Can monks show supernatural powers to others to increase people’s faith or to make parents proud?
If a monk travel to Uttarakuru or other continents that can’t be visited by people or to other realms, others would know he has superpowers. In that case, is it allowed to show?
What about when a monk is traveling through the sky and people see him, is that allowed or does he have to turn invisible?
No they cannot there is also a story about this.
Should any bhikkhu report (his own) superior human state, when
it is factual, to an unordained person, it is to be confessed.yo pana bhikkhu anupasampannassa uttarimanussadhammaṃ āroceyya, bhūtasmiṃ pācittiyaṃ.
The meaning of superior human state is discussed at length under Pr 4. In brief, it
covers (a) jhāna, (b) the cognitive powers that can arise as its result, and (c) the
transcendent attainments.
Displaying psychic powers. In AN III.61, the Buddha tells a brahman that many hundreds of his bhikkhu disciples are endowed with psychic powers. Nevertheless, he forbade them from displaying those powers to householders. The origin story to this prohibition — which we cited briefly in connection with Pc 8 — shows why: Now at that time a costly block of sandalwood, from sandalwood heartwood, accrued to the Rājagaha financier. The thought occurred to him, “What if I were to have an alms bowl carved from this block of sandalwood? The chips will be for my own enjoyment, and I’ll give the bowl as a gift.” So the financier, having had a bowl carved from the block of sandalwood, having looped a string around it, having hung it from the top of a bamboo pole, having had the bamboo pole fastened on top of a series of bamboo poles, one on top of another, announced: “Any brahman or contemplative who is a worthy one (arahant) with psychic powers: Fetch down the bowl and it is given to you.” Then Pūraṇa Kassapa went to the Rājagaha financier and, on arrival, said to him, “Because I am a worthy one with psychic powers, give me the bowl.” “If, venerable sir, you are a worthy one with psychic powers, fetch down the bowl and it is given to you.” Then Makkali Gosāla … Ajita Kesakambalin … Pakudha Kaccāyana … Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta … Nigaṇṭha Nāṭaputta went to the Rājagaha financier and, on arrival, said to him, “Because I am a worthy one with psychic powers, give me the bowl.” “If, venerable sir, you are a worthy one with psychic powers, fetch down the bowl and it is given to you.” Now at that time Ven. Mahā Moggallāna and Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, each having dressed early in the morning, each taking his robes and bowl, had gone into Rājagaha for alms. Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja was a worthy one with psychic powers, and Ven. Mahā Moggallāna was a worthy one with psychic powers (§). Then Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja said to Ven. Mahā Moggallāna: “Go, friend Moggallāna, and fetch down the bowl. That bowl is yours.” Then Ven. Mahā Moggallāna said to Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja: “Go, friend Bhāradvāja, and fetch down the bowl. That bowl is yours.” So Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, rising up into the sky, took the bowl and circled three times around Rājagaha. Now at that time the Rājagaha financier was standing in his house compound with his wife and children, paying homage with his hands palm- to-palm over his heart, (saying,) “May Master Bhāradvāja land right here in our house compound.” So Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja landed in the financier’s house compound. Then the financier, having taken the bowl from Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja’s hand, having filled it with costly non-staple foods, presented it to Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja. Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, taking the bowl, returned to the monastery. People, hearing that “Master Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, they say, has fetched down the financier’s bowl,” followed right after him, making a shrill noise, a great noise. The Blessed One, hearing the shrill noise, the great noise, asked Ven. Ānanda, “Ānanda, what is that shrill noise, that great noise?” “Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja has fetched down the Rājagaha financier’s bowl, venerable sir. People, hearing that ‘Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja, they say, has fetched down the bowl of the financier,’ are following right after him, making a shrill noise, a great noise. That is the shrill noise, the great noise, that the Blessed One (hears).” Then the Blessed One, with regard to this cause, to this incident, had the Community of bhikkhus convened and questioned Ven. Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja: “Is it true, as they say, Bhāradvāja, that you fetched down the financier’s bowl?”
