Continued from PART 1: Sex in Heavenly Space Worlds? (1)
First understand that there are MANY "heavens." They are not all the same, and they are not all connected.
So one day the Buddha came back home to his family and friends, his people and familiar surroundings. His cousin/half-brother Nanda (the son of his mother's sister, who had raised him since the age of 7 days, when he was Prince Siddhartha) was getting married, possibly being married off to his sister, known variously as Sundari Nanda and Janapada Kalyani. Prince Siddhartha himself at the age of 16 had been married off to his cousin Bimba Devi (aka Princess Yasodhara). This is how it was among the royal Scythians/Shakyians/Sakas, as much as it may scandalize us. But it may have scandalized the Buddha because he intervened.
The other monks could see he was frustrated and miserable as a monk, so they told the Buddha. And the Buddha called for Nanda to be brought to him. Nanda came, looking miserable, and the Buddha asked him to hold on to his robe. When he took hold of the corner of the Buddha's robe, they flew through the sky over a great field where a forest had burned down. There Nanda noticed a she-monkey with a burnt nose and tail sitting on a stump looking around at the devastation.
- It can be pleasant, pleasurable, joyful, contented, blissful. The first two absorptions or jhanas have a characteristic rapture, joy, or I prefer "bliss" (ecstatic happiness) not based on the body, just a joy bubbling up based on a clear conscience, radical acceptance, universal love of everyone, non-opposition to anything. "It's all good," as Homer Simpson would say. But this is unthinkable to "spiritually" minded people seeking austerities, hardships to overcome, a quest, the climbing of a mountain, and the foolish repetition of a mantra they read the life story of the Buddha. You know that part where he said, "I will not move from this spot until my blood dries up and my bones turn to dust"? Nearly everyone erroneously concludes from this that "the secret" is a strong determination (adhimokkha) that put Siddhartha over the top.
- It's all that clenching of the teeth, sweating, efforting, manly virility (viriya) that was exactly in the way. Tiring of hedonistic pleasures as a prince, he ran in the other direction to the point of exhaustion, to Death's doorstep. Tiring of severe austerities that didn't work, what now? Back to hedonistic princely pleasures like Mara was possessing him to consider? NO.
- The Middle Way avoids both extremes. He ate. He didn't overeat. He slept. He didn't oversleep. He exercised. He didn't overexercise. He meditated (jhayanti). He didn't overmeditate (in the sense of that translated saying Bhikkhu Bodhi renders in a Pali expression), premeditate, undermeditate, and so on.
Sex with incredibly beautiful and alluring nymphs in heaven?
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| Heaven can be like TV's Fantasy Island |
The Buddhist universe (which is a multiverse of bubble-like universes in all directions), in Buddhist cosmology, is divided into three spheres: the Sensual (kama), Fine-Material (rupa), and Immaterial (arupa). The Buddha frequently spoke of 31 distinct "planes of existence." These are not worlds but planes, which means there are countless worlds divided into these planes. They interact. For instance, the human and animal planes intersect as do the realm of ghosts and superior ET worlds. He mentioned other worlds that are not raised to the level of a "plane." Most interesting is the case of the human plane (manussya loka), which is not limited to this earth; there may be countless worlds where humans/humanoids live in the galaxy, world-system, and universe.
We are in the lowest of these, the sensual. It not only holds the human plane, it also includes the many hells, the animal plane, the ghost realm, and others. Surprisingly, there are the sensual heavens, extraordinary physical worlds, better and more beautiful than the world we know. These are in space, though some may also exist in our Hollow Earth (Agartha), which according to Buddhist cosmology is quite different than the way we imagine it. We are only aware of a portion of this plane, with our own sun and moon revolving overhead. There are other worlds separated from us by ice walls only surmountable by vimanas (ancient UFO type craft sometimes available to world monarchs in these worlds).
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| O, Janapada Kalyani, they want us to marry. |
As he was leaving a meal invitation on the day before the wedding, the Buddha handed Nanda his brother his alms bowl. Nanda was glad to accompany him to the door out of respect and reverence for him. But when they came to the door, the Buddha did not take the bowl from him. He continued to walk, and Nanda thought he would carry his bowl to the gate. At the gate, the Buddha did not turn to take the bowl but continued walking all the way back to the monastic encampment in the grove where he was staying. CONTINUED IN PART II
As they were walking out of the gate, Janapada Kalyani was on the verandah of the palace watching this odd scene, Nanda following behind the Buddha with a monk's bowl in his hand. Worried, she called out to Nanda, "Come back to me soon, dear!" Nanda turned to see her ravishing beauty but dared not say anything out of respect for this spiritual master of great renown, his half-brother (same father, mothers who were sisters), with whom he had grown up with to the age of 29.
