Human Development
Knowledge of passing away and reappearance of beings
Description:
Just as people normally watch with eyes of flesh, he who has developed divine sight watches with the divine, purified and superhuman eye. Such sight includes seeing objects far away, hidden behind walls. Although the moment of passing away or reappearance cannot be seen, with divine sight he sees passing away and reappearing the inferior or superior, the fair or ugly, the happy or unhappy; he understands how this arises depending on the deeds of these beings. He sees how the ill-conducted with wrong views are reborn with an unhappy destiny, perhaps in hell, while those who are well-conducted and have right views have a happy destiny in the heavenly world.Development of divine sight is through making sure that the jhana with the fire, white or (preferably) light kasina as object is in every way susceptible to guidance. Resorting to the access jhana but not arousing absorption, the kasina is extended. Repeating preliminary work constantly extends the kasina light until all is visible. He then proceeds with the visible datum as object, following the process of appearance of absorption until the fourth or fine-material jhana is reached and the conascent knowledge of divine sight and appearance and reappearance of beings arises.
Context:
One of the five kinds of direct or higher knowledge developed in Hinayana Buddhism.<