is possible as possible and knows it as it truly is, and sees what is impossible as impossible and knows it as it truly is. Ānanda! If there were two wheel-turning kings ruling the world at the same time, it would never be possible. If there is one wheel-turning king ruling the world, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If there were two Tathāgatas in the world, it would never be possible. If there is one Tathāgata in the world, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would intentionally kill his parents, kill an arhat, destroy the community of monks, have evil thoughts towards the Buddha, or draw blood from the Tathāgata, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would intentionally kill his parents, kill an arhat, destroy the community of monks, have evil thoughts towards the Buddha, or draw blood from the Tathāgata, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would intentionally break the precepts, abandon the precepts, and leave the monastic life, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would intentionally break the precepts, abandon the precepts, and leave the monastic life, it is certainly possible. If a person who has seen the truth would abandon this inner [teaching] and seek respect and merit from outside, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would abandon this inner [teaching] and seek respect and merit from outside, it is certainly possible.

Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would say to other śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas: 'Venerables! What can be seen is seen, what can be known is known,' it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would say to other śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas: 'Venerables! What can be seen is seen, what can be known is known,' it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would believe in divination and ask about auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would believe in divination and ask about auspiciousness and inauspiciousness, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would see suffering and trouble in divination and asking about auspiciousness and inauspiciousness in accordance with other śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas, and see it as true, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would see suffering and trouble in divination and asking about auspiciousness and inauspiciousness in accordance with other śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas, and see it as true, it is certainly possible.

Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would experience extreme suffering and heavy suffering, which is unlovable, unenjoyable, unthinkable, and unmindful, and would abandon this inner [teaching] and seek it from outside, and if there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who hold one, two, three, four, or many mantras, up to hundreds of thousands of mantras, to free him from suffering, seeking suffering, the practice of suffering, the course of suffering, and the end of suffering, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person abandons this inner [teaching] and seeks it from outside, and if there are śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas who hold one, two, three, four, or many mantras, up to hundreds of thousands of mantras, to free him from suffering, seeking suffering, the practice of suffering, the course of suffering, and the end of suffering, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If a person who has seen the truth would experience the eight kinds of existence, it would never be possible. If an ordinary person would experience the eight kinds of existence, it is certainly possible.

Ānanda! If one engages in evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and as a result of this, after the body breaks up and life ends, one goes to a good place and is reborn in heaven, it would never be possible. If one engages in evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and as a result of this, after the body breaks up and life ends, one goes to an evil place and is reborn in hell, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one engages in good bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and as a result of this, after the body breaks up and life ends, one goes to an evil place and is reborn in hell, it would never be possible. If one engages in good bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and as a result of this, after the body breaks up and life ends, one goes to a good place and is reborn in heaven, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one engages in evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and experiences a pleasant result, it would never be possible. Ānanda! If one engages in evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and experiences a painful result, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one engages in good bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and experiences a painful result, it would never be possible. If one engages in good bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and experiences a pleasant result, it is certainly possible.

Ānanda! If one does not abandon the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one tries to establish the four foundations of mindfulness, it would never be possible. If one abandons the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one tries to establish the four foundations of mindfulness, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one does not abandon the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is not established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one tries to cultivate the seven factors of awakening, it would never be possible. If one abandons the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one cultivates the seven factors of awakening, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one does not abandon the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is not established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one does not cultivate the seven factors of awakening, and one tries to attain unsurpassed perfect awakening, it would never be possible. If one abandons the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one cultivates the seven factors of awakening, and one attains unsurpassed perfect awakening, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! If one does not abandon the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is not established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one does not cultivate the seven factors of awakening, and one does not attain unsurpassed perfect awakening, and does not reach the end of suffering, it would never be possible. If one abandons the five hindrances, one's mind is defiled and wisdom is weak, and one's mind is established in the four foundations of mindfulness, and one cultivates the seven factors of awakening, and one attains unsurpassed perfect awakening, and reaches the end of suffering, it is certainly possible. Ānanda! Thus a bhikṣu knows what is possible and what is not possible.

Venerable Ānanda said, "World-Honored One! Such a bhikṣu knows what is possible and what is not possible."

Then Venerable Ānanda, with palms joined towards the Buddha, said, "World-Honored One! What is the name of this sūtra? How should we uphold it?"

The World-Honored One said, "Ānanda! You should uphold this as the 'Sūtra on the Many Realms, the Dharma Realms, and the Ambrosia Realms,' the 'Many Drums, the Dharma Drums, and the Ambrosia Drums,' the 'Dharma Mirror,' and the 'Four Chapters.' Therefore, this sūtra is called the 'Sūtra on the Many Realms.'"

The Buddha spoke thus. Venerable Ānanda and the bhikṣus, having heard the Buddha's teachings, rejoiced and upheld them.

The tenth chapter of the Sūtra on the Many Realms is completed.