DMT laser experiment: Life's a simulation!

(Erik K Swanson | Documentaries) Inside the DMT laser experiment: A search for the Simulation's source code.

If a laser let's us see the source code of the simulation on DMT, can it make me beautiful?

The Buddha: Origin of belief in creator God

The Buddha in a heaven talking to Sakka (Indra) and Maha Brahma (right) (mesosyn.com)

Origin of the Belief in a Creator God

 

Buddhism and the God-Idea

[The Buddha explained:] Now, there comes a time, meditators, when, sooner or later, after the lapse of a long period [of devolving], this world-system passes away.

When this happens, beings have mostly been reborn in the World of Radiance, and there they dwell made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from themselves, traversing the air, continuing in glory; thus, they remain for a long period of time.

Now, there comes a time, meditators, when, sooner or later, this world-system begins to evolve again. When this happens the Palace of Brahmā appears, but it is empty. And some being or other, either because its span of years has passed or its merit has become exhausted, falls from the World of Radiance, and comes to life [is reborn] in the Palace of Brahmā.

There also this being lives made of mind, feeding on joy, radiating light from itself, traversing the air, continuing in glory; thus, does it remain for a long, long period of time. Now there arises, from dwelling there so long alone, a dissatisfaction and a longing:

By merely wishing, I am the Creator!

“O, would that other beings might come and join me in this place!” And, just then, either because their span of years had passed [in that other world] or their merit [to carry on there] became exhausted, other beings fall from the World of Radiance and appear in the Palace of Brahmā as companions, in all respects like Brahmā [other than their later arrival].

On this, meditators, the one who was first reborn thinks: “I am Brahmā [Supreme], the Great (Maha) Brahmā, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of all [the Alpha and Omega, the I am that I am], appointing to each its place, the Ancient of Days, the Parent of all that are and are to be. These other beings are of my creation. Why is this so? A while ago I thought, 'Would that they might come!’ And on my mental aspiration, behold the beings came!”

I am who/that/what I am [of which they speak] and I am everlasting!

No goddesses allowed.

“And those beings themselves, too, think thus: 'This must be Brahmā, the Supreme, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of All, appointing to each a place, the Ancient of Days, the Parent  of all that are and are to be. And we must have been created by that being. Why? It is because, as we see, it was that being who was here first, and we came after that.”

On this, meditators, the one who first came into existence there is of longer life and more glorious and more powerful than those who appeared afterward. And it might well be, meditators, that some being on falling from that state, should come hither [to be reborn].

Well, they're allowed, just don't call them goddesses like Sophia, Mother Mary, wife Asherah

.

And having come hither [to the human plane] that being might go forth from the household life into the homeless state [of a monastic]. And having thus become a recluse that person, by reason of ardor, of exertion, of application, of earnestness, of careful thought, reaches such rapture of heart that, rapt in heart [jhana], he calls to mind his last dwelling-place but not the previous ones.

He says to himself: “That illustrious Brahmā [Supremo], the Great Brahmā, the Supreme One, the Mighty, the All-Seeing, the Ruler, the Lord of All, the Maker, the Creator, the Chief of All, appointing to each its place, the Ancient of Days, the Father of All that are and are to be, that being by whom we were created is steadfast, immutable, eternal, of a nature that knows no change and will remain so forever and ever. But we who were created have come hither as being impermanent, mutable, limited in duration of life.”

(Cleo Abram) Huge new discovery about Universe

This, meditators, is the first state of things on account of which, starting out from which, some recluses and Brahmins (shramanas and brahmanas), being eternalists as to some things and non-eternalists as to others, maintain that the soul and the world are partly eternal and partly not eternal. More

Misconstrued as the "creator" deity

We're not allowed to question in Christianity

Buddhism is a nontheistic (not atheistic) religion. It does not include the belief in an ultimate creator deity or any eternal being, divine or otherwise [4][5][6].

The universe (multiverse) comes into being due to causes and condition, but the Buddha did not declare an ultimate first beginning to it. It is cyclical and all beginnings, like all endings, repeat. There a "laws" that govern this impersonal process but not an ultimate creator God.

This may be hard to understand because there are gods, many of them, and they of different kinds and orders: devas, brahmas, asuras, maras, nagas, and so on. They abide on different planes, of which there are at least 31; however, these general planes contain countless worlds. All of these worlds are divided into three spheres: sensual, fine material, and immaterial.

