佛祖統紀 30.56

30.56

Regarding the first disaster of fire destroying the First Dhyāna: when the disaster is about to arise, the sins of those in the hells are exhausted, and they come to be born among humans; those with fixed karma are reborn into the hells of other directions, until not a single sentient being remains, which is called the destruction of the hells. Animals, hungry ghosts, and asuras are also gradually exhausted. At that time, everyone in the world practices the ten virtues. Inside the human body there are no parasitic worms, just like the Buddha's body, because animals have already been destroyed at this time. Then a person in this southern continent, spontaneously without a teacher, attains the First Dhyāna (the first meditation). Emerging from the dhyāna, he calls out, 'Joy and bliss born of detachment: how blissful! How serene!' Hearing this, the other humans all enter the dhyāna, and at the end of their lives, they are all reborn in the Brahmā world. The eastern and western continents are to be explained analogously. Those of the northern continent have dull faculties and lack thoughts of detachment from desire; when their lives end, they are born into the desire-realm heavens, where dhyāna appears before them and only then can they become detached from desire, until not a single sentient being remains in the human destiny, which is called the destruction of the human destiny. Then, among the six heavens of the desire realm, a devaputra spontaneously attains the First Dhyāna, until they are all reborn in the Brahmā world, which is called the destruction of the desire realm. Then, in the Brahmā world, a devaputra spontaneously attains the Second Dhyāna (the second meditation), and calls out, 'Joy and bliss born of samādhi: how blissful! How serene!' The other devas, hearing this, all enter this dhyāna, and at the end of their lives, they are all reborn in the Ābhāsvara Heaven, until the Brahmā world (the Great Brahmā Heaven) is destroyed. Beginning from the hells and ending at the Brahmā heavens, through nineteen increases and decreases, the world of sentient beings is gradually destroyed completely; only the receptacle world remains vast and empty, until all sentient beings of the three realms and trichiliocosm with shared karma are completely exhausted. Only in the final kalpa of increase and decrease is the receptacle world destroyed. Here, seven solar discs gradually emerge. A great black wind blows the ocean waters into two halves. First, taking one sun, it places it in the belly of Mount Sumeru to traverse the solar path, and grasses and trees wither and fall. Next, taking a second sun, rivers and streams all run dry, and the ocean water gradually dries up by seven hundred yojanas. When the third sun emerges, the Ganges and other rivers completely dry up. When the fourth sun emerges, Lake Anavatapta dries up. When the fifth sun emerges, the waters of the four great oceans dry up completely by seven thousand yojanas all at once. When the sixth sun emerges, fires ignite on the great earth, and there is nothing that is not incinerated. When the seventh sun emerges, Mount Sumeru collapses and the various mountains blaze together. The wind blows the fierce flames upward to burn the celestial palaces, until even the Brahmā heavens are reduced to ash without remainder. The flames of their own realms burn their own palaces; it is not that disasters of other realms can destroy other realms, but because they ignite each other by proximity, it is said that they burn upward. Beginning from the hells and reaching to the Brahmā heavens, within one kalpa of increase and decrease they are gradually destroyed completely, until the entire trichiliocosm is destroyed at once. This is the destruction of the First Dhyāna by the disaster of fire. After the disaster of fire has passed, the world is empty and void, like a dark pit, for the duration of twenty increases and decreases. Then great clouds rain down, the water rises to the heavens, and the wind blowing the water-froth creates the Brahmā palaces; and so on down to the hells, which are established as before (as explained earlier under the kalpa of formation; drawn from the Dīrgha-āgama, Hetu-sūtra, Saṃyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya, Abhidharma-samayapradīpikā, Nyāyānusāra, and Yogācārabhūmi-abhidharma-samuccaya).