Why is it said that heaven and man are in decline?

The Five Declines of Heaven and Human Beings

I often talk about the Five Declines of Heaven and Human Beings during my lectures, etc. Many Buddhist friends wrote to me and said: "Master, can you talk about it in the vernacular Buddhist teachings?" First, what are the five disadvantages of heavenly beings? "Today I will tell you about the five disadvantages of heavenly beings.

In fact, among the six realms, people in the heavenly realm are just like us. Various visions will appear when the lifespan of heavenly beings is about to end - there are different scenes, such as the five declines, the great There are two types: five decline and small five decline. The five decays, first of all, are a person's filth, dirty clothes, filth means dirt, filth means dirty, dirty clothes. Because in heaven, everyone’s clothes are very beautiful, and their wonderful clothes are smooth, very bright, and very bright. But when the blessings of gods and humans are exhausted, the clothes begin to become filthy, dirty, dirty, and polluted.

The flowers on the head are withered. Heavenly beings all have "flowers" on their heads, and their "flowers" are equivalent to the jade and jewelry on our human heads. Whatever the heavenly being wants, as soon as he thinks about it, all kinds of "flowers" will appear on his head. Just like when many girls become gods, they look in the mirror and think, "I'd better get a sapphire here." A sapphire is right there; "I'd better get a hair knot here," a beautiful hair knot. Just go up, like the emeralds and jade of the crown, these very fine things. When the heavenly beings are about to leave and enjoy all the heavenly blessings, the crown of flowers on their heads will naturally wither and slowly wither.

The third is armpit sweat. Because the heavenly beings in heaven are usually very clean, have delicately scented bodies, and are very clean, they will never stink. For example, if you are in a very clean place, a place without pollution, you should never shine your leather shoes, and there will be no dust on your body. This is how it is in the sky. But by the time the armpits are sweating, the heavenly blessings have basically been exhausted, and this heavenly being is about to end his life and die.

The fourth type is body odor. The bodies of heavenly beings are different. The bodies of heavenly beings in heaven are extremely fragrant. The feeling is very natural. Moreover, this fragrance is definitely not like the fragrance in the human world. It is a natural floral fragrance. Many people say that they often smell the fragrance of flowers, which is very good. When a person's life and blessings come to an end, his body suddenly begins to smell bad. That’s why we need to wash our bodies clean when we worship Buddha. It is because we need to be very clean like the gods in heaven. After you take a bath, do you feel very relaxed? That's the truth. When a person is smelly, he feels that his body is very heavy, so he must be clean.

Fifth, I am unhappy with myself. Originally, heavenly beings were happiest in heaven, very happy. They were happy sitting down and standing up happily. But when their blessings came to an end and their lives expired, they could not even sit in their own seats and began to shake. They felt that the place was broken. , that place is broken. Master once told everyone that Bodhisattva has a lotus seat in the sky. What seat is the heavenly being? It is a very beautiful seat. This seat is a bit like a combination of flowers and incense carvings. I usually sit there happily and happily.

When these five signs of decline—the signs of decay—appear, heavenly beings will die. The gods and humans in the heaven of desires and the realm of color will suffer from the five declines. Master once told you that there is a kind of heavenly being who is really powerful. If you can ascend to the formless realm, then you will basically have no matter. This heaven basically has no consciousness, so He will not be in a state of degeneration. If we could be in the highest realm of heaven - the colorless realm, these five declines would be gone, and heavenly beings would not die. And I have told you before that the colorless world is very close to the six realms beyond. Many Bodhisattvas often go to the colorless world to save people. They stop there and then run down.

I just talked about the Big Five Decays, and then I will talk about the Small Five Decays.

First, the music cannot be heard, that is, a lot of music in the sky will always be continuous. Just like when we go to a shopping center to buy things, or a high-end store or hotel, it will Music was playing softly. When a deity is about to die, he can no longer hear this kind of music, there is no sound.

Second, the body light suddenly disappears. It’s just that the light in the body is gone. Look, when an old man is leaving, his face is dark, his head is dark, and his body is very gray. Therefore, if a person is shining with golden light, is full of energy and energy while promoting Dharma and chanting sutras, this person will not decline.

Third, they are bathed in water. The skin of gods is very fragrant and fragrant. They are like lotus flowers and cannot be touched by water. For example, when you water a flower, the flower does not accept the water and slowly drains away on it. The water does not join the flower as soon as it goes off. This is what we call a lotus, a good flower. But when the devastation of heavenly beings appears, the water from the shower (the heavenly beings do not need to take a bath) - those heavenly waters will stick to the body, stop, and will not dry out.

