Who has better flying skills? Superman or Buddha?
lobster
Crusty Veteran
As previously discussed the Buddha was not a cartoon fabrication and immune to kryptonite.
http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/3064/the-buddhas-omniscience
So clearly more powerful than Superman. Baby Jesus according to too many comic preachers would kick the Buddhas ass (in order to get him compassionatly off it of course). I bet Jesus could fly even with a piece of wood strapped to his back, if he wanted to. Like a cosmic rocket. Maybe ...
Maybe not.
Who prefers fantasy super hero teachers to those currently available? Why don't teachers fly, is it not a good teaching method for the transcendently medicated?
People, afraid of being deceived by false teachers
In the matter of directing the ignorant,
Seek out a man with knowledge,
for the sake of realising his teaching.
What is the use of his knowledge
pertaining to the number of insects in the whole world?
Rather, inquire into his knowledge of
that which is to be practised by us.
Dharmakiirti
http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol4/was_the_buddha_omniscient.html
Comments
@lobster, I truly wish I knew what you're talking about.
What exactly is your point here..? Seriously, I'm struggling to understand....
@federica
If a teacher has divinity, super powers, flying ability, why don't they use it as a form of illustration for the veracity of their teaching and pudding proof?
What else is unclear?
Nothing else, but thanks for clarifying...
So.....Which teacher do you personally know, through first-hand experience, that has made claims of divinity, super powers and flying ability?
Have you thought of asking them the question?
There are Tibetan monks who claim to have levitation powers through mastering the breath. I rather doubt they have met with much success though, gravity does not have much respect for spiritual advancement.
I believe in the possibility of miracle powers.
I keep an open mind to supernormal, meditative powers. I can't say factually they're false. So, it would be the same as asserting they’re true when I haven't seen for myself. However, my confidence in levitation through mastery of breath meditation is also abysmally low. When the mind immerses in the touch sensation of air then expands to the body, the whole body feels like air. But it isn't floating. It just feels that way. Then again, it's possible a monk knows something I don't.
I read an account of how 'witches' in history might have actually believed that they went on flying trips on their magical brooms. And the book which was an entertaining account of chemistry in history told of how maybe some of their witches brew herbal concoctions account for that. So the witches were tripping on some of their herbal concoctions and woke up in the morning after 'experiences' of flying their brooms. Perhaps outdoors with broom in hand or nearby. Probably the book was just trying to be entertaining but it could be. And maybe some of the 'high' of meditation could explain experiences or claims of flying?
Whilst some await transvection ... most will be using the airport ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levitation_(paranormal)
... meanwhile the real benefits of practice rarely entail belief/shameful shams/unverifiable witnessing of superior abilities ...
The path of the Buddha is walked ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracles_of_Gautama_Buddha
These kinds of claims would have the opposite effect on me.
It makes me wonder why we don't see many faith healers working in the hospitals.
I'm looking for a special mustard seed...
The flying ointment that @Jeffrey mentions was sometimes spread on a broomstick to be absorbed by the skin, rather than ingesting toxic hallucinogens. Not really a reliable form of travel ...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_ointment
Indeed.
Forms of pranayama and fasting can also lead to, how to say this politely, 'lightheadedness'. Flying ability? Not so much so ...
Stories and reality. Practice and fantasy. They both have a place, not to be confused as the same thing ...
However on a spiritual level it could be true. Just as some people can fly in dreams perhaps our esteemed monks have learned to levitate in the spiritual dimension...
I find this kind of contemplation is a hindrance rather than a help as it puts Buddha out of reach.
If some find it helpful great but I don't see it being all too healthy myself as these beliefs can be used as a means of control. "Oh, you can't fly yet? Maybe if you keep practicing my way."
What good is a useless miracle anyways?
The whole point of miracle powers is to be able to help others to the fullest. For example, being clairvoyant you can see the needs of one you're helping. Maybe Buddha had miracle powers and that's why he knew exactly what to teach each particular person so that by the end of the sutra it says, "then young Sabbuti was enlightened in five seconds."
The key word: maybe. Who knows.
Superman, hands down.
Certainly there are stories, traditions, myths of flying and levitation. There is much fanciful thinking in Tibetan Buddhism (which was a merger of the local Bonn religion and Buddhism from India).
But unless you have flown yourself, I would not assume these stories are to be taken literally. Buddhism should be about your own experiences and not about "belief".
"The idea that meditation can produce strange powers has a long provenance, in both Hinduism and Buddhism. These powers fit into an eightfold classification:
• Shrinking to the size of an atom
• Becoming light enough to fly through the air (levitation)
• Becoming heavy
• Touching faraway objects, even hose as distant as the moon
• The manifestation of irresistible will
• Total control over body and mind
• Domination over the elements
• The instant fulfillment of all desires
All were taken literally, even the idea of shrinkage. The remaining seven powers, with the exception of weather control and desire fulfillment, are underpinned to some extent by Western observations and, in certain cases, scientific investigation."
"Tibetan Magic & Mysticism" by J.H. Brennan
You will find some of the younger Tibetan monks believe many of the stories about miracles and powers, but as they practice over the deacades (in my experience) they tend to move away from these concepts and focus more on Practice, less on the superstitions. In other words, the content of their teachings change. And this is also the point at which they start to radiate peace and compassion.
My own teacher at one point talked about powers/siddhi's, saying that you could spend your entire life developing A power ... at the expense of moving towards enlightenment. He further stated that he felt such a focus was a waste of a precious human lifetime.
It reminder me of the book, Magic and Mystery in Tibet by Alexandra David Neale. She was an explorer in 1920’s Tibet, the first woman to reach Lhasa and the first to become a lama.
She also detailed all kinds of magical practices such as long-striding, a kind of running through weightlessness or levitation by which tremendous distances could be covered in just a few days.
A fascinating book but again one which isn’t corroborated by modern sources.
Living in Samsara can often play tricks on the mind...So maybe in our somewhat delusional state many of us fail to see what's really going on...
Levitation defies the laws of physics that we adhere to in the conventional world...
But could well be happening... seen only by those with an ultimate desire for such things
However anything and everything goes in ultimate reality ....So it would seem...
Things are not quite what they seem- in a dream within a dream
Going up ???
Superman and lama/yogi levitation are both unmet by me. Also as @FoibleFull mentions, neither gnostic or of import. What do you know ...
We are capable of discernment, most of us not expecting baby jesus, superman or Buddha to save us. That is our effort. And very worthwhile.
Simple plan really ... bye bye delusions ...
Now I'm going to have "Thick as a Brick" by Jethro Tull stuck in my head all night.