Hells? Messengers of the Gods (AN 3.36)

SUTRA: Messengers of the Gods

“There are, meditators, these three ‘messengers’ of the gods (devas). What are the three?

“Firstly, someone does unskillful things by way of body, speech, and mind. When that person’s body breaks up, after death, one is reborn in a place of loss, an unfortunate place, the underworld, even in hell(s).

The King of the Dead Yama is kind and just

“Then the wardens of hell take one by the arms and present one to the King of the Dead Yama, saying: ‘Your Majesty, this person did not pay due respect to mother and father, wandering ascetics and temple priests (Brahmins), nor honor the elders in the family. May Your Majesty judge this person!’

“Then King Yama questions, presses, and grills that person about the first messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the first messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

A typical old person, balding and falling apart

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings an elderly woman or man — 80, 90, or 100 years old — bent double, crooked, leaning on a staff, trembling to walk, ailing, past one’s prime, with teeth broken, hair grey, scanty or bald, skin wrinkled, and limbs blotchy?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

I love you, Baby. Stay healthy, and wear a coat.

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to grow old. I am not exempt from old age. I should better do good by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, or mind. Indeed, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

This is Death turning samsara.

• [NOTE: What deeds (karma) are skillful, wholesome, and profitable, and what intentional actions are unskillful, unwholesome, and unprofitable? Why? By natural course of results, some deeds produce pleasant, wished for, welcome results, whereas by the same natural course of results, not anyone's punishment or education, some deeds produce unpleasant, unwished for, unwelcome results. This is a natural fixity of the universe and not a meting out of rewards and punishments, as it is often presented for the sake of simplicity, clarity, and believability by many of the world's spiritual teachings. If something produces a bad result and that is not clear because it does not happen immediately or even necessarily in this life, the Buddha has pointed it out so that people and devas may guard against it if they heed the Buddha's enlightened advice. If an plant, for example, were poisonous such that anyone who ate of it, it would bring about their illness, they would not eat of it. However, if another plant seemed to produce no such result, and was inviting and experienced as pleasant, but later produced illness, people would eat of it, eat a lot of it, blissfully unaware of the danger, and one who knows might warn them. Who would listen? People would argue against such a person, laugh at such a person, stick in the mud, killjoy, goody two-shoes, judge, critic, buttinsky, and neither listen nor cause others to listen but instead urging them to eat and enjoy and not worry, having for themselves tested the plant and found it to be pleasant and without harm. Then, later, when the harm set in, long after its consumption, people would become confused: "Some say it's fine, some that it's dangerous, I don't know who to believe or what to do? I like it, so I'll do it. I don't see any harm in it, and until I do, I'll do what I want." People have that choice. In this discourse, the Buddha warns against actions that seem harmless to one who does them even though they harm others as one would not wish to be harmed. And they see no danger in this so long as the result does not ripen and come to fruition. Are Buddhist hells real? There is no need for faith or belief. One may develop meditative absorption and look for them under the ground in a designated area, and one will see for oneself. Unless one sees, how likely is anyone to believe? This traditional method of investigation is taught in detail by Pa Auk Sayadaw and his accomplished students able to enter the jhanas at will. A similar instruction is also given to perceive vimasnas or heavenly mansions above the tree tops. However it may sound to us, it is not a matter of belief or skepticism; it is a matter of looking for oneself so that one needs no teacher or teaching to tell one what is real and what is merely metaphorical. We hope it's a metaphor, a simile, or hyperbole. That is a comforting thought. But we have known people who have known-and-seen for themselves, revealing that it is completely possible to know for sure while one is yet alive and do something about it. Consider the case of the Dickensian Ebenezer S.]

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities (devas), nor by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then King Yama grills that person about the second messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the second messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

A typical sickly hag, festering

Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings a woman or man, sick, suffering, gravely ill, collapsing in one’s own urine or feces, being picked up by some and put down by others?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

“Then King Yama answers, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to become sick. I’m not exempt from sickness. I’d better do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind. Well, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, nor by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then King Yama grills that person about the third messenger of the gods: ‘Sir, did you not see the third messenger of the gods who appeared among human beings?’

