Dharma Wheel

The physical Sun is so large that it could burn Earth to ashes in a few seconds.
There are yogis who have achieved the power of controlling the sun of outer world. There are inner yoga practices where sun is a force inside one's body.
In Dewachen or Sukhavati there is no sun in the sky. There space is not dark and black as it is in our world system. There space is light. There beings' bodies radiate light, their bodies have an inner sun or inner source of light, (beings' bodies emit light also in Deva realms of our universe).
I haven't invented this, it is told in the literature of the Pureland School.

This is a fascinating tidbit, thank you

Best,
Laura

Anyone can cover the Sun with just one finger. Is it a miracle? No. Science has its own cosmology which is not the same as Buddhist cosmology. Yogis can snatch away the Sun and turn around the Moon. Scientists can explain to you the Solar wind and build rockets to land on the Moon.

an article about Miracles of Gautama Buddha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles_of_Gautama_Buddha
recommended!!

another one about supernormal powers (iddhi), with a list of sutras where they are discussed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iddhi

Are you saying that truth is many and not one ?

I'm saying that there are different views. The question, in my view, is not their truth but their effect, their function.

Astus wrote:I'm saying that there are different views. The question, in my view, is not their truth but their effect, their function.

Funny you should mention the possible moon rockets, there are explanations why the moon rocket fraud was created, take a look at this page of Michael Palomino
http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/a ... index.html
it is an excellent introduction to the topic.

Aemilius wrote:

Astus wrote:I'm saying that there are different views. The question, in my view, is not their truth but their effect, their function.

Funny you should mention the possible moon rockets, there are explanations why the moon rocket fraud was created, take a look at this page of Michael Palomino
http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/a ... index.html
it is an excellent introduction to the topic.

I read it. The man is completely nuts.

catmoon wrote:

Aemilius wrote:

Astus wrote:I'm saying that there are different views. The question, in my view, is not their truth but their effect, their function.

Funny you should mention the possible moon rockets, there are explanations why the moon rocket fraud was created, take a look at this page of Michael Palomino
http://www.geschichteinchronologie.ch/a ... index.html
it is an excellent introduction to the topic.

I read it. The man is completely nuts.

Oh yeah ? How about this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdMvQTNLaUE ?

Actually, this kind of doubting normally accepted events is a good example of how even apparently real things are questioned by some. And then people can start arguing about it. But where does that lead to? Nowhere, besides some bad feelings. Believing in the moon landing or not has no effect on one's progress to enlightenment, nor on being a better person. But indulging in rows and generating an angry mind certainly has a negative effect.

Astus wrote:Actually, this kind of doubting normally accepted events is a good example of how even apparently real things are questioned by some. And then people can start arguing about it. But where does that lead to? Nowhere, besides some bad feelings. Believing in the moon landing or not has no effect on one's progress to enlightenment, nor on being a better person. But indulging in rows and generating an angry mind certainly has a negative effect.

How do you know?

Aemilius wrote:
Oh yeah ? How about this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdMvQTNLaUE ?

I watched this and came to the conclusion that the presenter in the video is indeed in full possession of his senses. Unfortunately he seems to know next to nothing about physics, and hence finds many of the the phenomena, which he so keenly observes, inexplicable. But a keen observer should also notice many other strange effects caused by working in a vacuum and low gravity that verify the reality. The presenter simply ignores things like the unearthly dust-settling behaviour, optical effects caused by the extreme contrast between light and shadow and so on.

I watched your video, will you watch mine?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmSroT3RkmQ

It is unnecessary to argue about the evidence, I myself thought for decades that the issue is only for lunatics, then I found out that reality is manmade, is mindmade, is in fact a product of imagination. It works the same way as samaya and damtsig work in tantrism. The high generals give the samaya, i.e. they say what is the truth, and others keep their vows and thus uphold the truth, and then it becomes the truth. The moon rocket is only one instance of this principle and this phenomenon. It is however very important for the Lankavatara sutra world view, I think it happened during Tathagata Shakyamuni's lifetime that some manufactured truth had become accepted as reality by the large majority, which gave rise to the teaching of Lankavatara, in Lankavatara Shakyamuni has gone away from India for awhile, he doesn't have many disciples left, the general tone of the Lankavatara is somewhat bitter,...
The moon trip is a vast subject, it is difficult to approach it meaningfully, many things have happened, especially to the moon rocket -samaya breakers of the society after September 11, 2001. Then it also happened that Europe sent a rocket with a probe to the moon in 2003, its voyage, one way, took five (5) months! It changed many things, as you can understand. But then started a massive propaganda about the Apollo program, that totally drowned the european rocket, that had in fact gone to the Moon. Hardly anyone knows about this european moon rocket even in Europe !!! Thus we can safely say that reality is propaganda made, is imagination, etc...