The World of Heavenly Beings.

6) The World of Heavenly Beings

In ancient Indian cosmology, heaven referred both to gods possessing supernatural powers and to the realm where they lived. In ancient India, it was believed that those who performed good acts in their present life would be reborn as deities in the heavenly realm.

In Buddhism, the world of heavenly beings, or the life state of heaven, is regarded as a condition of joy experienced when we fulfill our desires through effort. The Daishonin writes, “Joy is [the world] of heaven” (WND-1, 358).

There are all kinds of desires—instinctive desires such as for food and sleep, material desires for things like a new car or house, social desires such as the wish for status and honors, and intellectual and spiritual desires such as the aspiration to know about yet-to-be-discovered worlds or create new works of art. The state of blissful joy one experiences upon fulfilling these various kinds of desires is the world of heavenly beings.

But the joy of the world of heavenly beings is not lasting. It fades and disappears with the passage of time. In that sense, the world of heavenly beings is not the state of genuine happiness that should be our ultimate aim.

2. The Four Noble Worlds

The worlds from hell to heavenly beings discussed above, together referred to as the six paths, are easily influenced by external circumstances.

When one’s desires are fulfilled, one experiences the bliss of the world of heavenly beings, and when one’s external environment is calm and stable, one enjoys the tranquility of the world of human beings. But should those external conditions change, one can quickly tumble into states of intense suffering, such as the worlds of hell and hungry spirits.

In the sense that they are governed by external circumstances, the life states of the six paths are not truly free or autonomous.

The aim of Buddhist practice is to transcend the six paths and develop a self-determined state of happiness that is not controlled by external circumstances. The awakened states of life a person can develop through Buddhist practice are known as the four noble worlds—the worlds of voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, bodhisattvas, and buddhas.

7) & 8) The Worlds of Voice-Hearers and Cause-Awakened Ones

Traditionally, the worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones were life states attained through practicing the so-called Hinayana teachings.

People in these two worlds, which are also known as the life states of learning and realization, are together referred to as the people of the two vehicles.

The world of voice-hearers is the life state attained by those who gain a partial awakening through hearing the Buddha’s teaching.

The world of cause-awakened ones refers to the life state attained by those who gain a partial awakening through their own observations and effort. It is also called the realm of self-awakened ones.

The partial awakening of the people of the two vehicles is an awakening to the impermanence of all phenomena—the reality that all things are constantly changing, coming into and going out of existence. Those in the worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones, by objectively observing themselves and the world around them, perceive the truth that all things arise in response to causes and conditions, change with the passage of time, and eventually cease to exist. And they strive to overcome their attachment to transient things and phenomena.

There are times in our daily lives when we have a strong perception of the impermanence of all things, including ourselves. The Daishonin notes, “The fact that all things in this world are transient is perfectly clear to us. Is this not because the worlds of the two vehicles are present in the human world?” (WND-1, 358). He is saying that the world of human beings also possesses these perceptive worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones.

Those who sought to attain the life states of the two vehicles identified the cause of suffering as attachment to impermanent, transient things and phenomena, and they endeavored to eradicate such attachment and other earthly desires. Because of that, however, they strayed into the mistaken path of seeking to extinguish their own bodies and minds entirely (the teaching of reducing the body to ashes and annihilating consciousness).*³

From the perspective of the enlightenment of the Buddha, the awakening gained by those in the worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones is imperfect and partial. But those in these worlds content themselves with this lesser degree of enlightenment and do not seek the full enlightenment of the Buddha. Though they acknowledge the superior enlightenment of the Buddha, their teacher, they do not think themselves able to attain it and remain at a lower level of enlightenment.

Additionally, those in the worlds of voice-hearers and cause-awakened ones are inclined to self-absorption, seeking only their own enlightenment and making no effort to help others do the same. This self-centeredness is the limitation of these two worlds.

