Likable
The householder Anāthapiṇḍika visits the Buddha, who tells him that five likable things are hard to get in the world: long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and heaven. None of them, the Buddha says, is obtained by supplication or wishing; if they were, who would lack them? Instead of praying, hoping, or pining for each one, a noble disciple should practice the way that leads to it. The closing verse says that for someone who wants such things, sensible people praise diligence in making merit, since diligence secures benefit both in this life and in lives to come.
A note on this text. Heaven is listed as one of the five things, and the results are described as coming ‘as a god or a human being’.
The full text
Numbered Discourses 5.43 · 5. With King Muṇḍa · Likable · translated by Bhikkhu Sujato · public domain (CC0) · about 2 min · on SuttaCentral
Then the householder Anāthapiṇḍika went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to him:
“Householder, these five things, which are likable, desirable, and agreeable are hard to get in the world. What five? Long life, beauty, happiness, fame, and heaven. These are the five things, which are likable, desirable, and agreeable, but hard to get in the world.
Explained: Not got by wishing
And I say that these five things are not got by supplication or wishing for them. If they were, who would lack them?
A noble disciple who wants to live long ought not pray for it, or hope for it, or pine for it. Instead, they should practice the way that leads to long life. For by practicing that way they gain long life as a god or a human being.
A noble disciple who wants to be beautiful ought not pray for it, or hope for it, or pine for it. Instead, they should practice the way that leads to beauty. For by practicing that way they gain beauty as a god or a human being.
A noble disciple who wants to be happy ought not pray for it, or hope for it, or pine for it. Instead, they should practice the way that leads to happiness. For by practicing that way they gain happiness as a god or a human being.
A noble disciple who wants to be famous ought not pray for it, or hope for it, or pine for it. Instead, they should practice the way that leads to fame. For by practicing that way they gain fame as a god or a human being.
A noble disciple who wants to go to heaven ought not pray for it, or hope for it, or pine for it. Instead, they should practice the way that leads to heaven. For by practicing that way they gain heaven, they are one who gains the heavens.
For one who desires lofty delightsagain and again—long life, beauty, fame and reputation,heaven, and an eminent family—
the astute praise diligencein making merit.Being diligent, an astute personsecures both benefits:
the benefit in this life,and in lives to come.An attentive one, comprehending the meaning,is said to be astute.”