Beliefnet.com (Treeleaf Zen)
We now come to the bodhisattva virtue of miraculous, mystical powers (bala). ["Mystical powers" are, in fact, called abhiñña, not bala. Bala are meditatively useful "strengths."] Mahayana sutras and lore refer to a variety of supernatural powers developed through meditation and Buddhist practice, said to be of aid to the bodhisattva -- such as the ability to:- foretell the future
- see the past lives of beings
- read minds
- radiate light
- cause rain
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy" [Shakespeare]. Taigen Dan Leighton writes [that the] "Buddhist attitude toward such powers has often been ambivalent, particularly in the Zen tradition, which emphasizes attention to ordinary, everyday activity."
This outlook was epitomized in the legendary utterance by the great eighth-century Chinese adept, Layman Pang, that the ultimate supernatural power was chopping wood and carrying water. The ordinary world, just as it is, can be appreciated as an amazing, wondrous event. And experiences that seem supernatural and miraculous may only appear so to the limited portions of our mental and spiritual faculties that we conventionally employ. More>>
