I found a new sutra to read:
Ārya tathāgatācintyaguhya nirdeśa nāma mahāyāna sutra
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And a new Mandala at Himalayan Art Click Below:
Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas – Dream Follow Up
Category: Buddhist
Vajrapani – Who Do You Think You Are – Dream – 13-02-2026
Last night we watched an episode of the TV programme “Who do you think you are?” in which diamond geezer and EastEnders TV actor Danny Dyer found out that he was related back via Thomas Cromwell to King Edward the Third. In a sense the second part of this is related to recapping a part of this life. During the day I downloaded and scan-read numerous Tantra texts from the 84000 Reading Room web site. It is not uncommon for me to do some meditation visualisations at the transition from fully awake to “asleep”. I started with what I call geometric Vajrapani as I drifted off.
As I ready for sleep I invoke and visualize a blue Vajrapani in a readiness pose, not full wrathful. I am invoking his protection. I start by visualizing him in each of the four cardinal compass points to our property. Starting in the East, then South, then West and finally North. There is a calm familiarity with the practice.
I notice the transition from “awake” to “asleep”.
Now without any physical house and garden refence points I see Vajrapani first close and then far. He is stocky, muscular and well powered. He is of a physical age of a well maintained 40 year old athlete. He is definitely lithe and athletic.
I then see him at each of the four cardinal point of a two dimensional compass circle. He then appears also at the minor cardinals such as SW. Until I am at the centre of a circle in which there are eight Vajrapani. The ones at the true cardinals are slightly larger.
The scene changes to three dimensional in which there are two extra global circles one North-South and the other East-West. These are at right angles to the initial plane. Where these circles intersect, vertically above me and vertically below me an additional Vajrapani appears. So that there two more true cardinal Vajrapani. The quasi cardinal points fill in with smaller Vajrapani giving and extra eight smaller Vajrapani and a total now of eighteen. The feeling is of a three axes gyroscope.
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There is a sense of being cradled.
The scene now changes and I am sat with Vajrapani as a younger man with long jet black hair still blue hued. He is dressed informally in a light off the shoulder white toga like robe. We are under a weeping willow like tree by the banks of a small gently flowing river. We are sat facing each other on the grass. He is very relaxed, beaming with an inner light, and it is as if we are having a picnic on the grass together though we are not eating. We are conversing without words mind to mind and are well en rapport with each other. In the dream our relationship is fraternal friendly. We know that my secondary predilection is for the light of the East. Between us is a shared knowledge of the Nagas. For a very pleasant while we sit enjoying the shade of the tree, the grassy lawn, the sound of the river, and the sparkling light of the sun reflecting therefrom. He is now always “available”.
I awake for a loo visit it is around 3:15 AM. I have an upset stomach which is telling me that I need to now cut something out of my post operative diet. I go downstairs and watch a bit of You Tube. I somehow know that it is near dawn in Northern India and Bhutan.
I go back to bed and to sleep.
I am now with the wife in the dining hall of Wycliffe College prep school. We are sat at high table with the headmaster. He is talking with us. I explain to him that it is good to revisit and that I was last here around 57 or 58. I do the maths and realised it must be 1977-8.
The scene changes and we are walking up then hill to Tiley field which used to be the athletics track. It was here that I used to run 800 and 1500 metres barefoot, sometimes for the school. I enjoyed the grass under my feet. There are a few younger people there and the use of the field has changed. The scene changes to an indoor swimming pool I am there with some teenagers from the upper school. Then we are back in the dining room.
I explain that because of my date of birth I was able to stay down and enter the scholarship class where I won the science exhibition to the school proper. I wonder if there are any records or photos of my time there. I know that there is at least one whole school photo in which I am.
The headmaster talks about how the alumni are helping to fund a school project. He gestures and someone brings an old style land line ‘phone in an olive green plastic. The ‘phone is bulky and wired in. He places it on the dinner table in front of me and gestures for me to pick it up. I know that it will have the alumni and fund raising office at the other end.
The ‘phone then looms large on the table and I wonder if the dream is telling me to make contact with my old school. Maybe they can throw some light on things. I remember that when I was there I was in trouble and had difficulty settling in. Perhaps something interesting happened about which there are records?
