You might be interested in an early sutta from the Pāli Canon in which the Buddha is regaled with stories of his miraculous abilities, and his response is that his amazing ability is being able to see mind-states arise and pass.
I've always enjoyed when you bring up this subject because it's one of the main reasons I got into Zen. Seeing the world through the lens of "this is so f'ing amazing" has been my world view my whole life, I never really understood why people wanted more when there's so much already here for us to examine and try to figure out. Truth always has and always will be stranger than fiction.
I have this memory of a passage that I believe was written by Hakuin (this may have been one of his letters), where someone was asking him about some kind of levitation power that some monks or practitioners of some kind were said to have in some other place. His response was interesting to me because he never strongly denied the reality of these monk's levitation and, the way he spoke, even seemed to be casually supposing that it was something that was possible. But then he starts on a different line (I'm heavily paraphrasing): "But whatever is the point of levitating? Does it help you meditate? Does floating a foot above the ground illuminate the matter of life and death? So go ahead and learn how to levitate if you want, but these shallow parlor tricks have nothing to do Zen." For some reason this always stuck with me, and it's unfortunate that I can't find where this was from. A theory I have about 'siddis' is that they are deliberately designed to be time sinks to draw in and neutralize people with a huge will to acquire power who would otherwise wreak all kinds of havoc on others. So you lure them into a temple with the promises or legends of these fantastic powers. The only catch it that it takes years of meditation, various visualizations and esoteric breathing techniques, etc. etc. Otherwise, this type of person would never sit still long enough to try any kind of contemplative practice, but now, suddenly, the very worst and greediest among them are transformed into the best and most attentive students (so long as you can successfully dangle the right carrots in front of them). The end results are largely positive (aside from the fact that you have to be a huge liar or deeply deluded to do this), either the greedy student eventually gives up on this horseshit practice and leaves because they never get any powers, but at least they got in a couple weeks of intense meditation, right? Or you keep them going on this track for a long time and finally just convince them that they really do have powers, yet of course these "powers" are completely harmless to others.
i think youre spot on here. magical powers as upaya to get people to meditate. also, ive heard somewhere that the buddha said to never display these powers in public if you have them. this makes sense if they are just hooks to get people interested in the buddhas message and not real powers. if some dumb monk thought he could fly and tried to display this in the town square and failed, this would make buddhism look like bullshit to the public. im also not denying the possibility that they might exist, even as an experience you have while in really deep states of meditation thats more akin to a hallucination. either way its besides the point of practice.
in the mahayana sutras this kind of thing is EVERYWHERE. laser beams shooting out of the forehead of the buddha that illuminates the entire universe, bodhisattvas coming out of the earth, mind created bodies, teleportation etc. however they seem to function more as literary devices more than anything. the tibetans seem to take those kind of things more literally though. i dont.
No, Tibetans don't take them seriously they are not important subject because once you achieve 1st ground of consciousness you will automatically unlock these super powers.
Thanks for the great talk. Can you explain why is it that doing zazen makes u aware that this moment is amazing and special as opposed to people who dont do it, and think life is boring?
Thanks Brad. A very fine example of the miraculous. Here is another one that almost all Buddhists of all denominations, either overlook or never understood in the first place. After The Buddha abandoned his ascetic practises and reached the release from suffering, he became re acquainted with his five former spiritual companions. At one point the Buddha recited the basis for his triumph and he simply recounted what he had formulated from his experience. He recited the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight fold Path and at that moment Anna Kondanna,(one of the five) reached the first level of enlightenment AKA Stream Entry. Thus proving to The Buddha himself, that the Dharma could be communicated and that this was able to be attained by others. This recitation of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path is otherwise known as The Rolling of The Wheel of Dharma Sutta. Dharma Cakka Pavatthana Sutta, from the Pali Middle Length Sayings collection. Cheers.
Super power Is not important subject in Buddhism because once you achieve 1st ground of consciousness you will automatically unlock thousands of super powers. Super power that can see millions of previous lifetime and can see far other solar systems and can teleport anywhere in instant and can fly and can walk through walls etc
Outstanding video! You're right. We forget how just being alive is a miracle. The fact that I am typing this on my keyboard and you will see it is a miracle. But yet people yearn to see the supernatural and ignore all the amazing stuff around them. My own Zen practice helps me see the everyday miracles!
I think you definitely have a point with your interpretation as the seemingly mundane task of making tea being presented as a power. I'd also point out though that Isan was talking about his dream and they were making tea to wake him up. Buddhism specifically talks about (six I believe) various types of powers like telepathy and teleportation, but the sutras indicate the greatest power is being able to teach the Dharma, awakening others. Could be an element of this going on.
That's very smart A. Brad. Ask people to supports his book n send money. U take people's for been foolish, after u learn n listen to other cultures teaching. Used it for your benefit n advantage to write book to make money..Whats not right is using bad word has u explanation with occasionally using a soft criticism indirect way. Oh sorry forget that u will argue. Freedom of speech. Well in Buddhists teaching, That's wrongful livelihood.
www.amazon.com/Letters-Dead-Friend-about-Zen/dp/1608686019 But buy it at a store if you can, not on Amazon. I get the same amount of money either way. The only way I make more is if you buy directly from me at hardcorezen.info or at a live appearance. But support your local bookstore!
