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Yes. The account of that man in the Tipitaka is astonishing.
However, there are several such accounts in the Tipitaka. One Arahant instantly transformed some things into gold.
– Another could form a flame on his fingertip to see in the dark. There are several interesting deeds that bhikkhu did according to that sutta. He could make accommodations for many visiting bhikkhus, who showed up unexpectedly just to test his abhinna powers.
– The story of Ven. Cūḷapanthaka is famous. He once made 1000 copies of himself and got them to clean up the temple grounds.
I have discussed some of these. See, for example, “Buddhahood Associated Controversies”Once one attains abhinna powers, manipulating “material objects” becomes quite easy, it seems. Maybe we should not spend too much time on such topics and focus on learning Dhamma concepts. But I wanted to illustrate that such seemingly miraculous deeds are perfectly consistent with science.
You wrote: “During meditation and also during the day when I am aware of the breath, there is a feeling of calm and contentment, how am I able to experience that if so much is happening in the mind. Or is the mind of a meditator not as active as a non meditator..”
Our minds are agitated due to so many arammana running through the mind even in a short time. This is why “multi-tasking” is stressful.
– Most people are attracted to breath-meditation because it calms down the mind. The reason is very simple: Mind now has only one arammana, the breath!However, that itself does not do ANYTHING to cultivate the Path. One needs to calm the mind AND THEN contemplate on Dhamma concepts (and learn) or contemplate on the anicca nature (unfruitfulness of craving worldly things) once the anicca concept is understood.
So, it is OK to calm down the mind by initially focusing on the breath for a short time. But it is foolish to keep doing that for hours! Complete waste of precious time!
“And after the gati has changed from male to female, for example, the gandhabba blueprint coming out of the body (in that same bhava) would also have changed, I assume?”
I did not say that the bhava dasaka necessarily changed in the above case.
– Change in the sex organs would not require a change in the bhava dasaka. As I explained above, bhava dasaka incorporates the “gati” (itthi gati or purisa gati). One with itthi gati is more likely to have female sex organs.
– In the account of that wealthy person whose sex organs changed, his bhava dasaka did not have to change.I hope that point is clear. If not please ask.
DanielSt asked: “How about the case of two-and three-rooted consciousness? Would it work similarly, or does this need a new bhava transition?”
– No. Those do not change until a new bhava is grasped.
– So, the bottom line is that a human gandhabba would have the same “dasakas” lasting through the end of the bhava.I welcome your questions, DanielSt.
– My goal is to have fully self-consistent (of course, consistent with the Tipitaka too) accounts at the website.So, if anyone sees any inconsistency, please don’t hesitate to point them out. But it would make it much easier for me if the exact place in a post is referred and any external reference is also provided. That would be easier for me to make necessary revisions too.
OK. Yes. I see that in the book.
– I need to spend some time to find a reference in the Tipitaka. Bhikkhu Bodhi’s book is a translation of a Commentary and is not part of the Tipitaka. Yet, the material in the book is mostly correct.As I remember, “itthi gati” and “purisa gati” do not necessarily have to match sex.
– For example, there are men with “feminine gati” and vice versa.
– So, even though Brahmas do not have sex organs, they may have different types of gati.
– I think it was Waharaka Theor who explained this in one of his discourses. Anyway, if I find a reference I will post it.Regarding the other issue, I have never stated that sex change is not possible.
– When a human gandhabba is born by kammic energy, it will have either male or female sex organs (more correctly the blueprint for it). So, when it gets into a womb and is born a human baby it will have either male or female sex organs.
– However, that sex can change even during a lifetime as a kamma vipaka. There is a dramatic account in the Tipitaka of a wealthy person during the time of the Buddha who became a woman and switched back again to a man. He had seen an Arahant taking a bath in a river. That Arahant had a beautiful body and this person generated lustful thoughts and instantly became a woman (of course, he did not know it was an Arahant). After becoming a woman he realized what happened and was able to meet the Arahant and get the sex changed reversed!
– I don’t remember the name of the sutta. Hopefully, someone will know and post the name of the sutta.Hi raj,
Bhavanga is not something that one experiences actively (i.e., they are not “thoughts”.)
– All citta (loosely called “thoughts”) arise in citta vithi. Each citta vithi has 17 citta, and millions of them can run through the mind in a second.
– Bavanga is the “state of the mind” in-between citta vithi. But the does not register ANYTHING while in bhavanga.
– In most bhavanga states, the mind does not “feel” anything. It is thus normally in a “neutral” bhavanga state. But right after a strong sensory event, the mind may retain that “mindset” for a while. For example, if X hears that his father just died, that “sad mindset” could be with X for many days.
– In contrast, there will be citta vithi flowing during meditation. You may be thinking about the “calm mindset” during meditation. But those are still citta vithi, with “good thoughts”. That is why they provide calmness.You may want to read the following post:
“Bhava and Bhavaṅga – Simply Explained”If you still have questions, please feel free to ask.
Hello DanielSt,
You wrote: “I checked Ven. Bodhi’s Book on Abhidhamma, it is mentioned that there is no Bhava dasaka (sex property) in the Brahma realm.”