• Among these "gods" or deities are powerful beings who wield the power of creation and other, higher order beings who enjoy the creation of others. These, however, are not ultimate creations; that is to say, they are not really making new "things" such as a new soul (atta) or a new ultimate materiality or mentality. To give an example, say there were a pile of tiny bricks and a bucket of mortar and one were to release bricklayers to have at it. How many structures could they create? How many fabulous Lego-toy like "creations" could they put together?  Presumably, they could fashion together a countless number of "things," but -- in an ultimate sense -- what is there but the same old building blocks? What is there but just ultimate materiality (form) arranged in an immaterial way (name) that looks new but is only really bricks, mortar, and arrangement?

Countless worlds in 31 Planes in three spheres

Buddhist texts posit that deities (brahmas, which are a subset of devas or "shining ones") such as Maha Brahma ("Great Supremo") are misconstrued as a creator [7].

During the vivarta kalpa (some previous aeon), a deity from Abhassara (radiant) plane was reborn on the lower Maha Brahma plane. As many living beings forget about their past life as soon as they are reborn, this also happened with Maha Brahma. No longer being aware of the higher planes of existence, this being felt alone in the universe (or world-system, cakkavala).

This being longed for the presence of others. After some time, other deities (devas) from higher planes were also reborn on those brahma planes as ministers and companions, an entire retinue [8].

Seeing this happen and having wished for it, this being falsely believed, "I am their creator." This belief, according to Buddhist texts (like the Brahmajala Sutta), was then shared by those other deities.

Eventually, however, one of those deities passed away from that world and was reborn on the human plane. Through meditation, that person gained the power to remember past lives [7].

That person went on to teach what was remembered from that previous life in that glorious (but relatively low) heaven, namely, that Maha Brahma was the creator of this universe.

• There are countless world-systems ("universes"?) in 10,000 directions, each with its own Maha Brahma and Mara and Sakka, all of which are really stations (positions, seats, thrones, chairs, offices held by living beings).

The teaching of this person led to the widespread human belief in a creator god, according to the Pali canon [7], which refers to the Buddha's words and other teachings preserved in the Buddha's language (Pali or the lingua franca of Magadhi). More

• Creator in Buddhism?
• Mahayana Buddhism has a different Brahmajāla Sūtra
• From Dīgha Nikāya ("Collection of Long Discourses") No. 1: Brahmajāla Sutta ("The Supreme or All-Embracing Net of Views Discourse") translated by Prof. Rhys Davids)
• Buddhism and the God-Idea: Selected Texts (Wheel #47) edited and introduced by Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Buddhist Publication Society, 1st ed. 1962, 2nd ed. 1970, 3rd printing 1981; edited by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly with Wiki edit

God made Man (used Monkey to do it)?

According to the Ohio band Devo (devolution), "God made Man, but He used a Monkey to do it."

 

Scientists studying a 4.4-million-year-old fossil named Ardi may have uncovered the evolutionary step ["missing link"] that turned ancient [nonhuman] climbers into early [human-hybrid] walkers

Here’s what there is to learn when reading this Popular Mechanics' story:

• Ardi is the oldest known partial skeleton of a hominin and shows foot features that are transitioning from vertical climbing to bipedal walking.
• While Ardi has the primitive grasping big toe of the more apelike human ancestors that came before her, other parts of her feet are more evolved.
• It is Ardi’s talus, a bone in the ankle, that lies somewhere between the morphology of the same bone in apes and humans.

As humans, it’s important to remember that some of our oldest primate ancestors were apelike creatures.

Besides our much larger brains and visibly obvious differences, such as facial [structure and] features, one thing we evolved to be much more adept at than chimps and gorillas (which we, according to Darwinism, diverged from millions of years ago) is walking on two feet.

But just when did human predecessors first descend from the trees and walk upright?

A 4.4-million-year-old female skeleton named Ardi may answer that question. Predating even the iconic Lucy (Australopithecus) by a million years, she belongs to the species Ardipithecus ramidus and is revealing more about our human origins and how we became bipedal.

Unearthed in the Ethiopian desert back in 1994, Ardi is the oldest known partial hominin skeleton, though her species has been known since 1925 under the name Australopithecus ramidus.

Biological anthropologist Thomas Prang of Washington University in St. Louis and his research team discovered that Ardi was able to walk upright but still retained a grasping foot and other apelike features.