“The person answers, ‘I saw nothing, sir.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did you not see among human beings a woman or man, dead for one, two, or three days, bloated, livid, and festering?’

“The person answers, ‘I did see that, sir.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, did it not occur to you — being sensible and mature — “I, too, am liable to die. I’m not exempt from death. I’d better do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind”?’

“The person answers, ‘I couldn’t, sir. I was negligent.’

“Then King Yama asks, ‘Sir, because you were negligent, you didn’t do what is skillful by way of body, speech, and mind. Well, they’ll definitely torment you to fit your negligence. That unskillful deed wasn’t done by your mother, father, brother, or sister.

“It wasn’t done by friends and colleagues, by relatives and kin, by the deities, or by wandering ascetics and temple priests. That unskillful deed was done by you alone, and you alone will experience the results.’

“Then, after grilling that person about the third messenger of the gods, King Yama falls silent. Then the wardens of hell torment one with the five-fold crucifixion.

“They drive red-hot stakes through the hands and feet, and another in the middle of the chest. And there that person suffers painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings — but that person does not die until that unskillful deed is eliminated.

“Then the wardens of hell throw that person down and hack that person with axes. …

What torments await in purgatory?

“They hang that person upside down and hack that person with hatchets. …

“They harness that person to a chariot and drive that person back and forth across burning ground, blazing and glowing. …

“They make that person climb up and down a huge mountain of burning coals, blazing and glowing. …

“Then the wardens of hell turn that person upside down and throw that person in a red-hot copper pot, burning, blazing, and glowing. There one is seared in boiling scum and one is swept up and down and round and round. And there that person suffers painful, sharp, severe, acute feelings — but that person doesn’t die until that unskillful deed is eliminated.

“Then the wardens of hell toss that person into the Great Hell (Avici, the "Waveless").

“Now, about that Great Hell:

‘Four are its corners, four its doors,

Squarely divided in equal parts.

Surrounded by an iron wall,

of iron is its roof.

The ground, too, is made of iron,

it burns with fierce fire.

The heat constantly radiates

a hundred leagues around.’

“Once upon a time, the King of the Dead Yama thought, ‘Those who do such unskillful deeds in the world receive these many different torments. Oh, I hope I might be reborn as a human being and that a Realized One — a Perfected One, a fully Awakened One, a Buddha — arises in the world! Oh, that I may pay homage to that Buddha! Then the Buddha can teach me Dhamma so that I may understand the timeless Teaching.’

“Now, I do not say this because I have heard it from some other wandering ascetic or Brahmin. I only say it because I have known, seen, and realized it for myself.

Those people who are negligent,

when warned by the gods’ (devas’) messengers:

a long time they sorrow,

when they go to that wretched place.

But those skillful and peaceful people,

when warned by the gods’ messengers,

never neglect

the Teaching of the noble ones.

Seeing the peril in grasping,

the origin of birth and death,

the unattached are freed

with the ending of rebirth and death.

Happy, they’ve come to a safe place,

extinguished [all suffering] in this very life.

They’ve gone beyond all threats and perils

and risen above all suffering whatsoever.”

• Bhikkhu Sujato (trans.), SuttaCentral.net,  Devadūta Sutta (AN 3.36), Tikanipāta, Paṭhamapaṇṇāsaka, Devadūtavagga,—"Numbered Discourses" 3.36, 4. "Messengers of the Gods [Devas]" edited by Dhr. Seven; submitted by Eli W., Wisdom Quarterly

Wandering in Samsara: Mother Sutra

Dhr. Seven (trans.), Mother Discourse, Mata Sutta (SN 15.14-19), A. Wells, Wisdom Quarterly

Samsara means the "continued wandering on"

Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One (the Buddha) was dwelling in Savatthi. There he said:

"Inconceivable is this continued wandering through rebirths [samsaric cycling through the Wheel of Life and Death]. No beginning, no first point is evident, when beings, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, began birth and this endless repeated cycle of wandering on.

"So long has it been that it is not easy to find a being who has not already been one's mother in the past... one's father... one's brother... one's sister... one's son... one's daughter...

The pig chases the bird chases the snake.