9) The World of Bodhisattvas

The Sanskrit term bodhisattva means a living being (sattva) who strives continuously to attain the enlightenment (bodhi) of a buddha. Although the people of the two vehicles accept the Buddha as their teacher, they do not believe themselves capable of attaining the same life state as the Buddha. In contrast, bodhisattvas not only regard the Buddha as their teacher, but strive to obtain the same enlightened state. In addition, they also try to lead others to enlightenment by communicating and spreading the Buddha’s teachings.

What distinguishes those of the world of bodhisattvas, or the life state of bodhisattva, is their seeking spirit to attain the highest life state of buddhahood and their altruistic efforts to share the benefits they have obtained through Buddhist practice.

The bodhisattva spirit is to empathize with the pain and sorrow of others and work to relieve that suffering and impart joy out of a wish for the happiness of oneself and others.

Whereas the people of the two vehicles, focused solely on their own welfare, content themselves with a lesser awakening, those in the world of bodhisattvas act with a sense of mission for the sake of people and the Law.

The essence of the world of bodhisattvas is compassion. The Sanskrit term for compassion, karuna (Jpn jihi), is sometimes translated as “loving-kindness” or “mercy.” In “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind,” the Daishonin writes: “Even a heartless villain loves his wife and children. He too has a portion of the bodhisattva world within him” (WND-1, 358). Just as even the most heartless villain still cares for his own wife and children, a spirit of compassion for others is inherent in all life. Those in the life state of bodhisattva direct this spirit of compassion to all people and make it the foundation for their lives.

10) The World of Buddhas

The world of buddhas, or the life state of buddhahood, is the supremely noble life state manifested by a buddha.

Buddha means awakened one—one who has awakened to the Mystic Law, the fundamental Law that pervades the entire universe and all life. Specifically, it refers to Shakyamuni, who lived in India. The Buddhist sutras describe various other buddhas such as Amida Buddha, but these are all fictitious beings symbolizing an aspect of the greatness of the enlightened life state of buddhahood.

Nichiren Daishonin is the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law who as an ordinary human being revealed the infinitely respectworthy life state of buddhahood in his own life and established the path by which all people can attain enlightenment.

Buddhahood is an expansive life state overflowing with good fortune and benefit attained through awakening to the fact that the Mystic Law is the foundation of one’s being. Having attained this state of life, a buddha is able to manifest unsurpassed wisdom and compassion, employing them unceasingly to enable all people to attain the same life state of enlightenment that he enjoys.

The life state of buddhahood is originally inherent in our own beings. It is difficult to manifest it, however, in our daily lives, which are filled with unending problems and challenges. For this reason, the Daishonin inscribed the Gohonzon, or object of devotion, as a means for all people to bring forth from within them the life state of buddhahood.

The Gohonzon embodies the enlightened life state of Nichiren Daishonin, the Buddha of the Latter Day of the Law, the essence of which is Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.

When we believe in the Gohonzon and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo for the happiness of ourselves and others, we can tap the life state of buddhahood within us.

In the “The Object of Devotion for Observing the Mind,” the Daishonin identifies the profound connection between the life state of buddhahood and faith in the Mystic Law, saying, “That ordinary people born in the latter age can believe in the Lotus Sutra is due to the fact that the world of buddhahood is present in the human world” (WND-1, 358).

The Lotus Sutra reveals that all people are inherently buddhas; we human beings can believe in that teaching precisely because our lives fundamentally possess the state of buddhahood.

Nichikan*⁴ wrote, “Strong faith in the Lotus Sutra is called the world of buddhahood.”*⁵ “Lotus Sutra” here means the Gohonzon of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo—the Lotus Sutra of the Latter Day of the Law. Therefore, having strong faith to base our lives on the Gohonzon is nothing other than the life state of buddhahood.

This life state of buddhahood attained through faith in the Mystic Law can be described in contemporary terms as a state of absolute happiness that nothing can destroy. Second Soka Gakkai president Josei Toda described it as a state of life in which being alive is itself happiness.

The life state of buddhahood is also often likened to the spirit of a lion king—a state of complete ease and confidence in which, like the lion king, one fears nothing.

Source : https://sokaglobal.org/resources/study-materials/buddhist-study/the-basics-of-nichiren-buddhism-for-the-new-era-of-worldwide-kosen-rufu/chapter-2.html