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The magical elements of the Mahayana sutras

Craig86Craig86 Explorer
edited March 2013 in Philosophy
Hello,

What is the reason (or reasons) behind the mythical/magical elements of the Mahayana Sutras? I'm assuming they were not written with the intent of having the reader believe there were actually dragons present, rays of light shooting from the Buddha's brow, and flowers falling from the sky etc., so I wonder as to why they were written in such a format that it could prove a distraction from the actual teachings they are meant to convey?

If the teachings were passed down, as I understand, through oral traditions which were meticulous in avoiding errors, then I'm curious as to how the inclusion of these mythical elements left the teachings vulnerable to being significantly altered. I'd appreciate it if anyone could shed any light on this.

Gassho,
Craig

Comments

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited March 2013
    Mainly allegorical, and representative of ideals one would aspire to.
    Similar to the parables of Christ, Buddhas such as Tara and Avalokitesvara are presented primarily as examples of perfect behaviour we should aspire to.
    When Buddhists 'pray' to such imagery, what they're actually doing is invoking those qualities in themselves.

    As to the flowers falling from the sky, that is representative of something perceived as harmful, actually being harmLESS. The only place the damage can occur is within our minds; our Minds are able to transform perceived injurious elements into ones which actually could be harmless and innocuous.

    JeffreyzombiegirlInvincible_summerkarasti
  • CittaCitta Veteran
    The Buddhadharma , and incidentally all the elements you describe are found in the Theravada too..did not arise in a vacuum. It arose from the group of religions which have their origin in the Indian Subcontinent.
    These religions all have a common stock of symbolism..these include miraculous births being signalled by elephants in dreams..lotus flowers which spring up miraculously..golden coloured Teachers with symbols of auspiciousness on their palms and the soles of their feet. Rays of cosmic light..miraculously revealed scriptures..and so on.
    These are found in Buddhism. Jainism, and in so called ' Hinduism '. And the Vedic sources for this symbolism are at least a thousand years older than Buddhadharma.
    The fact is when the Suttas and Sutras were compiled many hundreds of years after Gautama Siddhartha lived, they drew upon a common stock of pre-existing symbolism.
    They are poetry..not history.
    And poetry is true...but its true in a different way to the truths of science.
    riverflowCraig86Florian
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    The Bible is also full of such symbols.... many which pre-date Christianity by millennia....

    The Halo round the heads of people considered sacred is a long-held symbol of someone's 'specialness'. The hands held together in prayer, are an equally historic gesture preceding Christianity by thousands of years.
    Symbols are alive and well and living in all areas of life.

    Without symbols, all creeds would be the poorer for their absence.
    Symbols teach, sustain and inform. They clarify and accentuate, they emphasise and confirm.
    riverflowCraig86FlorianVastmind
  • CittaCitta Veteran
    Yup.
  • riverflowriverflow Veteran
    I think in some cases its simply designed to overwhelm and to convey (or induce?) a kind of immense cosmic perspective on things.

    The Vimalakirti Sutra actually has a few funny meta-fictional elements to it though to illustrate a wandering mind. Shariputra, seeing all these billions of Bodhisattvas across space and time are gathered in a tiny sick room where Vimalakirti is teaching and Shariputra says (along with the reader!) 'Where are all these beings going to sit?'

    It is quite a lot to swallow just for the sheer enormity, but it seems that culturally this was a way to overwhelm the reader to say: look, this is really important business here, so pay attention!
    Craig86
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    riverflow said:

    Shariputra, seeing all these billions of Bodhisattvas across space and time are gathered in a tiny sick room where Vimalakirti is teaching and Shariputra says (along with the reader!) 'Where are all these beings going to sit?'

    Or in other words,

    "How many Angels can you fit on a pinhead?"

    See? Similarities abound..... ;)

    Invincible_summer
  • Craig86Craig86 Explorer
    Thank you for the responses - that clears things up quite nicely :)
  • taiyakitaiyaki Veteran
    It all really depends on your world view.
  • FlorianFlorian Veteran
    Well, actually 'how many angels can dance on a pinhead' is a very important question in mathematics. But let's not go there.
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