The Dharma Mirror - Where Would They be Reincarnated?
Dīrgha Āgama (Long Discourses), Vol. 2
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One! I went to a quiet
place and contemplated silently alone: ‘In this Nada Village, there were twelve
lay Buddhists, including Kakala, who died. Subsequently, fifty more people
died, and then five hundred more people. Where would they be reincarnated?’ May
the Buddha expound on this matter?”
The Buddha replied, “The twelve lay Buddhists, including Kakala, had eliminated the five lower fetters and would thus be reincarnated in heaven after their death, where they would enter nirvana and would not return here. The fifty people who died next had eliminated the three fetters and were thus able to reduce their lust, anger, and ignorance. They had attained the second fruition of sakṛdāgāmin, returning here once and annihilating suffering. The five hundred people who died later had eliminated the three fetters and thus attained the first fruition of srotaāpanna. They will not fall into the evil destinies and will definitely attain the path. They will take rebirths back and forth between the human and heavenly realms seven times, thereafter annihilating suffering.”
The Buddha added, “Ānanda! Death follows a person’s birth, which is the natural phenomenon in this world. Why is this strange? If all come to me whenever a person dies and ask me where would the person be reincarnated, is that not disturbing?”
Ānanda replied: “Indeed, the World-Honoured One, that is truly disturbing.”
The Buddha then told Ānanda, “I will now elucidate on the dhammādāsa (dharma mirror) so that the noble disciples will know the places of their future rebirths. Those who have attained the fruition of a stream-enterer(srotaāpanna) will transcend the three lower destinies of rebirth, transmigrate for no more than seven lifetimes, and terminate all sufferings. In addition, they can expound this dharma to others. Ānanda! The dhammādāsa denotes that the noble disciples will attain indestructible faith; will rejoice to have faith in the Buddha, who is the Tathagata, being without any attachment; and will attain perfect enlightenment, fully endowed with the ten epithets.
The noble disciples will experience the joy of having faith in the Dharma, that which is true and wondrous, that which speaks without restraint, that which is not restricted by time or seasons, that which demonstrates the nirvana path, and that which is followed by the wise ones.
The noble disciples will experience the joy of having faith in the sangha, who cooperate among themselves in a wholesome and harmonious manner, practice pure conduct, are straightforward and without flattery, attain the fruition of the Path to Liberation, have harmony between the upper and lower ranks, and attain full dharma body (dharmakaya).
They will become stream-enterers when they aspire to become stream-enterers. They will become once-returners (sakṛdāgāmin) when they aspire to become once-returners. They will become non-returners (anāgāmin) when they aspire to become non-returners. They will become arhats when they aspire to become arhats.
They are the four pairs and eight categories of śrāvaka practitioners, the Tathagata’s assembly of sages and saints who are extremely respectable, and the world’s field of rewards.
The noble disciples will have faith in the precepts of sages and saints, those who are pure and without defilement, who are sufficient and without taint, who are wise and resolute in all conducts, and who affirm the attainment of samādhi concentration.
Ānanda! This is the dhammādāsa.
It will allow the noble disciples to know the places of their future rebirths,
to attain the fruition of a stream-enterer, to transcend the three lower
destinies of rebirth, to transmigrate for no more than seven lifetimes, and to terminate
all suffering. In addition, they can also expound this dharma to others.”
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