Буддизм, Анатмавади и Бог (поклонение Тримурти)

     Pāli formula: Anguttara, III, p. 287; V, p. 331-332: Puna ca paraṃ ariyasāvako devatānussatiṃ bhāveti … mayham pi tathārūpā paññā saṃvijjatī ti.
     Transl.: - Furthermore, the holy disciple practices the recollection of the deities, saying: There are the Caturmahārājika, Trāyastriṃśa, Yāma, Tuṣita, Nirmānaratin, Paranirmitavaśavartin gods. There are the Brahmakāyika gods and the higher gods. It is because they were endowed with such faith, such discipline, such generosity and such wisdom that these deities, having left this world, have been reborn there [in their paradise], This same faith, this same discipline, this same learning, this same generosity and this same wisdom is in me as well.

1. Recollection of the gods–by-birth

     In this recollection of the gods (devatānusmṛti), it is a question [of the six classes of gods of kāmadhātu], from the Cāturmahārājakāyikas up to the Paranirmitavaśavartidevas.
     Question. – The disciples (śrāvaka) of the Buddha should recollect the Buddha and the Dharma of the Buddha exclusively; why [still] recollect the gods?
     Aswer. – As a reward for their actions, people receive the happiness of the heavens (svargasukha); this is why the deities [who live there] are recollected.
Furthermore, the Buddha himself gave the reasons for practicing the eight recollections and declared:
     “The noble disciple who recollects the deities should have the following thought: ‘The Cāturmahārājikadevas are born in their paradise as a result of five good qualities (kuśaladharma), namely, faith (śraddhā) in [the retribution] of sin (āpatti) and merit (puṇya), the observance of morality (śīla), hearing the holy Dharma (saddharma), the practice of generosity (tyāga) and the practice of wisdom (prajñā). I too possess these five qualities and I rejoice, for it is said that the deities, as a result of these five qualities, have taken birth in the blessed abodes. I too who possess these qualities could be reborn there if that is what I wanted. But as the happiness of the paradises is transitory, I will not do so.’ And the disciple will reason in the same way [for the other five groups of deities] up to and including the Paranirmitavaśavartindevas.”457
     Question. – In the threefold world (traidhātuka), there are many pure deities [occupying rūpadhātu and ārūpyādhātu]. Why recollect only the gods of the desire realm (kāmadhātu)?
     Answer. – It is in the śrāvaka system that it is a matter of just recollecting [only the deities of kāmadhātu; but in the Māhayāna it is forbidden to recollect the deities of the threefold world.
     The yogin who has not yet attained the Path very often is still attached in mind to the five objects of enjoyment (pañcakāmaguṇa) belonging to the world of men. This is why the Buddha recommends recollecting the deities. If the yogin has been able to cut through lust (rāga), he will be reborn among the gods of the two higher realms [rūpadhātu and ārūpyadhātu]. If he has not been able to cut through lust, he will be reborn among the six classes of gods of the desire realm [kāmadhātu] where the five objects of enjoyment (pañcakāmaguṇa) are excellent (praṇīta), subtle (sūkṣma) and pure (viśuddha).
     The Buddha does not want people to be reborn again and enjoy the five objects of enjoyment; but there are beings who are unable to enter into nirvāṇa, and it is these beings that the Buddha tells to recollect the deities.
     Thus, one day the son of a king (rājaputra) was standing in a high and dangerous place: it was impossible to get him down and he was about to fall to the ground, The king sent someone to spread a thick mattress on the ground so that when the prince fell he would not be killed by being crushed on the ground.

2. Recollection of gods of native purity

     Furthermore, there are four kinds of gods:458 i) metaphorical gods (saṃmatideva), ii) gods by birth (upapattideva), iii) pure gods (viśuddhideva), iv) gods of native purity (upapattiviusuddhideva):
     i) The actual god called T’ien-tseu “Son of a god or Devaputra”, for example, is a metaphorical god.
     ii) [All the deities of the threefold world] from the Cāturmahārājikas up to the neither-discriminting-nor-non-discriminating gods (naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñā deva) are gods by birth (upapattideva).
     iii) All the holy individuals (āryapudgala) born among humans are gods by purity (viśuddhideva).
     iv) All the holy individuals born among the gods of the threefold world (traidhātuka) are gods by native purity (upapattiviṣuddhideva), namely:
     a. The srotaāpanna called kulaṃkula and the sakṛdāgāmin called ekavīcika who, in the paradises, sometimes attain the state of anāgāmin or arhat are the upapattiviśuddhadeva.
     b. In the form realm (rūpadhātu), there are five kinds of anāgāmin who are no longer reborn in this realm [i.e., kāmadhātu] but attain the state of arhat in rūpadhātu.
     c. In the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu), there is a kind of anāgāmin who, being detached from the form realm (rūpadhātu), is reborn in the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu), cultivates the pure path there, becomes arhat and enters into nirvāṇa. [228a]
     Therefore we call recollection of the deities (devatānusmṛti) the fact of recollecting two kinds of deities: i) the deities by birth (upapattideva) and ii) the deities of native purity (upapattiviśuddhadeva).