Nice one. Yes, we are living a full-on miracle. Meditation releases conscious awareness from its confines of the body and individual identity and transcends subject/object duality. Apparent time is a feature of the particular physics in which we live, ditto gravity, ditto the edges of this and that. Self-aware existence is an extraordinary experience, if we did but grant it the space to be so.
Probably not connected to the video but, Brad would you mind doing a video on the relevance/non-relevance of the Pali suttas on zen practice. Personally I find them to be a grounding influence compared to some of the Mahayana sutras which tend to be mind-boggling. Thanks.
Showing powers would confuse people, according to several religions you can have powers without being wise or a good person. But according to Buddha ethics and wisdom are important, which makes sense. The powers would show that somebody has succeeded at controlling their own mind, but the goal is also virtue and wisdom.
Through intense meditative practice, siddhis can be manifested. I have experienced this myself. However, the only “superpower” that can more easily attained through practice is the power to be “not stupid”. Unfortunately, few practitioners bother to gain this power.
Good question. There are many things wrong with being stupid. For an explanation in relation to the practice of Buddhism ( as different from unfocused stupidity) I will offer the following example.To benefit from this, try not to get emotional. One example of Buddhist stupidity are Buddhists who hate Donald Trump. Firstly this isn’t exactly “non-attachment”, their incessant focus on him occupies their mind. Time wasted, stupid. Also, this “Trump hatred” reveals their simple minded oblivion to their balls deep dive into The Three Poisons. Greed, Anger, and Ignorance. Greed: They desperately WANT him to be defeated. They desperately WANT their negative opinions of him to known by others, because they desperately WANT to be viewed as politically “woke” .This go’s beyond desire, it is GREED. Anger: See above. Ignorance: Buddhists who hate Trump are ignorant of their own ingestion of these poisons.(see above) Like a Vampire seeking its reflection in a mirror. I use this example due to this stupidity infecting American Buddhism. This is not the only stupidity. The next ones will likely appear after I post this reply. It may manifest itself as the Siddhi known as “telepathy”. The power of those angered by this post to “read my mind”. This won’t be an actual Siddhi, but, it would be a “stupidity”.
@@IrvingGod I misunderstood your original comment and thought you meant "stupid" as having a low level of intelligence. Some people aren't very intelligent at all and that's quite alright, personally I am terrible at math, but others are willfully ignorant. I agree though, it's harmful and unproductive to foster hate for anything.
Mr.Foxx, To the point, stupidity stops progress towards the beneficial. To build a house, using a balloon instead of a hammer prevents progress in building a house. However, have learned to enjoy stupidity in others, as long as it doesn’t impede my own efforts. It’s a form of entertainment.
Yep, spot on! That's it. The real superpower is this very moment as is and the knowing of it. It's actually all that is and the failing of recognizing this, complaint about the moment or being carried away by the its contents is our fundamental delusion. 😘
If you are searching for how capable lord buddha is, consider reading the "Achintheyya Suthraya". In dharma, it describes that the capabilities of lord buddha is limitless, and an average person cannot understand to a which level his capabilites are spreading out.
Americans - How do you say Bud? How do you say buck? How do you say bucket? Is it said like Boo-kit? Or buck-it? How do you say buff? Is it pronounced boof? No. Well then why the hell do you slaughter the pronunciation of Buddha or Buddhism? It isn't Boo-da or Boo-dhism. It's BUDDhism and BUDDha. Also, the H isn't silent, we aren't pronouncing herbs here (although newsflash the h isn't silent there either). Coming from an infuriated Englishman as you continue to destroy my native language... Maybe I need to meditate more...? 😄
New watcher here. Have you done any videos about the history of Zen in Japan in terms of its involvement with the government, war, and violence? This is something that interests me about any religion. On one hand, any belief system can be misused and corrupted by fallible humans. On the other, isn't the point of any philosophy or practice to make us better humans? While I don't expect any religion's followers to always live up to its highest ideals, I'm interested in knowing which ones have the best track record of transforming people and societies in positive ways.
I have not done that specific topic. As you may know there is a book out about that called ZEN AT WAR by Brian Victoria. My own teacher, Gudo Nishijima, volunteered to serve in the Japanese army during WWII and (much later, of course) he read that book. He said most of it was true and that it was shameful that so many in the Japanese Zen institutions had supported the war effort. However, he also said the book got a lot of things very wrong. In particular it painted Nishijima's teacher Kodo Sawaki as an avid and enthusiastic supporter of Japanese imperialism. Nishijima knew Sawaki personally and said this was completely untrue. Also, the author didn't seem to grasp how differently people will act when their nation is under attack by a foreign power. No matter what the reasons for the attack are, even if those people know their nation is in the wrong, they will still want to protect and defend their families and their neighbors. Here he is talking about a little it. ua-cam.com/video/Qg6vdoqnTOA/v-deo.html
And it's a god damned miracle that we can look at you through a screen connecting the whole world and then send you money to keep you doing your thing!
