Reply To: Sotapanna information from the Sutta-pitaka

#19667
Lal
Keymaster

From the Acinteyya Sutta (AN 4.77):

There are these four things that are not to be conjectured about, that could make one go mad (become a mental patient). Which four?

“The Buddha-range (i.e., Buddha’s knowledge) is an unconjecturable that is not to be conjectured about.
“The jhana-range of a person in jhana (including kinds of supernormal powers that one can attain).
The precise workings of the results of kamma.
Origins of the world.
These are the four unconjecturables that are not to be conjectured about, that would bring madness and confusion to anyone who tries to find everything about them.”

However, it is good to get SOME IDEA about the wider world of 31 realms. There is no single sutta or a chapter on Abhidhamma that is focused on that.
– What I, and others, have done is to collect bits and pieces of information in many places in the Tipitaka and try to form a crude picture.
– We will never be able to go into fine details. Even if the Buddha wanted to, he would not have been able to provide such a vast amount of information, especially without a printing press that we have today.

Furthermore, he specifically said that he does not want people to get distracted from the main goal: to end future suffering in the rebirth process.

Now, going back to the question of a deva: It appears that a deva could die and be born in the same realm many times, just like humans can be born many times within a given human bhava. The only difference is that a deva will be instantly reborn in another location (in the same realm).