Hello everyone,
What was the height of the Buddha?
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About 2 meters or 6 feet 7 inches.
Definitely taller than me, you, Robert, and Bhante Subhūti, for sure.
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The height according to Ajahn Thanissaro would be quite abnormally tall. However, he is using the sugata measurements against the wingspan of normal arms spans and not taking into account that the Buddha could touch his knees without stooping over. However, I think he would still be quite tall.
A more realistic way of looking at it would be that the sugata measurement was just a measurement special for the Buddha and some of the rules that were laid down. It is difficult to know. It is best just to accept this as a measurement rather than the actual related to his body.
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Yes, Venerable Sir. I think so too. Two similes I like that describe the Buddha’s appearance are Mount Meru and the full moon. Just like how the full moon is more radiant and bigger than the stars when we look up the night sky, I believe the Buddha was taller and more beautiful than others. Just like how Mount Meru would easily stand out among other mountains, I believe the Buddha was taller than others.
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Why does bhante think that it is best to take it as unrelated to the body?
Mahāpadānasutta-commentary:
Tathā hi dīpaṅkaro asītihattho ahosi, sumano navutihattho, amhākaṃ bhagavā aṭṭhārasahattho.
It says that the Lord is eighteen cubits tall. (I remember some other Commentary also says so.) And it’s subcommentary says that the Lord is three times higher than a majjhimapurisa. (This subcommentary was written by the Atthakathacariya Dhammapala who wrote both commentaries and subcommentaries.)
Mahāpadānasutta-subcommentary:
“Sattānaṃ pākatikahatthena chahattho majjhimapuriso, tato tiguṇaṃ bhagavato sarīrappamāṇanti bhagavā aṭṭhārasahattho”ti vadanti. Apare pana bhaṇanti “Manussānaṃ pākatikahatthena catuhattho majjhimapuriso, tato tiguṇaṃ bhagavato sarīrappamāṇanti bhagavā dvādasahattho upādinnakarūpadhammavasena, samantato pana byāmamattaṃ byāmappabhā pharatīti upari chahatthaṃ abbhuggato, bahalatarappabhā rūpena saddhiṃ aṭṭhārasahattho hotī”ti.
The monks that I know answer to the question of abnormal hight, like follows.
Why is it abnormal?
All the thirty two marks of the Lord are abnormal. So there’s nothing to worry about the abnormal height. A Buddha means an abnormal supreme being.
The Dhammapada Commentary presents a story where a brahmin was trying to measure the height of the Lord by different means. However much he tried, he was unsuccessful. It shows that even the physical body of the Lord is immeasurable.
And the old Sri Lankan Caturarakkhaka bhavana verses (still in use) say,
Dissamanopi tavassa rupakayo acintiyo;
Asadharana nanaddhe dhammakaye kathawaka.Even the visible physical body of him is unthinkable;
To say nothing of the mental body with uncommon wisdoms.
Another monk guesses:
The Commentaries say that the Lord shows his aura (byāmappabhā) whenever he wants and hide it whenever he wants. The same is done for some of the thirty two marks. In the same way we can guess that there might be a possibility that the Lord might show his abnormal height whenever he wants and hide it whenever he wants.
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I honestly don’t have any trouble believing this. I believe the sight of the Buddha is auspicious and a blessing. The body of the Buddha was endowed with the 32 marks and 80 characteristics and rays. When the Buddha is walking with hundreds of arahants, it is like a full moon surrounded by stars. Such was the beauty and radiance of the Buddha and I think the beauty and radiance of the Buddha was clearly visible for everyone to see because the Buddha was taller than others.
I do believe the Buddha was three times higher than a majjimapurisa, but even the physical body of the Buddha is immeasurable as presented in the Dhammapada commentary.
I believe even wheel-turning monarchs would be much taller than anyone else so they would stand out from the rest.
I found something from the Visuddimagga
He is also called “blessed” (bhagavá) since he is “associated with blessings”
(bhagehi yuttattá) such as those of the following kind, in the sense that he
“has those blessings” (bhagá assa santi). Now, in the world the word
“blessing” is used for six things, namely, lordship, Dhamma, fame, glory, wish, and endeavour. He has supreme lordship over his own mind, either of the kind reckoned as mundane and consisting in “minuteness, lightness,” etc., or that complete in all aspects, and likewise the supramundane Dhamma. And he has exceedingly pure fame, spread through the three worlds, acquired though the special quality of veracity. And he has glory of all limbs, perfect in every aspect, which is capable of comforting the eyes of people eager to see his material body. And he has his wish, in other words, the production of what is wanted, since whatever is wanted and needed by him as beneficial to himself or others is then and there produced for
him. And he has the endeavour, in other words, the right effort, which is the
reason why the whole world venerates him.
The Visuddhimagga commentary says:
Vism-mhþ says the word “etc.” includes the following six: mahimá, patti, pákamma, ìsitá, vasitá, and yatthakámávasáyitá. “Herein, animá means making the body minute (the size of an atom—anu). Laghimá means lightness of body; walking on air, and so on. Mahimá means enlargement producing hugeness of the body. Patti means arriving where one wants to go. Pákamma means producing what one wants by resolving, and so on. Isitá means self-mastery, lordship. Vasitá means mastery of miraculous powers. Yatthakámávasáyitá means attainment of perfection in all ways in one who goes through the air or does anything else of the sort” (Vism-mhþ 210)
This tells us that the Buddha can easily make his body bigger or smaller.
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I want to see the Buddha so much. I hope I can see the physical body of the Buddha through practicing the recollection of the Buddha.
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Great work!
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