This stuff is totally normal when you are a Kuten. It's a fine balance between being active with them and suppressing them for the sake of living "normally" in this life though. Nice channel.
in Christianity, we just heard about jesus's miracles and super powers that happens 2 thousand years ago.. in Buddhism, you can experience it yourself now by yourself.. just meditate.. don't expect to see a miracles overnight.. just do a routine meditation and fasting.. at times, you will experience an out of body experience or a lucid dream.. don't do a meditation that teach by westerners in some ads that a guy or a girl do a sitting meditation and then he/she have a positive everyday life and smile every day.. you do a meditation and fasting because you want to be enlightened and be one with the higher self or universe.. one day you will experience one.. meditation is one and only thing that god gave to human beings to connect with him/her/it(god).. meditation is very ancient..
That is dzogchen tradition the fastest vehicle of Buddhism. If you cultivate you can attain maha rainbow in just 6month or if your IQ is low rate it will take 1 year if your IQ is very low it will take 3 years.
I haven't seen anything like walking on water or feeding a multitude with two fish and two loaves of bread. On the other hand, I've experienced some stuff which is... odd.
I understand your point, but If one wants to know about the existence or non-existence of the Buddha's superpowers, wouldn't it be better to study the Pali Canon, rather than the teachings of a person called Dogen who lived centuries apart from the Buddha? And I am fully aware that superpowers can be a distraction on the path to Nirvana, but people can still be curious. And instead of answering that it is unnecessary to think about superpowers, you could say that you don't believe or know enough about superpowers to respond properly. If you had taken the time to do deeper research, you might find that among the closest disciples of the Buddha, there was a monk called Moggallana who was confirmed by the Buddha to have had the strongest psychic powers only second to the Buddha himself. However, according to the Buddha, these powers were not necessary in order to reach enlightenment, which is proven by the fact that other disciples were also able to reach enlightenment without having any special powers. The Buddha himself forbade the usage of special powers to gain fame and popularity, as it would only distract people from the path to enlightenment. This was not meant to be an argument. I simply wanted to share what I know to help clarify this issue. BTW, I enjoyed over 80% of your previous video. Keep up the good work. Sadhu!
I don't doubt that some "super powers" exist. I didn't say that in this video, but I've said it elsewhere. My own interest in Zen was very much sparked by the fact that I, myself, have experienced such things and no one outside of the Zen world had a good response to the existence of such powers.
The " yamaka", or Twin Miracle of water and fire from the lower and upper extremities, is found in the Dhammapadatakatha. Just as Jesus had a disciple named " Twin" ( doubting Thomas), the Buddha had a doubting disciple named " twin"( yamaka). Jesus says " life giving waters*" will flow from his " belly" and the Rev of St. John says Jesus had eyes the color of the hottest fire ( red&blue) the same eye color as The Buddha ( violet/nila). The miracle was said to have been aimed at humbling the Buddha's clan of SCYTHIANS/ SAKAE. The Christian parallel is the Jews claiming, like the Sakae, to be The Chosen people. *Life giving water: the only standard medicine a monk is allowed to cary is his own " putrid urine". We all excrete water from our lower parts and hot air via our mouths.
I enjoyed the video but I think you miss the point, allow me to explain and I'd really welcome an answer of sorts from anybody. I'd class myself as somewhat Buddhist (I don't like to apply labels to myself) as I follow the teachings, instructions and attend Buddhist classes etc. But the main reason I don't call myself a full on Buddhist is because Buddhism makes some outlandish claims, claims I don't throw completely out of the window but claims that are unprovable and unrealistic. Such as law of karma, reincarnation, deities, superhero powers, ghosts and miracles. So when we're discussing superhero powers like levitation or turning into a rainbow body light-being, it isn't that being here already isn't crazy and a miracle itself, it's that these claims are outside of the actual reality of physics and reality etc. So it's a cop-out to not address this seriously and brush it aside, otherwise why even make the claims in the first place? We're told these powers come to monks after reaching certain "levels" of enlightenment, and it's possible and believable, yet we don't see it anywhere, literally nowhere if anything it's usually just magic tricks or incredible mind power for pain or body limits. We're talking levitation here, flying, turning into light not the ability to not eat for a while or handle large amounts of pain, we're talking things outside of actual known reality. So it really is important if these claims are made. So the main question is, how are we supposed to believe the rest of it (miracles of the Buddha, even his very existence, karma, Gods and reincarnation) if this simple claim is never ever proven? The mind stuff, techniques, peace and philosophy of Buddhism still holds strong and can be proven with subjective application and subjective knowing, no dispute there. The rest of it though just seems like ancient nonsense and fairy tales adding to it with whimsical outlandish claims to glam it up a bit, just like with Christianity. In fact any Buddhist cannot criticise Christianity because of this, as really Buddhism has just as crazy miraculous claims too. That's why the questions are asked, not because Buddhists don't recognise the already mad reality of just being alive, but because it either helps strengthen faith and belief in Buddhism or shakes the foundations of most of its claims instead. *Especially karma and reincarnation. Which are foundational to Buddhism.* Also I'll add, if a group of monks living on earth right now can perform these feats like flying, walking on water or going invisible then wouldn't it be in the best interests for Buddhism and *EVERYBODY'S* enlightenment to show this? I mean man, if just 1 of those guys did it on camera on live TV and let scientists study them flying etc to prove it was legit, just think how many new Buddhists you'd have overnight?! That'd be great for people's enlightenment no?! Even if they get in for the wrong reasons of super powers they'd eventually see the truth behind Buddhism and it'd turn many onto the right path anyway no? So then why don't we see this? Is it a big conspiracy? Are monks shy? Or is it, most likely, because it's impossible and these people don't actually exist and never have?
