A lay follower asked: could the teacher kindly explain the terms minor wheel, major wheel, supreme wheel, and Buddha wheel?

The Buddha Wheel: The Stream of Bodies Leading to Nibbana

The teacher explained that our life is bound up with both the "Buddha wheel" and the "kingdom." The Buddha wheel is the entire stream of our bodies and Dhamma that belongs to the wholesome side — from the coarse and refined human body, the coarse and refined divine body, the coarse and refined form-Brahma body, the coarse and refined formless-Brahma body, the coarse and refined Dhamma body at the threshold of attainment, through the path and fruit of stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning, and arahantship — eighteen bodies in brief, or the entire stream of one's elements and Dhamma in full. All of this is directed straight toward the path to nibbana. This is what is called the Buddha wheel — those connected directly along this path toward nibbana.

The Kingdom, and the Three Tiers of Guardian Deva-Kings

The "kingdom" is what supports, watches over, and assists so that the Buddha wheel can proceed smoothly — a caretaker and guardian at every level of body. In each realm of existence there is a guardian deva-king with the seven treasures who watches over and helps beings live happily, and this guardian exists at three tiers. The minor-wheel tier only sustains basic survival — even if born into poverty and hardship, one can still get by, since the minor wheel holds little merit-power but enough to survive. The major-wheel tier is the middle class, with more merit and resources; the major deva-king ensures a home, a place to live without hardship, enough to eat, use, and save — everything a middle-class life should have. The supreme-wheel tier holds the greatest resources, enough to support the major-wheel middle class as its own dependents; the supreme deva-king manages resources and guides people toward undertakings that bring prosperity, drawing capable people in as their "hands and feet," overseeing homes, property, and enterprises entirely.

Our Role as Humans: Merit Comes First

The problem is that unwholesome forces often possess people and push them to overstep into the deva-king's role, making the management harder. In truth, a human being's core role is simply to bring in merit — the deva-king then manages that merit on our behalf. But because the deva-king has no coarse physical body, they must act through us, the owners of the merit and the property. When people want this and that but resources are limited, unwholesomeness stirs up greed, which becomes a problem that makes it harder for the deva-king to manage things. If people, misled by the unwholesome, overstep and neglect their own role, they forget that the human body's true and more important duty is to generate the causes of merit, abiding in wholesome states, so as to draw in the flow of merit for the deva-king to manage. When merit is placed first like this, the deva-king can manage and provide resources far more easily.

An Example: The Durian Orchard the Deva-King Restored

The teacher gave a true story connected to the temple. A wealthy person bought a durian orchard that had a problem — the fruit looked ordinary but the flesh was hard and inedible. The previous owner had struggled with it for years and finally sold it off cheaply. Once the new owner bought it, the deva-king responsible for that property had to set about correcting it — improving the soil and the strains — by clearing away the unwholesome guardian spirits left by the previous owner through the practice that clears impurities, then elevating the wholesome guardian spirits through the giving of merit. Human beings themselves have neither the ability nor the knowledge to do this, but the major- and supreme-wheel deva-kings, who already have guardian spirits as their retinue, are able to make such corrections. As a result, the following year's durian crop was excellent — golden yellow, with flesh of just the right texture — and sold for a good price. This is the work of the deva-king with the seven treasures, who has jewel generals, jewel treasurers, jewel wheels, jewel consorts, jewel elephants, and jewel horses as a retinue overseeing the guardian spirits in every domain.

Therefore, we as human beings should understand that our core duty is to generate wholesome causes and abide in the system of wholesome Dhamma, drawing the stream of merit inward. This makes the Triple Gem within us shine bright, appearing luminous in the center of nibbana. It also results in the deva-king gaining more resources, improving our circumstances in turn. Our main work is simply to bring in merit and abide in wholesomeness — this keeps the unwholesome from overstepping into the human body and interfering with ourselves, with others, or with the deva-king who watches over our resources.