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Fully enlightened Maha Moggallana asked a devi ("shining one") about the fortunate being's previous skillful karma ripening now in all of these desirable things.
Ven. Moggallana: Devata, you are sitting on a golden throne [vimana, interactive chariot helm, an "immeasurable space vehicle," capable of traveling anywhere]. It flies wherever you want as quickly as you want. You are beautifully dressed, wearing garlands of flowers; you are radiant, like lightning shining through the clouds.
Vimanas can be big, "sky mansions"
What kind of meritorious action (kusala karma) did you do when you were in the human world to have gained this beauty (glory) that shines in all directions, and what deeds earned all of these wonderful things?
The devata, delighted at being questioned by the famous Ven. Moggallana, gladly explained what she had done that resulted in such great good fortune and happiness.
Devata: Venerable, when I was in the human world, a [Buddhist] monk visited our house, and I prepared a seat for him to sit on. Raising my hands (in anjali mudra) and putting my palms and fingers together, I saluted that monk respectfully.
I also offered alms food to him.
Because of these meritorious deeds, I have been reborn as a very beautiful devata and enjoy all of the wonderful things that delight my heart.
Great venerable, these are the meritorious deeds I did to gain such a beautiful body that shines in all directions.
How could vimanas even balance themselves in space? Gyro-physics
UFOs in Jain literature
This famous painting is of Mahavira, so much like the Buddha that most think it is him.
Jain cities in India are very close to Buddhist places of significance, and one sees many statues one immediately assumes are the Buddha. In fact, they are Mahavira, often shown naked.
Jainism, like Buddhism, talks about other spheres, planes of existence, and UFOs (vimanas).
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Jain "enlightenment" differs from Buddhism.
(WQ) Jainism is the religion most analogous to Buddhism, as both are the only two surviving shramana ("wandering ascetic") traditions from antiquity; both opposed the Brahmanism of temple priests (Brahmins) in favor of direct experience of the truth. The founder Mahavira ("Great Hero," a common epithet also applied to the Buddha, along with other names) is called Nigantha Nattaputta in Buddhist texts. In fact, some believe that Jainism may have been a splinter group of very strict Buddhist ascetics.
Mahavira (aka Nigantha Nattaputta) is a jina, which is where the term "Jainism" comes from (like Buddha in Buddhism or "Awakened One" in "Awakenism"),
vimāna-vāsin ("vimāna-dweller") is a class of "shining ones" or devas("deities") who served the Tīrthaṃkara Mahā-vīra ("Fordmaker Great-Hero") [6].
These Vaimānika deities dwell in the Ūrdhva Loka planes (celestial or space spheres). According to the Kalpa Sūtra of Bhadra-bāhu, the 24th Tīrthaṃkara Mahā-vīra himself emerged from the great vimānaPuṣpa-uttara [7], whereas the 22nd Tīrthaṃkara Ariṣṭa-nemi emerged from the great vimāna Aparijita [8].
Jainism was great to women
The Tīrthaṃkaras Abhinandana (4th) and Sumati-nātha (5th) both [9] traveled through the sky [akasha, unbounded space] in the Jayanta-vimāna, namely the "great vimānaSarva-artha-siddhi, which was owned by [10] the Jayantadevas, whereas the Tīrthaṃkara Dharma-nātha (15th) traveled through the sky in the Vijaya-vimāna [11].
A vimāna (spaceship, heavenly mansion, celestial platform) may be seen in a dream, such as the nalinī-gulma [12, 13]. More
Just as the historical BuddhaSiddhartha Gautama spoke of 23 previous buddhas (even a prehistoric Siddhartha, the 16th), Mahavira simultaneously spoke of 23 previous tirhamkaras or "ford-makers" (to cross the flood of samsara to the further shore, which for Buddhists is nirvana and for Jains is rebirth in a lofty unconscious world that sounds suspiciously like an immaterial sphere described by the Buddha. Coincidence or the same historical figure?
Prof. Jaini had such an enormous ego that he named his poor-quality thesis, which was hardly fit to be published at all, "The Jaina Path of Purification" after the ancient enlightened Ven. Buddhaghosa's (Buddha's Ghost) magnum opus, the Path of Purification of Visuddhimagga. There are many better books on Jainism.
Buddhism is a unique Dharma because it teaches the liberating truth of anatta, that all things are impersonal. Jainism, like the Vedas, Brahmins, Hindus, and every other religion teaches that there is a self, an immortal soul, that is eternal and unchanging. The soul (atta) is changing at every moment, is constantly perishing, and therefore is neither immortal nor -- in the ultimate sense -- existing. Dependent Origination exists and explains why the Five Aggregates get clung to by the aggregates themselves as a momentary "self" or "eternal soul." So Jainism differs from the parallel Buddhist tradition it is otherwise so similar to that it is almost impossible to distinguish them.
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