General forum on the teachings of all schools of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Topics specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
Strive wrote:my question was about buddhas. why do u need more buddhas when Shakyamuni already taught the path?
How about this:
Since buddhas are so powerful and the karma created in relation to a buddha is so heavy, buddhas exist as 'fields of merit'. So, one can supplicate the buddha and create merit through their relationship with the buddha and that is what can effect our lives and the weather and so on.
Through our interaction with the buddha we do change our karma.
Dan74 wrote:Why did the masters over the centuries teach the path in a different way to different audiences? Using skilful means to adapt the Dharma to the questioner or disciple?
As for emanation, I'm afraid I'm not quite on the same page with you there.
how is 8fold path so complicated that u have to teach it in a different way? it is simple stuff
Are you free from suffering and delusion? If it's so simple, why not?
Dan74 wrote:Why did the masters over the centuries teach the path in a different way to different audiences? Using skilful means to adapt the Dharma to the questioner or disciple?
As for emanation, I'm afraid I'm not quite on the same page with you there.
how is 8fold path so complicated that u have to teach it in a different way? it is simple stuff
Are you free from suffering and delusion? If it's so simple, why not?
doesnt it take some time and practice? is it supposed to be like magic?
Strive wrote:Do buddhas have the ability to control the weather?
My teacher, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, had this ability, as did my other teacher, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje, who was the official weather controller for the Tibetan Government in Exile until the mid-1980's.
Strive wrote:Do buddhas have the ability to control the weather?
My teacher, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, had this ability, as did my other teacher, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje, who was the official weather controller for the Tibetan Government in Exile until the mid-1980's.
were they able to stop hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes etc?
Strive wrote:Do buddhas have the ability to control the weather?
My teacher, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, had this ability, as did my other teacher, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje, who was the official weather controller for the Tibetan Government in Exile until the mid-1980's.
were they able to stop hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes etc?
Kunzang Dechen Lingpa had this ability. Ngagpa Rinpoche was able to stop monsoon rains, droughts, and so on.
Malcolm wrote:
My teacher, Kunzang Dechen Lingpa, had this ability, as did my other teacher, Ngakpa Yeshe Dorje, who was the official weather controller for the Tibetan Government in Exile until the mid-1980's.
were they able to stop hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes etc?
Kunzang Dechen Lingpa had this ability. Ngagpa Rinpoche was able to stop monsoon rains, droughts, and so on.
very big claims u making there Malcolm. if all buddhas have that ability why still so much death and destruction from natural disasters?
Strive wrote:and some ppl say one buddha can create billions of emanations to teach others so isnt one buddha enough?
I have a friend who lives on the eastern coast of the US, though I live in Texas, and we've had enough trouble understanding one another because of ethnic and socioeconomic differences as well as because of nuanced differences between the cultures of our respective areas despite living within the same nation and speaking the same language. No doubt the karmic differences between worlds spread out across the universe make for much more pronounced variances that require appearing in vastly varying forms in order to be intelligible and appealing to each world and its inhabitants.
Yet, even the differences on our own world can make it difficult for some to resonate with Buddha Shakyamuni. Some people have even suggested that Lord Shakya be represented as different minority groups or as a woman—like a Buddhi resembling Beyonce standing and holding out her hand in tarjami mudra—for this very reason.
Strive wrote:what is the point of being buddha if u can barely help out others due to their karma?
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Because a Buddha has realization of the ultimate nature of reality??? Like, what is the point of being a friend or caring for others if we can't literally save them from their own mistakes? Because we care and are there for them at all times, unconditionally, maybe.
If one thinks that the power of Buddhas lies in their ability to control weather or remove karma etc., that's another religion, precisely not the Buddhist viewpoint and completely mistaken.
Even medical science is now investing a great deal of effort and money into personalised treatments. How much more so when it comes to the Dharma that is to do with much more complex issues. Personality, background, karmic dispositions, etc etc.
One size doesn't fit all.
If you read the Pali suttas, the Buddha as recorded there, did not retire after teaching the Noble Eigthfold Path. He taught differently to different people for 45 years. And in Mahayana we have even more.
Strive wrote:
So if you pray to the buddhas for good weather but nothing happens its because u have bad karma? what is the point of being buddha if u can barely help out others due to their karma?
Buddhasutra :
'I don’t wash away the negativity of living beings with water. I don’t remove their suffering with my hand. Neither do I transfer my realizations to them. I free living beings from suffering by teaching them reality.'
English Dharma talk
May 7, 2016
By Geshe Pema Tshering
Today, we’ll start this text. As an introduction, let’s look at a citation from Buddhasutra in which the Buddha proclaimed,
'I don’t wash away the negativity of living beings with water. I don’t remove their suffering with my hand. Neither do I transfer my realizations to them. I free living beings from suffering by teaching them reality.'
So the Buddha has many excellent good qualities: omniscience and so on. But he proclaims he can’t remove the misdeeds or negativities of sentient beings in the same way that one may be able to remove physical dirt with water.
In the second line of this stanza, Buddha says I can’t remove your suffering with my hand. He’s referring to certain forms of external treatment that can be applied when sentient beings suffer. E.g. if a thorn is embedded in your flesh, to remove the suffering caused by that thorn, you can remove it with your hand and apply some external treatment to alleviate and eliminate that suffering. So the Buddha says I can’t remove that suffering like a way a thorn can be removed from flesh.
In the third line, the Buddha says: I can’t transfer my realizations to others. The Buddha has attained all excellent qualities, the final abandonments of all negative traits and he’s attained the highest happiness, ultimate happiness. However, it doesn’t mean he can transfer his attainments to others. He can’t transfer his ultimate to others. In the third line, he claims he can’t transfer his good qualities to others.
In the fourth line the Buddha says: I lead sentient beings to happiness by revealing the path to reality. The Buddha understands that we have this situation in which we are subject to suffering. In daily lives, we encounter different kinds of difficulties. While this is the case, there’s no one who wants any difficulty / problems. If our suffering occurs on a physical level, it’s possible to apply some physical means to rid that suffering. E.g. we suffer from some sickness, it’s possible to undergo some physical treatment. If our impurity is on a physical level, e.g. dirt or mud, we can use some physical means to remove that impurity. But when it comes to the mind, the Buddha explained that we have to apply the path. So we have physical sufferings, mental sufferings, but all these undesirable experiences can be traced to the untamed mind. So in order to fix this problem at the root, the Buddha revealed the path. So the Buddha serves as a guide for us to traverse the path to happiness. So we need to examine the Buddha’s teachings carefully and try to understand what is this path he’s taught. Through understanding that all our undesirable experiences can be traced to our unruly mind, then we can apply the Buddha’s teachings to transform our mind. We should then try to understand what reality is, and transform our mind accordingly, and the path that will lead to happiness.
They cannot remove our suffering as if taking out a thorn from someone else’s skin, or lift us out of samsara like a mother cat picking up her kittens by the scruff of their necks. They cannot give us their wisdom, compassion or spiritual realizations as if giving a birthday present. There is therefore no sense in passively waiting for Buddhas to save us from our delusions and problems and dangers-if they could do so, they already would have. Though Buddhas have the perfect ability to help all living beings, and want nothing more than to give all living beings the limitless bliss they themselves experience, we can only receive their full help and protection if we also do something from our side, and train our mind in removing our own delusions.
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa 'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
