The Mahayana Sutra on the Manifestation of Consciousness (Volume 84)

Original Text: Bhadrapāla, the blessings that arise when great celestial beings manifest within a person require fragrant flowers, the burning of various renowned incenses, fragrant and exquisite food and drink, a clean and pure environment, and ritual implements for offerings—all must be splendid and immaculate. Similarly, when this consciousness (Ālaya-vijñāna) is nourished by blessings, it obtains the noble, peaceful, and joyful fruit.

Explanation: The Buddha said, Bhadrapāla, if a person's physical body is inhabited by certain celestial beings, these deities require the arrangement of fragrant and beautiful flowers, the burning of various precious incenses, the preparation of fragrant and exquisite food and drink, and the surrounding environment must be meticulously clean, with pure ritual implements for worshipping the celestial beings—all must be splendid and immaculate, for celestial beings delight in cleanliness, purity, and beauty. The Ālaya-vijñāna is likewise; nourished by meritorious karma and containing the fruits of wholesome actions, the Ālaya-vijñāna enables the five aggregates body to attain noble, stable, and joyful karmic results.

Celestial beings prefer fragrances, purity, and splendor. Therefore, the person inhabited by them must frequently burn incense for pleasant aromas, consume fragrant and exquisite food and drink, and maintain exceptional cleanliness. Those who, after the death of a celestial being, are reborn among humans almost invariably exhibit obsessive cleanliness—a habit brought from their celestial existence. Their hands may be washed countless times a day, and their living environments are extremely fastidious. In truth, germs cannot be entirely washed away, though they are unaware of this; it is merely habitual washing. Clothes are laundered frequently, surfaces are constantly wiped, and not a speck of dust is tolerated. This is the cleanliness fixation cultivated in the heavens, the habitual preference for purity characteristic of celestial beings.

If a person is reincarnated from pigs or dogs, observe the living conditions of pigs or dogs—their home will likely resemble that. From this, one can discern what type of being this person was in a past life and from which realm they were reborn. Furthermore, one can infer an individual's past life identity from their habits. If their appearance is exceedingly thin with an elongated face, one can roughly determine what kind of being they were previously. At the time of death, observing their appearance and lifelong habits and temperament can also provide a rough indication of the realm into which they will be reborn. If a person remains greedy and stingy into old age, unwilling to relinquish even the smallest thing to others, it is certain they will undoubtedly go to the hungry ghost realm. Most people after death generally go to the ghost realm, because the majority of sentient beings are miserly and greedy, resonating with the beings of the ghost realm, thus becoming ghosts. Most sentient beings in the human realm are also reborn from the three evil realms, as the habits of the majority of sentient beings correspond with those of the three evil realms.