เมื่อกายมนุษย์แตกดับ ดวงบุญอีกดวงหนึ่งที่อยู่ในดวงธรรมของกายละเอียดจะเป็นผู้นำไปเกิด ไปในภพภูมิตามกำลังบุญที่มี ทุกอย่างเป็นระบบอัตโนมัติที่แข่งขันกันตลอดชีวิต ขึ้นอยู่กับว่าธรรมชาติฝ่ายใดควบคุมกายใจเราได้มากกว่ากันWhen the human body dies, another sphere of merit residing within the subtle body's sphere of dhamma becomes the one that leads rebirth, guiding us into whichever realm matches our accumulated merit-power. Everything in samsara operates as an automatic contest throughout life, determined by whichever natural force controls body and mind the most.
Someone brought a topic our founder once taught, asking: once the human body dies, who leads us to our next birth?
When the human body dies, the subtle body still remains — much as we dream while asleep. The subtle human body separates from the coarse human body because the coarse body has died. The sphere of merit within the human body dissolves along with it; the sphere of dhamma that made up the human body dissolves too — form, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness are all destroyed, nothing remaining. But within the sphere of dhamma that constitutes the subtle body, another sphere of merit still remains — and it is that sphere of merit which leads us to our next birth.
The Sphere of Merit Leads Rebirth Into High Families or Heaven According to Its Power
If the merit-power is great, it may lead to rebirth into a high family — great kings, great merchants, great brahmins, or great householders possessing immeasurable wealth and retinue — since the human realm cannot contain merit of such magnitude. It might instead lead to rebirth in the heaven of the Four Great Kings, Tavatimsa, Yama, Tusita, Nimmanarati, or Paranimmitavasavatti, taking on a divine body at the corresponding level.
Everything in Samsara Is an Automatic System, Contested Throughout Life
In samsara, everything operates automatically, with contests occurring at every stage — especially at death, when there is a struggle over which realm one will be drawn into. Whichever natural force — wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral — controlled the human body more throughout the person's life gains the right to seize control and lead body and mind to the next birth, and can also enable that person to perform a significant act, such as a great meritorious deed or a heavy karmic transgression. Even a single great meritorious act performed once in a lifetime gives side an opportunity to seize control and lead one to rebirth. But being able to say or think it doesn't always mean being able to do it, since everything is governed by the proportion of the three natural forces already accumulated from the past.
The Subtle Body That Overlays Us Determines the Quality of Merit Induced
Which realm the sphere of merit leads us to depends on how often, while human, our body, feeling, mind, and dhamma were able to draw in an overlay from a subtle body — such as a divine body or a subtle divine body taking hold and inducing merit. A Brahma body, in particular, can induce even purer merit; even a single such instance carries more power than other bodies and can lead to rebirth in a higher realm first. But even if that Brahma body never meditated or accessed inner light, it can still work through a good, refined state of mind. When a subtle body overlays us, we feel moved by lofty, good, and refined thoughts and feelings arising within us, which tend to lead us to perform several perfections at once — giving, keeping precepts, meditating, humility, dedicating merit, rejoicing in merit, listening to or teaching the dhamma — until we feel deeply moved that we've been able to build every perfection at once.
The Subtler the Body, the Purer and More Sacred the Merit Induced
The more refined and subtle the body overlaying us, the purer and more sacred the stream of merit it induces. This differs from cases where our own subtle human body remains undeveloped, which draws in a smaller share of merit — much like a first-grade student scoring anywhere from 1% to 100%, depending on individual capability. When the mind and s of a subtle body overlay the human body, our behavior and manners naturally become good and refined; conversely, when takes over instead, our behavior and speech turn coarse and harsh.
Inner Voice and Emotion Are the Tools That Drive the Induction of Energy
Mind and mental factors affect our thoughts and emotions, giving rise to an inner voice that dictates the behaviors we form — all of it serving to induce energy from that natural force: demerit induces demerit, the wholesome induces merit. All of this occurs moment by moment within the cycle of dependent origination, which drives every person's life. A human being is like an instrument with the three natural forces as its background, dictating through inner voice and emotion whether we feel driven to do or not do something — all of which are mental factors, such as faith, moral shame and dread, non-greed, non-aversion, and equanimity, tools of the wholesome that keep the mind balanced. Opposing these are greed, aversion, delusion, lust, and — tools of the unwholesome that bring demerit in.