The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha - Bhikkhu Nanamoli [459]
17. “Again, a bhikkhu possesses faith…and wisdom. He hears that the Brahmā of Ten Thousand is long-lived, beautiful, and enjoys great happiness. Now the Brahmā of Ten Thousand abides resolved on pervading [102] a world-system of ten thousand worlds, and he abides resolved on pervading the beings that have reappeared there. Just as a fine beryl gem of purest water, eight-faceted, well cut, lying on red brocade, glows, radiates, and shines, so the Brahmā of Ten Thousand abides resolved on pervading a world-system of ten thousand worlds, and he abides resolved on pervading the beings that have reappeared there. The bhikkhu thinks: ‘Oh, that on the dissolution of the body, after death, I might reappear in the company of the Brahmā of Ten Thousand!’ He fixes his mind on that…This, bhikkhus, is the path, the way that leads to reappearance there.
18. “Again, a bhikkhu possesses faith…and wisdom. He hears that the Brahmā of a Hundred Thousand is long-lived, beautiful, and enjoys great happiness. Now the Brahmā of a Hundred Thousand abides resolved on pervading a world-system of a hundred thousand worlds, and he abides resolved on pervading the beings that have reappeared there. Just as an ornament of finest gold, very skilfully wrought in the furnace by a clever goldsmith, lying on red brocade, glows, radiates, and shines, so the Brahmā of a Hundred Thousand abides resolved on pervading a world-system of a hundred thousand worlds, and he abides resolved on pervading the beings that have reappeared there. The bhikkhu thinks: ‘Oh, that on the dissolution of the body, after death, I might reappear in the company of the Brahm̄ of a Hundred Thousand!’ He fixes his mind on that…This, bhikkhus, is the path, the way that leads to reappearance there.
19–32. “Again, a bhikkhu possesses faith…and wisdom. He hears that the gods of Radiance 1135 ...the gods of Limited Radiance…the gods of Immeasurable Radiance...the gods of Streaming Radiance…the gods of Glory…the gods of Limited Glory…the gods of Immeasurable Glory…the gods of Refulgent Glory…[103]…the gods of Great Fruit…the Aviha gods…the Atappa gods...the Sudassa gods...the Sudassī gods...the Akaniṭṭha gods are long-lived, beautiful, and enjoy great happiness. He thinks: ‘Oh, that on the dissolution of the body, after death, I might reappear in the company of the Akaniṭṭha gods!’ He fixes his mind on that…This, bhikkhus, is the path, the way that leads to reappearance there.
33–36. “Again, a bhikkhu possesses faith…and wisdom. He hears that the gods of the base of infinite space…the gods of the base of infinite consciousness…the gods of the base of nothingness…the gods of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception are long-lived, long-enduring, and enjoy great happiness. He thinks: ‘Oh, that on the dissolution of the body, after death, I might reappear in the company of the gods of the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception!’ He fixes his mind on that, resolves on it, develops it. These aspirations and this abiding of his, thus developed and cultivated, lead to his reappearance there. This, bhikkhus, is the path, the way that leads to reappearance there.
37. “Again, a bhikkhu possesses faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and wisdom. He thinks: ‘Oh, that by realising for myself with direct knowledge, I might here and now enter upon and abide in the deliverance of mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction of the taints!’ And by realising for