More UFOs

Casual conversation between friends. Anything goes (almost).
Locked
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

More UFOs

Post by KristenM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -them.html

What’s the “Buddhist perspective” on these UFO sightings? One of my favorite classes in college was called “the Search for Extraterrestrial Life.” It was a scientific study of the legitimate probability of life beyond our planet. The conclusion being that it’s far more likely than not that life exists beyond the earth and that the majority of it would probably be far advanced considering our location in a newish area of the universe. Maybe it doesn’t matter but hey, it’s pretty interesting I’d say. Looks like we may in for more news on this subject in June. :alien:
Schrödinger’s Yidam
Posts: 7885
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 6:13 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Schrödinger’s Yidam »

What’s the “Buddhist perspective” on these UFO sightings?
Any potential aliens don’t have a ‘self’ either.
1.The problem isn’t ‘ignorance’. The problem is the mind you have right now. (H.H. Karmapa XVII @NYC 2/4/18)
2. I support Mingyur R and HHDL in their positions against lama abuse.
3. Student: Lama, I thought I might die but then I realized that the 3 Jewels would protect me.
Lama: Even If you had died the 3 Jewels would still have protected you. (DW post by Fortyeightvows)
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

Re: More UFOs

Post by KristenM »

Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 2:03 am
What’s the “Buddhist perspective” on these UFO sightings?
Any potential aliens don’t have a ‘self’ either.
Accurate, but...

User avatar
Budai
Posts: 878
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:12 pm
Location: ༀ ∞ Nam Myoho Renge Kyo ∞ ༀ

Re: More UFOs

Post by Budai »

Take it from the Dalai Lama on how we should treat aliens or visitors from other planets, in this short two minute video:



:alien:

:heart:

Om Mani Padme Hum.
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

Re: More UFOs

Post by KristenM »

Könchok Chödrak wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 3:52 am Take it from the Dalai Lama on how we should treat aliens or visitors from other planets, in this short two minute video:



:alien:

:heart:

Om Mani Padme Hum.
Aww that was sweet. Of course, extraterrestrial life to the Dalai Lama (and us) is a given. :hug:
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

Re: More UFOs

Post by KristenM »



:tantrum:
User avatar
FiveSkandhas
Posts: 917
Joined: Sat Jun 29, 2019 6:40 pm

Re: More UFOs

Post by FiveSkandhas »

TharpaChodron wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 3:28 am
Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 2:03 am
What’s the “Buddhist perspective” on these UFO sightings?
Any potential aliens don’t have a ‘self’ either.
Accurate, but...

IMHO, yeah, that's all there is.
Buddhism posits all kinds of worlds and realms populated by all kinds of beings, from nagas to devas and beyond. What's so special about aliens? They are just another type of sentient being empty of intrinsic self-existence, deserving of compassion.

I've never understood the fascination with aliens or the need to pin some kind of metaphysical specialness on them. Smells new-agey. Do not like. No offence to the OP but the whole thing seems irrelevant to Buddhism.
:anjali:
"One should cultivate contemplation in one’s foibles. The foibles are like fish, and contemplation is like fishing hooks. If there are no fish, then the fishing hooks have no use. The bigger the fish is, the better the result we will get. As long as the fishing hooks keep at it, all foibles will eventually be contained and controlled at will." -Zhiyi

"Just be kind." -Atisha
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Aemilius »

Vimanas and Ufos in tantric and nontantric buddhism https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=77&t=8503

Vatican spaceprobe https://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=21978

Image

Heliocentric world in a Sumerian cylinder seal
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Aemilius »

Aerial cars occur prominently in the Lotus Sutra Chapter 7., in the translation of H. Kern. They are mentioned briefly in the verse section of Chapter 15. of the H. Kern transl.

Venerable Hsuan Hua, in his commentary on the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra Chapter 7. (Section N3), says: "Together with their palaces. Where ever they went, they rode in their palaces. Although in the human realm we do not have houses that fly such as those celestial palaces, but we have buses that can take us everywhere. Of course, the buses are very small and inconvenient compared to these large palaces. We also have mobile homes that are cramped and inconvenient. They are not large and cannot fly the way those palaces can."