My way of dealing with it is I just don't worry about it much. I think maybe reincarnation is true, but I don't get too concerned about it. Karma seems to happen so often in my actual lived experience that I no longer doubt it. I don't think that Buddhism stands or falls depending on whether one believes in reincarnation and karma. Stephen Batchelor has written a lot about that particular subject, especially in his books Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist and After Buddhism. My other thought here is that, after a lot of years of zazen, I am entirely certain that my perceptions of the world I am living in are fundamentally flawed. They can be made to seem accurate with a lot of fancy mental tricks that usually occur below the level of consciousness. But once I started to see how many mental tricks I used to create and bolster the notion that I perceived things correctly, the idea that the standard materialistic worldview was true just sort of fell apart like a wet tissue.
@@HardcoreZen yeah I completely agree with you and enjoy pretty the exact same understanding as you and live my life as such. I was just looking into Siddhis and came across your excellent video but thought I'd bring up that point as I thought it was missed. I'm definitely not an atheist myself and tend to lean on karma and reincarnation being true, but then I read these other claims and obviously I'm seeking to find if there is also truth in them too, which so far seems they aren't. But I'll keep an open-mind and I appreciate the response so thank you and I've subbed. 👍🙂
@@Refulgent_Rascal Groovy! I'm gonna use a version of your comment in a video. This is because I think it brings up some interesting points. Sometimes ppl take it personally when I use these sorts of things, but it's nothing to do with you. These are questions that have interested me for a long time & you put them very well.
despite my having pointed out the fictionality of buddha several times to you, you fail to do any research on the subject and persist in treating "the tales of buddha" as historically real one of the interesting differences with christianity, especially the old testament is many of the people are clearly historically real as archeology shows, josiah of juda and various other kings at one extreme, peter, paul, james and pontius pilate in the new testament, however moses and jesus are of course completely fictional composites, but buddhism is entirely fictional i think its actually mentally ill to persist with a delusion like buddha was a real person
Some people enjoy the teachings of one of the various forms of christianity and others of us enjoy the teachings of the buddha. Weather anyone in either of the religions are real or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that we use what we feel necessary to make our selves better. And trying to belittle someone because their ideas do not match yours is against the teachings and philosophies of both christianity and buddhism. I wish you best and hope that you over come what ever is eating at your mind and soul.
@@osip7315 And yet here you are, acting like an ignorant dork. Besides, don't you have something better to do that constantly whining about Brad Warner?
You might be interested in an early sutta from the Pāli Canon in which the Buddha is regaled with stories of his miraculous abilities, and his response is that his amazing ability is being able to see mind-states arise and pass.
That's the Acchariy’abbhūtadhamma Sutta (MN 123.) I was going to leave a similar comment but you beat me to it (^____^)
Thanks! I'll look that one up.
Thanks@@DougsDharma
Thank you Brad. I just washed dishes and made coffee and it was amazing.
I've always enjoyed when you bring up this subject because it's one of the main reasons I got into Zen.
Seeing the world through the lens of "this is so f'ing amazing" has been my world view my whole life, I never really understood why people wanted more when there's so much already here for us to examine and try to figure out.
Truth always has and always will be stranger than fiction.
Once you're mastered meditation these things will happen and zen masters always warn disciple not to turn to the dark side.
The dark side is a path to many abilities some consider to be… unnatural.
@@sirgalahad1376 Do or do not, there is no try.
@@sirgalahad1376 A surprise, for sure.. but a welcome one.
to quote "the" genesis:
"This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given"
"If what Jesus said was good, what can it matter whether he was God or not?" -- Kurt Vonnegut
You’re awesome Brad. Thanks for the reminder on the miracle of being here, right now. Patreon money on its way!