Could you give the page number in the book?
– Bhava dasaka, in some books, is loosely translated as man/woman nature, but it encompasses many other features related to one’s gati or bhava.
– However, before I spend time on this, I like to read the text in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s book. I have the book.Your other question is ” According to my understanding of Abhidhamma, and your explanation, a gender change can only happen with a cuti-patisandhi transition, or, a new bhava.”
– I don’t think I said that sex changes cannot occur within a life. Could you point to bullet # and the post?While most of the explanations are good in the above discourse, this Bhante’s other discourses may not be.
I listened to another discourse that came up on youtube and it had the usual interpretation of anicca as just impermanence.
– While impermanence is part of the anicca nature, anicca means much more.I think there are two main aspects to be considered.
1. Upadana plays a big role. Again, there are two instances where upadana comes to play.
– The first is when one gets a human bhava upon exhausting kammic energy in the previous bhava. For example, if a Deva dies and grasps a human bhava, that is according to “upadana paccaya bhava” at the cuti-patisandhi moment.
– The second instance is when a human gandhabba enters a womb. This is the case that Dawson is addressing. Here again, upadana plays a big role.2. As we have discussed in the section, “Concepts of Upādāna and Upādānakkhandha” upadana plays a major role even during life with a human body.
– In particular, see “Generating Kammic Energy in the ‘Upādāna Paccayā Bhava’ Step.”3. A gandhabba is drawn to a womb based on many factors. As you pointed out, parents’ “gati” need to match. The other major factor is the upadana of the gandhabba. A gandhabba is mostly drawn to an environment that he/she has a liking for. There are several accounts in the Tipitaka that make this clear. I don’t have the sutta references (maybe those who know can post), but a few are the following.
– The “Tirokuṭṭa Sutta (Kp 7)” describes how a gandhabba of a recently died person is drwan to that same home in many cases. A reasonable English translation: “The Beyond the Walls Discourse”
– Another account that comes to my mind: There was a bhikkhu who was very fond of a certain robe. His attachment (upadana) for the robe made him be reborn a tick on that same robe. In that case, his kammic energy for the human bhava was exhausted. His upadana for the robe (combined with other kammic factors) led to that extraordinary rebirth.
– Another factor is the following: When we talk about “gati” it is not just lobha gati, dosa gati, and moha gati. Other habits/tendencies come into play. This could be the reason for most rebirths accounts by children indicate that previous births were in the same region with similar customs, tendencies, etc. (as I mentioned in my previous post, per Professor Steveson’s studies.)
– It is a very complex subject. This is why only a Buddha is capable of analyzing kammic effects for a particular situation.The other factor that comes into play is a technical one.
4. The universe in infinite and there are uncountable “10,000 world systems” or lokadhatu in the universe. I have given a brief description in the post, “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).”
– Even a Buddha can travel (or can communicate) only among those 10,000 systems, and not beyond that. Others have access to much smaller parts based on their abhinna powers. See, “Cūḷanikā Sutta (AN 3.80)” The English translation there is not that good: “80. Lesser”
– There is an account in the Tipitaka that describes how Ven. Moggalana “got lost” while traveling through the lokadhatu. See #18 of the post on Agganna Sutta.
– The point here is that it would be impossible that a gandhabba to cross over to other “world systems.” Even birth in a different planetary system within the 10,000 systems is highly unlikely. As we saw above, the rebirths of a gandhabba are highly localized.Hello Dawson,
You asked: “If there are countless other planetary systems out there, then why is it that we’re limited to this particular one to exist in? If there are an infinite number of beings, then there’ll be an infinite set of potential parents whose gati matches ours and thus, there would be no need to wait”
It is an interesting question. I need to think about it a bit more.
1. But the following is an observation from the rebirth accounts of children by Professor Ian Stevenson.
– Rebirths within a human bhava are observed to be highly local. For example, a person dying in India seems to be reborn in that region. For a person dying in England, rebirths are unlikely to happen in India.
– However, there are a few exceptions in his studies.2. So, from observations, it appears that rebirths outside a planetary system must be extremely rare.
I will think about this some more. Hopefully, others may have some ideas too.
The sutta in question is “Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta“.
It is not easy to translate a sutta in a forum response. I will try to make a post in the future. But let me try to give the essence of the sutta.
1. A living being (satta or satva) manifests because of the akusala-mula Paticca Samuppada (PS) processes.
– As you can see the “whole mass of suffering” starts with “avijja paccaya sankhara”. But avijja does not arise without causes.
– Avijja arises when we come across a sensory input that “matches” our gati. We have, in broad terms, lobha gati, dosa, gati, and moha gati.2. When a sensory input comes that “matches our gati” then we attach to it with samphassa-ja-vedana. See, “Dukkha Samudaya Starts With Samphassa-Jā-Vedanā”
– That is when we start acting with avijja, i.e., that is when we start doing (abhi) sankhara with “avijja paccaya sankhara”.3. Therefore, the key to stopping those akusala-mula PS processes is to stay mindful and stop such attachments.
