諸經要集 1.37

1.37

Question: Ordinary beings, whether monastic or lay, whose bodies dwell in the desire realm—what wholesome karma do they practice to obtain rebirth in Tuṣita Heaven within the same realm? Answer: As the *Sūtra on the Unprecedented* says: 'Lower-grade ten wholesome actions refers to a single thought-moment; middle-grade ten wholesome actions refers to the duration of a meal; upper-grade ten wholesome actions refers to from morning until noon. If during this time one's mind contemplates the ten wholesome actions and halts the ten unwholesome actions, one will also attain rebirth.' Therefore, when a jackal kept the ten wholesome actions in mind and did not eat for seven days, it was born in Tuṣita Heaven. Furthermore, the *Sūtra on the Rebirth Above* says: 'After my nirvāṇa, if the fourfold assembly and the eight classes of beings wish to be born in the fourth heaven, they should, from the first day to the seventh day, fasten their mindfulness upon that heaven, uphold the Buddha's monastic precepts, contemplate the ten wholesome actions, and practice the ten wholesome paths. With this merit, they should dedicate it with the vow to be born before Maitreya Buddha, and following their mindfulness, they will attain rebirth.' (The statement 'seven days' is also stated in terms of the proximate; if even that induces [birth in] that heaven, how much more so an entire lifetime without failing to achieve it!)