Doomed to Deprivation in Hell for an Eon

Monks, conquered by three forms of false Teachings — his mind overwhelmed — Devadatta (cousin/brother-in-law to Gotama Buddha) is incurably doomed to deprivation, to hell, for an eon.

Which three?

Conquered by unwholesome desires — his mind over‑whelmed — Devadatta is incurably doomed to deprivation, to hell, for the duration of an eon.

Conquered by friendship with unwholesome people — his mind overwhelmed — Devadatta is incurably doomed to deprivation, to hell, for the duration of an eon.

And, there being something further to be done, he nevertheless stopped halfway with a lower degree of distinctive attainment.

Conquered by these three forms of false Teachings — his mind overwhelmed — Devadatta is incurably doomed to deprivation, to hell, for an eon.

(Reference: ITI 89)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares how his brother-in-law Devadatta is incurably doomed to the realm of hell.

Devadatta is said to have been The Buddha’s brother-in-law who was envious and jealous of all that The Buddha had accomplished. Devadatta was ordained but actively conspired to eliminate The Buddha and take over his community of Students.

It is said that Devadatta attempted to kill The Buddha and engaged in other corrupt practices to overthrow The Buddha as the primary Teacher of The Community.

Devadatta attempted to convince The Buddha to leave him as responsible of The Community upon The Buddha’s death, but none of his efforts to kill The Buddha or take over The Community were successful.

The Buddha is explaining that his brother-in-law is overwhelmed by false Teachings which will doom him to hell due to his delusion and confusion that motivated unwholesome deeds.

These same Teachings are not just applicable to Devadatta but all beings, as what The Buddha is teaching is based on The Natural Law of Kamma applicable to all beings.

(1) Unwholesome cravings/desires, (2) association with unwholesome people, and (3) becoming complacent to stop learning, reflecting, and practicing the true Teachings that lead to Enlightenment having a low degree of attainment are the three forms of false teachings that The Buddha guides his Students to understand will lead to the realm of hell.

A being whose mind is “overwhelmed” with false teachings is going to be unable to progress towards the attainment of Enlightenment, therefore, will likely experience an unfavorable rebirth as described in this Teaching.

The Buddha explains the rebirth he predicts for Devadatta in hell will last an eon.

An eon is an incalculable length of time. An eon is so significant and lengthy that it is immeasurable.

It is important to note that while The Buddha is providing this guidance and other Teachings related to rebirth in the realm of hell and the lower realms, he states in other Teachings that he himself experienced rebirth in all of these realms in past lives.

So while a being may be reborn into the lower realms and those rebirths are miserable for immeasurable lengths of time, it is possible for a being to move beyond those existences into a progressively improved rebirth.

Even The Buddha himself, at one time, experienced existences in all of these various realms but yet evolved over countless lifetimes to eventually become a Buddha.

Not that you will become a Buddha but this can help to illustrate how rebirth in the lower realms is not permanent but, now that you are in the human realm if one can avoid future rebirths in the lower realms, that would be ideal.

The way to accomplish that goal is through learning, reflecting, and practicing these Teachings with guidance from a Teacher to experience an improved condition of mind and life in this very life to completely escape The Cycle of Rebirth.