时间：10/19/2024 10/20/2024
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：Otto Huang
佛法修行
自以为是创造主的大梵天王
相传世间会发生大规模、毁灭性的火灾、水灾与风灾。
当毁灭性的火灾发生时，光音天以下的众生世界，都会被毁灭(水灾与风灾，更分别往上毁灭至遍净天与果实天)。在毁灭发生前，依存于该世间的众生，都会先离开。
毁灭的顺序是从地狱开始，所以地狱会先轮空。地狱有情的轮空，一方面是由于人间风气的转为善良，人们多行十善，圣贤、天神们也多来人间弘扬修习禅定，所以修成第二禅定往生第二禅天(即光音天)的人们大增，没有人会再堕落地狱。另一方面是因为地狱有情的罪业逐渐受报完毕，也陆续往生人间，在人间修习禅定。
地狱轮空之后，接着是畜生、饿鬼，以及人间以上的诸天界，包括梵天都相继轮空。轮空的情况是：众天界有情在福尽命终之后，来生人间，得人身后修得第二禅以上的定力，然后往生光音天(或以上)的世间。
最后，人间也轮空了，世间出现了第二太阳，然后陆续增加到六个太阳，引起大火焰，光音天以下的世间，就全都被烧毁了。
大火灾过后，经一段漫长的时间，光音天以下的世界再次逐渐形成：首先出现的是梵天世界。有一次，当梵天界形成时，有一位在光音天中福尽命终的有情来生于此，他仍保有光音天有情以意念沟通、以喜为食、身体纯净发光、轻盈飞翔、寿命极长的特性。
这位有情在梵天界经过漫长时间的独住，逐渐感到无聊，而渴望有其它有情也能来生梵天界与他为伴。当他升起这样的渴望时，正好有另一位有情从光音天福尽命终，来生梵天界中，于是，先前的那一位，错以为这是因为他的渴望意念所成，便起了这样的念头：「我是梵天、大梵天、全能者、不败者、一切万物之支配者；世界之自在主、一切之创造主、化生主、一切之主宰者，是已生、未生者之父。」后来陆续生于梵天界的有情，寿命、长相都比不上那第一位，也以为第一位有情是创造主，能支配一切万物，享有较大的权力。
之后，有一位晚生于梵天界的有情，从梵天福尽命终，来生于人间为人，在人间精进禅修而得宿命神通，以此神通力忆念起他过去生在梵天界的情形，于是，开始宣说那一位大梵天王(即第一位生于梵天界的有情)，确实是创造主，一切万物的主宰支配者，是常恒、坚固、常住不变的，我们都是由他所化生的，他是所有已生、未生有情之父。
有一次，佛陀告诉长者坚固说，僧团中曾有一位具有神通力的比丘，心中起了一个疑问，心想：到底大家所说的物质四大元素地、水、火、风会在哪里灭尽呢？于是施展神通到各个天界去问天神，但都得不到答案。
有一天，当他来到梵天界时，梵天界的众神告诉这位比丘说，你应该去问那位大梵天王，他是创造主，可以给你答案。于是这位比丘找到了大梵天王，当众向他请益。然而，大梵天王在众神面前只一再地以「我是大梵天王，没有其它比我更厉害的……我是万物的创造者，众生之父。」来搪塞他。这位比丘对这样的回答当然不满意，再三指出大梵天王答非所问，迫得大梵天王只好拉着这位比丘的右手，到一个没有其它梵天众的角落，悄悄地告诉这位比丘说：
「我也不知道答案啊！但梵天众们都说我是创造者，智慧第一，我不能在他们面前表明我不知道。你实在也够笨了，不去问人间的佛陀，跑来这里问我，你应该好好记住佛陀告诉你的。」
Date: 10/19/2024 10/20/2024
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Otto Huang
Dharma Talk
The Great Brahma King whoThinks He Is the Creator
It is said that the world will experience large-scale, catastrophic fires, floods, and wind disasters.
When a catastrophic fire occurs, the world below the Light Sound Heaven will be destroyed (floods and wind disasters will respectively destroy up to the Pure Abode and the Fruitful Heaven). Before the destruction happens, all beings dependent on that world will leave first.
The order of destruction starts with hell, so hell will be emptied first. The emptiness of hell beings is partly due to the transformation of human behavior towards kindness, with people practicing the ten good deeds, and saints and gods coming to the human world to promote meditation, leading to a significant increase in people who attain the second level of meditation and are reborn in the second heaven (i.e., the Light Sound Heaven).
No one will fall into hell anymore. On the other hand, it is because the karma of hell beings gradually gets exhausted, and they are reborn in the human world, where they practice meditation.
After hell is emptied, it will be followed by the realms of animals, hungry ghosts, and the heavens above the human world, including the Brahma heavens. The situation of emptiness is that the beings in the heavens, after exhausting their merits and lifespan, are reborn in the human world, attain human form, and then develop the meditation power above the second level, and are reborn in the Light Sound Heaven (or above).
Finally, the human world will also be emptied. A second sun will appear in the world, and then gradually increase to six suns, causing a great flame, and the world below the Light Sound Heaven will be completely burned down.
After the great fire disaster, after a long period, the world below the Light Sound Heaven will gradually form again: first, the Brahma world appears. Once, when the Brahma world formed, a being whose merits in the Light Sound Heaven had ended was reborn there. He retained the characteristics of the beings in the Light Sound Heaven, such as communicating with thoughts, feeding on joy, having a pure and glowing body, flying lightly, and having a very long lifespan.
This being lived alone in the Brahma world for a long time and gradually felt bored, desiring other beings to be reborn in the Brahma world to accompany him. When he had this desire, another being who had exhausted his merits in the Light Sound Heaven was reborn in the Brahma world.
The first being mistakenly thought this was due to his desire, and he had this thought: “I am Brahma, the Great Brahma, the Almighty, the Unfailing One, the ruler of all things; the Lord of the World, the Creator of all, the Master of all beings, the Father of all that is born and unborn.”
Later, beings who were born in the Brahma world had shorter lifespans and appearances than the first being and also believed that the first being was the creator, able to dominate all things, and enjoyed greater power.
Afterward, a being born later in the Brahma world, after exhausting his merits, was reborn as a human. In the human world, he diligently practiced meditation and gained the divine power of recollecting past lives.
With this power, he remembered his past life in the Brahma world and began to proclaim that the Great Brahma (the first being born in the Brahma world) was indeed the creator, the ruler of all things, eternal, unchanging, and that we were all created by him, the father of all born and unborn beings.
Once, the Buddha told the elder Firm that there was once a monk with divine powers in the Sangha who had a question in his heart: “Where will the four material elements (earth, water, fire, and wind) cease to exist?” He used his divine powers to ask the gods in the various heavens but could not get an answer.
One day, when he came to the Brahma world, the gods there told him that he should ask the Great Brahma because he is the creator and can give the answer. So this monk found the Great Brahma and asked him in front of the gods.
However, the Great Brahma only kept saying in front of the gods, “I am the Great Brahma, there is none greater than me… I am the creator of all things, the father of all beings.” Of course, the monk was not satisfied with this answer and repeatedly pointed out that the Great Brahma was not answering his question.
Finally, the Great Brahma, unable to deflect him any longer, took the monk by the right hand to a corner where there were no other Brahma beings and quietly told him:
”I don’t know the answer either! But the Brahma beings all say that I am the creator, the wisest, so I can’t show that I don’t know in front of them. You are really foolish to not ask the Buddha in the human world but come here to ask me. You should remember well what the Buddha tells you.”