I have this memory of a passage that I believe was written by Hakuin (this may have been one of his letters), where someone was asking him about some kind of levitation power that some monks or practitioners of some kind were said to have in some other place. His response was interesting to me because he never strongly denied the reality of these monk's levitation and, the way he spoke, even seemed to be casually supposing that it was something that was possible. But then he starts on a different line (I'm heavily paraphrasing): "But whatever is the point of levitating? Does it help you meditate? Does floating a foot above the ground illuminate the matter of life and death? So go ahead and learn how to levitate if you want, but these shallow parlor tricks have nothing to do Zen." For some reason this always stuck with me, and it's unfortunate that I can't find where this was from.
A theory I have about 'siddis' is that they are deliberately designed to be time sinks to draw in and neutralize people with a huge will to acquire power who would otherwise wreak all kinds of havoc on others. So you lure them into a temple with the promises or legends of these fantastic powers. The only catch it that it takes years of meditation, various visualizations and esoteric breathing techniques, etc. etc. Otherwise, this type of person would never sit still long enough to try any kind of contemplative practice, but now, suddenly, the very worst and greediest among them are transformed into the best and most attentive students (so long as you can successfully dangle the right carrots in front of them). The end results are largely positive (aside from the fact that you have to be a huge liar or deeply deluded to do this), either the greedy student eventually gives up on this horseshit practice and leaves because they never get any powers, but at least they got in a couple weeks of intense meditation, right? Or you keep them going on this track for a long time and finally just convince them that they really do have powers, yet of course these "powers" are completely harmless to others.
i think youre spot on here. magical powers as upaya to get people to meditate. also, ive heard somewhere that the buddha said to never display these powers in public if you have them. this makes sense if they are just hooks to get people interested in the buddhas message and not real powers. if some dumb monk thought he could fly and tried to display this in the town square and failed, this would make buddhism look like bullshit to the public. im also not denying the possibility that they might exist, even as an experience you have while in really deep states of meditation thats more akin to a hallucination. either way its besides the point of practice.
in the mahayana sutras this kind of thing is EVERYWHERE. laser beams shooting out of the forehead of the buddha that illuminates the entire universe, bodhisattvas coming out of the earth, mind created bodies, teleportation etc. however they seem to function more as literary devices more than anything. the tibetans seem to take those kind of things more literally though. i dont.
No, Tibetans don't take them seriously they are not important subject because once you achieve 1st ground of consciousness you will automatically unlock these super powers.
@@user-Void-StarWhat is first ground of consciousness?
Thanks for the great talk. Can you explain why is it that doing zazen makes u aware that this moment is amazing and special
as opposed to people who dont do it, and think life is boring?
Thanks Brad. A very fine example of the miraculous. Here is another one that almost all Buddhists of all denominations, either overlook or never understood in the first place. After The Buddha abandoned his ascetic practises and reached the release from suffering, he became re acquainted with his five former spiritual companions. At one point the Buddha recited the basis for his triumph and he simply recounted what he had formulated from his experience. He recited the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight fold Path and at that moment Anna Kondanna,(one of the five) reached the first level of enlightenment AKA Stream Entry. Thus proving to The Buddha himself, that the Dharma could be communicated and that this was able to be attained by others. This recitation of the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path is otherwise known as The Rolling of The Wheel of Dharma Sutta. Dharma Cakka Pavatthana Sutta, from the Pali Middle Length Sayings collection. Cheers.
Super power Is not important subject in Buddhism because once you achieve 1st ground of consciousness you will automatically unlock thousands of super powers. Super power that can see millions of previous lifetime and can see far other solar systems and can teleport anywhere in instant and can fly and can walk through walls etc
@@user-Void-Star😂😂
I actually believe in siddhis. I just don't think they are divine or inaccessible. They are available to geniuses. But that's not important.
Brilliant video, thank you.
Oi! Hope you will start doing podcasts again! You make me laugh and think 😂 Good combination!
Outstanding video! You're right. We forget how just being alive is a miracle. The fact that I am typing this on my keyboard and you will see it is a miracle. But yet people yearn to see the supernatural and ignore all the amazing stuff around them. My own Zen practice helps me see the everyday miracles!
Wow dude u maked my day
I think you definitely have a point with your interpretation as the seemingly mundane task of making tea being presented as a power. I'd also point out though that Isan was talking about his dream and they were making tea to wake him up. Buddhism specifically talks about (six I believe) various types of powers like telepathy and teleportation, but the sutras indicate the greatest power is being able to teach the Dharma, awakening others. Could be an element of this going on.
"Eating a peach is Enlightenment"
And when it comes out the other end, this too is Enlightenment!
That's very smart A. Brad. Ask people to supports his book n send money. U take people's for been foolish, after u learn n listen to other cultures teaching. Used it for your benefit n advantage to write book to make money..Whats not right is using bad word has u explanation with occasionally using a soft criticism indirect way. Oh sorry forget that u will argue. Freedom of speech. Well in Buddhists teaching, That's wrongful livelihood.
Question: what is your new book going to be about?
www.amazon.com/Letters-Dead-Friend-about-Zen/dp/1608686019
But buy it at a store if you can, not on Amazon. I get the same amount of money either way. The only way I make more is if you buy directly from me at hardcorezen.info or at a live appearance. But support your local bookstore!