“Our observations of the human and ape fossil record are inconsistent with recently proposed models of human origins, which envision the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees as a generalized arboreal ape,” he said in a study recently published in Communications Biology.

“Instead, our results strongly imply that humans evolved from an African ape-like ancestor.”

• Related video: 300,000-year-old fossils: The true origin of Homo sapiens (History with Kayleigh Official) My name is Kaylee, and I guess it's safe to... (13:41)

Homo sapiens [not plural homos ("mankind") but Latin for "Thinking man"] belong[s] to the Homo-Pan clade, a group that evolved from a common ancestor and includes [violent, aggressive, militant] chimpanzees, [peaceful sex-centered hippie] bonobos, and both extant and extinct hominin species [Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Almasty, Yakkhas, Yeti, Orang Pendek, etc.]

This is part of a larger clade that gorillas also belong to. It has been argued that Ar. ramidus was more humanlike than apelike and had already evolved out of climbing trees vertically and dropping to all fours and walking on its knuckles in order to get around on land.

What Dr. Prang found was that Ardi is a mashup of primitive and modern features. She has a big toe designed for grasping branches, but other features of her feet, cranial base, and pelvis suggest that her species was adapting to bipedalism.

There is one bone that especially stands out: Ardi’s talus, a bone in the ankle which is also the second largest bone in the back of the foot. It transfers body weight between the lower leg and foot and helps African apes climb.

The talus enables dorsiflexion, or the backwards flexing of the foot, and inversion, the sideways turning of the foot. Both put the animal’s center of mass in a position closer to support, so apes are at much less risk of suffering lethal backward falls.

In ape species that primarily climb trees and primarily use dorsiflexion for vertical climbing, the forefoot is shorter than those of bipeds and quadrupeds, so Dr. Prang’s team turned its focus to the front of Ardi’s foot and also figured out her approximate body mass using the widths of the talar trochlea, or the upper joint surface of the talus.

There have been previous arguments that the morphology of the talar trochlea may not be the greatest indicator of how apes and early humans moved. Gorillas, chimps, bonobos, and gibbons have short forefeet for their body masses, while orangutans and larger monkeys have the longest forefeet.

The human forefoot is longer than those of chimps and gorillas and shorter than those monkeys, but there is still some overlap with bonobos. More

• 

  Extraterrestrials have intervened many times.

  Michael Cremo, the Forbidden Archeologist, has something to say to the contrary: Human life is FAR older on this earth (bhumi) than science yet admits. And "modern humans" are a misnomer because we are far older, according to ooparts and other pieces of inconvenient (and suppressed) evidence in the fossil and archeological record: We are not evolving but devolving and have been for hundreds of millions of years (in yugas and kalpas as declared by the Dharmic religions).
• Popular Mechanics via MSN.com, She Was Half Ape, Half Human—and She May Hold the Secret to What Makes Us Who We Are; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Five past lives of Jesus (Edgar Cayce)

1. Amilius (spirit in Atlantis)
2. Enoch (Old Testament prophet)
3. Melchizedek, priest-king
4. Joseph, son of Jacob, in ancient Egypt
5. Joshua, spiritual warrior in Israel after Moses

(Edgar Cayce Archive) I came to awaken not to be worshipped.

Middle Eastern Jesus as young Nordic

Did Jesus (Saint Issa, Yeshua, Jehoshua) travel to India, Persia, and Tibet to continue his spiritual education outside of Bethlehem and the Nazarenes (vegan/vegetarians) and Essenes? Did he in fact, as Cayce reported during trance channeled readings, have past lives (rebirths) to develop the qualities he would need to become a Christ figure ("Messiah," Maitreya figure) in his most recent human life like some kind of Buddhist bodhisattva?

• Nicolas Notovitch found it.

The Age of Filth (Era of Mental Trash)

The Era of Mental Trash

(Psyfluence) July 12, 2025: Let's explore the deep crisis affecting our mind and society in the Digital Age. We live trapped in a world overwhelmed by distractions, superficiality, and mass consumption of empty content that dulls our consciousness and weakens our ability to think deeply.

Our life (samsara) is a "simulation"? What's the tangible evidence?

We talk about the silent collapse of the modern mind, a reality where truth is shaped by algorithms, noise replaces reflection, and mediocrity is celebrated as freedom and authenticity.

Did you know this generation is being educated to obey without questioning? We are being trapped in a sweet servitude full of filters, likes, and digitally-induced dopamine addiction. But not all is lost.