The wife and I look at each other knowing that the headmaster is simply doing his job as a fundraiser but also that there may be something important which he is missing by a mile.
The dreaming ends and I come to. My initial thought was that it was a nice change to have nice dreams.
The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi
Bhagavannīlāmbaradharavajrapāṇitantra
Toh 498
Degé Kangyur, vol. 87 (rgyud ’bum, da), folios 158.a–167.a
ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ
- Celu
- Phakpa Sherab
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Group
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
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Warning: Readers are reminded that according to Vajrayāna Buddhist tradition there are restrictions and commitments concerning tantra. Practitioners who are not sure if they should read this translation are advised to consult the authorities of their lineage. The responsibility for reading this text or sharing it with others who may or may not fulfill the requirements lies in the hands of readers.
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“The text begins with the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi requesting the Buddha Akṣobhya to teach a tantra that can tame all evil spirits that live beneath the ground. The notion that an underworld exists in which various forms of evil spirits flourish was well developed in Indian Buddhism since the very early days. Both of the two other Caryātantra tantras on Blue-Clad Vajrapāṇi (Toh 499 in seven chapters and Toh 501 in five chapters) share the same theme, unfolding as Vajrapāṇi requests the Buddha to teach the rituals that can tame the nāgas and yakṣas below the ground and, in the process, accomplish the wealth that they guard and repel the disease that they inflict on humans. These two other tantras thus appear to be slightly condensed (or perhaps earlier) versions of The Tantra of the Blue-Clad Blessed Vajrapāṇi.
The Buddha Akṣobhya agrees to Vajrapāṇi’s request, and then prepares to teach the tantra known as The Vajra That Subjugates the Evil Forces Below the Vajra Earth, which throughout this text is synonymous with the main title of the tantra. Before he begins, however, he first blesses Vajrapāṇi with the ability to tame the various serpent beings living in the environment below, headed by the nāga king Anantaka (another name for Śesa, the serpent associated with Viṣṇu). Once tamed in this way, the serpent beings join in the request being put to the Buddha that he teach the tantra. With the stage thus set, the Buddha Akṣobhya proceeds to teach.”
Excerpted from. https://84000.co/translation/toh498#UT22084-087-003-introduction
The Nidānakathā – it is not the fault…
The Nidānakathā
or
The Three Epochs
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Inasmuch as this comment on the Jātaka, if it be expounded after setting forth the three Epochs, the distant, the middle, and proximate, will be clearly understood by those who hear it by being understood from the beginning, therefore I will expound it after setting forth the three Epochs. Accordingly from the very outset it will be well to determine the limits of these Epochs. Now the narrative of the Bodhisatta’s existence, from the time that, at the feet of Dīpaṅkara, he formed a resolution to become a Buddha to his rebirth in the Tusita heaven after leaving the Vessantara existence, is called the Distant Epoch. From his leaving the Tusita heaven to his attainment of omniscience on the throne of Knowledge, the narrative is called the Intermediate Epoch. And the Proximate Epoch is to be found in the various places in which he sojourned {during his ministry on earth}.
The Distant Epoch
Tradition tells us that four asankheyyas and a hundred thousand cycles ago there was a city called Amaravatī. In this city there dwelt a brahmin named Sumedha, of good family on both sides, on the father’s and the mother’s side, of pure conception for seven generations back, by birth unreproached and respected, a man comely, well-favoured and amiable, and endowed with remarkable beauty. He followed his brahminical studies without engaging in any other pursuit. His parents died while he was still young. A minister of state, who acted as steward of his property, bringing forth the roll-book of his estate, threw open the stores filled with gold and silver, gems and pearls, and other valuables, and said, “So much, young man, belonged to your mother, so much to your father, so much to your grandparents and great-grandparents,” and pointing out to him the property inherited through seven generations, he bade him guard it carefully. The wise Sumedha thought to himself, “After amassing all this wealth my parents and ancestors when they went to another world took not a farthing with them, can it be right that I should make it an object to take my wealth with me when I go?” And informing the king of his intention, he caused proclamation to be made in the city, gave largess to the people, and embraced the ascetic life of a hermit.