Nice one. Yes, we are living a full-on miracle. Meditation releases conscious awareness from its confines of the body and individual identity and transcends subject/object duality. Apparent time is a feature of the particular physics in which we live, ditto gravity, ditto the edges of this and that. Self-aware existence is an extraordinary experience, if we did but grant it the space to be so.
Probably not connected to the video but, Brad would you mind doing a video on the relevance/non-relevance of the Pali suttas on zen practice. Personally I find them to be a grounding influence compared to some of the Mahayana sutras which tend to be mind-boggling. Thanks.
Showing powers would confuse people, according to several religions you can have powers without being wise or a good person. But according to Buddha ethics and wisdom are important, which makes sense. The powers would show that somebody has succeeded at controlling their own mind, but the goal is also virtue and wisdom.
The double miracle: extinguishing suffering by churning it into enlightenment.
Through intense meditative practice, siddhis can be manifested. I have experienced this myself. However, the only “superpower” that can more easily attained through practice is the power to be “not stupid”. Unfortunately, few practitioners bother to gain this power.
what's wrong with being stupid?
Good question.
There are many things wrong with being stupid.
For an explanation in relation to the practice of Buddhism ( as different from unfocused stupidity) I will offer the following example.To benefit from this, try not to get emotional.
One example of Buddhist stupidity are Buddhists who hate Donald Trump.
Firstly this isn’t exactly “non-attachment”, their incessant focus on him occupies their mind. Time wasted, stupid.
Also, this “Trump hatred” reveals their simple minded oblivion to their balls deep dive into The Three Poisons. Greed, Anger, and Ignorance.
Greed: They desperately WANT him to be defeated. They desperately WANT their negative opinions of him to known by others, because they desperately WANT to be viewed as politically “woke” .This go’s beyond desire, it is GREED.
Anger: See above.
Ignorance: Buddhists who hate Trump are ignorant of their own ingestion of these poisons.(see above) Like a Vampire seeking its reflection in a mirror.
I use this example due to this stupidity infecting American Buddhism. This is not the only stupidity. The next ones will likely appear after I post this reply. It may manifest itself as the Siddhi known as “telepathy”. The power of those angered by this post to “read my mind”. This won’t be an actual Siddhi, but, it would be a “stupidity”.
@@IrvingGod I misunderstood your original comment and thought you meant "stupid" as having a low level of intelligence. Some people aren't very intelligent at all and that's quite alright, personally I am terrible at math, but others are willfully ignorant. I agree though, it's harmful and unproductive to foster hate for anything.
has a superpower, but too scared to say what it is ?
Mr.Foxx,
To the point, stupidity stops progress towards the beneficial.
To build a house, using a balloon instead of a hammer prevents progress in building a house.
However, have learned to enjoy stupidity in others, as long as it doesn’t impede my own efforts.
It’s a form of entertainment.
Great vid man!
Yep, spot on! That's it. The real superpower is this very moment as is and the knowing of it. It's actually all that is and the failing of recognizing this, complaint about the moment or being carried away by the its contents is our fundamental delusion. 😘
If you are searching for how capable lord buddha is, consider reading the "Achintheyya Suthraya". In dharma, it describes that the capabilities of lord buddha is limitless, and an average person cannot understand to a which level his capabilites are spreading out.
Americans - How do you say Bud? How do you say buck? How do you say bucket? Is it said like Boo-kit? Or buck-it? How do you say buff? Is it pronounced boof? No.
Well then why the hell do you slaughter the pronunciation of Buddha or Buddhism? It isn't Boo-da or Boo-dhism. It's BUDDhism and BUDDha. Also, the H isn't silent, we aren't pronouncing herbs here (although newsflash the h isn't silent there either). Coming from an infuriated Englishman as you continue to destroy my native language...
Maybe I need to meditate more...? 😄
New watcher here. Have you done any videos about the history of Zen in Japan in terms of its involvement with the government, war, and violence? This is something that interests me about any religion. On one hand, any belief system can be misused and corrupted by fallible humans. On the other, isn't the point of any philosophy or practice to make us better humans? While I don't expect any religion's followers to always live up to its highest ideals, I'm interested in knowing which ones have the best track record of transforming people and societies in positive ways.
I have not done that specific topic. As you may know there is a book out about that called ZEN AT WAR by Brian Victoria. My own teacher, Gudo Nishijima, volunteered to serve in the Japanese army during WWII and (much later, of course) he read that book. He said most of it was true and that it was shameful that so many in the Japanese Zen institutions had supported the war effort. However, he also said the book got a lot of things very wrong. In particular it painted Nishijima's teacher Kodo Sawaki as an avid and enthusiastic supporter of Japanese imperialism. Nishijima knew Sawaki personally and said this was completely untrue. Also, the author didn't seem to grasp how differently people will act when their nation is under attack by a foreign power. No matter what the reasons for the attack are, even if those people know their nation is in the wrong, they will still want to protect and defend their families and their neighbors. Here he is talking about a little it. ua-cam.com/video/Qg6vdoqnTOA/v-deo.html
And it's a god damned miracle that we can look at you through a screen connecting the whole world and then send you money to keep you doing your thing!