"Why? Inconceivable is this continued wandering through rebirths. No beginning, no first point, is evident when beings, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving, began birth and this [endless] cycle of wandering on.

"Long enough have we all experienced pain, experienced disappointment (dukkha, suffering), experienced loss, swelling the cemeteries, long enough to become disillusioned, long enough to become disenchanted, long enough to become dispassionate toward all things [dependently originated phenomena, formations, constituent assemblages, fabrications], long enough to finally be free."

The Buddha had three mothers in his final rebirth: Maya, Pajapati Gotami, and one more.*

• *Another mother? In a fascinating incident in the Buddha's life, one day he was touring around proto-India with monastics when an elderly couple approaches him. Her name in this episode may only be given as Mata ("Mother"). They address the Buddha as "Son" (putta, putra), which shocks the monastics who all know the Buddha's biological mother (Queen Maya) passed away a week after his birth and her sister (Pajapati Gotami), co-wife of her husband (King Suddhodana), raised the prince as her own son, passing her two children (his half-siblings brother Nanda and sister Sundari Nanda) onto nurses to raise. The Buddha does not correct the couple but instead calms the monastics by explaining that for 500 (a number that just means "many") lifetimes, for so many lifetimes that she was justified in regarding him as "son." The old was complaining that he had not visited them in such a long time then gave the karmic prescription for a couple being reborn together life after life. Such is this wandering on (samsara) that with just about everyone we meet we have already shared all relationships. While that seems impossible, it only goes to show how incredibly long this Wheel of Life and Death has been turning with no end in sight (no final end possible other than enlightenment and nirvana).

The context for this sutra is as part of a series of descriptions intended to give rise to disenchantment and dispassion toward samsara, the endless cycle of rebirth from which Indian spiritual traditions seek liberation (moksha). This is the goal, yet only the Buddha seems to have found actual safety, actual freedom, actual emancipation. He called it nirvana, but both moksha and nirvana are used by other traditions to describe inferior accomplishment that do not really amount to a final solution to the problem of endless rebirth and suffering.

• SN 15.14: Mātu Sutta—Ven. Sujato (suttacentral.net)
• Mata Sutta: "Mother Discourse" (accesstoinsight.org)

Giving Up the Five Hindrances (sutra)

Ven. Sujato (trans.), Numerical Discourses (AN 1.11–20), Nīvaraṇa-ppahānavagga, suttacentral.net; edited by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

The Chapter on Letting Go of the Five Hindrances

11. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that gives rise to sensual desire (craving, tanha) or, when it arises, makes it increase and spread like the feature of beauty. When one applies the mind (heart) irrationally to the feature of beauty, sensual desire arises, and once arisen it increases and spreads.”

• What are the Five Hindrances that obsess the mind?

12. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that gives rise to ill will (aversion, dosa) or, when it arises, makes it increase and spread like the feature of harshness. When one applies the mind irrationally to the feature of harshness, ill will arises, and once arisen it increases and spreads.”

13. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that gives rise to dullness and drowsiness (sloth and torpor) or, when they arise, makes them increase and spread like discontent, sloth, yawning, sleepiness after eating, and mental sluggishness. When one has a sluggish mind, dullness and drowsiness arise, and once arisen they increase and spread.”

14. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that gives rise to restlessness and remorse (scatteredness and scruples) or, when they arise, makes them increase and spread like an unsettled mind. When one has no peace of mind, restlessness and remorse arise, and once arisen they increase and spread.”

15. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that gives rise to doubt (skepticism) or, when it arises, makes it increase and spread like irrational application of mind. When one applies the mind irrationally, doubt arises, and once arisen it increases and spread.”

Solutions

16. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that prevents sensual desire from arising or, when it arises, abandons it like the feature of [turning attention to the repulsive aspect or] ugliness. When one applies the mind rationally to the [inherent] feature of ugliness, sensual desire arises not or, if it has already arisen, it is given up [let go of, abandoned, dropped].”

17. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that prevents ill will from arising or, when it arises, abandons it like the heart’s release by love (metta, friendliness). When one applies the mind rationally on the heart’s release by love, ill will arises not or, if it has already arisen, it is given up.”

18. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that prevents dullness and drowsiness from arising or, when they arise, gives them up like the elements of initiative, persistence, and vigor. When one is energetic, dullness and drowsiness do arise not or, if they have already arisen, they are given up.”

19. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that prevents restlessness and remorse from arising or, when they arise, gives them up like peace of mind. When the mind is peaceful, restlessness and remorse arise not or, if they have already arisen, they are given up.”

20. “Meditators, I do not see a single thing that prevents doubt from arising or, when it arises, gives it up like rational application of mind. When one applies the mind rationally, doubt arises not or, if it has already arisen, it is given up.” Source

Verses of Subha the Goldsmith's daughter

Ven. Sujato (trans.), Therigatha: "Verses of the Elder Nuns" (13.5), The Book of the Twenties; Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Now I know and see and wish to be a nun. Buddha, ordain me and teach me more.*

Awakened Women of Buddhism in the Therigatha

The Therīgāthā, often translated as "The Verses of the Elder Nuns" (from Pāli therī "elder," a female with more than ten rainy seasons as a nun, and gāthā, "verses") is an important Buddhist text.

It is a collection of short verses or poems of early enlightened women, who were "elders" in the Noble Sangha or "community of enlightened individuals in the world."

Elder here does not mean old, as having been in robes for ten Vass or "monsoon periods," starting at a young age, as young as 7, one might be a 17-year-old fully enlightened nun. If one received full ordination at the age of consent, 20 (which would be 21 because in many Asian countries one is born at age 1, not 0, as in the west).

The poems date from a 300-year period, with some dated as early as the late 6th century BCE. According to American Ven. Thanissaro, abbot of Wat Metta, the Therigatha is the "earliest extant text depicting women’s spiritual experiences."

In the Pāli Canon, the Therigatha is classified as part of the Khuddaka Nikaya, the collection of short books in the Sutta Pitaka. It consists of 73 verses organized into 16 chapters. It is the companion text to the Theragatha, "The Verses of Elder Monks" or men's spiritual awakenings. It is the earliest known collection of women's literature composed in ancient India. Here is one example:

Subhā, the Goldsmith’s Daughter

1.1 “I was so young, my clothes so fresh,

1.2 at the time I heard the Teaching.

1.3 Being attentive [in meditation/contemplation],

1.4 I comprehended the truth;

2.1 And then I became profoundly dispassionate

2.2 towards all sensual pleasures.

2.3 Seeing danger in this insubstantial reality,

2.4 I longed for renunciation [to let go].

3.1 Giving up my family circle,

3.2 bonded servants and workers,

3.3 and my flourishing villages and lands,

3.4 so delightful and pleasant,

4.1 I went forth [ordained as a wandering ascetic nun];

4.2 all that is no small wealth.

4.3 Now that I’ve gone forth in confidence like this,

4.4 in the true Teaching so well proclaimed,

5.1 since I crave for nothing,

5.2 it would be inappropriate

5.3 to take back gold and money,

5.4 having already gotten rid of them.

6.1 Neither money nor gold

6.2 lead to peace or awakening.

6.3 It does not befit a wandering ascetic.

6.4 It is not the wealth of the noble ones;

7.1 It’s just greed and vanity,

7.2 confusion and growing decadence,

7.3 dubious, troublesome —

7.4 there is nothing lasting there.

8.1 Depraved and heedless,

8.2 unenlightened folk, their hearts corrupted,

8.3 fight each other,

8.4 creating conflict.

9.1 Killing, caging, misery,

9.2 loss, grief, and lamentation,

9.3 those sunk in sensual pleasures

9.4 see many disastrous things.

10.1 My family, why do you urge me back

10.2 to [lowly] pleasures as if you were my enemies?

10.3 You know I have gone forth [from all that],

10.4 seeing great danger in [clinging to] sensual pleasures.

11.1 It is not due to gold, minted or unminted,

11.2 that defilements come to an end.

11.3 Sensual pleasures are enemies and murderers,

11.4 hostile forces that bind us to thorns.

12.1 My family, why do you urge me on

12.2 to pleasures as if you were my enemies?

12.3 You know I have gone forth,

12.4 shaven, wrapped in my outer saffron robe.

