One denarius may signify one Age in heaven, all laborers are rewarded one Age in heaven, no matter how long they worked in the vineyard. Thus, after they have spent their denarius, they may be on their own again to grapple with their past karma. Perhaps if you became a householder yourself instead of being a laborer, you may stay longer in heaven.
Jesus: For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius (one Age or eon in heaven) a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward (manager), 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled (though they may be filled with loving kindness, they are not freed of greed or dissatisfaction) at the householder, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last." (A laborer cannot be rewarded with more than one Age in heaven. If he wants more, he may have to convert himself from laborer to a householder.)
What Jesus said above is echoed by what the Buddha said below:
Puggala Sutta: Persons
"Here, bhikkhus, a certain person abides with his heart imbued with loving-kindness extending over one quarter, the second, the third, the fourth quarter, and so above, below, everywhere, and to all as to himself; he abides with his heart abundant, exalted, measureless in loving-kindness, without hostility or ill-will, extending over the all-encompassing world.
"He finds gratification in that, and looks to it for his well-being; steady and resolute thereon, and if he dies without losing it (Jesus said that he who endures till the end will be saved), he reappears among the gods of a High Divinity's retinue. (Hence the wise person will pay attention to keep loving-kindness always in sight in his mind. The more one resides in loving kindness the easier it is to access it, the stronger it becomes and more difficult to lose.)
"Now the gods of a High Divinity's retinue have a life-span of one aeon (enough time for a being to create a mountain of skeletons transmigrating). An ordinary person [who has not attained the Noble Eightfold Path] stays there for his life-span; but after he has used up the whole life-span enjoyed by those gods, he leaves it all, and [according to what his past deeds may have been] he may go down even to hell, or to an animal womb, or to the ghost realm. But one who has given ear to the Perfect One stays there [in that heaven] for his life-span, and after that he has used up the whole life span enjoyed by those gods, he eventually attains complete extinction of lust, hate and delusion in that same kind of heavenly existence (beings in heaven are not completely but mostly freed of lust, hate and delusion).
ORDINARY & EXTRAORDINARY ANGELS:
The Buddha said that after exhausting his lifespan of an eon (Age) in heaven, the ordinary person imbued with loving kindness may go down even to hell depending on his past sins whereas the noble person who has given ear to the Perfect One and put in practice the Noble Eightfold Path, with the complete extinction of lust, hate and delusion, is not born anywhere anymore.
Ordinary people, even professional Buddhists almost invariably will have only a superficial or cursory or pedantic not complete appreciation of the meaning of what the Buddha taught and the noble eightfold path and hence may not understand why someone who has given ear to the Perfect One has a very different fate compared to the ordinary person after exhausting his lifespan in heaven. If people who do not give much credence to or who do not think much of the Noble Eightfold Path were to match themselves to it, they are likely to find themselves falling quite short of the exhortations therein.
APART FROM LOVING KINDNESS SHARED BY ALL ANGELS, THE NOBLE DISCIPLE OF THE BUDDHA IS IMBUED WITH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT STRESS AND THE ULTIMATE DISSATISFACTORINESS OF ALL EXISTENCE (even in heaven), HE IS IMBUED WITH RENUNCIATION (Loving kind beings do not necessarily renounce their rights), IS FREED FROM ALL ILL WILL (DISLIKE THAT MUST ALWAYS EXIST AS THE COUNTERPART TO LIKE, IS A FORM OF ILL WILL), IS SKILFULL IN MINDFULNESS AND THE ATTAINMENT OF ALL THE MEDITATIVE STATES (ordinary angels may not be able to stop thinking and attain purity of equanimity) ESSENTIAL TO BECOMING ENLIGHTENED.