There are those who resist, who seek lucidity and depth amid the filth. If you feel something inside you refuses to settle for superficiality and constant noise, this video is for you.

Join the conversation, awaken consciousness, and learn why in a world full of mental trash and why thinking has become a revolutionary act.

Remember. Don’t forget. Subscribe, like, and share so more people can open their eyes and start rebuilding authentic thought.

• Wait. Don't put down that soda and sugarcoated piece of gluten just yet. This just in: Emmy nominations 2025: ‘Severance’ leads with most nominations | CNN
• VIDEO: 77th Emmy Nominations Announcement | Television Academy

Cali creature holds evolutionary secrets

Creature found in California's lake holds evolutionary secrets from 650 million years ago

Behold, I am that I am who created this speck!

(Discovery WildScience) California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada is home to Mono Lake, renowned for its striking beauty and unique ecosystem. Its hypersaline and alkaline waters support unique life forms, including brine shrimp and alkali flies, which thrive in conditions that would be uninhabitable to most organisms.

Recently, scientists from the University of California at Berkeley have discovered a microscopic [extremophile] creature living in this extreme environment that could offer clues to the origins of complex life.

This creature, a single-celled choanoflagellate species, offers unprecedented insights into the evolutionary transition from single-celled organisms to multicellular life.

The species’ unique microbiome and symbiotic relationship with bacteria provide clues into how early life forms adapted to extreme environments and formed partnerships that contributed to the development of animal life.

This groundbreaking research not only enriches our understanding of evolution but also underscores the ecological significance of Mono Lake’s extraordinary ecosystem. More

• Discovery WildScience, June 14, 2025; Adolescents, "Amoeba" live footage dubbed original recording; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha: Where did we come from?

The Buddha’s answer to WHERE WE COME FROM | Buddhist origin story on beginnings

Science and Buddhism agree

(Buddha's Wisdom) March 30, 2025: 🔍 WHAT IF WE FELL INTO OUR PHYSICAL BODIES? What if we weren't born into a body but fell into one? An ancient Buddhist text called the Aggañña Sutta (DN 27) describes space beings of pure light who once floated about freely through space until they alighted on earth, devolved, and developed something we all struggle with today — sensual craving or desire (tanha). That first craving for sensual pleasure began our descent into increasingly dense physical form, creating humans bound by the very cravings that landed us here and kept us stuck in the quagmire of craving, karma, and karmic results. DISCOVER:

• How the Buddha taught that consciousness preceded physical form, not the other way around
• The striking parallels between Buddhist cosmology and modern scientific theories
• Why a human birth is considered extraordinarily rare as the Buddha taught
• The unexpected connection between desire and the densification of our physical bodies
• How understanding our origins can transform our approach to spiritual practice today

TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 Were we once beings of light?
• 02:06 The Buddhist cosmological view
• 06:17 Scientific parallels with Buddhist origin stories
• 08:40 The mental evolution of humanity
• 12:41 Why human birth is so precious
• 16:33 The mystery element: Where do we go from here?
• 19:45 What this means for our life

SUTRA: A Buddhist Genesis

T.W. and C.A.F. Rhys Davids (trans.), DN 27, edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Dr. Smith: The Buddha's Creation Story: Myth as History and Inspiration

The Buddha's Creation Story: Myth as History and Inspiration

(Doug's Dharma) Should ancient stories be looked at as historical myths or as inspirational literature? Let's look at both options through the lens of the Aggañña Sutta, a famous, early Buddhist creation myth. 📙 New book by Dr. Doug Smith, PhD: A Handbook of Early Buddhist Wisdom, with foreword by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. 🧡 Find this material useful? Check out Patreon and get fun benefits like exclusive videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: dougsseculardharma

Thus have I heard. The Exalted One (the Buddha) was once staying near Sāvatthī, in the East Park, inside the mansion of Migāra's Mother. Now at that time Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja were passing their probationary period among the wandering ascetics, wishing to become fully ordained Buddhist monks.

Then in the evening the Exalted One, having arisen from his meditations, came down, and was walking back and forth in the open air, in the shade of the mansion. When Vāseṭṭha saw this, he told Bhāradvāja, adding:

“Let's go, friend Bhāradvāja, let's approach the Exalted One, because we might have the good fortune to hear from the Exalted One a talk on matters of Dhamma (Doctrine)."

