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If you could Interview Siddhartha Gautama?
Niwalen
Explorer
If you could Interview Siddhartha Gautama after he became a buddha, what would you ask him?
I would ask him:
How do you feel about the many variations of your teaching that have evolved down through the years? Please comment on Theravada (38%), Mahayana (56%), Tantrism or Vajranaya, Tibetan (6%; Dalai Lama), and Zen Buddhism?
Also cheekily:
Did you really sit under that bodhi tree for seven full days—without ever eating any figs? Did your remarkably sensitive, compassionate, nature come more from your mother or father? How did your son, left to grow up without a father, feel about your “Great Renunciation”?
Also can I have your autograph and a photo? :P
I would ask him:
How do you feel about the many variations of your teaching that have evolved down through the years? Please comment on Theravada (38%), Mahayana (56%), Tantrism or Vajranaya, Tibetan (6%; Dalai Lama), and Zen Buddhism?
Also cheekily:
Did you really sit under that bodhi tree for seven full days—without ever eating any figs? Did your remarkably sensitive, compassionate, nature come more from your mother or father? How did your son, left to grow up without a father, feel about your “Great Renunciation”?
Also can I have your autograph and a photo? :P
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Comments
I'd ask him to explain both the pitfalls of those seeking enlightenment and the benefits thereof. In other words, I'd want to investigate why seeking enlightenment before all else might get in the way of realizing higher truths and in what instances and for what people seeking first "the truth" is the highest calling.
Ah this is hard to write. I mean, I'd want to ask him at what point seeking and seeking for enlightenment might become greediness for self-aggrandisement. And did the Buddha not himself do this very thing? I'd ask.
He usually looks right into people's minds and sees exactly the best way to teach them, so I might be able to get enlightened in just minutes, like all those people in the suttas.
Thus have I heard:
On one occasion the Blessed One was saying near Savatthi, at Jetas Grove, Anathapindikas Park, abiding content, tranquil, and at peace.
Now at that time a traveller from far away, householder James, came to him and on arrival gave his respects, and sat down on his right side.
"Householder" said the Blessed One, "ask what you have come to ask, for you have come far, from the future."
Householder James bowed and asked "Lord, how may I best attain an end to suffering, and enter nibbana?"
The Blessed One said "It is a good question householder, a proper question."
The Blessed One looked into the mind of householder James and saw the best way to teach.
He exclaimed "It is like this, householder, practise like this..."
The householder gave ear to his words, and a shining light arose in his mind. Mara fell away and he was confirmed in the fruit of stream entry.
Bowing to the Tathagata, householder James exclaimed "It is wonderful lord, it is amazing. Having cast off all effluents, cooled am I, unbound." and asked for refuge.
"Come, monk" said the Blessed One
I've never been good at this kind of thing
Kinda put me in the mood for a lord of the rings marathon
Kinda put me in the mood for a lord of the rings marathon
the scene from the movie Alexander is not in english in this video, but you see them fighting against the elephants. ( if you don't like violence don't watch for anyone else)
The elephant features prominently in the Pali suttas in many ways, including references to war elephants etc. The Buddha uses them in parables and analogies many times.