“Yes, venerable sir.” The Awakened One, the Blessed One, rebuked him: “It’s not appropriate, Bhāradvāja, not fitting for a contemplative, improper, and not to be done. How can you display a superior human state, a wonder of psychic power, to lay people for the sake of a miserable wooden bowl? Just as a woman might expose her sexual organ for the sake of a miserable wooden coin, so too have you displayed a superior human state, a wonder of psychic power, to lay people for the sake of a miserable wooden bowl.” — Cv.V.8
Thank you for answering, Venerable Sir.
So monks can’t display psychic powers to householders or unordained people.
If a monk is simply flying through the sky, and a householder sees him, is that allowed? Because in that case, the monk wouldn’t be displaying his psychic powers to anyone in particular. He would just be travelling in the sky.
Can a monk display psychic powers to devas, brahmas and other ascetics and hermits?
This is from the BMC… but I think there might be issues from this. Intention is not a factor in this rule. I’d have to research this more. For the meantime. You can try to attain while you are still a lay person and you can show me. I have personally asked Ven. Pa-auk Sayadawgyi if he has ever seen anyone fly (or levitate), and he said he has not seen it. We would imagine that he would be one of the monks in the present world who would see this since he is the chief teacher of Jhānas.
Displaying psychic powers. A related rule at Cv.V.8.2 states that to display psychic
powers to lay people is a dukkaṭa. In the origin story leading up to that rule, the
Buddha levels strong criticism at such an act: “Just as a woman might expose her
vagina for a miserable wooden māsaka coin, so too have you displayed a superior
human state, a wonder of psychic power, to lay people for the sake of a miserable
wooden bowl.”
To display psychic powers to anyone who is not a lay person, though, is no offense.
Thus, given the way these two rules are framed, one may not tell a novice of one’s
powers but may levitate before his very eyes.
Yes Venerable Sir, I will try. I want to attain those powers to make my parents proud.
I think to attain psychic powers, one would need a very rigorous meditation schedule and also know a lot about jhanas and psychic powers as mentioned in the Visudhimagga.
An interesting case is if a monk travels to Uttarakuru for alms, the residents of that place would know that the monk has psychic powers to even travel there, but I don’t think that would count as displaying psychic powers because the monk is not showing his psychic powers in front of them.
One reason why we don’t see any flying monk might be because there isn’t as much interest and desire to attain psychic powers as there is in becoming enlightened nowadays. Also, I feel like one would need to be very knowledgeable about the instructions on attaining those powers.
That’s interesting, Venerable Sir. Have you heard of any true Bodhisattas or future chief or future great disciples who have already received a definite prophecy practicing in Pa-Auk? If so, I think they should be able to attain psychic powers.
In Theravada Buddhism, such aspiration is less common, as the primary goal is to become an arahant. You might find practitioners with this kind of aspiration more frequently:
I also wanted to be a sotappanna deva or anagami brahma, but I changed my mind because I noticed a subtle laziness in me when I made that wish because I just wanted to enjoy pleasures for a long time and avoid having to try hard. Now I aspire to become a Buddha. Any amount of effort or struggle would be worth becoming a Buddha because one can become greater, wiser, more beautiful and powerful than any devas or brahmas and attain the highest state.
I remember I did desire omniscience from a young age and I thought simply being enlightened means attaining omniscience but now I know that there are different kinds of enlightenment such as enlightenment of a disciple, enlightenment of a paccekabuddha, and enlightenment of a Buddha.
I’m a Theravada practitioner.
I’m not sure if Mahayana’s version of Bodhisattva is completely the same as Theravada’s so I can’t comment on that.
It is a very noble aspiration to become a Buddha to help all beings, it requires a great compassion. Renouncing Nirvana to help others is something admirable.
I would actually say Bodhisattas do not renounce Nibanna. They just postpone attaining it for the benefit of all beings.
But yeah, it is a noble goal that requires a lot of compassion, strength, courage, and determination.
Honestly, it makes me happy to even think about Buddhahood. It’s just an amazing goal.
2 posts were split to a new topic: Mahayana ideas about Bodhisattva
I just remembered a story heard from my grandmother. Supposedly during the cremation of a highly respected Venerable in her village people saw some balls of light in the sky. Some people started screaming and running every which way. I don’t know about the balls of light, could just have been an atmospheric phenomenon, but the people’s reaction seems about right.
