How Siddhartha became the Buddha

Sex in Heavenly Space Worlds (2)

Continued from PART 1: Sex in Heavenly Space Worlds? (1)

• 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?

Heaven can be like TV's Fantasy Island

First understand that there are MANY "heavens." They are not all the same, and they are not all connected.

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).

O, Janapada Kalyani, they want us to marry.

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.

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.

I've lost everyone in this fire.

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.

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?

Our body doesn’t matter after (Hindu) enlightenment. Buddhist enlightenment runs far deeper because the Buddha understood and taught that we are NOT consciousness nor any of the Five Aggregates clung to as "self." See the famous Heart Sutra for this insight.

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

Sex in Heavenly Space Worlds? (1)

O, Scythian Princess Sundari Nanda (Gotami), you are the Janapada Kalyani of this land!

Is there a heaven (sagga)? By heaven is meant a literal "world of shining ones in sky so far up it's space" (the akasha-deva-loka). We agree with Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry's sentiment as he sings: "Is there a heaven? I'd like to think so" heard here:

(Roxy Music) "In Every Dream Home a Heartache"

Retro Vintage Time Traveling - 1950s Sci-Fi - An AI Short Film

(Retro Retake) Dec. 2, 2024: #Retrofuturism merges seamlessly with the sleek futurism of the Space Age. Three enigmatic companions, clad in shimmering pink outfits, stand poised against the breathtaking backdrop of a distant time or planet, visible through the panoramic window of their spacecraft. This gem isn’t just a visual feast; it’s an invitation to dream, to wonder, and to step into a world where elegance meets cosmic adventure. Every scene captures the essence of a time we’ve never known but have always longed to explore. Are we ready for the captivating beauty of this retrofuturistic universe? #RetroFuture #retro #AIFilmМ

One of the most important questions of our time, since at least the time of the Buddha when the world was obsessed with sex and sensual pleasures, is: "Is there sex after death?"

A stark answer to this was once given by a hopeful comedian: "Yes," he assured his audience reasoning that, "You get laid in a coffin, don't you?" It may be funny, it may be serious. We don't want it to all end! Thinking we're something, we don't want to become nothing. We wish for life to continue (eternally) in some better way, some better place, many better circumstances. This is all possible through skillful karma (profitable, beneficial, wholesome deeds).

• The Buddha pointed out that there are three forms of desire (tanha, craving, thirst) that are terrible, plentiful sources of suffering: (1) craving for sensual pleasure (kama craving), (2) craving for eternal existence (bhava craving), and (3) craving for annihilation (when we want to get off this merry-go-round, vi-bhava craving).

Good deeds or bad, life will continue into the afterlife -- into countless future lives until we bring about enlightenment (bodhi) and awakening, liberation (moksha) and nirvana. It will not happen by accident.

It requires knowing-and-seeing, and that requires calm-and-insight, and that requires morality and right effort. The Buddha summarized it as sila, bhavana, panna or virtue (karmic skillfulness), meditation (mental cultivation), and wisdom (liberating insight).

What is morality?

Virtue means harmless, peaceful, pleasant.

The Buddha defined that simply as these Ten Courses of Wholesome Action, avoiding the Ten Courses of Unwholesome Action. A more basic definition is by way of roots: Those things rooted in greed, hatred, or delusion give rise to unskillful actions (karma), whereas those rooted in nongreed, nonhatred, or nondelusion give rise to skillful actions. We can call the good kind merit because its results are always welcome, pleasant, and wished for. (Unskillful karma is called that because it is bad, meaning that when it brings forth its results, they are unwelcome, unpleasant, and unwished for).

What is meditation?

Meditating is cultivating, not just by sitting

The English term "meditation" is very misleading because the Pali word bhavana really means "bringing into being" or "cultivating," and that can be done at any time through mindfulness and right effort. (Other Pali terms like jhana, jhayanti, anussati, and kammatthana are also rendered with this same catchall English term, adding to confusion as to what the practice is).

Meditation in English has come to mean sitting cross-legged. But "cultivating" can be done while engaged in actions, uttering chants, mantras, aphorisms, or affirmations. If I want to cultivate a fit body, I go to the gym, dojo, or walking path and exercise, practice movement and deeper breathing.

Similarly, if I want to cultivate a fit mind or heart, I go to sacred places, zendo, or forest (into nature) and exercise, mentally practice calm, attentiveness, wakefulness, positivity, equanimity, and more soothing breathing.

What is wisdom?

Insight into the true nature of reality

The goal of the previous to is to bring about insight, which we can set the preliminaries (a calm and attentive mind able to be consistently mindful, which means aware without reaction, judgments, thinking, ambitions, striving, or efforting, just being here now, whatever the circumstance, not getting sucked up in stories, narratives, assessments, judgments, or rationalizations). So we can think of it as vipassana (insight) bhavana (cultivation).

To cultivate insight, the Buddha explained in two famous sutras the Fourfold Setting Up of Mindfulness, that is, being mindful of the body, feelings, mind, and mind-objects. This is called satipatthana. There's no need to think about it; all of the instructions are given in these two discourses. (See Ven. Analayo on the meaning of "mindfulness" in Early Buddhism and then read the simple exercises on, first, how to be mindful of the body). Simple is not easy. All that is needed is persistence to establish a practice. Doing a lot then nothing, a lot then nothing is no way to practice. Doing a steady amount, even if tiny at first, soon grows into a solid habit. Steadiness, not extreme efforting or insane determination, wins the game.

Anyone who's read or heard the Buddha's life story misunderstands what happened. Ask them. This is the key question. He's born a prince, wants more, renounces the throne, goes off on a spiritual question, heads for the mystic East, practices yoga and austerities (like regular fasting and penance and all kinds of moral rules) and monastic living and meditation... And it doesn't work. He doesn't become enlightened. So he doubles down. And it doesn't work.

But this time it's even worse. He exhausts himself to the point where he accepts help from women, whom the other wandering ascetics will not even talk to, stare at, or receive anything from. Here Siddhartha is talking to, looking at, and even receiving from, accepting an offering of food and nourishment.

The happily pregnant milkmaid Sujata offers the ascetic Siddhartha a rich meal of rice.

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He builds his strength back up and realizes the body is his friend, not his enemy as the other spiritual seekers feel sure is the case. But he realizes that nearly seven years of striving, enlightenment has not come. So rather than ramp it up even more than before, he suddenly remembers something that happened to him at age 7. He remembers a spontaneous meditative absorption (jhana) he entered as a child at the Harvest Festival in Kapilavastu (probably Bamiyan, Afghanistan, which was part of ancient Gandhara). He then wonders if this isn't the way to enlightenment.

A knowingness comes back to him that this is the way -- the way of letting go, giving up, surrender, radical acceptance, tolerance, letting things be.... He further wonders why he has been avoiding this pleasant abiding and realizes it has been because of his "spiritual" aversion to pleasure. But this is not sensual pleasure (kama sukha). This is super-sensual (abhi-kama, piti, blameless contentment, sukha, and joy, not dependent on the physical senses). If it is blameless, then it is okay.

• Even today, Buddhist spiritual seekers have the exact same fear without realizing it, thinking that the path has to be arduous and full of virile effort to count, when that is exactly why it didn't work for years and years for the Bodhisattva Siddhartha. CONTINUED IN PART II
• Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly; Retrofuturism; Roxy Music, "In Every Dream Home a Heartache"

India sends the Buddha's relics to Mongolia

India News - Times of India (indiatimes.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Times of India video: Int'l global protests mark China's National Day

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NEW DELHI: In a special goodwill gesture to its “spiritual neighbor” Mongolia, India will send four holy relics of the Buddha to be displayed for 11 days at Batsagaan Temple in Gandan Monastery of Ulaanbataar, Mongolia.

The sacred "Kapilvastu relics" will be flown to Mongolia in two special bullet-proof caskets aboard an Indian Air Force aircraft, along with a 25-member Indian delegation led by Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju.

The relics, believed to contain Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha's remains, are part of the collection on display at the National Museum and were last part of a multi-city display in Sri Lanka in 2012.

They were accorded the "AA" category status by the Archaeological Survey of India on account of their rarity and delicate nature, and it was also decided that they will not be sent out of the country.

• Buddhism in Mongolia

However, an exception was made for Mongolia following a special request from the Mongolian government and considering India’s long-standing diplomatic ties with its "Third neighbor" in the East.

Incidentally, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first Indian premier to visit Mongolia in 2015. He had visited Gandan Monastery, where the relics will now be displayed, presented a bodhi tree sapling to Hamba Lama, and defined India and Mongolia as spiritual neighbors during his address to the Mongolian Parliament.

India has since doubled down on its efforts to leverage its "soft power," develop and promote the Buddhist circuit, a move made with an eye on China, which has also invested heavily in infrastructure projects to cultivate Buddhist leaders.

India also printed and presented 75 copies of 108 volumes of the "Mongolian Kanjur," a Buddhist canonical text, for distribution to every monastery across Mongolia, and has undertaken to digitize Kanjur manuscripts for the Mongolian government. More

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The drinker who gained enlightenment (sutra)

Maurice O'Connell Walshe (trans.); Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly (Sarakani Sutra, SN 55.24 PTS: S v 375 CDB ii 1811)

Thai Theravada monks, Wat Chedi Luang, Chiang Mai, Thailand (wegstudio/flickr).

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Bamiyan, foothills of the the Himalayas

[At Kapilavastu, Sakya-muni or "the Sage of the Sakyas," the Buddha's birthplace] Now at that time Sarakani the Sakyan [a relative of the Buddha], who had died, was proclaimed by the Blessed One to be a stream-winner [the first stage of enlightenment], no longer subject to rebirth in any states of woe [lower than the human plane], assured of [full] enlightenment [within seven lives].

• Afghan history: the Central Asian grand chessboard

Fat Happy "Buddha" beer bottle

At this a number of Sakyans, whenever they met each other or came together in company, were indignant and angry, and said scornfully: "A fine thing, a marvelous thing! Nowadays anyone can become a stream-winner, if the Blessed One has proclaimed Sarakani who died to be stream-winner...assured of [full] enlightenment! Why, Sarakani failed in his training and took to drink!"

[Mahanama the Sakyan reported this to the Buddha, who responded:] "Mahanama, a lay follower who has for a long time gone for guidance to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha -- how could that person go to states of woe? [And this can be truly asked of Sarakani the Sakyan.] How could that person go to states of woe?

Golden Buddha, hands over heart  mudra,Thai style (Teiemo.espeerotetee/flickr.com)

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"Mahanama, take the case of a person endowed with unwavering confidence in [devotion to] the Buddha, declaring 'He is the Blessed One...' [Note 1] the Dharma... the Sangha... A person who has gained release is joyous and quick in wisdom [2].

"By the destruction of the cankers [the taints or defilements of the mind/heart] a person has by one's own realization gained the taintless heart's release, the release through wisdom, in this very life, and abides in it. This person is entirely released from the [the danger of ever again falling into] hell-states, from rebirth as an animal [3], one is free from the realm of hungry ghosts, fully freed from the downfall, the way of harm, from states of woe [deprivation].

"Take the case of another person. That person is endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha... the Dharma... the Sangha... one is joyous and quick in wisdom but has not yet gained release. Having destroyed the five lower fetters [4], such a person is reborn spontaneously [5] in a world where one will attain nirvana without returning from that world. That person is entirely released from...states of woe.

"Take the case of another person. That person is endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. But one is not joyous in wisdom and has not gained release. Yet, by destroying [the first] three fetters [6] and weakening lust, hatred, and delusion, that person is a once-returner, who will return once more from there to this world and make an end to all suffering. That person is entirely freed from... states of woe.

"Take the case of another person. One is endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. But one is not joyous in wisdom and has not gained release. Yet, by destroying three fetters one is a stream-winner, no longer subject to rebirth in [subhuman] states of woe, but assured of enlightenment [within seven lives]. That person is entirely freed...from states of woe.

"Take the case of another person. One is not even endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. He is not joyous and swift in wisdom and has not gained release. But perhaps he has these things: the faculty of faith, of energy, of mindfulness, of concentration, of wisdom. And the things proclaimed by the Tathaagata are moderately approved by him with insight. That man does not go to the realm of hungry ghosts, to the downfall, to the evil way, to states of woe.

"Take the case of another person. One is not even endowed with unwavering confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha. One is not joyous and quick in wisdom and has not gained release. But one has just these things: the faculty of confidence (faith), energy, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom. Yet, if one merely has confidence, merely affection for the Tathagata, that person, too, does not go to... states of woe [7].

"Why, Mahanama, if these great sal trees could distinguish what is well spoken from what is ill spoken, I would proclaim these great sal trees to be stream-winners...bound for enlightenment. How much more so then Sarakani the Sakyan! Mahanama, Sarakaani the Sakyan fulfilled the training at the time of his death' [8].

FOOTNOTES

1. These are, of course, the standard formulations for referring to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha [community of enlightened/noble individuals, lay and monastic, from stream-winners to arhats]. They seem to fit awkwardly into the context here and may have been interpolated.

2. These terms are used of Sariputra at SN 2.9. Compare the distinction between difficult and easy progress in the Path of Purification (VM XXI, 117).

3. Theosophists and others maintain that rebirth as an animal, after a human existence, is impossible. This view is not supported by the Buddhist texts of any school.

4. Compare Note 300. This is the anagamin or "non-returner."

5. That is, not born from a womb or through parents but by arising in another world by the power of karma, in this case the "Pure Abodes" (suddhavasa), where they will attain to final liberation from efforts made there without having to return to this world).

6. These are the first three of the five lower fetters (orambhagiya-samyojanani, Vol. I, Note 83), that is, (1) "personality-view" (sakkaya-ditthi), the belief in a permanent, really existing self; (2) "doubt" (once the "personality view" has been shattered, there can be no further fundamental doubt about the Dharma); and (3) "attachment to rites and rituals" [clinging to the belief that superficial things can result in enlightenment, which is dependent on calm-and-insight not ceremonies and magic. It is noteworthy that even at this (second) stage on the Path, sensuality (kama-raga) and ill-will (vyapada), the fourth and fifth fetters, are only weakened but not destroyed. Their destruction is, however, inevitable in subsequent stages.

7. An encouraging message for many! Compare to the end of MN 22, and also the charming image of the newborn calf in MN 34. The Commentary (MA) to MN 22 says such people are termed "lesser stream-winners" (cula-sotapanna). This term is discussed in the Path of Purification (VM XIX, 27). The stress laid here on the importance of faith, confidence, or conviction (saddha) is interesting in view of later developments such as the overly devotional Pure Land Schools (e.g., Jodo-Shinshu or "Shin-Buddhism" in Japan).

8. Sarakani, in fact, became a stream-winner right at the moment of death [not during the time when others are criticizing him for not being upright and mindful enough to have possibly accomplished the development of liberating insight].

What is Nirvana? Complete freedom!

Bhikkhu Bodhi (beyondthenet.net); Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha says that he teaches only two things, disappointment (dukkha, suffering) and the end-of-disappointment (nirvana).

That is, he only finds two kinds of questions important. "What is suffering?" and "How do we achieve the end of suffering?"

In the First Noble Truth the Buddha deals with the problem of disappointment. But this truth is the first word, not the final word, of the Buddha's Teaching, the Dharma.

It is the starting point. Here the Buddha begins by talking about the unpleasant, the miserable, which many of us might feel is hopeless or pessimistic.

Yoga Rave (artoflivingla.org)


• "Hey cheer up, Buddha, and party with us -- not that you would know anything about 'partying' having spent 29 years as a prince living in three massive party palaces full of dancing girls, fabulous food and drink, musicians, minstrels, and the surfeit of princely trappings. It was a right royal rave in your private kingdom somewhere between Egypt and India. Never mind about that then. Hey, Buddha, teach us! We want to be free! We want to be liberated from this lack-of-fulfillment, this misery without end. Show us the way!"

The Buddha begins with suffering because Buddhism is designed to bring about an end to ALL suffering. The Dharma, the Teaching, leads those who practice it to liberation.

Hey, A, please no Buddha selfies (AK)

In order to get us there, the Buddha gives a reason for seeking freedom. For example, if a person does not know that the roof is on fire, one lives in that house enjoying oneself, playing, joking, and laughing. To get someone to come out, that person must first become aware that the house is burning, a dangerous smoldering mass soon to collapse and engulf everyone inside.

In the same way, the Buddha announces that our lives are burning. They are burning with rebirth, old age (decay), sickness, and death -- full of loss, separation, weeping, doing anything we can to never think about it, to divert ourselves with addictive sensual delights which we lose, which are hard to come by, and which we are often willing to kill for, to steal, to engage in misconduct, to lie, and to become intoxicated to get. We find temporary relief through them but never gain release.

 

Meditation Barbie: breatharian Amatue

Our hearts/minds are aflame with greed (craving), hatred (fear and aversion), and delusion (confusion). It is only when we become aware of these perils that we have any chance of beginning to seek a way to release and freedom.

In the Second Noble Truth, the Enlightened One points out that we can do something about one of the causes of suffering and thereby undo all suffering. This weak link we can undermine is our craving, which we have been depending on for relief like drug addicts do their drug of choice.

Novices full of devotion (Dietmar Temps)

It is our insatiable desire for a world of sights, sounds, fragrances, flavors, touch sensations, and ideas. Since one of the causes of disappointment is craving (along with aversion and delusion, spelling out as the key in the 12 links of the dependent origination of suffering), the key to reaching the end of disappointment is to undermine this very painful craving.

In the Third Noble Truth the Buddha, therefore, explains nirvana (nibbana) as the extinction of craving because it results in enlightenment and the end of suffering. [To break the chain of dependently arisen suffering only takes breaking one link, and the Buddha saw that it was here with this link, this obsessive craving, that we could make a complete end of suffering].

In the Fourth Noble Truth, the Buddha explains how, namely, the Noble Eightfold Path.

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, what is Nirvana? What is the end-of-all-suffering? (Angelina K)

• Psychological Dimension of Nirvana
• Philosophical Dimension of Nirvana
• Nirvana is an existing reality
• Is Nirvana conditioned by its path
• Is Nirvana mere annihilation ?
• The story of the Turtle and the Fish
• Two elements of Nirvana
• Experience of an Enlightened Person
• State of an enlightened person after passing away
• Mind Stilled

Archeology: New finds may push Buddha's birth

Subodh Varma (TNN, Nov. 26, 2013); Dhr. Seven (ed.), Mara Schaeffer, Wisdom Quarterly

Maya's auspicious dream: Queen Maya, the Buddha's mother, dreamed of conception.

Team of archeologists excavate at site of modern Maya Devi Temple, Nepal (Antiquity)

 

Salabhanjika (Hoysala sculpture, Belur)

NEW DELHI, India - Remains of a tree shrine found buried below the Maya Devi Temple in modern Lumbini, Nepal, may push back the date of the Buddha's birth to the sixth century BCE.

 

The temple is located on what traditionally was thought to be the birth place of the Buddha. His mother, Queen Maya, gave birth to Siddhartha while holding on to a tree branch. [This accords with the legendary Indian motif of a Sal tree dryad or salabhanjika.]

Excavations within the Maya Devi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, uncovered the remains of a previously unknown sixth century BCE timber structure under a series of brick temples.

 

Laid out on the same design as those above it, the timber structure contains an open space in the center that links to the story of the Buddha's birth.
 

Queen Maha Maya, Siddhartha's mother

This is the first archeological material linking the life of the Buddha -- and thus the first flowering of Buddhism -- to a specific century.

 

Until now, the earliest archeological evidence of Buddhist structures at Nepal's Lumbini dated no earlier than the third century BCE, the time of the patronage of the Indian Emperor Asoka, who promoted the spread of Buddhism west from present-day Afghanistan east to Bangladesh [likely the extent of India in his day, centuries after the life of the historical Buddha, the "Shakyan Sage" or Shakyamuni].

 

"Very little is known about the life of the Buddha, except through textual sources and oral tradition," said archaeologist Professor Robin Coningham of Durham University, UK, who co-led the investigation.

 

"Now, for the first time, we have an archaeological sequence at Lumbini that shows a building there as early as the sixth century BC."

The exact date of the Buddha's birth is yet to be established. In Nepal, the year 623 BCE is favored, while in other traditions more recent dates, around 400 BCE, are accepted.

The first clear date linking Lumbini with the Buddha is 249 BCE, when Emperor Ashoka installed a pillar marking it as a sacred place. Lost and overgrown in the jungles of lower Nepal [Terai] in the medieval period, ancient Lumbini was [allegedly] rediscovered in 1896 and identified as the birthplace of the Buddha on account of the presence of a third century BCE sandstone pillar.

• Dr. Pal: Nepal "discoveries" are archeological frauds
• China and Nepal develop the Buddha's "birthplace"
• The historical Buddha -- an earth moving discovery?

The pillar, which still stands, bears an inscription documenting a visit by Emperor Asoka to the site of the Buddha's birth as well as the site's name (as determined by Asoka's men), Lumbini.

The international team of archeologists, led by R.A.E. Coningham and Kosh Prasad Acharya of the Pashupati Area Development Trust in Nepal, say the discovery contributes to a greater understanding of the early development of Buddhism as well as the spiritual importance of Lumbini in Nepal [rather than its more likely location in the area of Seistan Baluchistan near modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran.

Their peer-reviewed findings are reported in the December 2013 issue of the international journal Antiquity. The research is partly supported by the National Geographic Society. More

The earliest Buddhist shrine: excavating the birthplace of the Buddha, Lumbini (Nepal)

Journal.Antiquity.ac.uk

Birth of Siddhartha, future Buddha

Key locations identified with the lives of important religious founders have often been extensively remodelled in later periods, entraining the destruction of many of the earlier remains. Recent UNESCO-sponsored work at the major Buddhist centre of Lumbini in Nepal has sought to overcome these limitations, providing direct archaeological evidence of the nature of an early Buddhist shrine and a secure chronology. The excavations revealed a sequence of early structures preceding the major rebuilding by Asoka during the third century BC. The sequence of durable brick architecture supplanting non-durable timber was foreseen by British prehistorian Stuart Piggott when he was stationed in India over 70 years ago. Lumbini provides a rare and valuable insight into the structure and character of the earliest Buddhist shrines.

 

AUTHORS: R.A.E. Coningham [1], K.P. Acharya [2], K.M. Strickland [3], C.E. Davis1, M.J. Manuel [1], I.A. Simpson [4], K. Gilliland [4], J. Tremblay [1], T.C. Kinnaird [5], and D.C.W. Sanderson [5].

1. Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

2. Pashupati Area Development Trust, Kathmandu, Nepal

3. Orkney College, Univ. of the Highlands and Islands, E. Road, Kirkwall, Orkney KW15 1LX, UK

4. School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK

5. Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 OQF, UKPRESS 

NOTE: This article is EMBARGOED until 17:00 GMT (12:00 EST) on Monday 25 November 2013. To participate in the National Geographic telephone press briefing at 15:00 GMT (10:00 EST) on 25 November, please contact Barbara Moffet at bmoffet@ngs.org

Buddha Boy's Divine Powers (video)

UPDATED June 18, 2012 - Wisdom Quarterly (REPORTING); Etapasvi.com (video)

Buddha Eyes overlook Kathmandu Valley, Bodhnath Stupa, Nepal (Cococinema/flickr.com)

 

The following documentary was made when Buddha Boy (now Ven. Dharma Sangha) had been meditating for three years without food or water. Controversy swirled around him. And few seemed to notice the more extreme miracle: It is extremely difficult if not impossible to sit in meditation for very long. It can be done by superhuman force. But no amount of force can get a teenager to do it for hours on end, day after day, month after month. (Test yourself: Try to sit still for five whole minutes, then imagine that multiplied by 288, the number of five-minute increments in a day, then by...). How many five-minute increments had there been for Buddha Boy in the first ten months? Yet he sat motionless all day long while people stared and filmed and tried to keep up. It's impossible, a "miracle" in and of itself. It was so unbelievable that people said it had to be a mannequin they were staring at. But he moved slightly, he was sweating, he wasn't going to the restroom, which he would have to if he were secretly being fed and given water. Fasting is not the miracle. The real miracle is overcoming the mental chatter ("monkey mind") while sitting with himself and the physical discomfort of not taking breaks.

• NOTE: it is impossible and no knowledgeable person asserts that this is the historical Buddha reborn. Having attained final nirvana (parinirvana), there is no possibility of that. What the locals mean is that Buddha Boy is a bodhisattva, a buddha-to-be, reborn into this world to gain supreme enlightenment and become a teacher pointing the way to the final end of all suffering.
• Giant [final nirvana] Buddha found in Afghanistan

(Etapasvi) "Buddha Boy" is the popular misnomer of Ram Bahadur Bomjon, who was eventually ordained and became Ven. Tapaswi Palden Dorje. 

Buddha Boy, Ven. Dharma Sangha, Palden Dorje

His stated goal was to sit and realize the liberating truth. The many visitors, onlookers, and investigators were disrupting him. He soon realized that would take six years, just as it had the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama, Shakyamuni, "the Sage [muni] of the Shakya Clan"). When he left the area, he found a new banyan tree to sit under. But he also began to teach, and his message was PEACE. That seemed unlikely in the turmoil of Nepal, which has gone from a corrupt monarchy through a Maoist-revolution to some semblance of a republic. He also stood up to protest the barbaric "Old Testament" Brahmin practice of slaughtering an unbelievable number of animals to appease the Hindu gods (Nepal's Mass Animal Sacrifice) during the Gadhi Mai Fest. But the news reaching us today is that Nepal and its former-"last Himalayan Buddhist Kingdom" neighbor Bhutan have become the most peaceful nations in South Asia. His immediate goal seemed to have become to bring peace to Nepal. Mission accomplished.
   

Bhutan, Nepal most peaceful in South Asia

India.NYDailyNews.com, June 14th 2012

Vajrayana Buddhist novices (samaneras) in Nepal and Bhutan (india.nydailynews com)

  

Bhutan and Nepal have been named the first and second most peaceful South Asian nations, respectively. The Asia Pacific region is the fourth most peaceful region in the world.

Bhutan and Nepal have taken the first and second spots as the most peaceful countries in South Asia, according to the latest Global Peace Index (GPI).

  

The study, conducted by the Australia and US-based Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), has ranked Nepal in the 80th place after Bhutan among the 158 nations it took into account.

  

While India figures much behind, in the 142nd position, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have been ranked 103rd, 91st, and 149th among the countries respectively.

  

The GPI, released late on Tuesday, shows Bhutan tops in South Asia with the 19th position, while China has slid in the peace index to 89th from the 80th position last year.

  

According to the report, deaths related to internal conflict, displaced people, weapons export, heavy weapons, armed service personnel, death from external conflict, weapon imports, and jailed population have declined in Nepal. More