The person who has lent ear to the Perfect One is endowed with right mindfulness (attention) and right concentration; the ability to attain the four successive meditative states (the first absorption with discursive thinking, the second absorption where thinking has ceased, the third absorption where he is equanimous and mindful, the fourth absorption with purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain). Even professional Buddhists on earth who meditate cannot have attained these states because they continue to display sinful acting. Hence right concentration is not merely a super refined version of the same concentration that Tiger Wood applies when he drives his golf ball but something beyond the ken or knowledge and experience of ordinary beings here and even in heaven.
The Buddha said there are four determinants that define a being: his virtue (goodness), discernment (ability to differentiate what appears true but is false), his concentration (mastery of his mind, not to be disrupted by external forces and achievement of the four trances) and his selflessness. Just because a being is loving kind, who has stopped wicked acting, who has been born in heaven does not mean he has reached the perfection in discernment, concentration and selflessness (For example there was an incident where the disciples jostled for the right to sit beside Jesus in the throne and laborers who worked longer in the vineyard wanted more reward)
Even the being who is imbued with loving kindness is subject to external stress from the bombardment of stressful acting and niceties by others. If he does not develop concentration or discipline of his mind through meditation (a factor in the noble path) to elevate his consciousness to a serene mindful detachment, he will be stressed to become restless and may then lash out.
Just because a being is imbued with loving kindness does not mean he is able to endure heat, cold, hunger, thirst, the touch of mosquitoes, wind, sun and creeping things, abusive language: he has grown to bear bodily feelings which are painful, severe & deadly. It does not necessarily mean he is purged of all impurities of attachment, aversion and confusion, he is worthy of respect and homage, an unsurpassed field of merit in the world. Only a being who has lent ear to the Buddha will be endowed with these qualities in addition to loving kindness.
Beings in heavens are not homogenous but have different maturities and propensities (perhaps what differentiates them from beings here is their ability to see and accept truth, their absence of evil or malice that afflict all humans because acting is evil and malicious); they are male and female whose beauty far surpasses maidens on earth. There was an incident where a junior angel said she was afraid to approach the Buddha because he was always surrounded by powerful deities. The Buddha alluded to minds with delusion, minds without delusion, excelled and unexcelled minds. Jesus spoke of men who were entrusted according their abilities five, two and one talents and how they were rewarded according to their abilities. Every branch that does bear fruit the Father prunes, that it may bear more fruit, suggesting beings in heaven are not perfect, have their desires and attachment to pleasures. Hence, at the close of the Age, these beings of disparate characteristics may go their own ways depending on their past karma and only those beings who have lent ear to the Perfect One and it to practice are exempt from destinations of woe.
The passage below indicates that beings imbued with loving kindness can still be petty, self centered and jostle for position:
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
JESUS SAID HEAVEN MAY DISAPPEAR SO HEAVEN MAY NOT BE THE BE ALL, END ALL BUT ENLIGHTENMENT MAY OR IS THE FINALITY OF ALL EXISTENCE AS A BEING; GOING TO HEAVEN IS ONLY PART OF THE WAY TO FINAL TAINTLESS PERFECTION AND THE BUDDHA POINTS THE WAY TO TOTAL PERFECTION. THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH ENDOWS THE PERSON WITH MUCH MORE THAN LOVING KINDNESS BUT WISDOM, MASTERY OF HIS MIND AND TOTAL SELFLESSNESS.
TO THOSE DISCERNING, THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATHWAY IS A SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT ON LOVING KINDNESS.
What Jesus says below implies that ordinary beings have differing maturity or capacity to discern the truth and be good. There are one, two and five talent men. The Buddha said there are male and female angels (devas) and Kings who rule them, and there are Brahmas who are even loftier. If you want to stay in heaven longer than one Age, perhaps you may have to develop or mature to become a Brahma.
"For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, * to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time (close of the Age) the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'
Magga-vibhanga Sutta:An Analysis of the Path
The Blessed One said, "I will teach & analyse for you the Noble Eightfold Path."
The Blessed One said, "Now what, monks, is the Noble Eightfold Path? Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration.