Ven. Hsuan Hua continues in Section N4: "Since they felt that their palaces were the most precious things in the world, and they loved them more than anything else, they gave them to the Buddha. Sometimes people get very fond of their cars. They may even dream about them at night, dreaming that they give them gas or take care of them. The gods are extremely fond of their palaces. Their palaces can fly, and they can travel by land with them, they can sail through space and ride on clouds. They are their most prized possessions. Now, having met the Buddha, they give up their most cherished palace-cars, and they say, 'Buddha, please have mercy on us. Be compassionate and benefit us by accepting the palaces. Accept the palaces and occupy them.' "

nichirenlibrary.org is strangely silent about this in their explanations to the White Lotus sutra.
Last edited by Aemilius on Sun May 16, 2021 2:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Aemilius »

Luis O. Gomez (translator): Land of Bliss, The Paradise of the Buddha of Measureless Light, sanskrit and chinese versions of the Sukhavativyuha sutras,

page 104: The Blessed One said: "Do you also see, Ajita, those living beings traversing the sky in that buddha-field without holding on to anything, riding on celestial, flying palaces a hundred thousand league wide?"

page 217: "Those who are reborn in a womb inhabit flying palaces of a hundred leagues or five hundred leagues; and in those palaces each and every one experiences all manner of delightful pleasures; and, again, all of these they experience spontaneously, exactly as in the Heaven of the Thirty Three."

page 240: The phrase "without holding on to anything" (asakta) involves a triple pun: (1) The palaces do not hang on to anything, but fly freely and by their own power; (2) the palaces encounter no obstacle or resistance; and (3) their inhabitants (or passengers) in these mobile buildings are themselves free from attachment in their progress towards enlightenment.

page 253: The Palace of Seven Jewels is sometimes connected with the parable or allegory of the imprisoned prince, and with the "flying palaces" (vimana), in which persons of weak faith are reborn. Some interpreters have equated these with the "Palace of Seven Jewels".

page 314: Palace of Seven Jewels: A castle or palace, where, according to Sanghavarman's version of the Longer Sutra, persons of faltering faith are reborn in the Land of Bliss. They remain in this palace, deprived of the vision of Amitabha and his retinue, for five hundred years. This condition is considered the same as the conditions of remaining in the smaller flying palaces.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
KristenM
Posts: 1335
Joined: Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:13 am
Location: California

Re: More UFOs

Post by KristenM »

FiveSkandhas wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 7:41 am
IMHO, yeah, that's all there is.
Buddhism posits all kinds of worlds and realms populated by all kinds of beings, from nagas to devas and beyond. What's so special about aliens? They are just another type of sentient being empty of intrinsic self-existence, deserving of compassion.

I've never understood the fascination with aliens or the need to pin some kind of metaphysical specialness on them. Smells new-agey. Do not like. No offence to the OP but the whole thing seems irrelevant to Buddhism.
:anjali:

Indeed, Buddhism is full of all of the above worlds/beings mentioned. So we can't be surprised. IMO there's a difference between cheesy new agey obsession with UFO/Aliens and a bit of mild interest in the topic given it's in the news. Will it change anything in terms of Buddha Dharma? No. The Buddhist perspective is that it's irrelevant and doesn't change a thing, albeit is expected. Got it. Well, nothing to see here folks, move on. :)
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Aemilius »

"Vimana" is mentioned twice in Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosa, and it is explained in the commentaries of Abdhidharmakosa, which say that there are two kinds of vimana, ones that are like large disks and others that are like flying palaces. This bit of information is found in the foot notes of the English translation. The word is also found in the Chinese Buddhist dictionaries, I have been told.
One more sutra, that has vimanas (in the sense of flying palaces), is Shurangama-samadhi sutra, which has been translated by Etienne Lamotte.
The name Prinata-chakra sutra, which is the origin of the vimana-multiplication-mantra, means something like Lovely Sphere sutra, or Charming Disk sutra.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9439
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

The likelihood of other beings in the universe is enormous. The universe is also enormous. It’s so enormous that there is better chance of finding a thumbtack someone dropped somewhere in the Sahara Desert a year ago than there is that a being from another planet would ever discover Planet Earth.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
User avatar
Shotenzenjin
Posts: 614
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:23 pm

Re: More UFOs

Post by Shotenzenjin »

The Buddha attained enlightenment many kalpas( eons ) in the remote past.
Since our species has not even been around for one eon let alone many. The Buddha must of been a different species when he attained enlightenment. Perhaps an alien species. He certainly couldn't of been human.
Generation's shall pass, our determination shall grow, at the foot of Mount Fuji
Like smoke that reaches far beyond the clouds.--nichimoku shonin. Third high priest of Nichiren Shoshu

Hokekko of true Buddhism https://nstny.org

Introduction to Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... VKyEQ_cxK9
User avatar
Johnny Dangerous
Global Moderator
Posts: 17090
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:58 pm
Location: Olympia WA
Contact:

Re: More UFOs

Post by Johnny Dangerous »

https://nautil.us/issue/42/fakes/is-phy ... telligence

This sort of thing is entirely speculative, and just for fun, but this article makes a point that is worth contemplating with "alien life".

