Do Devas Still Come down on Earth to Listen to the Dhamma? (Part II)

Rev. S.Barua (Dīpānanda)

In forty five years of dhamma-propagation the Buddha taught not only to men but also to gods. That is why he is called the teacher of men and god [satta deva manussa ca]. It is also said that in the daily routine of the Buddha divided into five namely forenoon, afternoon, first watch, middle watch, and last watch of night, he used to have a session with the deva-s in the middle watch of night. Moreover, when we look at some of his discourses like Mahā Maņgala sutta, Parābhava sutta and Sakkapañha sutta, we see deva-s came to the Buddha and posed different questions to which he replied.

Immediately after attaining the enlightenment, he went to the Deer Park in Sāranāth. There he delivered his first sermon the Dhammacakkapavattana sutta to his five old colleagues [Koņdañña, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahānāma, and Assaji]. it is said that there were countless deva-s present at that time. When the Buddha was about to enter Mahāparinibbāna, hundreds of thousands of deva-s came to pay their last homage to the Buddha. Furthermore, there are instances found in the Pāli canon where deva-s came to help virtuous human beings. One famous example of this case is Bāhiya Dāruciriya [Source: Udāna Pāli].

Now the question is whether deva-s still come down on earth to listen to the dhamma. The answer is positive. This is not just an explanation but a real story that I have heard from a meditation master who himself personally experienced deva-s coming down on earth to listen to the dharma. In fact, I was one of the participants in the discussion of dhamma at that time when this meditation master said he perceived deva-s coming down from heaven on earth to listen to the dhamma. It is a charming experience in my life. I was just a novice staying in a relatively big monastery where a bhikkhu training center is established together with a meditation centre. There were a number of novices and monks in the temple. The daily life of monks and novices in this temple was that everyday there were morning and evening sessions together with the practice of meditation for a short period of time, going for alms round in near villages, sutta recitation, dhamma discussions, so on and so forth. This meditation master was very serious in his practice of meditation.

One evening, immediately after the evening session he called a group of elder novices [I was included] to recite the dhammacakkapavattana sutta in his room. He would listen to our recitation while he maintained his meditation posture. We went to his room, sat down at one side and started reciting the sutta. He was listening to the sutta with a deep concentration. With his Divine eye, he perceived countless deva-s coming down on earth to listen to the dhamma. Immediately after the recitation was over, he explained his supernormal knowledge to us. He explained their colors, sizes and other attributes. We were amazed at his explanations. He explained whenever someone performs any meritorious action at any place, deva-s also participate in that particular ceremony. So, it is advisable that all the participants should observe mindfulness and should not move around. Otherwise you may obstruct the movements of the invisible creatures like deva-s who come to listen to the dhamma.

There is another incident which I can remember. Once a respected elder monk was preaching dhamma to a devotee who wanted to know the existence of deva. The monk told him he has to follow exactly what the monk instructed. He was instructed to sit in a meditation posture, concentrate his mind, and listen to the preaching with one-pointedness [ekaggatā] of his mind. He followed exactly what the monk instructed. And after the preaching was over, he was asked by the monk whether he saw any deva. He replied yes. He saw thousands of deva-s sitting around him and listening to the dhamma spoken by the monk.

Therefore from the above discussion, we can come to the conclusion that deva-s still come down on earth to listen to the dhamma. We do not know because of our limitation of knowledge and weakness in practice. So, whenever we perform any meritorious activity, we should keep in mind that there are deva-s coming down from heaven on earth to listen to the dhamma. Hence, we should not disturb them by moving around. And also it is mentioned in the Buddhist scripture that virtuous people in their difficult times are always protected and aided by the deva-s. In fact, these deva-s are not some kind of totally different beings. They are our relatives. They are like human beings who desire to help those very close to them. They also want to help people who practise the dhamma. That is how there is a very close relationship that exists between the deva-s and human beings.