As opposed to the Happy Generations? This is an "all-knowing" Buddhist video of the Mahayana and Pure Land persuasions.
So apparently the Buddha was originally known as Bodhisattva Prabhapala and assisted the previous buddha, Kashyapa. Then, he ascended to Tushita heaven, where he preached to the devas in the "inner court". The sojourn on Earth was his last mission, during which he attained buddhahood himself. The next buddha, Maitreya, won´t appear on Earth until 576 million years into the future.
Esoterically, however, the Buddha has always been enlightened and only pretended otherwise as a "skilfull mean", something we learn in the Lotus Sutra.
There is clearly *something* amiss here, since modern science paints a rather bleak picture of Earth 576 million years into the future. Think mass extinctions of most animals and plants, intense heat and radiation, less oxygen in the atmosphere, et cetera. Not sure who Maitreya is supposed to save? Some kind of futuristic pelagic fungi?
It seems the fortunate eons won´t last forever...
Our sun uses up its hydrogen in 5 billion years, becomes a red giant and...
ReplyDeletehttps://supernova.eso.org/exhibition/1215/
And reincarnates as a white dwarf!
ReplyDeleteMen 576 miljoner år är ju inte samma sak som fem miljarder år. Även om jag misstänker att även om solen inte har blivit en röd jätte om 576 miljoner år har den ändå blivit betydligt varmare än nu.
ReplyDeleteMen även om buddhismen inte är teistisk har den övernaturliga element vilket gör att den inte behöver vara bunden till materiella faktorer i sina framtidsvisioner. Så länge dålig karma existerar kommer reinkarnationen att existera och det kommer väl att fixas på något sätt även om de materiella lagarna säger att det kommer att bli för varmt för att reinkarnera på jorden.
Samsara kanske fortsätter på någon annan jord, eller också ses det till att solen anpassar sig till karmalagens behov och ser till att vara lagom varm genom att ändra sin materiella struktur.
Erik R
Yes samsara would continue in all corners of creation, if true, regardless of environments. Imagine the totality of "All" reincarnating over and over. To exist is to suffer endlessly? Nah, as Meher Baba succinctly stated: Don't worry, Be Happy!
ReplyDeleteIf the goal is to liberate all sentient beings, then I suppose a bodhisattva or buddha is always necessary, since even invertebrates, plants and fungi are "sentient" in some sense (many invertebrates are sentient according to modern science). But the more specific legends of Maitreya describe an Earth inhabited by futuristic humans, which nevertheless has certain similarities with pre-modern India (large royal palaces, the town of Varanasi still stands, and so on). But sure, you can always claim that it takes place on another planet, or in another dimension. That would also, I think, be a possible Theosophical take on the matter!
ReplyDelete