法苑珠林 70.45

70.45

As explained in the Abhidharma: within the desire realm, taking only the good destinies of humans and devas counts as one; together with taking the first three stages each of the upper two realms, these make seven. The treatise states: Why are the four bad destinies, the fourth dhyāna, and neither-perception-nor-non-perception not established as abodes of consciousness? This is again explained in the treatise as follows: If consciousness delights in abiding in that place, an abode of consciousness is established. Where delighting in abiding is out of the question, none is established. That is to say, because of the oppression of suffering in those four bad destinies, consciousness does not delight in abiding there. In the fourth dhyāna there are the Śuddhāvāsa heavens; because they delight in entering nirvāṇa, consciousness does not delight in abiding there. As for non-percipient sentient beings, because they lack mind, they cannot be spoken of as an abode of consciousness. As for the rest of the fourth dhyāna, it is also indeterminate: some seek the formless, some seek the Śuddhāvāsa, and some seek non-perception, so consciousness also does not delight in abiding there. In the highest state of existence (bhavāgra), because it is obscure and not nimble, consciousness does not delight in abiding there. For such reasons, they are not established. It is also stated that if a state has factors that destroy consciousness, an abode of consciousness is not established. That is to say, in those four bad destinies, painful feeling afflicts and destroys consciousness, which is why they are not established. In the fourth dhyāna, because there is the absorption of non-perception (asaṃjñi-samāpatti) and the Asamjñisattva heaven, which sever and destroy consciousness, they are likewise each not established. In the stage of neither-perception[-nor-non-perception], there is that meditative attainment of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti), which impairs the conscious mind. For this reason, none of these three places is established as an abode of consciousness. The brief differentiation of the seven abodes of consciousness is like this.