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The following questions have been on my mind for a very long time.
- 1. Why are Lord Buddhas born in the Indian subcontinent and not elsewhere?
- 2. Some names appear often in the suttas. For example Lord Buddha Kassapa, Maha Kassapa, and the three Kassapa brothers, Lord Buddha Sumedha and the ascetic Sumedha. Yet all these people are separated by Maha Kappas. I tried to answer the first by saying that the people of these regions are very spiritually mature and it would be very easy to implement the Dhamma. However, we know that the earth is destroyed after a few Kappas. Do the same regions come up often?? For the second I don’t know what to say.
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I too had the same questions!
Also like why didn’t Buddha deliver his sermons in the Western Countries?
He could have travelled there using Iddhi Powers.
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This question requires a lengthy explanation. I will try to provide a summary.
1. A critical factor in rebirth is gati. One’s gati is determined by sankhara (kamma) they engage in.
2. Paticca Samuppada determines not only future rebirths but also the environments where sentient beings with the majority of gati can be reborn.
- For example, at the beginning of a “new Earth,” all sentient beings on Earth have fine bodies like those of Brahmas. Initially, there is no vegetation, animals, etc. and also no males/females. They have just descended from Abhassara Brahma realm and are mostly like Brahmas.
- With time, their “manussa gati” (with raga, dosa, and moha) slowly emerge. Their bodies become dense, and initially, there is “free food” in terms of natural rice-like vegetation that can be eaten without any preparation.
- Then sexes emerge and more incentive to engage in defiled activities.
- With time, those with worse gati are reborn as animals. By that time, there is more vegetation, rivers, etc.
- With time, the nirayas inside the Earth take shape, and some humans/animals are born there.
- That is an example of how the environment changes as the dominant gati of sentient beings change.
3. Toward the end of the Earth (and the Sun and surrounding stars), the environment changes drastically again.
- The Sun (and the Earth) start getting hot, and gradually, rivers dry over millions of years. Mind-pleasing things, as well as food start to become scarce, and people naturally become “more moral.” They start cultivating (anariya) jhana and migrating back to the Abhassara Brahma realm over millions of years. By that time, apayas would have been destroyed, and beings there also gradually moved to the Abhassara Brahma realm (via the human realm).
4. That is the “life cycle” on a grand scale. That cycle has been repeating from a “beginning-less time.” More details in “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27)“
5. Another point is the following: On that time scale, the overall gati of sentient beings (and thus the environment or the “structure of Earth”) remains roughly the same. For example, the main continents, oceans, etc., are re-formed similarly, not the same, but roughly the same.
- People with similar gati are born in similar places/countries. All Buddhas are born in the “same” geographical area of India/Sri Lanka. They speak similar languages, have similar names, etc.
- That does not mean the same people recycle back to their original places of birth. Rather, people with similar gati AT THAT TIME are reborn in similar geographical locations. Even now, as gati changes, one’s birth location can change.
That is a brief summary, but it should be enough to get the general idea. It is not worthwhile to spend time on these issues, but it is good to have a general idea. The task at hand is to cultivate the path and be free of suffering because no one knows how long one will live.
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Yes my friend but the only answer I told myself is that people from these remote areas are not spiritually mature enough. They don’t have the notions of Punna Kamma, Papa Kamma, and rebirth. These notions were present in Sri Lanka and India. However, the problem here is that every Lord Buddha has been in the Indian subcontinent and nowhere else.
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The place of Enlightenment of the Bodhisatta (under the Maha Bodhi tree) is the real place where the Samma Sambuddha was “born”. That is the place where the transformation from a Bodhisatta to a Samma Sambuddha actually happened. So in that sense, Lord Buddha was “born” at the foot of the Maha Bodhi tree.
Lord Buddhas are not “born” everywhere. There is a special place for it where all the factors are perfect for a Bodhisatta to become a Samma Sambuddha. That special place is located only in our cakkavala among the dasa sahassi lokadhatu (ten thousand world systems). That special place is located on Jambudipa (i.e, our Earth) in the madhya deshaya (middle country).
That special place in called the madhya mandala (middle region) or the Bodhi mandala. This is where the real Maha Bodhi tree was born spontaneously due to the power of the Bodhisttva’s Paramithas. It’s in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka and the Maha Bodhi tree is known as Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya (I am sorry to say but it’s NOT in Bodh gaya, India).
Not only our Bodhisatta, but all Bodhisattvas attains Buddhahood AT THAT SAME PLACE. For example, when the present Buddha Sasana will be over, this Maha Bodhi tree will disappear on its own. And when the Maitreya Bodhisattva is about to come to the human realm, a new Maha Bodhi tree will appear spontaneously AT THAT SAME PLACE (in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka). He will also attain Buddhahood at that place only.
The Maha Bodhi tree and the relics of Lord Buddha are very very special. They are created from pure Buddha Energy and CAN NOT be destroyed by anyone or anything in the entire existence! (After the end of the Buddha Sasana, they will vanish automatically)
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