It is statistically extremely likely that alien life exists, so much so that some people wonder why we have not come across aliens more directly. We should have more empirical evidence than we do.

There are a few explanations, but to view the on presented in the article is worth contemplating a little, namely that we might already be seeing them but not be capable of understanding that they are "life", due to our own limitations. Sort of how an insect or similar does not comprehend what a human being is. This actually comports somewhat with the idea of six realms.

As far as UFO stories, UFO's are the fairies of today, complete with abduction stories, etc. The parallels are unmistakable. Whether they are really objectively "out there" in the way that Alien enthusiasts insist they are I don't know, I suspect that enthusiasts are off the mark. However, they have been with us since the dawn of history in different forms, and the stories and experiences people claim to have serve some sort of function for them. If you want an interesting read on the subject (completely non-Buddhist) Daimonic Reality by Patrick Harpur has some interesting ideas.

Personally I put all this stuff on the level of "fun speculation", and don't take any of it terribly seriously, but it is an enjoyable distraction.
Meditate upon Bodhicitta when afflicted by disease

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when sad

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when suffering occurs

Meditate upon Bodhicitta when you are scared

-Khunu Lama
User avatar
Aemilius
Posts: 4604
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 11:44 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Aemilius »

Shotenzenjin wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 5:13 pm The Buddha attained enlightenment many kalpas( eons ) in the remote past.
Since our species has not even been around for one eon let alone many. The Buddha must of been a different species when he attained enlightenment. Perhaps an alien species. He certainly couldn't of been human.
The idea is that there have been humans around in previous eons too. The buddhist view is that humans have evolved in previous kalpas like they have evolved in the present kalpa.
Species are not constant or unchanging. This means that humans of today are different from the humans in the past, and they are different from the humans of the future. There is genetic continuity within a species.

Have you read what the Lotus sutra tells us about the past lives of Buddha Gautama and the Bodhisattvas in the assembly? Surely they have been humans in their past lives, even when these lives have taken place in the infinitely remote past. Before Buddha Gautama there have been previous Buddhas, there are different lists of previous Buddhas for example in Mahavastu, the Lalitavistara sutra, and the Buddhavamsa. The past is infinitely vast, no beginning can be found.
svaha
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Sarvē mānavāḥ svatantrāḥ samutpannāḥ vartantē api ca, gauravadr̥śā adhikāradr̥śā ca samānāḥ ēva vartantē. Ētē sarvē cētanā-tarka-śaktibhyāṁ susampannāḥ santi. Api ca, sarvē’pi bandhutva-bhāvanayā parasparaṁ vyavaharantu."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1. (in english and sanskrit)
User avatar
Shotenzenjin
Posts: 614
Joined: Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:23 pm

Re: More UFOs

Post by Shotenzenjin »

I've read the lotus Sutra. And chant it
Agree regarding evolving species. Shucks I was kinda liking the idea of an alien Buddha...
Generation's shall pass, our determination shall grow, at the foot of Mount Fuji
Like smoke that reaches far beyond the clouds.--nichimoku shonin. Third high priest of Nichiren Shoshu

Hokekko of true Buddhism https://nstny.org

Introduction to Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... VKyEQ_cxK9
Agnikan
Posts: 98
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2017 5:22 pm

Re: More UFOs

Post by Agnikan »

Aemilius wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 10:32 am
Shotenzenjin wrote: Sun May 16, 2021 5:13 pm The Buddha attained enlightenment many kalpas( eons ) in the remote past.
Since our species has not even been around for one eon let alone many. The Buddha must of been a different species when he attained enlightenment. Perhaps an alien species. He certainly couldn't of been human.
The idea is that there have been humans around in previous eons too.
Humans as in rational beings capable of awakening? Yes.
Homo sapiens? Unlikely.
Malcolm
Posts: 42974
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:19 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by Malcolm »

Shotenzenjin wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 3:56 pm I've read the lotus Sutra. And chant it
Agree regarding evolving species. Shucks I was kinda liking the idea of an alien Buddha...
"Human" does not necessarily means "looks like homo sapiens." But it is hard for us to imagine it otherwise. "Human" can also mean 8 foot tall, four-armed, furry, blue beings with wings.
User avatar
PadmaVonSamba
Posts: 9439
Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 1:41 am

Re: More UFOs

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

My understanding is that what defines a being as animal, human, preta, etc. is what they experience (or project from the mind, if that’s the case) rather than any physical attributes per se. Even as pretas (hungry ghosts) are described as having tiny necks and other physical attributes, that ultimately this is still referring to what they experience themselves, sort of like how a person who has anorexia sees themself. It is literally their reality.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
Locked

Return to “Lounge”