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The Distant Epoch
Now one day the wise Sumedha, having retired to the splendid upper apartmentof his house, seated himself cross-legged, and fell a thinking. “Oh! wise man, grievous is rebirth in a new existence, and the dissolution of the body in each successive place where we are reborn. I am subject to birth, to decay, to disease, to death, – it is right, being such, that I should strive to attain the great deathless Nirvāṇa, which is tranquil, and free from birth, and decay, and sickness, and grief and joy; surely there must be a road that leads to Nirvāṇa and releases man from existence.”
Accordingly it is said,
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17. Seated in seclusion, I then thought as follows:
Grievous is rebirth and the breaking up of the body.
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18. I am subject to birth, to decay, to disease,
Therefore will I seek Nirvāṇa, free from decay and death, and secure.
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19. Let me leave this perishable body, this pestilent congregation of vapours,
And depart without desires and without wants.
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20. There is, there must be a road, it cannot but be:
I will seek this road, that I may obtain release from existence.
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Further he reasoned thus, “For as in this world there is pleasure as the correlative of pain, so where there is existence there must be its opposite the cessation of existence; and as where there is heat there is also cold which neutralizes it, so there must be a Nirvāṇa that extinguishes (the fires of) lust and the other passions; and as in opposition to a bad and evil condition there is a good and blameless one, so where there is evil Birth there must also be Nirvāṇa, called the Birthless, because it puts an end to all rebirth.”
Therefore it is said,
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21. As where there is suffering there is also bliss,
So where there is existence we must look for non-existence.
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22. And as where there is heat there is also cold,
So where there is the threefold fire of passion extinction must be sought.
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23. And as coexistent with evil there is also good,
Even so where there is birth the cessation of birth should be sought.
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Again he reasoned thus, “Just as a man who has fallen into a heap of filth, if he beholds afar off a great pond covered with lotuses of five colours, ought to seek that pond, saying, ‘By what way shall I arrive there?’ but if he does not seek it the fault is not that of the pond; even so where there is the lake of the great deathless Nirvāṇa for the washing of the defilement of sin, if it is not sought it is not the fault of the lake. And just as a man who is surrounded by robbers, if when there is a way of escape he does not fly it is not the fault of the way but of the man; even so when there is a blessed road loading to Nirvāṇa for the man who is encompassed and held fast by sin, its not being sought is not the fault of the road but of the person. And as a man who is oppressed with sickness, there being a physician who can heal his disease, if he does not get cured by going to the physician that is no fault of the physician; even so if a man who is oppressed by the disease of sin seeks not a spiritual guide who is at hand and knows the road which puts an end to sin, the fault lies with him and not with the sin-destroying teacher.”
Therefore it is said,
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24. As a man fallen among filth, beholding a brimming lake,
If he seek not that lake, the fault is not in the lake;
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25. So when there exists a lake of Nirvāṇa that washes the stains of sin,
If a man seek not that lake, the fault is not in the lake of Nirvāṇa.
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26. As a man beset with foes, there being a way of escape,
If he flee not away, the fault is not with the road;
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27. So when there is a way of bliss, if a man beset with sin
Seek not that road, the fault is not in the way of bliss.
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28. And as one who is diseased, there being a physician at hand,
If he bid him not heal the disease, the fault is not in the healer:
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29. So if a man who is sick and oppressed with the disease of sin
Seek not the spiritual teacher, the fault is not in the teacher.
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How Things Pan Out…
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I think it fair to say we never really know how things are going to pan out. Sometimes hindsight and retrospect enable us to re-frame our narratives concerning how we got here, wherever here might be.
I can say that my “future” at the turn of the century looked markedly different to how it turned out and actually is now. I doubt even the greatest “seer” could have pictured what happened and how we live our lives now. The divergence of imagined future and subsequent actuality was large.
Aside from what goes on in the dreams, it is more straightforward to suggest an on-going likely trajectory now than it was back then. For a start the number of variables in life are reduced as is the dramatis personae.
Of course there could be an influx of new and new people but given the circles we move in, the likelihood is low.
We will have provisional answers on the major events of 2026 in a few months. One of these question marks we have a good indication on already.
