It's Been a Long Time (sutra)

Maurice O'C. Walshe, "Great Discourse on the Lineage" (DN 14); Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly 

The Buddha-to-come (Ragg Burns Imaging)

Thus have I heard. Once the Buddha was staying at Savatthi, in Anathapindika’s Park in Jeta’s Grove, in the Kareri hutment.

   
And among a number of monastics who had gathered together after their meal, after gathering alms, sitting in the Kareri Pavilion, there arose a serious discussion on past lives. They said: "This is how it was in a past life!" "That is how it was!"

   

The Buddha, with his purified divine-ear faculty surpassing that of humans, heard what they were talking about. Getting up from his seat, he went to the Kareri Pavilion, sat down on the prepared seat, and said:
  
"Disciples, what was your conversation as you sat together? What discussion did I interrupt?" and they told him.

Sri Lankan pilgrims in Jeta's Grove, Savatthi, India

  

"Well, disciples, would you like to hear a proper discourse on past lives?"

  

"Venerable sir, it is time for that! Well-Farer, it is time for that! If the Blessed One were to give a proper discourse on past lives, the monastics would listen and remember it!"

   

"Well then, disciples, listen, pay close attention, and I will speak."

   

"Yes, venerable sir" they replied, and the Buddha spoke:

Japan's massive contribution to Bodh Gaya, India (sairamtangirala)

 

The Buddha detailed two dozen previous ones

"Ninety-one aeons ago the Venerable One, the Arhat, the fully enlightened Buddha Vipassi arose in the world. Thirty-one aeons ago, the Buddha Sikhi arose; in the same thirty-first aeon before Buddha Vessabhu arose. And in this present fortunate aeon the Buddhas Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa arose in the world.
   
"And, disciples, in this present fortunate aeon I, too, have now arisen in the world as the Arhat, the fully enlightened [teaching] Buddha.

   

The Buddha Vipassi was born to the warrior [royal or noble] caste, and arose in a warrior family, and the Buddha Sikhi likewise, and the Buddha Vessabhu likewise. The Buddha Kakusandha was born to the Brahmin caste and arose in a Brahmin family; the Buddha Konagamana likewise, and the Buddha Kassapa likewise. And I, disciples, who am now the Arhat and fully-enlightened Buddha, was born to the warrior caste and arose in a warrior family.

  

"The Buddha Vipassi was of the Kondanna clan; the Buddha Sikhi likewise, and the Buddha Vessabhu likewise. The Buddha Kakusandha was of the Kassapa clan, the Buddha Konagamana likewise, and the Buddha Kassapa likewise. I who am now the Arhat and fully-enlightened Buddha, am of the Gotama [Sanskrit, Gautama] clan.

   

"In the time of the Buddha Vipassi the [ordinary human] lifespan was 80,000 years; in the time of the Buddha Sikhi 70,000; in the time of the Buddha Vessabhu 60,000; in the time of the Buddha Kakusandha 40,000; in the time of the Buddha Konagamana 30,000; in the time of the Buddha Kassapa it was 20,000. In my time [~588 BC] the lifespan is short, limited, and quick to pass: It is seldom that anybody lives to be 100."
  
[There will, however, come a time when it is reduced to 10 years then will increase again to many tens of thousands because these things are cyclical and based on karma.]

 

"The Buddha Vipassi gained full enlightenment at the foot of a trumpet flower tree; the Buddha Sikhi under a white mango tree; the Buddha Vessabhu under a Sal tree; the Buddha Kakusandha under an acacia tree; the Buddha Konagamana under a fig tree; the Buddha Kassapa under a Banyan tree; and I became fully enlightened at the foot of an Assattha tree [presumably another name for the pipal Bodhi tree, a kind of fig known technically as Ficus religiosa]....

Thus the Buddha spoke, and the Well-Farer then rose from his seat and went to his lodging.

   

Remembering past lives

Soon after the Buddha had gone, another discussion arose among the monastic disciples:

   

"It is marvelous, friends! It is wonderful, the Tathagata’s great power and ability -- the way he recalls the past buddhas who have gained ultimate nirvana, having cut off the hindrances, cut off the [otherwise endless] road of craving, put an end to the round of becoming, and overcome all suffering!

 

"He recalls their birth, their name, their clan, their lifespan, the disciples, and assemblies connected with them, ‘Being born thus, these Blessed Ones were such and such, such were their names, their clans, their discipline, their Dharma [Doctrine, Teaching], their wisdom, their liberation.’

 

"Well now, friends, how did the Tathagata come by the penetrative-superknowledge through which he remembers? Did some deva [light being] reveal this knowledge to him?" This was the conversation of those disciples.

  

Then the Buddha, rising from the seclusion of the rest period, went to the Kareri Pavilion, sat down on the prepared seat, and said: "Monastics, what was your conversation as you sat together? What discussion did I interrupt?" And they told him.

   

"The Tathagata understands these things by his own penetration of the principles of the Dharma. And [super long lived] devas have told him, too.
  
Buddhas of the past   

Buddha from Above (JFlybring/flickr.com)

"Well, disciples, do you wish to hear still more about past lives?"
  
"Venerable sir, it is time for that! Well-Farer, it is time for that! If the Blessed One were to give a proper discourse on past lives, the monastics would listen and remember it."

   

"Well then, disciples, listen, pay close attention, and I will speak."

   

"Yes, venerable sir" they replied, and the Buddha said:

   

"Disciples, 91 aeons ago the Buddha, the Arhat, the fully enlightened Buddha Vipassi arose in the world. He was born to the warrior caste, and arose in a warrior family. He was of the Kondanna clan. The span of his life was 80,000 years. He gained full enlightenment at the foot of a trumpet flower tree. He had the pair of noble disciples Khanda and Tissa as his chief [male] followers. He had three assemblies of disciples: one of 6,800,000, one of 100,000, and one of 80,000 monastics, all arhats.

   

His chief personal attendant was the monk Asoka. His father was King Bandhuma, his mother Queen Bandhumati. The king's capital was Bandhumati.

   

"And so, disciples, the Bodhisattva [buddha-to-be] Vipassi descended from the Tusita space world, mindful and clearly aware, into his mother's womb. This, disciples, is the rule.
 

The Rules (niyamas)

"It is the rule, disciples, that when a bodhisattva descends from Tusita into his mother’s womb, there appears in this world with its devas maras, and brahmas [deities, killers, creators], its ascetics (shamanas) and Brahmins (brahmanas), princes and people, an immeasurable and splendid light surpassing the glory of the most powerful devas. 

   

"And whatever dark spaces lay beyond the world's end [in interstitial space between world-systems,  perhaps solar systems or galaxies, which are conceived of as bubble-shaped], chaotic, blind and black, such that they are not even reached by the mighty rays of sun and moon, are yet illumined by this immeasurable and splendid light surpassing the glory of the most powerful devas.

   

"And those beings* who have been reborn there recognize each other by this light and know, ‘Other beings, too, have been born here!’ And this ten-thousandfold world system trembles and quakes and convulses. And this immeasurable and splendid light shines forth. That is the rule." TO BE CONTINUED

• *These beings are categorized as hellions (narakas) in one of the worst hell realms of isolation and total desolation rather than the overt pain of the various tormenting hells (niraya) such as Avici. Such rebirth destinations are said to be reserved for the worst of living beings who have exhausted their time in tormented worlds but whose karma (deeds) were so odious as to leave them cast off in the dark and alone for a long time. No hell is actually eternal no matter how long it lasts.