August 27, 2009
Metta-waves from Elly's Garden
I am tempted to call it my garden; but my under-appreciated spousey does most of the work. Anyway, I have lots of blogs about Buddhism in the hopper. I also enjoyed reading the recent contributions from Bill, Ryuei, & Chuck; to mention the recent entries here; where it is sometimes Fraught with Peril. Today, I am just getting over a nasty bout of flu that knocked me for a loop. Sort of a time loop. It is Thursday' but seems like Monday. The nice thing about being sick is I can meditate in peace. We did get out to pick some produce; and I have a few photos below.
I have also been dealing with annoying situations; so I meditated on Emptiness for quite a while and bathed my being in while light. Then I did silent metta-karuna bhavana. I do not know if the targets were touched -- I had several in mind. A focus is always useful for those sort of meditations; and I do know I feel much better. What is better? My body is still in pain. Moreover, it does not tolerate medicines very well. Because of that, I have long since developed a level of pain tolerance. The better part is spiritual; which is so hard to explain.
BTW, the dog had a relapse, I started her on Cosequin and a max dose of Rimadyl. In addition to canine vestibular disease, she also has hip dysplasia. I have a human form of vestibular disease, which really acts up when I have upper respiratory issues. So we must have looked really funny when I walked her today; maybe like a drunk man with his drunk dog? My wife was chuckling at us.
Sliced Tomatoes: The Yelowish-red ones are Mr. Stripey; kind of tart. The dark red to almost black ones are Cherokee Purple; real intense & sweet. The others are from a huge Park's Whopper; which is mellow, similar to Beefsteak Tomatoes. I have some grape tomatoes too; but those were put out real late, and are still green
Pictured below: three Big Bertha Green Peppers, two Jupiter Bell Peppers, 1 green / unripe Pimiento, 1 Cubanella Pepper, 3 Purple Bell Peppers, 2 Hungarian Sweet Banana Peppers, 2 Yellow Gypsy Peppers, 3 Anaheim Mild Chilies, 20 eggplants, 3 Park's Whopper Tomatoes, 4 large Cherokee Purple Tomatoes, 1 Mr, Stripey Tomato, and 2 Jalapenos.
Posted by rbeck at 03:55 AM
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August 16, 2009
Supernormal Powers Anyone?
I think that, from time to time, seemingly inexplicable events happen to most people; even the relatively skeptical like me. In my own experience, these are hard to pin down. I suspect it must be that way for others too, even for those who
believe in the supernatural. Otherwise, it seems like we would have solid proof already. From what I gather, Buddhist texts, from both the Pali Canon and Mahayana, describe five supernormal / transcendental powers quite matter-of-factly. These include teleportation, clairaudience, telepathy, past life remembrance, and remote viewing, I have provided a brief summary below. Other than telepathically communicating with my dog, the closest things to supernatural experiences I have had are kind of vague precognitive, creepy deja vu, and / or peculiar synchronicity events. None of these are even explicitly listed among the five.
believe in the supernatural. Otherwise, it seems like we would have solid proof already. From what I gather, Buddhist texts, from both the Pali Canon and Mahayana, describe five supernormal / transcendental powers quite matter-of-factly. These include teleportation, clairaudience, telepathy, past life remembrance, and remote viewing, I have provided a brief summary below. Other than telepathically communicating with my dog, the closest things to supernatural experiences I have had are kind of vague precognitive, creepy deja vu, and / or peculiar synchronicity events. None of these are even explicitly listed among the five. Lately, these usually happen while I am watching television. It feels like I have seen the episode before, even though it is first run. Every now and then, I know what will happen next, moments before it does. When I was younger, I had several very strange experiences. I recall one of these rather vaguely and three others fairly clearly; though the precise details are fading, The first one had to have been more than thirty years ago. I attended a meeting on Farwell Street in Chicago. I recall that Mr. Sasaki {then Mr. Warren}, Kenji Hasegawa, and the late Kevn Kondo were all there. When we arrived, I was certain the street sign read Fairwell; when I went out for a smoke it was Farwell -- as it should have been, and when we left it was Farewell. It kind of reminded me of the Magic Theater.