I have been toying with an idea and that is about leaving the wheel of rebirth. In the hagiographies this is often represented as quasi-miraculous perhaps to generate aspiration. Maybe it is a whole lot simpler than that. Perhaps all one needs is to have seen a lot, experienced a lot and to be essentially {in its core meaning} used up. If one is used up and has zero residual ambition there is no driver to take on another body, another slab of meat. One becomes quiescent and has not the impulse to energise another biological form. This idea is perhaps more logical that others. The urge to be reborn ceases and it is no more complicated than that. No desire – no rebirth. No want – no rebirth. No greed – no rebirth. The list goes on.
Maybe it is a kind of boredom that allows one to escape the wheel. I have been there, seen that, done that and now at last, I have the t-shirt. I have learned along the way.
What hindsight may also suggest is the role others have had in our lives. How we perceive that role may differ from how they do. We may learn a little about for what purpose we called them forth into our lives. We may have missed the point entirely. Too often we berate and blame instead of considering. The way modern life is lived, lacks patience. In our haste we miss so very much.
Maybe that is it, no more drama…
Siddartha said, “stop being such a drama queen and like a cart follows an ox you will find satisfaction, serenity and peace. In time, after you have discarded your pink feather boa and ludicrous overreactions, you will be free.”
I have an inkling that many obsessed with complexity and intellectual masturbation fail to see the buddha-field of simplicity…
You never know what life has in store for you, nor how things will pan out.
All you every really have is now…
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Chapter VII: The Venerable (Arhat)
90 There is no suffering for him who has finished his journey, and abandoned grief, who has freed himself on all sides, and thrown off all fetters.
91 They depart with their thoughts well-collected, they are not happy in their abode; like swans who have left their lake, they leave their house and home.
92 Men who have no riches, who live on recognised food, who have perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvana), their path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
93 He whose appetites are stilled, who is not absorbed in enjoyment, who has perceived void and unconditioned freedom (Nirvana), his path is difficult to understand, like that of birds in the air.
94 The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites.
95 Such a one who does his duty is tolerant like the earth, like Indra’s bolt; he is like a lake without mud; no new births are in store for him.
96 His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom by true knowledge, when he has thus become a quiet man.
97 The man who is free from credulity, but knows the uncreated, who has cut all ties, removed all temptations, renounced all desires, he is the greatest of men.
98 In a hamlet or in a forest, in the deep water or on the dry land, wherever venerable persons (Arhanta) dwell, that place is delightful.
99 Forests are delightful; where the world finds no delight, there the passionless will find delight, for they look not for pleasures.
Dhammapada (Max Muller)
Sak Yant – Yantra – Tattoo Theme – Dream Follow Up
Over the last ten years or so I have had seven dreams in which my skin is marked with a tattoo or tattoo like marking. I had waking visions around 2003 with om mane padme hum tattooed in Sanskrit {not Tibetan I checked} on the inside of both of my forearms The ink was of a very dark blue – indigo blue and to this day {now} I can still feel {or imagine} the lettering.
I have been looking into Thai or Khmer Sak Yant tattoos, perhaps inspired by this dream.
Saffron Trousers “Muay Thai” – Reincarnation – Dream 10-07-23
Here is this morning’s dream.
The dream opens at the confluence of two rivers in mountainous terrain. The river beds are strewn with dark grey-black rock. The river levels are low as is the resultant river. It is clear that from time to time and in rainy season torrents flow. Around the rivers are dense rainforest like trees. I am on a “beach” to the side of one of the rivers. There is a sense of antiquity and of “ago”. I know that I am near a village which is on a major trade route into / across the mountains. It has been the scene of major battles.
I look down and can see that I am wearing only some saffron-yellow trousers. They are held up with a drawstring at the waist and the ankles are similarly tied. They are loose fitting. My head is freshly shaved and without hair. My body is Asian and early twenties. It has no body hair. I am of a slight yet muscular build. I have a tattoo of my left forearm which I cannot see. I am with an old man with white hair and wispy beard. He is dressed in cotton trousers and jackets. He is an elder.
I am not of the village but have been assigned to it. There is an upcoming festival and I have been chosen to represent the village. Tribes will be coming down from the mountains for the festivities, which will be extensive over a number of days.