Miracles do not bring wisdom and enlightenment - Buddha was very clear about it
great! love this!
Loved it.
To convince others that they have witnessed a miracle, that's a superpower. What's the difference between a hypnotist and a magician really?
This stuff is totally normal when you are a Kuten. It's a fine balance between being active with them and suppressing them for the sake of living "normally" in this life though. Nice channel.
Lovely analogy of what miracles are
in Christianity, we just heard about jesus's miracles and super powers that happens 2 thousand years ago.. in Buddhism, you can experience it yourself now by yourself.. just meditate.. don't expect to see a miracles overnight.. just do a routine meditation and fasting.. at times, you will experience an out of body experience or a lucid dream..
don't do a meditation that teach by westerners in some ads that a guy or a girl do a sitting meditation and then he/she have a positive everyday life and smile every day.. you do a meditation and fasting because you want to be enlightened and be one with the higher self or universe.. one day you will experience one..
meditation is one and only thing that god gave to human beings to connect with him/her/it(god).. meditation is very ancient..
Rainbow body is sort of a modern day miracle among enlightened monks (tibetan).
That is dzogchen tradition the fastest vehicle of Buddhism. If you cultivate you can attain maha rainbow in just 6month or if your IQ is low rate it will take 1 year if your IQ is very low it will take 3 years.
@@user-Void-Star I will probably take 5 years, and that's ok.
@@rseyedoc best of luck
I saw that at Rainbow Gathering
Buddhism ☸️ ❤
my re-working of jinzu :
some-one gave the buddha a statue of a previous buddha
that is the superpower, there are no others
I have been in many meditation circles.mostly Buddhist.. I HAVE YET TO SEE A SUPERNORMAL EVENT. Only second hand stuff. In over 25 years
I haven't seen anything like walking on water or feeding a multitude with two fish and two loaves of bread. On the other hand, I've experienced some stuff which is... odd.
GREAT!
i can make that last slice of pizza disappear. Shazaam!
That is talent!
Yes.
ugh i really wanted to know what the superpowers were lol
I understand your point, but If one wants to know about the existence or non-existence of the Buddha's superpowers, wouldn't it be better to study the Pali Canon, rather than the teachings of a person called Dogen who lived centuries apart from the Buddha? And I am fully aware that superpowers can be a distraction on the path to Nirvana, but people can still be curious. And instead of answering that it is unnecessary to think about superpowers, you could say that you don't believe or know enough about superpowers to respond properly. If you had taken the time to do deeper research, you might find that among the closest disciples of the Buddha, there was a monk called Moggallana who was confirmed by the Buddha to have had the strongest psychic powers only second to the Buddha himself. However, according to the Buddha, these powers were not necessary in order to reach enlightenment, which is proven by the fact that other disciples were also able to reach enlightenment without having any special powers. The Buddha himself forbade the usage of special powers to gain fame and popularity, as it would only distract people from the path to enlightenment. This was not meant to be an argument. I simply wanted to share what I know to help clarify this issue. BTW, I enjoyed over 80% of your previous video. Keep up the good work. Sadhu!
I don't doubt that some "super powers" exist. I didn't say that in this video, but I've said it elsewhere. My own interest in Zen was very much sparked by the fact that I, myself, have experienced such things and no one outside of the Zen world had a good response to the existence of such powers.
@@HardcoreZen I see, thank you for taking the time to respond. Keep up the good work that you do. Sadhu.
Why not make it more bizarre? or actually how it normally is
6 realms are timeline of universe.
Perfect
The " yamaka", or Twin Miracle of water and fire from the lower and upper extremities, is found in the Dhammapadatakatha. Just as Jesus had a disciple named " Twin" ( doubting Thomas), the Buddha had a doubting disciple named " twin"( yamaka).
Jesus says " life giving waters*" will flow from his " belly" and the Rev of St. John says Jesus had eyes the color of the hottest fire ( red&blue) the same eye color as The Buddha ( violet/nila).
The miracle was said to have been aimed at humbling the Buddha's clan of SCYTHIANS/ SAKAE. The Christian parallel is the Jews claiming, like the Sakae, to be The Chosen people.
*Life giving water: the only standard medicine a monk is allowed to cary is his own " putrid urine".
We all excrete water from our lower parts and hot air via our mouths.
Interesting. Thank you!
I enjoyed the video but I think you miss the point, allow me to explain and I'd really welcome an answer of sorts from anybody.
I'd class myself as somewhat Buddhist (I don't like to apply labels to myself) as I follow the teachings, instructions and attend Buddhist classes etc. But the main reason I don't call myself a full on Buddhist is because Buddhism makes some outlandish claims, claims I don't throw completely out of the window but claims that are unprovable and unrealistic. Such as law of karma, reincarnation, deities, superhero powers, ghosts and miracles. So when we're discussing superhero powers like levitation or turning into a rainbow body light-being, it isn't that being here already isn't crazy and a miracle itself, it's that these claims are outside of the actual reality of physics and reality etc. So it's a cop-out to not address this seriously and brush it aside, otherwise why even make the claims in the first place?
