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Buddhism in Regards to MAGIC. :O
MindGate
United States Veteran
So, just wondering, what are your thoughts on magic? Such as... well, spells, element bending, potions, etc, or anything along those lines? Just curious. :P
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Practising Buddhists aren't like Harry Potter and his pals !
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Meditatimos!
Pass the broomstick, I'm going out for some teabags.....
(Moved to 'General Banter' This has absolutely nothing to do with Buddhism, Modern or otherwise.....!)
Well, there you may or may not be wrong, friend. Everybody is different and has different views on things. Now I am just a mere Agnostic-Atheist, hold really no beliefs. Now, some Buddhists may feel as though energy could be transfered via different means, resulting in what one may refer to as magic. Neo-pagans hold belief in this and aren't "like Harry Potter and his pals!" which would seem to me like quite a bigotted remark if you would think of them that way. They meditate as well, but don't exactly have the same beliefs. It was just a simple question on what each of you thought about what people nowadays consider to be magic. Sort of an opening to a debate such as, "No, I don't believe in that because of... so and so..." or "I believe it is possible in some forms because of... so and so..." There was no need for assumptions, or even saying it had nothing to do with Buddhism. I believe it DID have something to do with Buddhism, considering I was asking BUDDHISTS on how their thoughts in regard to this. Do they believe that certain gems have healing properties? Do they believe that with enough concentration energy could be transfered into different forms that, as I said before, could be considered as magic? Thoughts on herbal potions and such? No need to start assuming things and giving very curt answers as well. Do I believe in that stuff? Not as of now, but my mindset is that I really can't be sure of anything. It was just a friendly, very-open discussion I was trying to encourage, but oh well. Off I go I suppose.
There is a bit of talk on this from the Buddha, about stuff like going through walls, flying in the air, traversing to the realms of high Gods. All achieved through the power of super concentration. He goes on to state that the best of all of these (magical practices) is to be able to completely stop the mental fermentations for good.
Thoughts on herbal potions and such?
When I told a (great) venerable nun that I had the opportunity to take part in a "herbal healing" ceremony of the Native American order, she was pretty flat out about saying that "while such things can work, they are (generally) avoided by Buddhists as they get more seriously into their practice" - not an exact quote, but along those lines.
The closest thing to "magic" (from my tiny understanding), is from the certain combinations of sounds that some musicians have created. When (certain parts of) this music is played over and over, I personally think it can be used for magical purposes.
Personally, unless I know something has been scientifically verified, I don't put much faith in it. 'Magic' is just inconsistent with what we know so far.
By the way, I wouldn't file herbalism under 'magic'. Sure, you can take light, focus it and transform it into heat. Many Buddhists seem to think that the mind is some kind of energy or a ripple in an energy field. I am not one of them, I think that's nonsense pseudo-science. I feel that I am in the minority on this one though.
Anyway, if the belief of magic or practice of magic helps you alleviate suffering, that's great. However, Buddhism offers a more direct and practical approach.
What about the Tibetan State Oracle? Is clairvoyance, "magic"? Or just a form of giftedness, like perfect musical pitch?
Music stimulates the right side of the brain, which is the seat of "paranormal" abilities, feelings of oneness and bliss, creativity and intuition. Some things that seem like "magic" have a scientific basis.
We should worry about our one problem, the one the Buddha gave us some decent advice on solving, but we tend to look in every other direction.
Paramahansa Yogananda's body didn't decay for weeks after death. The coroners produced an affidavit confirming it, and said they had no explanation. I found that online somewhere.
There was an article in Scientific American a couple of years ago explaining the principle behind distance healing, BTW. Turns out they've known about it since the 1930's. I'll see if I can find the article.
I'm not speaking from belief on these points, BTW, I'm speaking from experience. I do like to investigate, experience and research these things.
I would personally consider clairvoyance and hands-on healing to be "magic" for lack of a better definition. I sort of mean magic in a vague way. Telekinesis, telepathy, speaking with the dead, etc, I would think to be "magic-related" in some way.
By spells I'm not completely referring to things like "Shades of darkness, grant me vision in thy realm of Shadow!" kind of thing (taken from http://www.spellsofmagic.com).
Even prayers could be considered spells to some extent because they are believed control natural forces in such a manner that science can not currently prove.
Western science can't currently prove acupuncture, either, so that gets put into the "magic" pile, by your definition. Western science can document some of this stuff (acupuncture, healing hands changing the structure and magnetic resonance of water molecules, etc.), but it can't explain or prove it. Yet.
I don't know what the Buddhist view is, but some "souls", "essences" (whatever) are attached to this life or to loved ones that are still alive, so they don't go away right away. And maybe it's possible to communicate with them while they're in the bardo.
I don't know how it fits into Buddhist theory. All I know is I've had someone communicate with a number of loved ones of mine,(over a number of sessions) they described them perfectly, the "medium" (whatever) even stumbled through trying to repeat what they were saying (they speak foreign languages, only 1 knows a little broken English), and this "medium" knew nothing about my ethnic background, etc. so...SHAZAAM! I'm a believer. If that makes me some sort of Buddhist heretic, well...too bad for me. But at least I get to visit with my (deceased) loved ones from time to time.
P.S. A friend of mine who was REALLY down on this sort of thing saw her mother after her mother had died. Her mother would come and hang out with her from time to time in spirit form. After months of this, she finally got up the nerve to ask her siblings if they'd experienced anything like this. They confessed that they, too, had seen their mother.
(This discussion is finally getting interesting! Thanks to Cloud for helping keep it alive until the OP returned.)
P.P.S. There's a good film called "The Tibetan Book of the Dead", produced in Japan, I think. It explains (with animation) what happens to the soul/spirit/whatever after death.
Alas, nothing like that has happened to me, and I sort of doubt it will. Though, there is this one kid from school who I actually had a nice chat with today who claims to see the dead. He's a Taoist though.
Get to know that kid; he might have a genuine gift for seeing the spirits of the deceased. I don't know what "he's a Taoist, though" means. Is he Chinese? He might have a hereditary gift. Either way, such gifts are very rare and precious. I wouldn't pass up the opportaunity to check it out to see if it's for real. You may be in for a pleasant surprise, and a mind-opening experience. "Seeing is believing", indeed!