I point at a red rock on the shore. I say to the man that this could be ground up for face paint. {My mind interjects it is iron oxide}. He says yes and notes it. He will send one of the women back for it.
He has in his hand a cane upon which is a small pad. I am now supposed to kick the pad as he moves it. The type of kick is a roundhouse. He encourages me to swing the whole leg and not flex it at the knee. {My mind interjects that this not like a Japanese roundhouse mawashi-geri but more like a Muay Thai kick}. He moves the pad around getting me to kick low and high. He says that I must focus on the thigh kicks as these will deaden the legs of my opponents. He says that this is a key part of Muay Thai. He encourages me to kick low very hard and fast as we move around the beach. This “way” goes a long way back. He then gets me to work on a front stop kick which prevents the opponent from getting close. He says that I should tap into the warriors of old from this part of the mountains. The tribes coming down are savage and ruthless so I will have to be on my guard and at my best.
He says that although I am not of the village as the Buddhist priest, I should know its ways.
I have worked up a sweat. He suggests that I dunk myself in the river. Which I do.
The dream ends as we walk towards the village and I am amazed at how this body feels in comparison to the one in which I am sleeping.
Dream ends
* I note than in my waking dreams of me as a Buddhist priest I had a Sanskrit tattoo of “om mane padme hum” on forearms.
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The tradition of “sacred” tattooing is also by way of a magical spell or corporeal totem for the wearer. Such a thing would be imbued with intent. There are rules and a code of conduct to follow.
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IAST: Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūm̐
Devangari: ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ
Tibetan : ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྂ
Thai : โอํ มณิ ปทฺเม หุํ
Khmer : ឱំ មណិ បទ្មេ ហុំ
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I intuitionally geo-located the dream to around the Chiang Mai area of northern Thailand near Burma and Laos which is not too far from Nagaland in that part of India which is East of Bangladesh.
The thinking goes that if I was once trained in Muay Thai and had a Sak Yant tattoo then having a Sak Yant in this life could precipitate a recall from the earlier life. There being nothing like being repeatedly stabbed with a ceremonial needle in a sacred ritual to alter the state of consciousness.
The language should probably be Khmer and ancient Khmer at that. This would mean that someone well versed in the Sak Yant tradition going way back might be the only one able to reproduce the mantra / yantra in a timely thousand year old Khmer script. Only they would know how, not for the eyes of the party goers at Phuket.
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I found out that one of the tattoo themes has two serpents or naga or nāga. Sometimes referred to as Mekong serpents for the tourists. These designs were appealing, if large.
A brief internet search suggests that there are no genuine Sak Yant masters currently operational in France. You might have to hang out in hardcore Muay Thai circles to find such a person. Alternatively a trip to Chiang Mai could kick start the process…
The hip surgeon would probably prefer that I waited until after the operation to get stabbed.
It sounds like a bit of a crazy idea at my age to get a Sak Yant…
Anyway it has been an interesting thread to explore so far…
O still small voice of calm
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Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
till all our strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of Thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
John Greenleaf Whittier
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Over the last few days I have been on an off back with Narziß und Goldmund. A duality of aspects of me. I have according to my dreams been more often Narziß.
The journey into searching for me really began with St Francis and his famous prayer.
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Là où sont les ténèbres, que je mette la lumière.
Là où est la tristesse, que je mette la joie.
Ô Seigneur, que je ne cherche pas tant à être consolé qu’à consoler, à être compris qu’à comprendre, à être aimé qu’à aimer.
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In which he expresses his heartfelt bodhisattva vows.
I have yet to find a more erudite expression for contact with one’s soul than “o still small voice of calm.”
Which reminds us that no matter what is transpiring there is something which persists and remains unsullied by all that drama. It is an injunction to detach and not to be such a drama queen caught and enthralled in the maelstrom of emotions. The words exhort one to achieve balance and perspective. It suggests being the calm in the storm. It hints that ambitious striving is not the be all and end all.
We could all of us do with a little more near silent reconnection with our essence. For so often the quiet whispering wisdom of our soul, our inner being, is drowned out in the hectic cacophony of modern existence. Our list of seemingly oh so important devoirs inundates us and our FOMO steers us like a tiny boat in a raging tempest.
