Six Desire Heavens

1) Heaven of the Four Kings, 2) Heaven of the Thirty-three, 3) Suyama Heaven, 4) Heaven of Contentment, 5) Transformation of Bliss Heaven, 6) Heaven of Comfort Gained through the Transformation of Others' Bliss.

In the Heaven of Four Kings and the Trayastrimsha,
Desire is carried out through embracing.
In the Suyama Heaven they hold hands;
In the Tushita they smile;
In the Bliss by Transformation they gaze;
In the Comfort from Others a glance will do.
(SS VII 206, SPV 54)

I. Heaven of the Four Kings

'Ananda, there are many people in the world who do not seek what is eternal and who cannot yet renounce the kindness and love they feel for their wives. But they have no interest in deviant sexual activity and so develop a purity and produce light. When their lives end, they draw near the sun and moon and are among those born in the Heaven of the Four Kings.` (SS VII 198)

'The Heaven of the Four Kings is located halfway up Mount Sumeru. It is the heaven closest to our human realm. The gods in this heaven have a lifespan of five hundred [celestial] years. One day and night in that heaven is equivalent to fifty years in the human realm, and so their lifespan is nine million years if calulated according to our time.' (SS VII 199)

'In the east is a king named He Who Maintains Countries; in the south is a king named Increase and Growth; in the west is king named Many Languages; and in the north is a king named Much Learning, who is also known as Wide Eyes. The gods in this heaven are half a yojana [see entry] tall... Because this heaven is extremely close to us, its inhabitants watch over the affairs of human beings.' (SPV 53)

II. Heaven of the Thirty-three

Those whose sexual love for their wives is slight,but who have not yet obtained the entire flavor of dwelling in purity, transcend the light of sun and moon at the end of their lives and reside at the summit of the human realm. They are among those born in the Trayastrimsa Heaven. (SS VII 199)

'Trayastrimsa is Sanksrit and means "Heaven of the Thirty-three'. The Lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-three resides above our heads. There are eight heavens in the east, eight in the west, eight in the north, and eight in the south, making thirty-two; the thirty-third is located in the center of the others and is at the peak of Mount Sumeru.' (SS VII 201)

'Trayastrimsa, "Heaven of the Thirty-Three", is not thirty-third in a vertical arrangment of heavens. Vertically it occupies the second position among eighteen heavens. Its name is taken from the fact that it is the central one among a group of heavens located on the same plane, with eight heavens on each of its four sides. The lord of the central heaven, the thirty-third, is named Sakra or Indra, and in Buddhism he is a protector of the Buddha's Dharma who does not merit a seat but must stand at all Dharma meetings. In the Shurangama Mantra (see listing) he is referred to in the phrase, "Namo Yin Two La Ye."'

'The lord of this heaven is the one taken by most people as being God Almighty, ruler of heaven and earth. Although he is extremely powerful and attends to divine matters as well as earthly ones, he is not really different from ordinary people, since he still has sexual desires, and eats, drinks, and sleeps. Although he still has desires, they are far lighter than those of humans, who usually become famished after several days without food, exhausted after a few hours without sleep, and frustrated after a short time without sexual activity. Sakra can go for one, two, or even three hundred days without eating and can pass a year or so without sleep or sex. Although his desires are light, he has still not eliminated them.

'The Heaven of the Thirty-Three is eighty thousand yojanas high, and its city, the City of Good View, is made of the seven precious materials and is sixty thousand yojanas high. In the center of that city is Sakra's palace, which is made of the most exquisite and valuable gems. Since he is constantly surrounded by such splendor, Sakra has no desire toleave. In fact, he wants all beings to join him in this world, where the lifespan is a thousand [celestial] years and where one century in the human world is but a day and a night. He extends his hospitality but doesn't know that because of his greed for heavenly delights, even he is doomed.' (SPV 25-26)

In the past 'at the time of Kashyapa Buddha, Sakra was a very ordinary and poor woman who saw a temple in ruins and vowed to restore it. Soliciting friends and relatives, she gradually gathered a group of thirty-two women. She herself was the thirty-third. Each of the thirty-three gave as much support as she could muster and with their collective effort they repaired the ruined temple. When each one died she ascended to the heavens and became ruler of her own heaven. The heaven in which Sakra, the former leader of the women, lives, is called the Trayastrimsa Heaven....

'The thirty-three heavens are merely responses evoked from the karma of those thirty-three persons. If it were not for them, there would be no such heavens. Heaven, you see, is merely a spontaneous manifestation of karma and exists only as such. In fact, the heavens are ephemeral, not permanent places of abode, and they should not be considered one's ultimate goal.' (SPV 26)

III. Suyama Heaven

Those who become temporarily involved when they meet with desire but who forget about it when it is finished, and who, while in the human realm, are active less and quiet more, abide at the end of their lives in light and emptiness where the illumination of the sun and moon does not reach. These beings have their own light, and they are among those born in the Suyama Heaven. (SS VII 201)

'The Suyama, "well-divided time", Heaven is a heaven located so high above Mount Sumeru that the light of the sun and moon cannot reach it. It is light there, however, because the gods all emit light. Because there is no light from the sun or moon, time is measured by the opening and closing of lotus flowers; when the lotuses are open, it is day, and when they are closed, night has arrived. The inhabitants of this heaven are two yojanas tall and live for two thousand [celestial] years. Throughout all these heavens, height and lifespan double in each successive heaven.' (SPV 53-54)

IV. Heaven of Contentment

Those who are quiet all the time, but who are not yet able to resist when stimulated by contact, ascend at the end of their lives to a subtle and ethereal place; they will not be drawn into the lower realms. The destruction of the realms of humans and gods and the obliteration of kalpas by the three disasters will not reach them, for they are among those born in the Tushita Heaven. (SS VII 202)

'The Tushita, or "contentment', Heaven is divided into an inner or an outer court. The outer courtyard is subject to destruction by the three disasters, fire, water, and wind, which occur at the end of kalpas, but the inner courtyard is not.' (SPV 54)

V. Transformation of Bliss Heaven

Those who are devoid of desire, but who will engage in it for the sake of their partner, even though the flavor of doing so is like the flavor of chewing on wax, are born at the end of their lives in a place of transcending transformations. They are among those born in the Heaven of Bliss by Transformation. (SS VII 204)

VI. Heaven of Comfort Gained from Transformation of Others' Bliss

Those who have no kind of worldly thoughts while doing what worldly people do, who are lucid and beyond such activity while involved in it, are capable at the end of their lives of entirely transcending states where transformations may be present and may be lacking. they are among those born in the Heaven of the Comfort from Others' Transformations. (SS VII 205)

'The gods of the Heaven of Comfort Gained through Transformation of Others' Bliss obtain their bliss through transforming it away from other heavens. [Many of] those who live in this heaven are neither genuine spirits nor immortals but heavenly demons.' (SPV 54)

(Source: Epstein, 2003: pp. 178 - 181)

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1) Chinese Mandarin: lyou yu tyan, 2) Sanskrit: , 3) Pali: .

See also: gods, Six Paths of Rebirth.

Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org) References: SS VII 198-207; SPV 25-26, 53-55.
 

(NOTE: Numerous corrections and enhancements have been made under Shastra tradition and "Fair Use" by an Anonymous Buddhist Monk Redactor (Compiler) of this Online Buddhist Encyclopedia Compilation)