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四禪天

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: four meditation heavens

Senses:

  • The four meditation heavens in the realm of form. The four spheres one is born into depending upon oneʼs level of meditation practice in the four meditative concentrations 四禪 (or 四靜慮天, catur-dhyāna-bhūmi). This can also be seen as the division of the eighteen brahmalokas into four dhyānas: the disciple attains to one of these heavens according to the meditation he practices. There are various sources which describe these, but one of the most extensive is the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya 倶舍論, where they are discussed in connection with the term 四靜慮; the Zengaku jiten cites the Vimokṣamārga-śāstra; 解脫道論. The four are:
    1. 初禪天. Those who practice the first meditative concentration in the present lifetime are born in the first meditation heaven into one of three different levels according to their proficiency in practice. Those of the lower level are born into heaven of Brahmā followers 梵衆天 (Brahmā-pāriṣadya); those of middling level are born into the heaven of Brahmaʼs ministers 梵輔天 (Brahmā-purohita) and those of the superior level are born into the great Brahmā heaven 大梵天 (Mahābrahma). The inhabitants are without gustatory or olfactory organs, not needing food, but possess the other four of the six organs.
    2. 二禪天. In similar fashion, those who practice the second meditation in the present life are born into three grades of heavens according to their proficiency in practice: the heaven of limited light 少光天 (Parīttâbha); the heaven of limitless light 無量光天 (Apramāṇâbha) and the heaven of ultimate light and purity 極光淨天 (Ābhāsvara). Or for number three, in some texts, the heaven of radiant sound 光音天. This region is said to be equal in size to a small chiliocosm 小千界; its inhabitants have ceased to require the five physical organs, possessing only the organ of mind.
    3. 三禪天. In the third heaven there are again three: the heaven of limited purity 少淨天 (Pārītta-śubha), the heaven of limitless purity 無量淨天 (Apramāṇā-śubha), and the heaven of pervasive purity 遍淨天 (Śubha-kṛtsna). This region is equal in size to a middling chiliocosm 中千界; the inhabitants still have the organ of mind and are receptive of great joy.
    4. 四禪天. The fourth heaven, equal to a great chiliocosm, 大千界, has eight or nine levels, according to the text. The first three of these, the cloudless heaven 無雲天 (Anabhraka); the heaven of blessed birth 福生天 (Puṇyaprasava; also interpreted as the heaven of production of merit), and the heaven of extensive fruition 廣果天 (Bṛhatphala) are attainable by unenlightened sentient beings. The final five are attained only by Buddhist saints who have consummated the undefiled concentration of the fourth level: these are the heaven of no affliction 無煩天 (Avṛha), the heaven of no heat 無熱天 (Atapa), the heaven of skillful manifestation 善現天 (Sudṛśa), the heaven of skillful vision 善見天 (Sudarśana), and the heaven of the most rarefied form 色究竟天 (Akaniṣṭha). In the case of nine levels, the nonconceptual heaven (Asaṃjñika) 無想天 is listed. The inhabitants of this fourth region still have mind.
    The number of the dhyāna heavens differs; the Sarvâstivādins list sixteen, the Sautrāntikas seventeen, and the Sthavirāḥ school eighteen. Eitel points out that the first dhyāna has one world with one moon, one mem, four continents, and six devalokas; the second dhyāna has 1,000 times the worlds of the first; the third has 1,000 times the worlds of the second; the fourth dhyāna has 1,000 times those of the third. Within a kalpa of destruction 壞劫 the first is destroyed fifty-six times by fire, the second seven by water, the third once by wind, the fourth 'corresponding to a state of absolute indifference' remains 'untouched' by all the other evolutions; when 'fate' (天命) comes to an end then the fourth dhyāna may come to an end too, but not sooner. Some reference works list these under the heading of eighteen heavens 十八天. 〔倶舍論, T 1558.29.41a〕 . [Charles Muller; source(s): Ui, Nakamura, FGD, JEBD]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 413

    Bulgyo sajeon 370a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 441c

    A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 357, 358

    Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 292a/323

    Zengo jiten (Iriya and Koga) 18-P83

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 526a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 1846

    Ding Fubao

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)1740a

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 723-1

    Copyright provisions

    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 1993-09-01

    Updated: 2023-05-29