Gad wrote: “..many Buddhists hold the belief that ariyas are never reborn in the arupa loka.”
- Here is how an Ariya can be reborn in an arupa realm: An Ariya who cultivated the four jhanas and enters the first arupa samapatti while in the human realm. If he/she dies without making further progress, they will be reborn in the ākāsānañcāyatana arupa realm. They attain Arahanthood from there. Since they are Ariyas, there is no need to listen/read Dhamma, i.e., no requirement of having sight and hearing. The same is true for those who die with higher three arupa attainments but without Arahanhood.
- The “Jhāna Sutta (AN 9.36)” (especially @markers 1.5 through 1.9) applies to cases like the above and NOT to those without Ariya jhana.
- As we discussed, the subject of jhana is complicated and is fully discernible only to a Buddha: “Acinteyya Sutta (AN 4.77)“; “Jhāyissa, bhikkhave, jhānavisayo acinteyyo, na cintetabbo;”
- However, since I have spent a lot of time researching these issues, I need to write a couple more posts to complete the series.
Yes, y not. Sometimes, it is not easy to write a comment that fully communicates what is in one’s mind. I run into this issue all the time.