13.1 Leftovers as gleanings,

13.2 and cast-off rags as my robes —

13.3 that is what is fitting for me,

13.4 the essentials of the left-home life.

14.1 Great seers expel craving for sensual pleasures,

14.2 whether human and divine.

14.3 Safe in their sanctuary, they are free,

14.4 having found unshakable happiness.

15.1 May I not encounter [sticky] sensual pleasures,

15.2 for no safety is found in them.

15.3 Sensual pleasures are enemies and murderers,

15.4 as painful as a bonfire [one is cast upon].

16.1 Greed is an obstacle, a threat,

16.2 full of anguish and thorns;

16.3 it is out of balance,

16.4 a great gateway to confusion.

17.1 Hazardous and terrifying,

17.2 sensual pleasures are like a snake’s head [with fangs],

17.3 where fools delight,

17.4 the blind ordinary [uninstructed] folk.

18.1 Mired in the swamp of sensuality,

18.2 there are so many ignorant in the world.

18.3 They know nothing of making an end

18.4 of rebirth and future deaths.

19.1 Because of [craving for] sensual pleasures,

19.2 people fall onto a path that goes to a bad place.

19.3 So many walk that path

19.4 that brings them disease.

20.1 That is how [attachment to] sensual pleasures creates enemies;

20.2 they are tormenting, corrupting,

20.3 trapping living beings with worldly pleasures of the flesh.

20.4 They are nothing less than the bonds of death.

21.1 Enticing, maddening,

21.2 sensual pleasures derange the heart/mind.

21.3 They are a snare laid by Māra [the Tempter]

21.4 for the corruption of living beings.

22.1 Sensual pleasures are boundlessly dangerous.

22.2 They are full of suffering, a terrible poison;

22.3 Offering little gratification, they are makers of strife,

22.4 withering bright qualities away.

23.1 Since I have created so much ruination

23.2 because of [craving for] sensual pleasures,

23.3 I will not relapse to them again

23.4 but will always delight in quenching.

24.1 Fighting against sensual pleasures,

24.2 longing for that cool state,

24.3 I shall meditate diligently

24.4 for the ending of all fetters.

25.1 Sorrowless, stainless, secure:

25.2 I’ll follow that path,

25.3 the straight noble eightfold way

25.4 by which the seers have crossed over.”

26.1 “Look at this: Subhā the goldsmith’s daughter,

26.2 standing firm in the teaching.

26.3 She has entered the imperturbable state,

26.4 meditating at the root of a tree.

27.1 It’s just eight days since she went forth,

27.2 full of confidence in the beautiful Teaching.

27.3 Guided by Ven. Uppalavaṇṇā,

27.4 she is master of the Three Knowledges, conqueror of death.

28.1 This one is freed from slavery and debt,

28.2 a nun with faculties developed.

28.3 Unyoked from all yokes,

28.4 she has completed the task and is free of defilements [asavas].”

29.1 Thus did Sakka, lord of all creatures,

29.2 along with a host of devas,

29.3 having come by their psychic powers,

29.4 honor Subhā, the goldsmith’s daughter.

*The enlightened author

G. P. Malalasekera, Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (1899-1973), London, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Verses of Arahant Nun Subhā, who dwelled in the Jīvaka Mango Garden (serenecolombo.org)

.

Subhā Kammāradhītā was the daughter of a rich goldsmith in Rājagaha, the royal city wrung by seven hills, where the Buddha spent many rainy seasons on Vulture's Peak and where "Buddhism" was founded near Pipphali Cave.

One day she went to pay homage to the Buddha and he, recognizing her ability to grasp the timeless Dhamma, taught her a gradual discourse. She became a stream enterer (sotāpanna, the first stage of enlightenment).

She later joined the Bhikkhuni Sangha or "Nun's Order," under Ven. Mahā Pajāpatī Gotami (the world's first Buddhist nun, the Buddha's adoptive mother, sister of his biological mother, Queen Maya).

From time to time her relatives tried to persuade her to disrobe and leave the Monastic Order to return to the lay life and the world.