We have often lost touch with our soul, our anchor.
Our inner candle which burns softly and which silently radiates can be missed in the loud relentless fake CGI of modern ways. It is not flashy and relentless. It not unnerving and unsettling. It is always there should we seek it.
We should all endeavour to be more attentive to the vital utterances of our still small voices of calm.
Holy Relics and There Must Be Miracles
Following up on the theme of relics of Buddha yesterday, it is clear that they are a big deal and very important to many people. Hundreds of thousands turn up to have a walk by. These come for at best a glimpse. For me wanting to preserve goes against the doctrine of non-attachment and impermanence. For others there is a notion of sanctity and something out of the ordinary. Perhaps a kind of beacon, a beacon of hope. They are emblematic and touch something primordial and core deep.
As an erstwhile chemist and materials scientist I understand that bone phosphate and tooth enamel might survive a cremation at an unknown al fresco cremation temperature. But these fragments will be brittle and may not last with structural integrity for two and a half millennia. That being said they may well have been cared for with devotion and care. Some were buried under stupas.
My scepticism suggests that not all relics, Buddhist and Christian, can be as claimed. A relic has a totemic power in the psyche. It can confer right to kingdom; there are elements of ritual magic like with the stone of Scone. Whoever holds the cup which held the blood of Jesus has totemic power and bragging rights. Wars can be fought over relics. The grail stories are embedded in the collective consciousness and mythos. There are relics here in Brittany. My science mind asks the question, “just how many fingers did these holy people have?”
It is a part of religious logic that there must be miracles. Miracles are the proof of the pudding of deity and sanctity. Without miracles deity or Buddhahood cannot be invoked.
Back then nobody could have envisaged the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
It is well known that with each telling a story changes and that embellishment to encourage audience participation and appreciation is common. Recently I have heard re-tellings of the story of Ceridwen and Taliesin. I am familiar with the source code but the text gets dramatically enhanced for a You Tube audience. It is reasonable to suggest that human nature has not changed hugely in that any story is prone to exaggeration over time. Which means that the use of sodium chloride is recommended, a pinch at a time.
It does not mean however that the spirit, the underlying meaning, should be lost. Take out the baby before pulling the bath plug.
In looking at ancient text it is helpful to be mindful of the use of parable and metaphor with out being dogmatic about verbatim meaning. To search for an illustrative metaphor as if it were fact is a fool’s errand. Though it does make good box office. My mother’s maiden name was Jones. According to 23andMe Indiana is a distant cousin of mine. I have a genetic predisposition to treasure hunting and finding sacred totems in a deadly race against the baddies.
It is a weird thing a part of society needs, wants to see, miracles as proof. Another part wants to disprove and pooh-pooh. Why must there be miracles?
In the context of relics, objects of faith, power and magic are embodied therein. A sight, a touch, a prayer may ease whatever ills and plagues one. Those who control such totems may control access and have power over any would be pilgrim. These days they may even charge an entrance fee.
Human religious creed and dogma developed by the clergy always diverges from the core scriptures. The socio-political practice veers away from the simple and the ideal. The basic messages are watered down and room for manoeuvre and excuse are built in to what the Sacerdotes profess. I remember that all religion is by way of a business too.
I struggle to reconcile how something corporeal, physical and object can carry the spirit, the magic, the essence. Once vacated matter remains matter. It is no longer animated or organised. As a meditative totem it may work, but having an inherent power of its own, I am unconvinced.
If a relic works as a meditative aid, then it is useful. If one imagines all the good things of a Buddha focussed therein and uses this as aspirational, that is good. Wanting to rise lotus like out of the mire of corporality is no bad thing.
My own take is that seeking a miracle or two, seeking something special, detracts from the mundane reality of here and now. Which is where all the “work” needs to be done. Seeking the miraculous and the showy is not where “it” is at. There is a kind of sword from the stone glamour in a miracle.
I suspect that the truly miraculous is seemingly insignificant and does not attract any attention. It is so not showy, that it goes unnoticed. People do not see it nor appreciate it when it is a simple sublime. The complete invisibility of the simple and uncomplicated is quite miraculous.
