Commentary on the Pitāputrasamāgama Sūtra: Lecture 92

What are Ordinary Beings?

Ordinary beings are those born at different times, born in different places, and born into different categories, meaning that after death, they are reborn at a different time, in a different location, and into a different kind of existence, receiving different karmic results. "Different times" refers to being reborn after the intermediate state has ended; "different places" may be in the heavens, in hell, in the form realm, or on other celestial bodies—it is uncertain; "different categories" refers to different identities within the six realms—it may be as a human, or a heavenly being, or a ghost, or an animal, or an asura—this too is uncertain.