"And what, monks, is right view? Knowledge with regard to stress, the origination of stress, the stopping of stress, the way of practice leading to the stopping of stress. (Just because a person is consummate in loving kindness does not mean he is wise regarding the nature of existence and the origin, stopping and the practice leading to the cessation of stress, which the person who lends ear to the Buddha will have)
"And what is right resolve? Being resolved on renunciation, freedom from ill will. (Renunciation is renouncing oneself, one’s rights to pleasures and ill will, which runs a spectrum from dislike, hate and malice. Ordinary people with loving kindness do not necessarily renounce themselves or their desires for pleasures)
"And what is right speech? Abstaining from lying, divisive speech, abusive speech, idle chatter.
"And what, monks, is right action? Abstaining from taking life, stealing, sexual intercourse.
"And what, monks, is right livelihood? A noble disciple, having abandoned dishonest livelihood, keeps his life going with right livelihood.
"And what, monks, is right effort? There is the case where a monk generates desire, activates persistence & exerts his intent for the non-arising of evil, unskillful qualities that have not yet arisen, the abandonment of evil, unskillful qualities that have arisen, the arising of skillful qualities that have not yet arisen, the maintenance, development, & culmination of skillful qualities that have arisen.
"And what, monks, is right mindfulness? (i) There is the case where a monk remains focused on the body putting away greed & distress. (ii) He remains focused on feelings. (iii) He remains focused on the mind -- putting away greed & distress. (iv)He remains focused on mental qualities in & of themselves. (Just because a being is endowed with loving kindness does not mean he is skillful at examining his feelings and mental qualities)
"And what, monks, is right concentration? (i) There is the case where a monk -- quite withdrawn from sensual pleasures, unskillful (mental) qualities -- enters & remains in the first jhana. (ii) With the stilling of directed thought & evaluation, he enters & remains in the second jhana. (iii) With the fading of rapture, he remains in equanimity, mindful & fully aware, and physically sensitive of pleasure. He enters & remains in the third jhana.' (iv)With the abandoning of pleasure & pain he enters & remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity & mindfulness, neither pleasure nor pain. (Just because an ordinary person is imbued with loving kindness does not mean he can stop thinking at will, remain mindfully in equanimity, the purity of equanimity, neither pleasure or pain.)
HENCE, THE NOBLE DISCIPLE WHO LENDS EAR TO WHAT THE BUDDHA TAUGHT HAS WELL DEFINED DISTINCTIONS AS COMPARED TO ORDINARY BEINGS IN HEAVEN.
APART FROM LOVING KINDNESS, THE NOBLE DISCIPLE OF THE BUDDHA IS IMBUED WITH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT STRESS AND THE ULTIMATE DISSATISFACTORINESS OF ALL EXISTENCE, IMBUED WITH RENUNCIATION (Loving kind beings do not necessarily renounce their rights), IS FREED FROM ALL ILL WILL (DISLIKE IS A FORM OF ILL WILL), IS SKILFULL IN MINDFULNESS AND ATTAINMENT OF ALL THE MEDITATIVE STATES ESSENTIAL TO BECOMING ENLIGHTENED.
YOU MAY FOOLISHLY DISPARAGE WITHOUT KNOWING ENLIGHTENMENT, WHICH IS BEYOND CONJECTURE, THE DESIRABILITY OF ENLIGHTENMENT BUT THE BUDDHA SAID ENLIGHTENMENT IS INCOMPARABLE RELEASE FROM SUFFERING BETTER THAN HEAVEN. MEN STUBBORNLY REFUSE TO WAKE UP FROM THEIR NIGHTMARES BUT NO MAN WHO HAS AWOKEN BACK TO SANITY FROM A NIGHTMARE WANTS TO RETURN TO HIS NIGHTMARE, NOTHING WILL INDUCE ME TO REVERT TO THE TORMENTING EXISTENCE BEFORE 1977. NO MAN WHO HAS BEEN ENLIGHTENED HAS RETURNED TO BE UNENLIGHTENED.
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