Reply To: Questions From a Beginner

#52108
Lal
Keymaster

Regarding Question 1, I should clarify my answer to provide a better visualization.

1. The amount of “matter” in a Brahma‘s “body” is much smaller than that of a tiny ant or even a virus/bacteria. That is correct.

  • However, in a given Brahma realm, each Brahma would have “identifiable features,” just like we can see the difference between any two people. 
  • Even though a “Brahma body” has very little “matter,” it could spread over a sizeable spatial dimension.
  • For example, when the Buddha visited Baka Brahma, he went there not in his “human body” but only in his “mental body,” which is as subtle/fine as a “Brahma body.” See “Brahmanimantanika Sutta (MN 49).” 
  • Therefore, I did not mean that a Brahma is smaller than a virus or bacteria in “geometrical size.” 
  • Other realms are very different from the human or animal realms that we can “see.”

2. There is a sutta (I forget the name) in which Ven. Sariputta (or Ven. Moggalana) describes an encounter with a particular Brahma. He says that Brahma‘s body is extended over a large area.

  • Only those with supernormal powers (iddhi powers) can “see” such subtle “bodies.”

3. To get an idea of what I am talking about, please read “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift. I read that book when I was small but still remember Gulliver’s encounters with giants and miniature humans.  

  • Even Gulliver’s experiences do not provide the correct visualization but could help get some idea.