法苑珠林 2.32

2.32

Question: In the retribution of the six destinies, what karma is created to be born [there]? Answer: According to the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra, karma of the six destinies is nothing other than good and evil, each having three grades: the superior are born in heaven, the middling are born as humans, and the inferior are born in the four evil destinies. If following this principle, then solely by the superior grade of good does one attain birth in heaven; is there no distinction between concentrated and scattered [states of mind]? If following the Sūtra on the Distinctions of Karmic Retribution, it explains in full that the ten virtues lead to birth in the heavenly destiny, fully distinguishing between the concentrated and the scattered throughout the three realms. The sūtra says: Furthermore, there are ten virtues that can cause sentient beings to obtain retribution in the heavens of the desire realm: completely cultivating the supreme ten virtues leads to retribution in the heavens of the desire realm. This is the scattered good karma of the desire realm. Furthermore, there are ten actions that can cause sentient beings to obtain retribution in the heavens of the form realm: cultivating the ten virtues with outflow in correspondence with concentration. This is the concentrated good karma of the form realm. Furthermore, there are four actions that can cause sentient beings to obtain retribution in the heavens of the formless realm: first, transcending all perceptions of form, extinguishing all perceptions of resistance, and entering the concentration of the sphere of infinite space; second, transcending all concentrations of the sphere of infinite space and entering the concentration of the sphere of infinite consciousness; third, transcending all concentrations of the sphere of infinite consciousness and entering the concentration of the sphere of nothingness; fourth, transcending all concentrations of the sphere of nothingness and entering the concentration of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. By these four actions one obtains retribution in the formless realm. If so, why does one not speak of the karma of the ten virtues for this realm? It should be said that because this realm is a formless retribution where form is absent and one is far removed from body and speech, on the basis of the ground one speaks only of the four actions and does not refer to the ten virtues. What has been spoken above are all the Tathāgata's distinctions of karmic retributions, in which cause and effect correspond without discrepancy. If following the Bodhisattva-bhadramukha-śīla-sūtra, a monk's upholding of the two hundred and fifty precepts and a nun's upholding of the three hundred and seventy-eight precepts are also karma for birth in heaven. Therefore, a verse in the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says: