(WQ) Fear, the media demands it. It fans the flames in the guise of good science when the research bias is built into the process. In spite of all other evidence, fear rules. One worries, and it is by fear and worry that one does things certain to cause harm in the hopes of escaping possible harm. Who would purposely inject toxins like mercury (Thimerosal or Thiomersal) and substances likely to induce autistic spectrum disorder in children, pregnant women, or anyone? A fearful person would. Vaccines -- not as a concept but as they are practiced by the pharmaceutical industry -- will harm those who ingest them. While doing little if any good, harm is guaranteed. Unfortunately, mass panic makes vaccination demand a social phenomenon. However, as an individual decision, it is possible to avoid harm.
The medium of the vaccine is animal-based. No version of it is vegetarian. Whether one is ingesting a live virus (attenuated) as a mist or by injection, the body is being burdened by toxins that will not prevent contracting the disease and are likely to lead to the disease. The harm is called iatrogenic. An incomprehensible amount of harm is caused by pharmaceutical products prescribed and used as directed. It is not an accident, it is not misuse. Education and non-fear, keeping oneself sane and balanced in spite of a panic or media frenzy, is the solution. This is neither the first campaign nor will it be the last. This is how wars are sold to the public, how people accept the loss of civil rights, and how we hand over our health. It will happen again. Politicians are complicit, and trusted voices in public health and the university follow along. Look into it, beyond the scare tactics, or be afraid, very afraid. An example of the immediate harm brought on by worry is the harmful use of "hand sanitizers."
King scraps Saudi woman flogging for sex talk show Donna Abu-nasr (AP, Oct 26, 2009) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Saudi Arabia's king waived a flogging sentence on a female journalist charged for involvement in a risque TV show, the second such pardoning of such a high profile case by the monarch in recent years. King Abdullah's decision to waive 22-year-old journalist Rozanna al-Yami's sentence of 60 lashes by a judge in Jiddah follows intense international media attention. More>>
Tammi Hagensick through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II
(WQ) This brief overview begins with a description of the extreme Jain tradition and its ancient Indian practices of distinguishing healthy (sattvic), over-stimulating (rajasic), and dark (tamasic) foods. Jains practice harmlessness (ahimsa) and compassion and are therefore vegetarian. It is close to Buddhism and Hinduism.
But Buddhism is a world religion. And part of its universal appeal derives from not instituting absolute restrictions. Vegetarianism is voluntary. But animals are not butchered by any Buddhists and are never specially slaughtered for monks or nuns. Yet, Buddhists who eat meat are said not to incur bad karma. However, even among those who eat meat, "royal" (elephants, horses) and vengeful animals (lions, tigers, snakes, panthers, bears, and hyenas) are avoided. Kindness and moderation are the ideals. Fasting, common around the world, is lauded. Monastics and intensive meditators "fast" daily, inasmuch as they do not eat solids after midday -- to stay healthy, mindful, and be easily supported.
Hinduism, like Jainism and Buddhism, recommends a vegetarian diet with vital taboos against eating certain animals, such as cows, monkeys, camels, pork, fowl, crabs, and snails. Like Jews, Hindus have elaborate food laws with fasting and feasting days. Success in meditation, purity, sacrifice, and social standing are some of the motivations for a harmless diet.
Jewish kashrut or kosher foods are presented. Islamic laws of halal and haram (healthy and harmful) foods are then described, based on the Koran. Both religions consider pork taboo. Moreover in Islam alcohol, Arabic for the "Dark One," and all spirits are forbidden.
Catholic diets are seasonal, with strict observations during Lent. But gluttony is a taboo all year around, which does not seem possible to observe due to the high carbohydrate, MSG and corn-laden byproducts of the West's processed junkfoods. Obesity, diabetes, cancers, and a shortened lifespan are the result.
Zoroastrianism is briefly previewed, where reasonable eating is the rule. Rastafarians avoid pork -- a custom borrowed from Judaism and/or Islam -- since they consider themselves a lost tribe of Israel. Like Muslims, all drugs (even coffee) other than cannabis, are forbidden.
Seven Jaini (Wisdom Quarterly) and Lila Sakura (Kwan Yin material)
(WQ) For those who may not have yet noticed, there are two kinds of Buddhism. One (called Mahayana) is a populist movement that started centuries after the time of the historical Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama). Instead of understanding (or transcendent wisdom), devotion is emphasized, as are chanting, stories, rituals, and dependence on great masters and intervening entities.
The other (called Theravada) is closer to what the Buddha actually taught -- subtle and much less appealing to devotional inclinations. Instead of faith (or confidence in external objects), wisdom is emphasized, as are practice towards enlightenment in this life, meditation, and self-reliance. Chanting ancient texts for recollection (sati), protection (paritta), and uplift also figures into the practice. However, it is more a monastic endeavor rather than mantra-japa or prayer. And it is usually done in the exclusively Buddhist language Pali, a version of which (Magahi) the Buddha spoke.
This chanting emerges from the first type of Buddhism. The intervening entity either being honored, brought to mind, beseeched, relied on, or prayed to is Kwan Yin (Guan Yin, Kannon, Avalokita/Avalokiteshvara, the Mother Goddess in her guise as a Indo-Sino personification of "compassion").
Mahayana Buddhism is tre-mendously influenced by ideas and ideals that are more Hindu than is generally recognized. It prefers Sanskrit texts. For it is a school that emerged, not in China or Japan, but in India. It co-opted Buddhism's growing popularity as an Indian movement independent and philosophically antagonistic to Hinduism (the Brahmanism of the Buddha's day). It syncretized innovative Buddhist teachings, which were rejections of key Hindu tenets, with some of the very Hindu concepts the historical Buddha worked hard to rectify.
Buddhist terms were then used. And entire sutras, not attributable to the historical Buddha, were invented. Oftentimes the ideas behind these new sutras are quite Hindu but dressed in Buddhist guise. Therefore, like the innumerable gods of Hinduism, Avalokita morphed into a diety that vowed with infinite compassion to become a bodhisattva who saves the world.
This deity is called Kwan Yin (Kuan Yin, Gwan Yin, Guan Yin) and is akin to Catholicism's Mother Mary and/or her would-be savior son, who is an avatar of the God Almighty of Christian dogma (a sort of brahma).
Bearing this in mind, and construing karma ("accumulated deeds capable of bearing a result") in a decidedly Hindu and Christian manner, this mantra promises to cleanse one of accumulated "sin," as it were.
Namo ratna travaya / namo arya jnana sagara, Vairochana / byuhara jara Tathagataya arahate samyaksam Buddhaya / namo sarwa Tathagate bhyaya arhata bhyah / samvaksam Budde bhvah / namo Avalokite shoraya bodhisattvaya / maha sattvaya / maha karunikaya / tadyata / Om dara dara / diri diri / duru duru / itte we / itte chale chale / purachale purachale kusume kusuma wa re / ili milli chiti jvalam / apanave shoha.
Adoration to the noble Avalokitesvara, bodhisattva, the great compassionate one.
Having paid adoration to One who Dispels all Fears, O noble Avalokitesvara, to You adoration, O Nilakantha.
I shall enunciate the "heart" dharani, which ensures all purposes, is pure and invincible for all beings, and which purifies the path of existence.
Thus: Lord of Effulgence, the World-Transcending One, come, come, great bodhisattva, descend, descend. Bear in mind my heart-dharani. Do, do the work. Hold fast, oh Victor, oh Great Victor. Hold on, hold on, oh Lord of the Dharani. Move, move oh my immaculate image, come, come. Destroy every poison. Quick, bear in mind, quick, quick, descend, descend. Being enlightened, being enlightened, enlighten me, enlighten me. Oh merciful Nilakantha appear unto me. To you who eyes us, hail. To the Great Siddha, hail. To the Great Siddha in Yoga, hail. To Nilakantha, hail. To the Boar-faced, hail.
Adoration to the Triple Gem. Adoration to the noble Avalokitesvara bodhisattva, hail (The Tibetan and Himalayan Library at thdl.org).
Avalokitesvara (Sanskrit), the Bodhisattva of Compassion in the Lotus Sutra, became known as Kuan Yin. The Chinese found it easier to think of "compassion" in terms of a loving and compassionate goddess (also known as Chenrezig and Kannon).
Chanting has its Rewards
Reciting the Great Compassion Mantra can prevent and cure the eighty-four thousand kinds of diseases, including AIDS and pneumonia. This mantra can prevent and cure all kinds of illness and diseases if recited with utmost sincerity, according to the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua.
"To recite it a full five times in one evening is to wipe away your heavy offenses of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, tens of thousands of millions of aeons of birth and death" (Dharani Sutra).
Benefits of Reciting People and gods [devas] who recite and hold the Great Compassion Mantra will obtain fifteen kinds of good birth and will not suffer fifteen kinds of bad death.
15 Bad Deaths
They will not die of starvation or privation.
They will not die from having been yoked, imprisoned, caned, or otherwise beaten.
They will not die at the hands of hostile enemies.
They will not be killed in military battle.
They will not be killed by tigers, wolves, or savage beasts.
They will not die from the venom of poisonous snakes, black serpents, or scorpions.
They will not drown or be burned to death.
They will not be poisoned to death.
They will not die as a result of sorcery.
They will not die of madness or insanity.
They will not be killed by landslides or falling trees.
They will not die of nightmares sent by malevolent people.
They will not be killed by malignant spirits or ghosts.
They will not die of ruinous illnesses which bind the body.
They will not commit suicide.
15 Good Births
Those who recite and hold the spiritual Mantra of Great Compassion will not suffer any of these fifteen kinds of unfortunate deaths. But they will obtain the following fifteen kinds of good births:
Their place of birth will always have a good king.
They will always be born in a good country.
They will always be born at a good time.
They will always meet good friends.
The organs of their body will always be complete.
Their heart will be pure and full in the way.
They will not violate the prohibitive precepts.
Their family will be kind and harmonious.
They will always have wealth and goods in abundance.
They will always obtain the respect and help of others.
Their riches will not be plundered.
They will obtain everything they seek.
Dragons, devas, and good spirits will always protect them.
Where they are born they will see the Buddha and hear the Dharma.
They will awaken to the profound meaning of the proper Dharma they hear.
Those who recite and hold the Great Compassion Mantra will obtain these fifteen kinds of good birth. All devas and people should constantly recite and hold it, without carelessness.
This video features the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe performing the Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance; the members are all deaf. Music can be downloaded here:
Investigative journalist Leslie Cockburn examines Wall Street and Main Street, visiting defectors from Bear Stearns, Standard and Poor's, and other high-level players in the subprime mortgage gamble and working-class Americans on the flipside.
(NPR.org) Financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin discusses his investigation into what really happened one year ago during the financial collapse and bailout. That's the epic tale he tells in his new book Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves.
(Politico) The biggest decision of the economic recovery will be made in the next six months, and Barack Obama will have almost nothing to do with it. Forget the debate over TARP, and never mind the questions about a second stimulus. This decision is about when to pull out $1 trillion that’s propping up the U.S. banking system. And it will be Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his Fed colleagues who make the call. That’s hard enough for a White House that knows its political fortunes rise and fall with the economy. More>>
Michael Moore's new film explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown. It takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.
From the tropics to hidden China to Antarctica, the ends of the Earth, there's an entire world of travel waiting for intrepid American adventurers. Join WQ at one or more of these locations.
Thai Buddhist tra-vel: Buddhism is the national reli-gion of Thailand, practiced by 90% of the population. Theravada Buddhism, which has preserved the Buddha's original doctrine and traditions, came from India by way of Sri Lanka, Burma, and other Southeast Asian countries. It is Thailand's national treasure as distinct from Mahayana, a later school popular in China and Japan. Monks and golden monasteries are an everyday fixture in Thai society, with tropical natural wonders that are hard to match anywhere. More>> (asia-discovery.com)
The Yungang grottoes were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Located at the southern foot of China's Wuzhou Mountain (16 km west of Datong City, Shanxi province), the Yungang grottoes are one of the three major cave clusters in China, along with the Longmen in Luoyang and the Mogao in Dunhuang.
The Yungang grottoes, with 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent an outstanding achievement in Buddhist cave art in China. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece during the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art.
Cave 20, one of the five earliest caves by the Mahayana monk Tan Yao, houses a sitting statute of Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha. It is 13.7 meters high with a full, round face, majestic smile, slim lips, a high nose, ears that extend almost to the shoulders, radiant eyes, and broad shoulders.
(Expansions.com) Journey to the Bottom of the Earth. This Time Travel adventure will set sail on Jan. 4, 2010 to one of the least explored continents, Antarctica (hurtigruten.us). Rates include all but air transportation. This is a culmination of Stewart Swerdlow's years of research. Join him as he visits the last continent on his itinerary.
Learn and scan the 4th Reich under Antarctica
US military and alien bases
Ancient cities and artifacts
Sources of ELF bombardment at the magnetic South Pole
There will be many guided exercises to determine attendants' roles in the Antarctic puzzle, connections to the 4th Reich and Antarctica mind-control and programming and how to undo it. Part of the three volume series True World History. More>>
Canadian therapist and blogger at Change Therapy Isabella Mori brings up an excellent point: "the wisdom quarterly americanbuddhist journal features a number of articles on climate change. while they are interesting (for example, an article on climate change in canada’s nunavut, formerly known as northwest territories, and another article on how climate change nurtures the growth of diseases) they are reprints from news services, not original articles. it would be interesting to have a commentary on the wisdom quarterly’s buddhist views of these world events (i’m thinking of the good work alexander does in this area with hiscommentaries from a baha’i view.)"
We're thrilled our Canadian readers are astute observers. Q: Why does WQ reprint articles? A: We want to make sure the news is out there. Q: Why does WQ not comment from a Buddhist point of view? A: Sometimes it's enough that people become aware of important issues even without comment. (Of course it does beg the question, How are we ever going to win a Blogisattva Award if we don't comment? Wink. How will we ever reach the commentarial heights of Blogography? How will we get a booth at Blogworld?) Here, then, is the missing commentary.
The environment is a Buddhist issue. If the personal is political, then the regional is religious.
Implicit in all this is a valid question, "Well then what is Wisdom Quarterly's Buddhist view on the matter?"
It is interesting to note that the Buddha never spoke of one's welfare and benefit without mentioning two other considerations. In addition to taking one's own health, happiness, and gain into account, the other person involved must be taken into account. Moreover, beyond that, the welfare and benefit of "both" is to be considered. Who? What is this third consideration if the first two have already been covered?
It's possible that it's a rhetorical flourish (idiomatic Prakrit, Magadhi, Pali, Sanskrit, or whatever regional dialect the Buddha spoke in the kingdom of Magadha). More likely, however, "both" refers to the environment, community, society, the "whole," as it were. It is not enough that we benefit ourselves, which we must do but never at the expense of others. It would be worse (yes worse, not equal or better) to benefit only the other person directly involved. Martyrdom is not wisdom. Wisdom is finding a win-win angle in every situation.
Just as the native Americans considered seven subsequent generations in their decisions, Buddhists consider the other person directly involved AND the environment, that is, those not directly involved. "Others" means those indirectly involved, strangers in the community, the people you're not likely to meet but whom you are having an impact on.
What we as Americans decide has an effect on far flung regions of the continent: the Nunavut in Canada feel the impact of our daily decisions. I can live with dirtier air; my neighbor may not like the sting or the fact that I'm shaving a few months off his/her life. But acid rain and Arctic warming for the Nunavut?
Taking the whole into consideration, I would do everything I could to keep our (everyone's) environment clean.
Mori was specific in asking for a little more climate change wisdom:
what do you/i/we take from all this?
We want a sustainable environment. And by "we," we don't just mean Engaged Buddhists.
nonduality and duality
Duality (or the idea of separation and independence from constituent conditions like the aggregates or our interdependence with others) is a pernicious misperception, a lingering distortion. Confident that we are all one -- united by our wish for happiness (or at least non-suffering), survival, and fulfillment if nothing else -- we improve and everyone else simultaneously improves whenever we take everyone into consideration. We are part of that everyone; in other words the wish "May all living beings be well and happy" always also includes us.
the personal and the political
We coined a new phrase adding to the American-English lexicon, "The regional is religious." Personal decisions affect the body politic. Regional decisions affect religion as it is practiced. If something is a disservice to anyone, is anyone else really benefiting?
water and ice
Clean ice is wonderful and crucial for the health of the planet; dirty water we have enough of.
what would [the] buddha do?
The historical Buddha (Siddhartha the former Sakyan prince who abandoned the world and its disputes) would bring his neighbors together in amity, as he repeatedly attempted when the Sakyan clan was going to be massacred for having insulted a neighboring tribe in provincial ancient India, or when he attempted to settle a river water dispute, or when he cleaned up the environment after a severe famine (all good sutras to cover in the future).
what IS [the] buddha doing?
Those formations (aggregates) by which "the Buddha" was formerly designated (though they were at all times radically impermanent, thoroughly incapable of satisfying, and void of identity) are no longer in play. Maitreya, the buddha-to-come, who now resides in a superordinate plane above the human (we hesitate to say "heaven," which is misleading) and not in southern Nepal, has something more to offer the world than recycling and environmentalism.
But it is interesting to note that when "Buddha Boy" (aka, Ram BahadurBomjon or PaldenDorje) emerged from his prolonged meditation and allegedly complete fast to speak to the world, his principal concern was the state of the world: "Murder, violence, greed, anger, and temptation have made the human world a desperate place. A terrible storm has descended upon the human world. And this is carrying the world towards destruction. There is only one way to save the world and that is through Dharma (spiritual practice)." (See the WQ translation of his entire speech).
In closing, what we choose individually and personally does not remain private. It affects the world around us, first perhaps benefiting our immediate circles but soon extending out to encompass farflung and unseen worlds, even village life in distant Nunavut, which means "our land" but does not refer simply to the Arctic Archipelago or the human world. What would the Inuk think of our decisions or our proximate neighbors, the Dows and the Joneses, for that matter? It's something to consider.
SuperFreakonomics What Should You Worry About? Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (Parade.com),10/18/09)
Killer sharks? Disease? We're bad at assessing risk — we panic about the wrong things.
Humans are good at many things — typing, inventing stuff — but we're quite bad at assessing risk. Day after day, we get bent out of shape over things we shouldn’t worry about so much, like airplane crashes and lightning strikes, instead of things we should, like heart disease and the [government's newest] flu. So how can we find out what's truly dangerous? Economics. More>>
Scientists have a new creation myth: Black holes may have played a starring role in the creation of the universe from the BBC science show "Supermassive Black Holes."
Dualisms shape our worldview. They include Mind/Matter, Self/ Other, Perception/Reality, Quantum/Classical, Wave/Particle, Spiritual/Material, Beginning/End, Male/Female, Living/Dead, and Good/Evil.
Wisdom gained through meditation, yoga, and mystical experiences suggest these dichotomies are illusory. Eastern mystics know a single underlying reality called advaita, Brahman, the Tao, or nirvana, from which all existence arises through consciousness. Nonduality is the philosophical and spiritual understanding that dualisms obscure a deeper reality of non-separation and fundamental oneness.
On the other hand, science depends on empirical data leading to reductionism, materialism, and apparent dichotomies. But discoveries in quantum physics, brain sciences, consciousness studies, biology, cosmology, psychology, and other fields have revealed nonduality in science as well, suggesting mysticism and science share a common source.
Applying nondual perspectives in science and scientific perspectives in Eastern spiritual approaches are the twin goals of the first public conference on the Science of Nonduality. Join us for three days seeking fundamental oneness in quantum physics, philosophy, consciousness studies, cosmology, art, Buddhism, psychology, and spiritual metaphysics. More>>
COMMUNITY: This groundbreaking event is the first public conference on the topic of science and nonduality. There will be future conferences and gatherings as the movement grows. This will include a series of ongoing weekend workshops with top guest speakers to be held around the US, with video clips of the highlights regularly added to the downloads page on this website.
Subscribe to the newsletter and participate in community discussions in the forum, as well as keeping up to date with the latest announcements on the news page: VISIT THE BLOGForum and FACEBOOK
Top scientists, philosophers, psychologists, and researchers from the US and around the world will be speaking on a variety of diverse but related topics. This is an exciting and unique opportunity to experience the insights of some exceptional minds in their respective fields, whether it’s neuroscience, quantum physics, art, Buddhism, or cosmology. View the program
FILM SCREENINGS We will be showing a series of films that touch on the subject of nonduality. Learn more
Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy Conference Now in its 10th year, the Nondual Wisdom and Psychotherapy Conference will be an integral part of the Science and Nonduality Conference. Sixteen cutting-edge speakers will present to psychology professionals, students, and general public. More>>
(WQ) Buddhist monastics worldwide observe a Rains Retreat (Vassa) period annually. They remain at one location and emphasize meditation and teaching the Dharma to devotees who frequent temples, monasteries, and Buddhist centers. At the conclusion of three months, which corresponds to the rainy period in ancient India, a special robe (Katina) is offered.
It is said to be the most meritorious offering, a millennia-old custom from the time of the Buddha. (See talk below). Temples throughout Los Angeles and the world are celebrating this month, each selecting a particular date. Cambodian, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Indonesian, Korean, Laotian, Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese temples in particular celebrate what amounts to the second (behind Vesak) most important event on the Buddhist calendar.
Katina, LA Buddhist Vihara, Pasadena, CA, Oct. 18, 2009 (WQ).
Pavarana Purnima is a Buddhist holiday celebrated on the full moon of the eleventh lunar month. It marks the conclusion of Barsha Brata (Vassaor "Rains Retreat"), sometimes referred to by the West as "Buddhist Lent."
This day marks the end of the rainy season in Asian countries such as Bangladesh, where Theravada Buddhism has been practiced since the time of the Buddha. In India, where Buddhism began, there is a three-month rainy season. The Vinaya (Mahavagga, 4th Khandhaka, Section I) tells the origination story. Once during the rainy season, a group of wandering monks sought shelter by remaining in residence. In order to minimize the potential for interpersonal strife, they agreed to remain silent for the entire three months and settled on nonverbal cues for sharing alms.
After the rains, when the Buddha learned of their silence, he called the measure misguided. Instead, he instituted a means for dealing with potential conflict and breaches of the major monastic disciplinary rules (Patimokkha) during the rains:
"I prescribe, O monastics, that monastics when they have finished their rains residence, hold a gathering to determine what [offence] has been seen, heard, or suspected. Hence it will result that you live in concord, restore any lapses in discipline, and keep the rules of discipline before your eyes."
The Rains Retreat is a time of intensive meditation and reflection. Even laypersons wishing to practice alongside monastics undertake Eight Precepts. As is customary throughout the year, lay people continue to observe Uposatha days in support of their meditation practice and to re-energize their commitment to the Dharma. Physical labor (construction projects, repairs, etc.) in monasteries is curtailed.
Whenever possible, lay people use these days as an opportunity to visit their local monastery in order to make special offerings to the Sangha (ordained disciples). The Rains culminate in the Katina robe offering ceremony, which is held on any convenient date within one month of the conclusion of the retreat. It is also the time of year when new robes and other requisites are offered to the Sangha for the year. Source (Adnan/DrikNEWS)
The "Discourse on the Great Assembly" is the most stunning illustration of advanced beings coming to the human plane expressly to see the Buddha along with the arahants. This "mighty gathering" took place when the Buddha returned to the land of his ancestors, near Kapilavatthu. (It is disputed whether this region is located in modern Nepal or Afghanistan, as Ranajit Pal argues, both of which were part of greater ancient India; see more at the Lumbini controversy).
A large number of recently ordained monastics, from the Sakyan and Koliyan clans, came to the Buddha to declare their attainment of enlightenment. Devas from many thousands of world-systems approached to observe the occasion.
Four brahmas from the Pure Abodes, noticing that devas had gathered in the Great Wood to see the Buddha and a group of enlightened disciples, decided to visit too. They assumed grosser form, appeared before the Buddha, saluted him, and stood respectfully to one side. The first announced why they had come:
"Great is the assembly in the forest here, the devas have met And we are here to see the unconquered Sangha."
Although "Sangha" can refer either to the community of ordained disciples or to all noble disciples, the adjective "unconquered" implies that the brahmas were admiring the enlightened disciples led by the Buddha.
The second brahma said:
"The ordained disciples with concentrated minds are straight: They guard their senses as the driver does his reins."
The third brahma used additional similes to describe the achievement of arahants:
"Bars and barriers broken, the threshold-stone of lust torn up, Unstained the spotless seers go, like well-trained elephants."
The fourth brahma spoke these lines:
"Who [goes for guidance to] the Buddha, no downward path will go: Having left the body one will join the deva hosts." (DN 20.3)
This brahma knew that anyone who has genuine faith in the Buddha will not create unskillful karma that could lead to a lower plane of existence. That is how "taking refuge" in (going for guidance to) the Buddha assures individuals of a deva birth, not some magical power of his.
The Buddha then told the disciples that devas and brahmas from surrounding world-systems frequently come to see him and the Sangha. It is not Siddhartha Gautama the Sakyan prince they come to honor, but Gautama the Buddha and the community of noble ones. The Buddha indicates that this is a general rule. Wise deities and divinities used to come to see past buddhas and will do the same for future ones as well.
Then, so the disciples could learn their identities, the Buddha announced the names of the groups of devas and brahmas as they presented themselves before him. The list included earth-bound devas, the Four Great Kings with their retinues, asuras, Sakka, residents of the Tusita and Yama planes, occupants of the sun and moon, denizens of the two highest deva planes, and Maha Brahma "shining bright with all of this [sexless] being's retinue." The Buddha related that the devas were saying:
"One who's transcended birth, one for whom No obstacle remains, who's crossed the flood, Cankerless, we'll see, the Mighty One, Traversing free without transgression, as Tthe moon that passes through clouds." (DN 20.19)
This discourse illustrates another aspect of the relationship between the Buddha -- the "supreme teacher" -- and heavenly beings. Some of them only yearn for an audience so they can express their confidence in him, acclaiming him in public.
At pivotal moments in the Buddha's career, various deities often played supporting roles. We read of devas showing respect at these turning points, helping him to overcome obstacles, and frequently proclaiming his feats far and wide.
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