What Is Sectional Birth and Death?

Birth and death by stages means that life is divided into segments, the length of which is uncertain; all bodhisattvas below the eighth ground experience this. One can observe the life spans of animals, ranging from a few hours or minutes in the human realm to thousands or tens of thousands of years; the life spans of beings in the ghost realm; the life spans of beings in the hell realms; the life spans of humans; the life spans of devas in various heavens; the life spans of asuras; and the life spans of bodhisattvas at various levels. Regardless of how long they live, they ultimately must die; they are not immortal. Since life has a finite duration, it is segmented, hence called birth and death by stages.

After birth and death by stages comes birth and death by transformation. Bodhisattvas from the eighth ground up to the stage of equal enlightenment and wonderful enlightenment experience birth and death by transformation. Although their lives can extend indefinitely long, they still face death eventually because the most subtle ignorance has not yet been completely eradicated. Ignorance gives rise to birth, death, and transformation, rendering life unstable. Beings experiencing birth and death by stages possess the heaviest ignorance, hence their suffering in birth, death, and hardship is the most severe. Just as when a person has thoughts, there is breathing, there is a pulse, there is movement of wind, which attracts wind disasters; without thoughts, there is no wind movement, no breathing, no beating of the heart or pulse, and one remains distant from all disasters. When ignorance is completely extinguished, there is no birth or death of any kind. At this point, one becomes a Buddha.