Cremation and Relics of Siddartha – Dream Follow Up
From the – Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta
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29 Now at that time four Mallas of the foremost families, bathed from the crown of their heads and wearing new clothes, with the thought: “We will set alight the Blessed One’s pyre,” tried to do so but they could not. And the Mallas spoke to the Venerable Anuruddha, saying: “What is the cause, Venerable Anuruddha, what is the reason that these four Mallas of the foremost families, bathed from the crown of their heads and wearing new clothes, with the thought: “We will set alight the Blessed One’s pyre,’ try to do so but cannot?”
“You, Vasetthas, have one purpose, the deities have another.”
“Then what, venerable sir, is the purpose of the deities?”
“The purpose of the deities, Vasetthas, is this: ‘The Venerable Maha Kassapa is on his way from Pava to Kusinara together with a large company of five hundred bhikkhus. Let not the Blessed One’s pyre be set alight until the Venerable Maha Kassapa has paid homage at the feet of the Blessed One.'”
“As the deities wish, venerable sir, so let it be.”
30. And the Venerable Maha Kassapa approached the pyre of the Blessed One, at the cetiya of the Mallas, Makuta-bandhana, in Kusinara. And he arranged his upper robe on one shoulder, and with his clasped hands raised in salutation, he walked three times round the pyre, keeping his right side towards the Blessed One’s body, and he paid homage at the feet of the Blessed One. And even so did the five hundred bhikkhus.
And when homage had been paid by the Venerable Maha Kassapa and the five hundred bhikkhus, the pyre of the Blessed One burst into flame by itself.
31. And it came about that when the body of the Blessed One had been burned, no ashes or particles were to be seen of what had been skin, tissue, flesh, sinews, and fluid; only bones remained. Just as when ghee or oil is burned, it leaves no particles or ashes behind, even so when the body of the Blessed One had been burned, no ashes or particles were to be seen of what had been skin, tissue, flesh, sinews, and fluid; only bones remained. And of the five hundred linen wrappings, only two were not consumed, the innermost and the outermost.
32. And when the body of the Blessed One had been burned, water rained down from heaven and extinguished the pyre of the Blessed One, and from the sala trees water came forth, and the Mallas of Kusinara brought water scented with many kinds of perfumes, and they too extinguished the pyre of the Blessed One.
And the Mallas of Kusinara laid the relics of the Blessed One in their council hall, and surrounded them with a lattice-work of spears and encircled them with a fence of bows; and there for seven days they paid homage to the relics of the Blessed One with dance, song, music, flower-garlands, and perfume, and showed respect, honor, and veneration to the relics of the Blessed One.
—
42. And the king of Magadha, Ajatasattu, son of the Videhi queen, erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Rajagaha, and in their honor held a festival. The Licchavis of Vesali erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Vesali, and in their honor held a festival. The Sakyas of Kapilavatthu erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Kapilavatthu, and in their honor held a festival. The Bulis of Allakappa erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Allakappa, and in their honor held a festival. The Kolis of Ramagama erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Ramagama, and in their honor held a festival. The Vethadipa brahman erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Vethadipa, and in their honor held a festival. The Mallas of Pava erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Pava, and in their honor held a festival. The Mallas of Kusinara erected a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One at Kusinara, and in their honor held a festival. The brahman Dona erected a stupa over the urn, and in its honor held a festival. And the Moriyas of Pipphalivana erected a stupa over the ashes at Pipphalivana, and in their honor held a festival.
So it came about that there were eight stupas for the relics, a ninth for the urn, and a tenth for the ashes.
And thus it was in the days of old.
43.
Eight portions there were of the relics of him,
The All-Seeing One, the greatest of men.
Seven in Jambudipa are honored, and one
In Ramagama, by kings of the Naga race.
One tooth is honored in the Tavatimsa heaven,
One in the realm of Kalinga, and one by the Naga kings.
Through their brightness this bountiful earth
With its most excellent gifts is endowed;
For thus the relics of the All-Seeing One are best honored
By those who are worthy of honor — by gods and Nagas
And lords of men, yea, by the highest of mankind.