The next three were all lottery ticket experiences; with a Fantasy Island flavor. The first of these was probably 1983 or so. At the time, I was working at a US Military Base, assigned to Building 306. While on the way home from work, I stopped to pick something up at the store. Someone I knew, a kind of strange character, was at the counter, buying lottery tickets. An inner voice told me to buy a pick three ticket and play the building number. So I played 306. The next day, I had to stop by building 300. While there, I ran into an acquaintance, who just happened to drop in. He was upset; because a pick three number, one he had played everyday, for quite a while, had come up in the previous night's drawing. As luck would have it, he had not played. His number was, of course, the number of the building in which we were standing, 300.
The next one was maybe a year later. This time, I had taken my daughter and another SGI Young Women's Division member to the store. I ran into the same strange character, who was again, buying his lottery tickets. This time, the inner voice gave me one clue; birthday. So I played 929. since I was born September 29. The number was 513. That is my daughter's birthday, and also the birthday of the other YWD who was with us. I had even thought about that; but egotist that I was, I played my own.
The last one was probably a couple years later. By then, I was eking out a meager living selling insurance. I had to attend a seminar in Ottawa, Illinois. I had only a dollar to my name, and my credit card was 
maxed out. The gas tank was low, plus I had no food or cigarettes. After a morning training session, I headed out to do some field work, cold calling on leads. For some reason, I kept seeing signs that either had the word Lucky or Strike. Then I passed a service station that advertised Lucky Strike cigarettes -- buy one, and get two free. The place was also a lottery agent. So, I decided Lucky Strike must be an omen, and spent my last dollar to buy an instant scratch off ticket. I won five dollers. The voice showed up, and told me to roll it. So I bought 5 more. After a few more roll overs, I had ten bucks. The voice said to roll it again. So I bought ten more and had several winners, totaling something like fifty dollars or so. It was enough to fill my tank and load up on Luck Strikes; with enough left to eat, albeit cheaply, the rest of the week. I also made some nice sales that week, and earned a decent payday. One bad thing happened though, IOn the last day, I got nailed with a speeding ticket, a rarity for me. I can no longer recall the amount of the fine, except that it was the exact amount I had won playing lottery tickets.
maxed out. The gas tank was low, plus I had no food or cigarettes. After a morning training session, I headed out to do some field work, cold calling on leads. For some reason, I kept seeing signs that either had the word Lucky or Strike. Then I passed a service station that advertised Lucky Strike cigarettes -- buy one, and get two free. The place was also a lottery agent. So, I decided Lucky Strike must be an omen, and spent my last dollar to buy an instant scratch off ticket. I won five dollers. The voice showed up, and told me to roll it. So I bought 5 more. After a few more roll overs, I had ten bucks. The voice said to roll it again. So I bought ten more and had several winners, totaling something like fifty dollars or so. It was enough to fill my tank and load up on Luck Strikes; with enough left to eat, albeit cheaply, the rest of the week. I also made some nice sales that week, and earned a decent payday. One bad thing happened though, IOn the last day, I got nailed with a speeding ticket, a rarity for me. I can no longer recall the amount of the fine, except that it was the exact amount I had won playing lottery tickets....
Buddhist texts describe five kinds of super normal powers. The Sanskrit term is panchabhijna. The Chinese translation {with the sino-japanese reading} is 五神通 {gojinju}. It is also transliterated as 般遮旬 {hanshajun}. Pancha simply means five. Jna is probably from the same linguistic root as the Greek gno; it means 'to know.' Abhi is one of those ancient words that is hard to translate. It is is generally taken to mean something like "higher" or transcendent. The kanji 神通 {jinju} literally means something like 'divine connection.' An alternative rendering, 神變 {jinpen} indicates a divine transformation. Yet another is 通力 {tsuriki}, meaning divine power. Note that 神 {jin} is also the name of the Japanese divinities, the kun reading is kami. In these cases 神 {jin} implies divine in the sense of the supernatural or magic; as in divination. 般遮旬 {hanshajun} is the phonetic rendering; the transliteration, so the kanji means nothing.