When the Buddha arrived at his dwelling, turned around and sat down. And there Nanda was standing holding the monk's bowl, which is what one brought along with seeking to gain admission to the monastic order, usually with some cloth for stitching a robe. The Buddha, seeing him said: "Nanda, are you here to become a monk?"
Confounded and unable to explain the misunderstanding, Nanda inexplicably just said "Yes." So the Buddha directed attendant monks, Scythian relatives and childhood friends of Nanda, to ordain him. They did. They were very proud that he had chosen to ordain and seek enlightenment instead of marrying the most beautiful "belle in the land," which is what Janapada Kalyani means
But Ven. Nanda was miserable and tormented by lust. He wanted to marry her, have sexual relations with her, and he wanted to disrobe and get back to the palace, to his riches, his status, and his future. He did not want to be celibate. And the more he tried to meditate as the Buddha had instructed him, the more frustrated he became.
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| I've lost everyone in this fire. |
They then traveled through the air upwards into space to the steps of a heavenly mansion (vimana). It was sparkling white, and many gorgeous, pink-footed nymphs were giggling and wiping the steps, bringing it to a sparkling shine. Nanda had never in his life beheld such beauty, such perfection of complexion and symmetry, such sexiness, newly nubile forms. He stepped toward them and asked what they were up to. They turned and batted their eyes, explaining that they were preparing this special heavenly mansion in expectation of the arrival of its owner, their master, the head of household, King Nanda.
Nanda was filled with awe and explained to them that surely King Nanda was a ruler on Earth. Why did they think this was his mansion? They explained that it was true that he was currently a royal living in a palace on Earth but that due to his karma, he would soon (because time is different on other planes, simultaneously moving at different speeds) be arriving in what might seem like a lot of human time but was in next to no time on this heavenly sensual plane.
Ven. Nanda turned to the Buddha and asked if he had heard what they said. The Buddha nodded and motioned that they had to go. Nanda was reluctant to leave, having just heard the greatest news of his life -- that all this would be his, and these would be his consorts, and he would live here in extreme pleasure as the owner and the ruler.
Noticing his excitement and giddiness, the Buddha asked Nanda if he happened to be interested in these celestial nymphs. Nanda was astonished at the question. Of course, he was interested, more than anything in all the world. The Buddha asked, "But what about Janapada Kalyani, your beautiful fiancée, who not long ago was the love of your life?"
Nanda shook his head and struggled to explain, "These are the most beautiful nymphs I have ever seen. Compared to the least beautiful of them, Janapada Kalyani seems like that she-monkey with the burnt nose and tail they had just seen sitting on a stump down there. She is not 1/16th part as beautiful; she does not even come into the count. The Buddha seemed surprised to hear it, as everyone knew Janapada Kalyani was the undisputed beauty of all the land (the janapada or territory of the Sakas/Scythians).
Then holding on to a corner of the Buddha's robe, they departed that world and descended to the human plane again. When they arrived, they did not stop but continued to descend into the plane of the Earth.
They descended through the ground to a dark and ominous underworld, where Nanda noticed two demon-like monsters tending a fire under a cauldron of heated oil. They were intent on their task and didn't seem to notice either the Buddha or Nanda there. So Ven. Nanda asked them what they were up to. One turned abruptly and rudely asked him what business it was of his, adding that if he had to know, they were preparing a welcome for that bad man Nanda, who would be arriving in no time to their chamber to be tortured and tormented, being boiled in hot oil.
Nanda was terrified but managed to stammer that he had heard that Nanda when leaving the human world was destined to ascend to a heavenly mansion, where nymphs awaited him as their master.
The monster agreed but pointed out that when his meritorious karma was exhausted there, King Nanda would drop into their hands, where they would be waiting for him to make him face the consequences of his unskillful karma, which he had also accrued in addition to the good. Nanda in terror looked toward the Buddha, who motion that it was time to go. Nanda desperately asked if the Buddha had heard what those hideous monsters had said. He had, and they departed, returning to the human world.
When they returned, the Buddha took his seat, and Ven. Nanda turned to return to his quarters to meditate. The Buddha asked him, "Weren't you interested in disrobing, being dissatisfied with the purity of the monastic life, Nanda?" "I'm fine," he said. "I should go practice. But, tell me, venerable sir, if I do, do you promise that when I pass away, I will be reborn among those pink-footed nymphs just like they said, there to be master of that mansion?" The Buddha assured him. So Nanda said, therefore, there was no need to disrobe.