– The first thing that happens when we come across such a sensory input (arammana) is that we start thinking about it. Those thoughts are vaci sankhara and they arise with vitakka/vicara. They are also called sankappa.
– There are “bad sankappa” or “bad vitakka” associated with lobha, dosa, moha. They are kama vitakka, vyapada vitakka, and vihimsa vitakka (corresponding greed, anger, ignorance). Of course, we need to stop them and cultivate the opposites: nekkamma vitakka, avyapada vitakka, and avihimsa vitakka.4. The “Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta” discussed five ways to control such bad vitakka. I will briefly list them:
(i) When such bad thoughts connected with desire, hate, and delusion start arising, one should suppress those thoughts by instead focusing on the opposite vitakka. For example, if it is an angry thought towards someone, one should start generating metta toward that person.
(ii) If that does not work one should think about the bad consequences of such bad vitakka. That such bad thoughts/actions can lead to bad vipaka, both in this life and in future lives.
(iii) One should try to avoid such sensory inputs. For example, avoid coming face-to-face with adversaries, avoid gambling places, etc.
(iv) In some cases, one can look at the root cause for such akusala vitakka to come to mind. For example, if thoughts arise to hit someone, think about why that would be necessary or what would be the real reason for such drastic action. You may realize that it was a misunderstanding that led to the confrontation.
(v) If none of those work, one should stop such bad vitakka by force as the last resort: With teeth clenched and tongue pressed against the roof of the mouth, make firm determination that “I will not sustain such thoughts”. Yes. you need to literally clench the teeth and press the tongue against the roof of the mouth. Try and see. That takes the mind away from those thoughts, because you are focusing on that.Anyway, I hope you get the idea. Now if you read the translation that you quoted, you may be able to understand it better.
Yes. This is a good question. I will answer briefly and maybe need to add a post to the recent section on “Concepts of Upādāna and Upādānakkhandha”
1. We are bound to the samsaric process because of 4 types of upadana (this is just one way to look at how the rebirth process is maintained): diṭṭhupādāna, sīlabbatupādāna, kāmupādāna, and attavādupādāna.
– I have re-arranged the terms in the order that they are removed while cultivating the Noble Path.2. A living-being (satta or satva) manifests because of the akusala-mula Paticca Samuppada (PS) processes.
– As you can see the “whole mass of suffering” starts with “avijja paccaya sankhara”. But avijja does not arise without causes.
– Avijja arises when we come across a sensory input that “matches” our gati. We have, in broad terms, lobha gati, dosa, gati, and moha gati.3. Those gati can be looked at in terms of upadana.
– When one does not understand the PS enough, one has diṭṭhupādāna. Because of that one also thinks that living a moral life is good enough. That is sīlabbatupādāna.
– When one becomes at least a Sotapanna Anugami and starts comprehending PS/Tilakkhana/Noble Truths, one gets rid of those two types of upadana.4. However, even a Sotapanna has only removed those wrong views or diṭṭhi vipallasa. He/she would still have sanna and citta vipallasa.
– When a Sotapanna cultivates the anicca sanna, dukkha sanna, anatta sanna, he can gradually remove the “tendency to attach to sensual pleasures” or kama raga. When that is complete he would have also removed kāmupādāna.5. The last one remove is the “sense of a me” or “asmi mana” and that is removed at the Arahant stage. That is the citta vipallasa. In terms of upadana, it is the attavādupādāna. Of course, this “sense of me” is the hardest to remove. Avijja completely disappears only at that time.
Also, see, “Vipallāsa (Diṭṭhi, Saññā, Citta) Affect Saṅkhāra“
Hello Zapper,
1. I definitely DO NOT do any standard kasina or breath meditations. That should be clear to anyone.
2. I don’t try to get into jhanas in any case. But when I meditate on the anicca, dukkha, anatta nature (Tilakkhana) I get into “jhanic-like” states. I just don’t have the mindset to cultivate jhanas.
– Anyone who has comprehended Tilakkhana will get into jhanas while in meditation (they just go in and out of jhana). It is just that to stay in jhanas for long times (jhana samapatti) one must practice a lot. But there are some people (who had cultivated jhanas in recent past lives) who can easily get into jhana samapatti. Obviously, I am not one of them.
– My goal is not to enjoy “jhanic pleasures.” My goal is to stop the rebirth process completely ASAP.3. Not only any human, but ANY living being has attained the highest jhanas in their past. That is why jhanas are not a “big deal.”
– Of course, nothing wrong with getting into jhanas. In fact, there are benefits in cultivating jhanas. The problem arises when one starts enjoying the “jhanic pleasures” and forget that it is only a temporary state (even if one will be reborn in a Brahma realm and can enjoy such “jhanic pleasures” for millions of years). Eventually, they all end up in lower realms as animals or worse. In other words, any animal living today would have been born in a Brahma realm in the deep past.
– My advice to those who are obsessed with jhanas is to point out the account of Devadatta. He was able to attain the highest jhanas and had supernormal powers as well (all via anariya jhanas). But he ended up losing all that and was reborn in hell (niraya) because of his immoral activities.