The Five Supernatural Powers are:
- The Power of Transformation or Raddi-saksatkriya 神通 {jinjun }; 神足通 {jin-soku-ju}; 神如意通 {jinnyo ishu}. This means the power to go anywhere and do anything. It includes the ability to shape shift, to emit emanations of oneself, to become invisible, to pass through walls, to swim in the ground, to walk on water, levitation, telekinesis ,teleportation, and astral projection. The Pali term is Iddhividha.
- Clairaudience or Divya Shrota 天耳通 {tenni tsu}; divine hearing; the ability to hear any sound anywhere. The Pali term is Dibbasota.
- Telepathy or Paracitta Jnana 他心通 {tashin zu} . Para is sort of the same as the English prefix of Greek origin; it means beyond or transcendental. Citta refers to mind, but not necessarily the brain and organic consciousness; it includes one's spirituality, mind, heart, or figurative soul. Jnana consists of jna; to know, plus na; a suffix that is maybe similar to 'tion' indicating an action or process, or the result of a process. Jnana literally means knowledge of or one's acquired knowledge. So Paracitta Jnana is a higher knowledge of and knowing how to 'read' the minds of others. The Pali term is Cetopariyanana.
- Past Lives Remembrance or Purvanivasanusmrti Jnana 宿命通 {shuku myoju} The ability to remember the past lives of oneself and others. The Pali term is Pubbenisasanusasati
- Clairvoyance / Remote Viewing or Divya Caksus 天眼通 {tengen tsu} or 天眼智證通; divine vision, an ability to remote view anything located anywhere within the rupadhatu; the form realm. The Pali term is Dibbachaksu.
The Five Powers are considered mundane achievements, nothing to boast about. These can be attained by non-Buddhist mystics such as yogins, wizards, and so on. The Buddha said they should only be showed to get the attention of certain kinds of people; those who need a miracle to respect the Dharma. Other than that, pursuit of these powers can distract one from the twofold purpose of the Dharma -- Nirvana; the Unbinding or Spiritual Emancipation from Samasara; and Vishuddhi or Spiritual Purification.
By the way, I think some of the supernatural powers and miracles can be reasonably explained as psychological noumena. Telepathy could simply 
be the ability to read body language. I mentioned communicating with my dog. Most people who have had dogs become aware of how they primarily communicate with body language; body postures, paw gestures, and facial expressions. They also respond to our body language; they are quite adept at reading emotions from our facial expressions and general mien. When my dog wants to go out, she will generally get my attention with a nudge or a bark; and then look at the picture window. If I look at the window, then look at her and nod; she goes to the door. As an aside, if iI ask her, "where is _______ {an absent family member}, she looks at the picture window and motions with her head. I have also tried sending her mental pictures, and she occasionally seems to respond.
be the ability to read body language. I mentioned communicating with my dog. Most people who have had dogs become aware of how they primarily communicate with body language; body postures, paw gestures, and facial expressions. They also respond to our body language; they are quite adept at reading emotions from our facial expressions and general mien. When my dog wants to go out, she will generally get my attention with a nudge or a bark; and then look at the picture window. If I look at the window, then look at her and nod; she goes to the door. As an aside, if iI ask her, "where is _______ {an absent family member}, she looks at the picture window and motions with her head. I have also tried sending her mental pictures, and she occasionally seems to respond.
Touching another base, explanations of clairvoyance / remote viewing refer to seeing forms within the rupadhatu, or fine material realm. This can be understood as what one experiences in Meditative Absorption or Rupajhana; which is repeatable. Meditative absorptions might also explain some of the others, like a feeling of traveling is the astral realm. However, things like walking on water, levitation, or shape shifting are hard to dismiss as merely psychological in nature. So body language or non-verbal cues along with purely psychological experience can explain part of it; and are repeatable. However, some of the powers described in the Buddhist texts not only defy natural law; there is no solid proof they are even real.
There is also a sixth Abhijna; Freedom from Asravas or Asravaksaya jnana 漏盡, 漏盡智, 漏盡通, 無漏智{}. Asrava is a difficult concept. Translations include outflow, influx. intoxicant, effluent, fermentation, pollutant, leak, canker, taint, and discharge. Whereas the Five Supernormal Powers can be attained by various means, the sixth is only attained by Awakened Beings. The Pali term is Asavakayanana; and is a power achieved by arahants.
Posted by rbeck at 02:06 PM
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