- This topic has 9 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 1 year ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
These are all just approximations; that’s the best we can do;
There have been only 7 Buddhas in the past 91 great eons (1 great eon = 1 maha kappa).
91/7 = one Buddha appears roughly every 13 eons.
1 great eon = roughly 40 billion years
10B years creation of the solar system,
10B years solar system inhabited by various beings,
10B years solar system getting destroyed,
10B years solar system remains in a destroyed state
Bodhisattva who was to become Gautama Buddha passed through around 512, 027 supremely enlightened Buddha!
= 13 Great Eons roughly for each Buddha * 512, 027 total Buddha * 40 billion years in each great eon
= 2.66254040 * 10¹⁷
= 266,25,40,40,00,00,00,000 Years
That is roughly 266 THOUSAND TRILLION YEARS!
This number could be a bit low in reality because sometimes there are multiple Buddhas in one great eon. Such as the current great eon. But, that is the most rare event in the universe.
There are three types of Bodhisattva. They all achieve the same level of Buddha hood but within a different timeframe due to differences in their starting point.
The above number is for wisdom-dominant Bodhisattva! Who is able to become Buddha in the fastest way.
You will have to double and quadruple that number for faith-dominant and energy-dominant Bodhisattva respectively!!
The mind is the fastest entity in the world. It is not easy to tame a mind. It takes an extremely long time to completely tame it without the support of Buddha.
Buddha can see a citta which arises once every billionth of a second. He can see multiple cetasika and 16 processes within even that single cittā, that’s the power of Buddha mind.
He can predict events that are going to happen after trillions of years with 100% certainty and accuracy.
We know about this because Bodhisattva who was to become Gautama Buddha received a certain prediction about his eminent Buddhahood roughly trillion years ago by another supreme Buddha.
=== == ===
Source for number “512,027”:
[1.] Source 1.
[2] Source 2.
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
Thanks, LDF. Yes. Those estimates seem to be good.
- The link for reference 1 did not open for me. Can you check?
-
-
There is one more assumption that should be discussed here.
Which is that the number “512,027” must be since the first time “Bodhisattva” decided to become supremely awakened fully enlightened omniscient Buddha.
Source does not deliberately say that, but that must be true.
Because in beginning less saṅsarā, all Lifestream have practically encountered infinite Buddha. That infinity (times when Buddha was encountered) is ofcourse subset of much much larger infinite set (of times when Buddha was not encountered).
(There are different types of infinity.)
1 user thanked author for this post.
-
The other day, I was on the subway and this exact thought came to mind. Then, at some point, I got lost in the math and let it be.
Thanks LDF! -
-
LDF wrote: “..supremely awakened fully enlightened omniscient Buddha.”
I just wanted to point out that the word “omniscient” MAY give the wrong impression of “being aware of everything at all times, i.e., at each moment.”
- Of course, a Buddha has a total understanding of how the world functions. In that sense, he can be said to be omniscient. So, it depends on the definition of omniscient.
- However, even a Buddha is not aware of everything happening everywhere at a given time. When he is in “Arahant-phala or nirodha samapatti,” he is not aware of anything in the world.
- He can turn his attention to anything and be fully aware of everything about it.
Even a Buddha’s sensory faculties are constrained by “one arammana at a given time.”
- We also think we can see, hear, etc. (i.e., use all six senses) simultaneously. But that is because those events take place very fast.
- See “What is Mind? How do we Experience the Outside World?“
P.S. Understanding that helps get rid of the view of a “soul/atman.” Our lives are a series of causes and effects described by Paticca Samuppada. We have control over our actions because of the “delay” involved during the “processing time” associated with the brain.
-
Yes, Lal.
MN90 also has some content on the topic of “Omniscience”. Which gives a similar description.
Link to SuttaCentral: MN90: Kaṇṇakatthala Sutta (English-Pali side by side version).
-
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.