So one day she set forth, in 24 verses, the dangers of household life and dismissed them, convinced of her having rightly grasped the ultimate meaning of life due to her initial awakening.

Then, striving for insight (vipassana), she attained full enlightenment (arahantship) on the eighth day (Therigatha, Verses 338-361).

The Buddha saw this and praised her in three verses (Thig.vs.362-364).

Sakka (the king of the devas of Tavatimsa or the "Heaven of the Thirty-Three" and the "Realm of the Four Great Regents") visited her with the devas of Tāvatimsa and uttered another verse in her praise (ThigA.365; ThigA.236f.)

Buddhism on the causes of great earthquakes

Ven. Sujato Bhikkhu (trans.) Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16), suttacentral.net; edited and expanded by Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, and Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly

Mistranslated Buddha quote. (See Dhammapada)

In Buddhist texts, the Buddha gave eight causes of great (massive) earthquakes, the first so general that it could account for all of them: 

[The Buddha:] “Ānanda, there are these eight causes and reasons for a great earthquake. What are the eight? This great earth is grounded on water, the water is grounded on air, and the air stands in space. At a time when a great wind blows, it stirs the water, and the water stirs the earth.”

• So far as it goes, this is a naturalistic explanation: The “water element” has the quality of [cohesion and] softening, while the “air element” is traditionally understood as “movement” [or flow]. Thus, in modern terms this [could mean], “When underground forces disturb a region of instability...”

“This is the first cause and reason for a great earthquake.”

• (WQ) In Buddhism the four great "elements," dhatus or mahābhūta, are NOT really material "things," but rather qualities and characteristics of material things. (In Hinduism, they seem to be actual things). And those "material things" are called the rupa-kalapas (material particles or "atoms" in the original ancient Greek sense; in fact, it seems that the ancient Greeks got the idea of "atoms," or the smallest indivisible building blocks of materiality, from Buddhism and the Dharmic religions).
• See Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.) MN 140: "The Discourse on the Analysis of the Elements" or Dhātu Vibhaṅga Sutta (suttacentral.net)
• The Four Great Elements refer to about 14 characteristics. (See the enlightened master Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw's Four Elements Meditation to learn to discern them in this human body. It is so shockingly simple when described that it might throw one off. But if one persists in earnest practice, what was "simple" shows itself to be very difficult to master. That is, to attain absorption (jhana) using these characteristics as the object of focus until they become clear and wieldy is simple but not easy. With success, all doubt vanishes, and the profundity of the Buddha's liberating message becomes clear: These four elements are impersonal, impermanent, and disappointing; they are no basis for an eternal "self" or any kind of stable material world. That is why the self (atta or atman) and the world (material form) are always in flux.
• The Four Great Elements are sometimes spoken of with three more, making for seven elements: earth (patthavi), water (apa), fire (teja), air (vayu); space (akasha), mind (vinñāna); and the unique "unconditioned-element" (asankhata-dhatu) nirvana.

“Furthermore, there is a wandering ascetic or Brahmin (temple priest) with psychic powers who has achieved mastery of the mind, or a shining one (deva) who is mighty and powerful. They’ve developed a limited perception of earth and a limitless perception of water. They make the earth shake and rock and tremble. This is the second cause and reason for a great earthquake.

• The might of wandering ascetics was legendary in ancient India (e.g., MN 56:14.2). The meditation described here might be compared with the “dimensions of mastery” below (DN 16:3.25.1).

“Furthermore, when the being-intent-on-awakening [the Bodhisatta or Future-Buddha] passes away from the host of Joyful Devas [in the Tusita World], he is conceived of in his mother’s womb, mindful and aware. Then the earth shakes and rocks and trembles. This is the third cause and reason for a great earthquake....”

• At DN 14:1.17.7 and MN 123:7.6 it is, rather, the entire galaxy [world-system or cakkavala] that trembles, perhaps indicating that the enhanced miracle is a later development [inserted into the embellished texts]. More

A disturbance in the Force

The Buddha was onto something

For the big tsunami that hit Aceh, Indonesia (2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami), Banda Aceh in particular, Western psychic Stewart Swerdlow (expansions.com) very clearly gave the unnatural reason for it.