The monks saw a marked change in Ven. Nanda, who was now diligent, determined, withdrawn into seclusion, constantly meditating. They approached him and asked what had changed. He recounted his experience in that sensual heavenly and the Buddha's promise that by applying himself, that would be his reward after passing from the human plane.
Does the body even matter?
The monks were scandalized and began to tease and taunt him. Nanda was confused. Instead of being happy for him, rejoicing to see him behaving with as much monastic dedication as any of them, they had now taken to referring to him not as "venerable" or "Friend Nanda" but as "hireling," bought with the price of nymphs. Ven. Nanda paid them no attention and went into seclusion to practice more diligently. The monks asked him, "What about your beloved fiancée who only recently you were walking around distraught, missing her and wanting to return to the place and the low life of an ordinary worldling?" Ven. Nanda had no need of that now; he had nymphs on his mind, and in the back of his mind, he also remembered what the demonic beings had said would happen after his sojourn in heaven.
The monks being scandalized by Ven. Nanda's newfound determination and efforts, his story of visiting his future destination and being promised his reward, complained to the Buddha, who reminded and admonished them to apply themselves with diligence to work out their own salvation now when circumstances were good, the Teacher was near, and they were young and able-bodied, sufficiently fed and robed, of good health, able to make progress. But they were upset at Ven. Nanda's special deal.
In no long time, Ven. Nanda made a breakthrough in his meditation and became enlightened. At that moment, his lust and interest in those many nymphs subsided, and he was at peace. He went to the Buddha to report his progress, announcing his attainment implicitly, how much he appreciated the encouragement, and that he now had seen the Dharma, the Truth.
The Buddha smiled but asked him, "What about our agreement? What about your reward?" Nanda blushed with embarrassment in front of the others and explained that at the moment of his attainment, he had released the Buddha of any such promise or obligation. The Buddha nodded in agreement. Turning to those monks who had not dedicated themselves, had not taken advantage of the excellent circumstances to practice, and had not broken through in their meditation practice.
This story, this beguiling Buddhist account from the Pali canon (almost certainly a backstory from the Dhammapada or the Nikayas, here retold from memory, originally struck a chord. It has very strong Dickensian and Ebenezer Scrooge elements about a miraculous turnaround, a kind of near-death experience that changes one's outlook completely and reorders one's priorities in life. It's amazing that a base aim could produce a holy outcome, that having set off to get lucky in the afterlife could keep one on task long enough for the Dharma and Discipline to work its magic and produce liberating insight. He must have let go, set aside his ambitions, and really investigated phenomena (dhammas) to produce knowledge-and-vision of the path and thereby perceive the true nature of existence as radically impermanent, incapable of fulfilling us, and impersonal.
So perhaps now that video makes sense of what's really possible and who's really up there waiting. This Round (Samsara) is long and wearisome. Long enough have we continued wandering on, reborn here and there, experiencing all of these things, long enough to have grown weary of its carrot and stick, its ups and downs, its promises and disappointments, the best laid plans of mice and men, long enough to let go.
- Thig 5.4: Sundarī Nandā Therīgāthā (Bhikkhu Sujato)
- The Buddha and Nanda go to heaven with … | Flickr
- No one need worry that the Buddha was playing favorites with his family. He saved Sundari Nanda, too, ordaining her as a Buddhist nun and teaching her until she reached enlightenment, just as he did for his mother (Ven. Maha Pajapati Gotami, the first Buddhist nun in history), his former wife (Ven. Bhaddakaccana, Rahulamata, Yasodhara, Bhadda, Bimba), his son (Ven. Rahula), his cousin (Ven. Ananda), and many other Scythian/Shakyian/Saka "princes" (royals, nobles, nomadic kshatriya warriors), nearly everyone from Kapilavastu, except those who clung to a worldly life.
- Even the Buddha's father, King Suddhodana, is said to have attained one or more of the stages of enlightenment and become one of the Noble Ones (Aryans) because of the Buddha teaching him until he was free.
- And he visited his biological mother in another heavenly world within the Sensual Sphere, the World of the Thirty-Three (Tavatimsa Deva Loka), to teach her and other devas who came to bring them all to self-realization, when she had at that time returned to live in the more exalted Tusita world, where she left to come to earth to provide the Bodhisatta a suitable womb and lineage. The World of the Thirty-Three might also be called Second Heaven, whereas Tusita is Seventh Heaven.
- Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