If some of these modern types (bless their little hearts) witness an actual display of supernormal power, they are going to soil their pants and faint, scared out of their wits, if they are lucky.
Some may go insane. At least, they are going to second-guess their sanity.
If you want to become a bodhisatta, you should read all the books from The Great Chronicles of the Buddha.
(Perhaps I said this before… but at least I’m consistent.)
You can find it here.
It is interesting he hasn’t seen that.
Are not the 14 masteries of the mind supposed to unlock all the powers if one concentrates on them?
I guess it could be no one actually wanted that, but on a more practical note, if you can share, are there monks that can see vividly their past lives (as in one of the powers, not just the vipassana mind moment thing described in books where you discern past and future lives),
and also are there monks with the divine eye?
There are quite a few who can do the 14 masteries of jhana.
As for the results and what is available and actually true? It is difficult to asses.
If I remember correctly, real 14 mastery is 12+ rounds a minute. You can do the math how many jhanas that is. Several can do this. Then they are told to do things like see the minds of others but rarely or never confirming if it is real or not (as far as I know from what I overheard). “What number am I thinking?” is never done although it would have been fun to observe.
I think they see beings who are living within the monastery and try to do dependent origination to see the causes. Also, it is done with basic metta jhana practice. I don’t want to get into so many details about the interviews I have heard though.
This was back in 2012-2013 where they were more public and a 2nd time course for yogis, mostly superstars, invitation to come from previous students who finished the course.
I think it is probably best to simply use it, made up or real, for gaining wisdom and liberation.
Thank you for sharing, Venerable Sir. What about abilities such as flying or teleportation to other realms with a physical body? Has anyone been able to accomplish such feats in recent times?
I once asked that in Sayadawgyi’s early days… maybe 2004…
He said he didn’t know anyone who could fly. He always joked about, you can fly to usa or whatever the native country was of the person who asked.
I think there is a mention about supernormal powers which are “classed” differently.
The deceased sutta-only monk Ven. Vimalārāmsi once told me he saw with his own eyes a monk who could levitate and “he was as high as the trees.” This was 1999; he told me this.
There was also some story of a monk in ThamLyn, Myanmar, that could levitate 50 or so years ago (or more).
A friend of mine who is now a monk was once a chief engineer.
They were headed towards what might be either a spout or a tornado on water. They had to aim for it for some reason. They were going to die. My friend was on the bridge with the captain from the UK. They were wearing life vests, expecting to capsize. The Myanmar chief engineer had his eyes closed and was praying to “Shin Arahan Pagoda”.
The UK captain saw a monk fly down from the sky and land on the bow (front) of the ship.
The UK captain tapped the Myanmar chief engineer and said, “Check this out!”
My friend said, “I’m praying; don’t bother me…” and kept his eyes shut.
The monk pointed to the thing that was going to destroy the boat and moved his arm to point in another direction and moved that tornado thing. Then he flew away.
The UK captain (non-buddhist) later told him what happened.
The chief engineer told me this story himself. He has been on two sunken ships and four pirate raids. Later he was working in Australia as a desk job, but later became a monk. It is common for educated Myanmar people to take seamen jobs and move up to the top quickly.
To be fair… here is a fun read by James Randi. I read his book a long time ago.
Basically, no lay person has won the million dollars yet. However, the monks are prohibited from doing this. I once told Burgs of a check that was hidden in puzzling world. If you can find it you would get the money. He laughed and contemplated the ways he could find the check. If he has the physical object connected to it, like a pen, or if he could read the mind of the owner. He contemplated the ethics of it… “half for saṅgha…? nah… I can’t do this.” This was when he was meditating in a monastery. However, for him to do that today with his busy schedule, would not be possible. Dīpā Ma also said similar things that she could not do it immediately if she was asked, but it was true. You can read the book here.
James Randi Challenge Below:
Thank you so much for sharing all this! I feel so inspired and motivated. I almost want to just renounce the household life and become a full time meditator to attain these powers and Nibbana. Even if I might not fully succeed, I think it would still be worth trying.