Pay homage with clasped hands! For hard indeed it is
Through hundreds of ages to meet with an All-Enlightened One!
——————————–
Maha-parinibbana Sutta: Last Days of the Buddha
translated from the Pali by
Sister Vajira & Francis Story
———————————–
Eight measures of relics there were of the seer,
Of the best of the best of men. In India seven are worshipped,
One measure in Rāmagāma by the kings of the nāgas.
One tooth, too, is honoured in heaven, and one in Gandhāra’s city,
One in the Kāliṅga realm, and one more by the Nāga race.
“Through their glory the bountiful earth is made bright with offerings painless…
For with such are the Great Teacher’s relics best honoured by those who are honoured,
By gods, nāgas, and kings, by the noblest of monarchs
Bow down with clasped hands!
Rare is it to meet a Buddha through hundreds of ages!”
—-
An Exposition of The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
by
Bhikkhu Pesala
Inspecting Budda Relics Dream – 22-01-2026
Here is last night’s dream which finished around 3 AM but which was subsequently revisited on going back to sleep.
The dream starts in a brightly lit room. There is a sense of subterranean of basement and of vault. The overhead light is bright like a fluorescent light but there is no hum. I am sat at a very large lab-bench like table but which is large boardroom size. I am on the only chair in the room. The table is a work table for inspection of artefacts. It feels forensic and museum like. The air is treated for humidity and is slightly warm but dry.
The door opens and in walks a man and woman. They are younger than me and wearing a dark olive green curators uniform with trousers and short sleeve shirts. The uniforms have been immaculately pressed. They are both wearing white jeweller’s gloves. The woman has curly blonde hair held back in a clip and the man is dark haired. The man places an object in front of me. I know this to be a reliquary containing pieces of Buddha’s body or so the narrative goes. The box is the size of a tissue box. It is on four curved ornate legs which have an animal {query lion} foot finish. The whole thing is made out of an exquisite light yellow gold carved in a motif of India query Sri Lanka. The pattern is exquisite, fine. The box is surprisingly light. I know that it has a mechanism whereby the lid can be rotated to reveal two compartments. One of these is smaller than the other. Without opening the box I know that the compartments have a red “felt” lining. I inspect the box from the outside. The workmanship is impressive. The woman looks at me for permission and then picks the box up and together they leave the room.
They return. This time the woman is carrying a small cloth bundle. It is square shaped with a depth of a couple of inches. The cloth is folded over and over to make a parcel. She handles it with reverence. The cloths are heavy and exquisitely woven with a fine shiny silken thread running through it. There are layers of a purple-ish base fabric cloth and a rich red-magenta cloth. The cloth is luxury. She places the bundle in font of me on the table. I know that it is Tibetan-Himalayan in origin and that it too contains a relic of the Buddha. I pick the bundle up and inspect it from all sides, paying particular attention to the bottom. I am holding it in both hands just above my head inspecting.
{This relic is “privately” owned and on loan.}
As I do this I see a “wall” to a room or cave. The wall is made of a grey sandy granular sedimentary rock. In my mind’s eye I touch the rock and it starts to crumble and flow away leaving a couple of small pillars about 20 cm tall. There is an opening in the wall about 40 cm wide and 20 cm tall with pillars of a few centimetres thickness and a void or opening behind. There is a sense of a store or a cache behind the wall. In the dream I know that in this space are other relics pertaining to Buddha and his corporeal. I can see that the cache extends to both the left and the right of the opening in the wall.
I return from the vision and place the unwrapped bundle back on the table. The man signals to me and I nod. He picks the bundle up and they leave the room.
They return and this time the man is carrying a clear plastic sample storage drawer. It is around 10 by 10 cm on the front face and has a depth of about 30 cm. There is a catalogue card with number and content written in German. There is an acquisition date and I understand it to be a museum piece kept under preserving conditions and attributed as a Buddha relic considered by some a part of Buddha. They place it on the table in front of me and nestled on a bed of tissue paper and with a moisture absorbing paper silica sack is a small bundle of jet black felt cloth held together with a thin golden drawstring. It is a small bundle.
The man and the woman, the curators, stand back behind me one on either side of me and against the wall.
The dream ends.
Dreamyoga 