Fourth, it is called reluctance to let go of the state. As long as you are greedy for the state, your heart will stop there and you will be reluctant to let it go. Everyone knows that the scenery in the sky is very special. The same is true for us people. Before a person dies, he will look at every brick and room in his home. Many people will be nostalgic and say: "You asked me to go and see my old elementary school, and then go and see where I used to go." "The place where I have passed." At that time, he will be nostalgic. When this decline came, he slowly began to hold on to it and was reluctant to let it go.

The fifth is to count the number of seconds. As we all know, the heavenly beings in the sky have unobstructed celestial eyes and can see anything very far. Their eyes are very good and they can see the universe. They can see very far in the sky. People call them "clairvoyance", and that's it. But when the decayed phase appears, its eyesight can only see a short time, and it is no longer possible to see the whole world.

When the five minor signs of decline appear, you basically know that the major decline is about to begin. But the small signs of decline can remind you: you should pay attention, your blessings and destiny will be exhausted. If you can meet the Bodhisattva at this time and water your soul with your own good roots again, you can still have a turn and avoid entering the five signs of decline. These introductions are all in the Agama Sutra.

Buddhism has long said that people have five phenomena of decline, and Buddhists have long recognized these. In fact, we people also need to understand that when a person is very dirty, when a person cannot even take a shower, when a person cannot speak, when a person’s eyes look dull to others, when a person has no time to sleep, crawl When you can't get up, when you can't wake up from sleep, when you can't eat, or when you can't sleep, this is the beginning of the five declines of a person. In fact, they are all the same.

When a person is often obsessed with what I just said, sleeping constantly and unable to wake up, unable to sleep, unable to eat, feeling boring and powerless in doing anything... In fact, the phenomenon of life is The sign of decline has begun to appear, that is, the sign of decline. There are still many people who, before they die, because they want to be reborn as animals, their actions and things have begun to look like animals. Before many people die, they cannot speak clearly. In fact, they are barking like an animal, and they are hunched over like an animal. You see, people should hold their heads high and their chests high. The head is their head, and they should hold their heads high, but no animal has its head held high. Therefore, if a person cannot raise his head, it means that he has done something bad; if a person can raise his head and do it with head held high, this person is still living well. So if you look at it, if a person has a hunched back, can’t see clearly, can’t hold his head up high, and walks unsteadily, I’m sorry, he may soon fall into the beastly path and become a beast, and his appearance will be different. came out. Some people cannot speak clearly. How many days do you think this person can live?

In the past, there was a story about Emperor Shakti in the scriptures. When he was dying in heaven in one life, he knew that he was going to fall into the human world, and after conception, he would become a donkey supported by other people's families, so he The five major signs of decline gradually appeared in his body. At that time, he was very worried. Fortunately, he remembered in time that the Buddha was the only one in the three realms who could relieve people's suffering. He desperately prayed for Buddha and Dharma in the heaven. When he was wholeheartedly converting to Buddhism, he found that he was already in the belly of the donkey in an instant. Fortunately, for some reason, the donkey suddenly broke free from the rope and ran around, destroying the work of the potter (the person who made ceramics). The owner was so angry that he beat the donkey severely, injuring the baby in the belly. Fetus, miscarriage. As a result, Emperor Sakyamuni escaped the disaster, and he was grateful to the Buddha for his power. Sakyamuni not only realized the meaning of impermanence, but also pursued the path of liberation more diligently and became the protector of Buddhism. Therefore, there is a king in heaven named Sakyamuni.

Why are there not many people studying Buddhism in heaven? Because I am so happy. Therefore, it is not a good thing for us to be too blessed in this world. Only those who often endure hardship can have the spirit of advancement. When you reach heaven, you will still have to come down after enjoying all the blessings in heaven. Why do we say humanity is the best? Because people are suffering, they will cultivate in one lifetime. Only when they put down their pain can they become enlightened.

Therefore, being a heavenly being is not so easy. Being a human being must also understand these principles. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Heavenly beings should also practice regularly, and don’t wait until you see all the blessings from heaven before practicing. Just like people, some people have money, eat, drink and have fun, but never know how to cultivate their minds. They wait until their health is not good and the five signs of decline appear - their teeth are gone, their hair starts to fall out, and their backs start to hunch. He thought, "Oh, I want to worship the Buddha." Although the Buddha could save him, his soul has already entered the belly of a potter's donkey. This is very dangerous. After a lifetime, there is no way to change the cause and effect.

I hope you will cultivate well. Today I told you these very interesting things in the heaven. In the future, Master will tell you more about things in heaven and earth that you don't know about in the vernacular Buddha Dharma.

Gonglu: Gods and humans also have five declines? We should be diligent in the world