He told us directly at Bodhi Tree Bookstore Annex in West Los Angeles, if we're remembering correctly:

The powers-that-be, that is, the military-industrial complex scientists working for covert alphabet agencies like the CIA, NSA, and NSC were trying to operate the Montauk chair, and this was causing a great disturbance.

A Disturbance in the Force (2023) - IMDb

Disturbance to what? Disturbance to the earth, water, air, and space this world is founded on. "The Force" is Star Wars speak for "Source" or "The All" that connects us like split particles bound by some force that sends information faster than the speed of light.

Shake the elements and one shakes the planet, our bhumi or platform. One may even shake the entire world-system (cakkavala) we are in.

In Buddhist cosmology, this plane we are on is bound by concentric mountainous walls, separating worlds from worlds, four or seven (Vedic Hinduism says seven) alongside each other, each with their own sun and moon (small nearby satellites of equal size), orbiting above each world within the system.

No doubt, we humans (at least those of us working for covert agencies inside black budget laboratories) are disturbing multiple neighboring dimensions.

• For those unable to believe in such force or such an ancient cosmology (share by many ancient cultures, with an underworld beneath us and many worlds above us), consider the explanation of the Tunguska incident of 1908. It was not an early atomic blast by the Russians, and it was not a comet/meteor collision exploding in the atmosphere over the Siberian Forest of the East Siberian taiga, but rather the accidental use of Tesla technology hidden from us. This was the explanation provided by a summer of 2023 Coast to Coast guest who, if memory serves, also explaining the Shroud of Turin as the purposeful creation of Leonardo DaVinci for the Catholic Church (possibly to get them off the back of Galileo or other upstart the Church was persecuting), which was in need of a meticulously well crafted "holy relic" that he could produce for them.
• Mysterious flash illuminates Moroccan sky moments before earthquake. [Could it be HAARP activity disturbing the skies?] (msn.com)

It's natural, Honey. Just breathe it in.

When there were great quakes in China and Iran, people reported seeing strange HAARP phenomena in the sky; some even filmed it and put it on YouTube. Who knows how long it could stay posted before YouTube dutifully took it down due to some pretext of a violation when powerful parties request removal of anything for "national security."

Move along. Nuthin to see here, just condensation

"Buddha clouds" (iridescent petroleum-like colors) or isolated rainbow-colored mist from chemtrails, used in conjunction with HAARP technology, are characteristic of massive quakes to come.  Why? In general, HAARP heats up the air in space, disturbing the water and earth. Look up. What are they spraying?

On beginnings: Buddhist Genesis (Ajahn Brahm)

Ajahn Brahm explains a "Buddhist Genesis"

Aggañña Sutta (DN 27), "On Knowledge of Beginnings," Ajahn Brahm, Australia, Nov. 11, 2018

We should have stayed in space.

(Buddhist Society of Western Australia) This Dharma talk streamed live on Nov. 10, 2018. Ajahn Brahm presents and discusses sutra 27 from the Lengthy Discourses of the Buddha (Digha Nikaya). The Aggañña Sutta, “On Knowledge of Beginnings” or "The Origin of the World," talks about the devolution of life on earth. Find DN 27 on the Buddhist translation website Sutta Central by Ven. Sujato.

Let's get back to space from here.

“In contrast with the [priestly caste] Brahmin’s self-serving mythologies of the past, the Buddha presents an account of evolution that shows how human [karmic] choices are an integral part of the ecological balance, and how excessive greed destroys the order of nature” (SuttaCentral.net).

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Recorded at Dhammaloka Buddhist Centre, Perth, Western Australia. Copyright Buddhist Society of Western Australia (bswa.org).

Venerable Sujato: Path to Enlightenment

Bhante Sujato: The Path to Enlightenment: Meditation and Wisdom

(Buddhist Library) [What's morality (sila) got to do with anything? Virtue's a myth dreamt up by religion, isn't it? Did the historical Buddha really believe good karma/merit was important to awakening to the wisdom that has gone beyond all suffering and conception? Oh, goodness, who knew? We thought sitting and reading books was enough to lighten up and get enlightened. There's actually a whole path of many factors, all equally important and necessary to the task at hand?]