To Be Reborn Graceful, Rich, and Influential

Mallika, some women are not prone to anger or often intensely frustrated. Even if she is criticized a lot, she does not lose her temper and become irritated, hostile, and stubborn; she does not display anger, hatred, and bitterness. And she gives things to Ascetics or Brāhmins: food and drink; clothing and vehicles; garlands, scents, and ointments; bedding, dwellings, and lighting.

When she passes away from that state, if she comes back to this world, wherever she is reborn she is beautiful, attractive, and graceful, possessing supreme beauty of complexion; rich, with great wealth and property; and influential.

(Reference: AN 4.197)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares what leads to an improved rebirth.

While our birth does not guarantee Enlightenment or purely determine what will or will not happen in this life, being born in a family with wealth and influence can decrease one’s need to acquire the necessities needed to sustain life.

If you are reading this book, you are fortunate. You have the ability to use electronic devices, purchase a book, and you have the time to devote to learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings. However, there are countless individuals in the world who do not have this opportunity or luxury.

There are many people in the world who are born into families that are in deep poverty lacking the ability to purchase electronic devices, books, or spend time learning to improve their life practice. They are so burdened just to fulfill their daily needs and necessities to sustain life, they could not even aspire to take part in the active learning of The Path to Enlightenment.

So being reborn into a family that is wealthy and influential would provide the opportunity to purchase needed prerequisites just to access these Teachings like electronic devices, books, and have the available time to devote to continued learning.

A being who is learning and practicing these Teachings is able to significantly improve their life through a well developed life practice in this life and should they not attain Enlightenment, their next rebirth will be an improved destination. The Buddha is explaining that in this Teaching, to a certain degree, but explains this more fully in other Teachings that you will have access to in this book series.

Through the elimination of anger, frustration, irritation, hostility, stubbornness, hatred, bitterness and providing offerings to those who are sharing these Teachings into the world, The Buddha explains that should one need to be reborn, this leads to an improved rebirth in the next life.

It is important to understand that the ultimate goal of The Path to Enlightenment is to attain Enlightenment and not be reborn. But, should one fall short of that goal, an improved rebirth will be experienced through improving one’s life practice.

Understanding that the ultimate goal is to attain Enlightenment and not be reborn, you can understand that The Buddha did not use rebirth into a better existence in the next life as a reward for learning and practicing his Teachings. Instead, the benefit of learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings is that the condition of the mind and one’s life will improve right now as wisdom increases and discontentedness decreases. The ultimate goal of The Path to Enlightenment is to eliminate rebirth but in order to accomplish that goal one would need to develop wisdom through a well developed life practice resulting in the decrease and ultimately the elimination of discontentedness.

The Buddha’s Teachings need to be understood in totality rather than looking at them through isolated Teachings. If one were to look at an isolated Teaching such as this and allow conditioning of past experiences to form perceptions, one could form the misperception that The Buddha is attempting to influence one to learn and practice his Teachings to achieve a better rebirth in a future life. But with the wisdom of the ultimate goal of these Teachings being Enlightenment to escape The Cycle of Rebirth, one can come to the conclusion that The Buddha is merely sharing the truth of “what is” rather than attempting to dangle a reward for learning and practicing his Teachings.

The Buddha knew the truth having acquired deep wisdom. He did not attempt to influence people through coercion or other tricky methods. He offered his Teachings to all those who chose to learn, reflect, and practice. Then on their own, they could see the truth for themselves as the condition of the mind and their life gradually improved.

A Buddha’s mind is already experiencing more peacefulness, calmness, serenity, and contentedness with joy than you could ever imagine in the unEnlightened state. They have developed deep loving-kindness and compassion for all beings. They offer their Teachings out of compassion for the world for all those who choose to learn and practice. A Buddha has no desire for any personal benefits for sharing their Teachings. They have transcended any interest in material gain or personal pursuits. Their goal is to share their Teachings for the benefit of others, not for their own selfish desires as they have eliminated all desire and selfishness from the mind dedicating the rest of their life towards supporting, guiding, encouraging, and helping others experience the mental state they have already attained.

Compassion (Pāli: karuṇā) is concern for the misfortunes of others.

A Buddha understands that there is nothing you can do to force or coerce an individual into attaining Enlightenment. Because these Teachings are not based on belief, it is not possible to coerce someone into learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings to discover the truth and acquire wisdom. Each individual needs to accomplish that goal on their own to experience the results.

The goal of these Teachings is to attain Enlightenment, not rebirth. So while this Teaching is shared by The Buddha, it is not to encourage someone to learn and practice these Teachings but instead, to help one understand the unwholesome qualities of mind to eliminate and wholesome qualities of mind to cultivate. And, should one progress on this path but not reach the ultimate goal of Enlightenment, there is still benefit one is experiencing in this life and future lives. Your actions to learn and practice these Teachings is beneficial to you now and in the future. You can observe the condition of the mind and your life gradually improving through making wise decisions in daily life to improve your life practice.

Detailed explanation of The Cycle of Rebirth is available in this same book series found in the book “The Realms of Existence” (Volume 11).