“Even so, friend," Bhāradvāja replied. So Vāseṭṭha and Bhāradvāja approached the Exalted One and, having saluted him, they walked behind him as he walked back and forth. Then the Exalted One said:

“Vāseṭṭha, being Brahmin (brahmana) by birth and family lineage, have gone forth from a Brahmin family and home into the left-home life of a wandering ascetic (sramana), do the other Brahmins blame and revile you?

“Venerable sir, yes, indeed, Brahmins do blame and revile us with characteristic abuse, copious, not holding back."

“Vāseṭṭha, with what words do they blame you?

“Venerable sir, Brahmins say: 'The Brahmin caste is the best.... Only Brahmins are genuine children of Brahmā, born of Brahma's mouth, offspring of Brahmā, created by Brahmā, heirs of Brahmā. As for you, you have renounced the best human rank and have gone over to that low class — to shaven recluses, to the vulgar [nouveau-riche] rich, to those of dark skins, to those born of Brahma's feet. In these terms, venerable sir, do Brahmins blame and revile us with characteristic abuse, copious, not holding back....

"Vāseṭṭha, surely those Brahmins have forgotten the past (ancient lore) when they say so? On the contrary, Brahmin females, wives of Brahmins, are known to be fertile, are seen to be pregnant with child, bringing forth and nursing children. Yet, it is these very [human] womb-born Brahmins who say such things… 'Brahmins are genuine children of Brahmā, born from his mouth; his offspring, his creation, and his heirs'! By this they make a travesty of the nature of Brahmā. It is false what they say, and great is the demerit that they thereby earn." More (suttacentral.net)

Join community: Instagram: buddhaswizdom, Facebook: buddhaswizdom. Support channel: buymeacoffee.com/buddhaswisdom. ✨ Subscribe to Buddha's Wisdom for more profound insights that bridge ancient wisdom with modern understanding. Turn on notifications to never miss weekly uploads. #buddhism #humanorigins #consciousness #spiritualawakening #buddhaswisdom

SOURCES

• Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)
• Abhidharmakośakārikā
• The Big Bang Theory: A History of the Universe (Stephen Hawking)
• Buddhist Cosmology: Philosophy and Origins (A. Gethin)

South, Midwest brace for rain, flooding

Where do Elon Musk's engineers and inventors steal their ideas, India circa 1990? (rense.com)

Regime Change! We've had it with both of them.

Is there a connection between human turmoil and weather chaos? Do we inadvertently impact our environment, stirring storms, droughts, plagues, and famines by our collective karma ("mass actions," such as group meditation or group prayer or rioting or demonstrating or going to see the Greek play Lysistrata)? Of course, the powers-that-be launch and manipulate many of these things, but we may also be having an impact without realizing it. We and our environment are not two separate things but are interdependent. A peaceful uprising might lead to peace in the skies, seas, and shaky grounds. The Buddha's Agganna Sutta certainly suggests we are always interacting and interdepending inside and out. Protests to continue: handsoff2025.com. Occupy.com is not real news.

Let's deport all protesters until they love America, Trump. - Good idea, Musk

(Democracy Now!) Top U.S. & World Headlines — April 7, 2025

South and Midwest brace for more historic rains, flooding

(NBC News) April 4, 2025:  The South and Midwest brace for more historic rains and severe flooding in a deadly multiday storm system. The 36-hour period from Friday evening into Sunday morning will be the most dangerous, as an additional 6 to 12 inches of rain will fall over already drenched areas. NBC News’ Kathy Park reports. #flood #extremeweather #midwest

IHIP News: Elon Musk being driven visibly INSANE from Tesla turmoil

Let us repeat God's name (Gnostic)

When God was asked its name, the answer that came was: I am. Who? I am that I am. But did the Teacher not teach that we ourselves are God (GOD, Godhead, Godhood, Brahman?) in a state where we imagine separation from source, from the All One, from connection?

If so, could it be that I am that "I am" of which they speak when asking God's real name? Why did the Church and ancient Judaism forbid the pronunciation of this "name"?

It's interesting that a part of Eight Limb (Ashtanga) Yoga is japa, or the repetition of a divine name (or God's name) as a mantra ("mind instrument") for concentration/meditation.

This "Word of God" was BANNED for being TOO POWERFUL

This "Word of God" was BANNED for being too powerful

(MorgueOfficial) Started streaming March 24, 2025: An ancient divine force was hidden, silenced, and nearly erased. Why? Because it revealed a truth too powerful for religion to control. This isn’t the Word you read in church… See Dawn of the New Earth (The Neogenian Dawn)

Not in my officially-approved state religion!

Jesus is Caesar's Messiah (Joseph Atwill)

• YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah, YHVH) is, in Kabbala, the Tetragrammaton, which is four characters (yodh, he, waw, he) representing the Four Elements (the dhātus or maha-bhuta in Buddhism). If "spirit" (sh or shin) is inserted in the middle, the name becomes Yeheshua (Yahoshua, Yeshua, Yesus, Iesus, Issa, Yahoo, etc.)
• Mahā-bhūta: The four "primary elements" (or ultimate characteristics of matter), is another name for the Four Eements (dhātu) underlying all materiality.
• Caesar's Messiah: The Roman Conspiracy to Invent Jesus

Eve: 'Rescuer' (ezer) of Adam in Eden

• 

  Don't you mention that woman, young punk!

  Woman, Thy Name is Ezer ["Rescuer"] The [Judeo-Christian] LORD God said, “It is not good for the man [Adam] to be alone. I will make a helper [ezer, rescuer, Eve] suitable for him” (Genesis 2:18). [Hey, LORD, but what about my first wife, Lilith? - Don't worry about her, Adam, my boy, I'll send her away to become a demoness and jealous eater of babies. That ought a teach her to mouth off. - Like your wife, Asherah, LORD, who I suppose was therefore my mom? - Don't ever bring her name up, Adam, or else! Anyway, my boy, we were better off alone just kicking it in this groovy garden planet we grew out of effort. Enjoy it before I throw you out. Unless you want a guy-pal to hang with. How about a Steve? - Whatever, LORD, as you see fit.]
• Were Adam and Eve made stupid? : r/Christianity
• Jesus' "helper" Mary Magdalene | Bible Mystery Resolved:

Ezer is a powerful word

More Than Enchanting (Saxton)

Scholar R. D. Freeman observes that ezer (pronounced /et-sir/) is a combination of two words, one meaning “to rescue” or “to save,” the other meaning “to be strong.”

Theologian and author Dr. Walter Kaiser notes that ezer appears in the Old Testament often in parallel with words denoting strength and power. The word ezer does not mean that a woman should never be an assistant, an ally, a supporter.

There is nothing negative about a man or a woman helping someone or being called by the [God] to fulfill that role! It’s always a privilege to serve [the God] as we serve others. But it is also crucial that we understand that in the biblical definition of “helper,” the ezer can also fulfill a different role.

It seems that ezer has more to do with what helping looks like, because it doesn’t seem to suggest anything about hierarchy. In some instances, ezer is a word with military connotations; the ezer is also a warrior.

In this context, help comes from one who has the power and strength to provide it. Ezer is a verb as well as a noun, meaning “to defend, protect, surround and cherish.” The ezer is an amazing mix of strength, power, proactivity, and vulnerability. Source

— Adapted from Chapter One, “The Blueprint,” by J O Saxton

What is anyone to make of Adam and Eve on Earth (Eden)?

Of course, the story of Adam and Eve (the Adama or first iteration of humankind and its other half, Eva, the second woman after Lilith in Judaism) is deep and ludicrous.

It is deep that it must be hinting at something else, a truism set in a mythological tale, ludicrous if taken at face value after centuries of translation and misinterpretation.

For instance, there is no "apple," but Christians will swear there is. The "snake" is a humanoid reptilian. There is much here, likely inherited from Sumerian sources, spun by countless rabbis and sincere students to take some useful teaching from it.

Likewise, Buddhism has an origin myth -- not of how it "all" started but rather how human life on this earth began. Long, long ago, light beings (devas, which are a superior class of brahmas) alighted on this planet and over the course of time devolved and became coarser and coarser until we find ourselves the way we are today.

The full tale the Buddha told, almost certainly rooted in true things but explained simply in ways that are hard to take literally, is known as the Aggañña Sutta or "A Buddhist Genesis," "On Beginnings."

• Read Wiki version of this sutra
• The Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)

Dhamma Aboard Evolution

A modern writer (Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri) gives an excellent analysis of this metaphor or allegory (dealing only with sections 10-16 of this long discourse) in an eBook known as Dhamma Aboard Evolution: A Canonical Study of Agganna Sutta in Relation to Science.