We're told these powers come to monks after reaching certain "levels" of enlightenment, and it's possible and believable, yet we don't see it anywhere, literally nowhere if anything it's usually just magic tricks or incredible mind power for pain or body limits. We're talking levitation here, flying, turning into light not the ability to not eat for a while or handle large amounts of pain, we're talking things outside of actual known reality. So it really is important if these claims are made.
So the main question is, how are we supposed to believe the rest of it (miracles of the Buddha, even his very existence, karma, Gods and reincarnation) if this simple claim is never ever proven?
The mind stuff, techniques, peace and philosophy of Buddhism still holds strong and can be proven with subjective application and subjective knowing, no dispute there. The rest of it though just seems like ancient nonsense and fairy tales adding to it with whimsical outlandish claims to glam it up a bit, just like with Christianity. In fact any Buddhist cannot criticise Christianity because of this, as really Buddhism has just as crazy miraculous claims too.
That's why the questions are asked, not because Buddhists don't recognise the already mad reality of just being alive, but because it either helps strengthen faith and belief in Buddhism or shakes the foundations of most of its claims instead.
*Especially karma and reincarnation. Which are foundational to Buddhism.*
Also I'll add, if a group of monks living on earth right now can perform these feats like flying, walking on water or going invisible then wouldn't it be in the best interests for Buddhism and *EVERYBODY'S* enlightenment to show this?
I mean man, if just 1 of those guys did it on camera on live TV and let scientists study them flying etc to prove it was legit, just think how many new Buddhists you'd have overnight?! That'd be great for people's enlightenment no?! Even if they get in for the wrong reasons of super powers they'd eventually see the truth behind Buddhism and it'd turn many onto the right path anyway no? So then why don't we see this? Is it a big conspiracy? Are monks shy? Or is it, most likely, because it's impossible and these people don't actually exist and never have?
My way of dealing with it is I just don't worry about it much. I think maybe reincarnation is true, but I don't get too concerned about it. Karma seems to happen so often in my actual lived experience that I no longer doubt it. I don't think that Buddhism stands or falls depending on whether one believes in reincarnation and karma. Stephen Batchelor has written a lot about that particular subject, especially in his books Confessions of a Buddhist Atheist and After Buddhism.
My other thought here is that, after a lot of years of zazen, I am entirely certain that my perceptions of the world I am living in are fundamentally flawed. They can be made to seem accurate with a lot of fancy mental tricks that usually occur below the level of consciousness. But once I started to see how many mental tricks I used to create and bolster the notion that I perceived things correctly, the idea that the standard materialistic worldview was true just sort of fell apart like a wet tissue.
@@HardcoreZen yeah I completely agree with you and enjoy pretty the exact same understanding as you and live my life as such. I was just looking into Siddhis and came across your excellent video but thought I'd bring up that point as I thought it was missed. I'm definitely not an atheist myself and tend to lean on karma and reincarnation being true, but then I read these other claims and obviously I'm seeking to find if there is also truth in them too, which so far seems they aren't. But I'll keep an open-mind and I appreciate the response so thank you and I've subbed. 👍🙂
@@Refulgent_Rascal Groovy! I'm gonna use a version of your comment in a video. This is because I think it brings up some interesting points. Sometimes ppl take it personally when I use these sorts of things, but it's nothing to do with you. These are questions that have interested me for a long time & you put them very well.
another finger pointing at the moon...
Shemp, Larry, and Mu. The Three Stooges of Zen? lol
Good one!
God bless me America! 😂
So buddhism offers nothing
despite my having pointed out the fictionality of buddha several times to you, you fail to do any research on the subject and persist in treating "the tales of buddha" as historically real
one of the interesting differences with christianity, especially the old testament is many of the people are clearly historically real as archeology shows, josiah of juda and various other kings at one extreme, peter, paul, james and pontius pilate in the new testament, however moses and jesus are of course completely fictional composites, but buddhism is entirely fictional
i think its actually mentally ill to persist with a delusion like buddha was a real person
Some people enjoy the teachings of one of the various forms of christianity and others of us enjoy the teachings of the buddha. Weather anyone in either of the religions are real or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that we use what we feel necessary to make our selves better. And trying to belittle someone because their ideas do not match yours is against the teachings and philosophies of both christianity and buddhism. I wish you best and hope that you over come what ever is eating at your mind and soul.
@@stevet7522 buddhism ostensibly is about truth and not sham yet it is sham and not true
You consistently demonstrate arrogance in your comments, what incentive does Brad have to listen?
@@SonofSethoitae not to appear an ignorant dork ?
@@osip7315 And yet here you are, acting like an ignorant dork. Besides, don't you have something better to do that constantly whining about Brad Warner?