Different Levels Of Life

Besides the classification into kinds of Meritorious Thought pertaining to the Sensuous Sphere or to the Fine Material Sphere or to the Non-material Sphere, there is a further classification of different modes of Meritorious Thought which cause rebirth in different levels in any plane of existence in the three spheres,viz., the Sensuous Sphere, the Fine Material Sphere or the Non-material Sphere. This Meritorious Thought has the short technical name of "Meritorious Thought Pertaining to the Three Spheres of Existence" (tebhumaka)

This Meritorious Thought is classified into three modes, namely Inferior class Meritorious Thought, Medium class Meritorious Thought and Superior class Meritorious Thought. This can be paraphrased into "Meritorious Thought Which has inferior results or medium results or superior results such as being born into a low level or a medium level or a superior level of life in a future existence."

The reason why there are these three different classes of results of a meritorious act, which on the surface is the same meritorious act, is to be found in the quality (i.e., strength or weakness) of the four dominant mental factors which accompany the meritorious thought. The four are:

1. desire which is the dominant element of the meritorious thought during the performance of a meritorious act;
2. effort which is the dominant element of the meritorious thought during the performance of a meritorious act;
3. thought which is the dominant element of the meritorious thought during the performance of a meritorious act; and
4. investigative knowledge which is the dominant element of the meritorious thought during the performance of a meritorious act.

Thus, in the case of a meritorious thought pertaining to the Sensuous Sphere, or the Fine Material Sphere, or the Non-material Sphere, if the dominant element involved in the exercise of that thought, whether it is desire or effort or thought or investigative knowledge, is inferior, or medium, or superior in terms of strength or weakness, the meritorious thought is of an inferior kind or of a medium kind or of a superior kind, having different effects.

This means that even if a meritorious thought leads to rebirth in the human plane, the person reborn may be born into low or inferior circumstances or level of life, or into moderate circumstances or into superior circumstances of life. The same holds true of meritorious thought pertaining to the Fine Material Sphere or to the Non-material Sphere. One may become a deva or a Brahma with an inferior status or a moderate status or a high status.