In this analysis, the "light beings" (lit. "shining ones") are not humanoid beings who can fly alighting on earth by light itself reaching earth like photons from a faraway source. The author explains his motive for writing it:

The Aggañña Sutta of the "Long Discourses of the Buddha" (Dīgha Nikāya) is no satire or parody, as seen by some scholars. Drawing upon cosmology, Darwinism, psychology (Freud, Piaget, etc.), and linguistics, it paints a historically and scientifically accurate picture of devolution and evolution, going beyond the Big Bang. Sentient beings emerge [on earth], bringing with them the latent defilements of craving and passion, nourished by evolving plant life around them. Compatible with Western science, the breakthrough comes when Abhassara beings [from the Abhassara heaven or plane of existence] are taken to be photons, taking Abhassara in a literal etymological sense of "Hither-come-shining-arrow." However accurate this picture may be, the Buddha’s point, is that knowledge of the Dhamma is more important than anything else, explaining the title. More

Buddhist cosmology

Artists paint images of space for NASA

The Buddha described a universe consistent with the multiverse theory where there are countless worlds in all 10,000 directions, anywhere we can point. But all of these are classified into 31 Planes of Existence. One such plane is this world of "radiant ones."

So this sutra is saying this is the divine and sublime world we came from, not evolving from microbes in a primordial soup up to great apes or hominids (though that may be the origin of these bodies). We are fallen devas with every potential of becoming devas again, so in that sense we are divine beings in these sensual bodies.

Our karmas (actions, deeds, intentional acts) determine where we are subsequently reborn, just as previous karmas led to our rebirth on the human plane. We also have the potential to fall further down.

• ābhassara: The "Radiant Ones" are a class of heavenly beings of the Fine-Material Sphere (rūpa-loka); cf. deva.

Abhassara is a brahma-world where radiant devas ("shining ones") live from whose bodies rays of light are emitted, like lightning.

This plane of existence belongs to the rūpaloka (the Fine-Material Sphere)

• The Buddhist cosmos (universe/multiverse) is classified into three spheres: the Sensual Sphere (kama-loka), where earth and the sensual heavens are, as well as every other plane below the human world (animal, ghost, titan, hells), the Fine-Material Sphere, where more ethereal heavens are, and the Immaterial Sphere, where non-material worlds of pure mind are. This is an interesting distinction as it suggests that all that we call "form" or ultimate "materiality" (rupa) is coming from finer energy that is not yet form. All there is is called nama-rupa, "name and form" (mind and body). Form is of two general kinds, sensual and subtle (matter and light). And there is a sphere of worlds without form, only name or mind, a kind of Logos or Platonic "forms").
• It is essential to note that they are brahmas, as this means they are neither male nor female but "god-goddesses" ("supremos") without sexual dimorphism like the lower devas of the Sensual Sphere.

Is there a "heaven"? - There are many!

This plane corresponds to the second meditative absorption or jhāna (Abhs. v.3; Compendium 138, n.4).

All being depend on nourishment: The devas living on this plane subsist on joy (pītibhakkha) (S.i.114.; DhA.iii.258; J.vi.55).

Their span of life is two aeons (kalpas, kappas or more loosely speaking two "eternities"), but there is no guarantee that a person reborn here may not later be reborn in some unfortunate destination/unhappy condition (A.ii.127; but see Abhs. v.6, where their lifespan is given as eight kappas), as is the case for all beings who have not yet attained the first stage of enlightenment.

From time to time these devas utter shouts of joy exclaiming, "Aho sukham, aho sukham!" This sound is said to be the best of sounds.

These devas are completely enveloped in ease (sukhena abhisaññā parisaññā) (A.iii.202; D. iii.219). Their plane forms the third station of consciousness (viññānatthiti). Like humans on the human plane, they are of uniform body, but their perceptions are diverse (ekattakāyā nānat-tasaññino) (A.iv.40, 401; D.ii.69; D.iii.253).

During the periods of the development of the world (evolutionary cycle), many beings are reborn in the Abhassara world, and they are then called the highest of the devas. Yet, even they change their condition (A.v.60).

In lists of devas (e.g., M.i.289) they are listed below the Appamānābhā and above the Subhā. More

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• J O Saxton, More Than Enchanting; Ven. Nyanatiloka, Buddhist Dictionary; Suwanda H. J. Sugunasiri, Dhamma Aboard Evolution; Agganna Sutta (DN 27, Digha Nikaya, Pali canon); G. P. Malalasekera (Dictionary of Pali Proper Names); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly