Did the Buddha die in absorption?
score:1
From a Mahayana viewpoint, (1) a buddha constantly abides in a union of calm abiding and special insight on emptiness and varieties (2) Sakyamuni buddha was a supreme emanation body showing the aspect of dying. (3) a Buddha is not subject to death (hence he showed the aspect of dying).
Here, in a commentary to Maitreya’s Sublime Continuum, it says:
While in meditative equipoise on emptiness with a nonconceptual mind the Buddha can also perform deeds in accordance with the needs, capacities, interests and merits of each disciple. The buddhas can teach each disciple in a specific way while remaining in meditative equipoise on emptiness. That is inconceivable for us.
Upvote:1
No. According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta:
Then the Blessed One addressed the monks, "Now, then, monks, I exhort you: All fabrications are subject to decay. Bring about completion by being heedful." Those were the Tathagata's last words.
Then the Blessed One entered the first jhana. Emerging from that he entered the second jhana. Emerging from that, he entered the third... the fourth jhana... the dimension of the infinitude of space... the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness... the dimension of nothingness... the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. Emerging from that, he entered the cessation of perception & feeling.
Then Ven. Ananda said to Ven. Anuruddha, "Ven. Anuruddha,[9] the Blessed One is totally unbound."
"No, friend Ananda. The Blessed One isn't totally unbound. He has entered the cessation of perception & feeling."
Then the Blessed One, emerging from the cessation of perception & feeling, entered the dimension of neither perception nor non-perception. Emerging from that, he entered the dimension of nothingness... the dimension of the infinitude of consciousness... the dimension of the infinitude of space... the fourth jhana... the third... the second... the first jhana. Emerging from the first jhana he entered the second... the third... the fourth jhana. Emerging from the fourth jhana, he immediately was totally Unbound.
Upvote:2
According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta:
And the Blessed One entered the first jhana. Rising from the first jhana, he entered the second jhana. Rising from the second jhana, he entered the third jhana. Rising from the third jhana, he entered the fourth jhana. And rising out of the fourth jhana, he entered the sphere of infinite space. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of infinite space, he entered the sphere of infinite consciousness. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of infinite consciousness, he entered the sphere of nothingness. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of nothingness, he entered the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. And rising out of the attainment of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, he attained to the cessation of perception and feeling.
And the Venerable Ananda spoke to the Venerable Anuruddha, saying: "Venerable Anuruddha, the Blessed One has passed away."
"No, friend Ananda, the Blessed One has not passed away. He has entered the state of the cessation of perception and feeling."
Then the Blessed One, rising from the cessation of perception and feeling, entered the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, he entered the sphere of nothingness. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of nothingness, he entered the sphere of infinite consciousness. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of infinite consciousness, he entered the sphere of infinite space. Rising from the attainment of the sphere of infinite space, he entered the fourth jhana. Rising from the fourth jhana, he entered the third jhana. Rising from the third jhana, he entered the second jhana. Rising from the second jhana, he entered the first jhana.
Rising from the first jhana, he entered the second jhana. Rising from the second jhana, he entered the third jhana. Rising from the third jhana, he entered the fourth jhana. And, rising from the fourth jhana, the Blessed One immediately passed away.
Piya Tan's commentary here states:
Samanantarā. Samyutta Commentary: Here there are 2 kinds of samanantarā: immediately after dhyana and immediately after reviewing. In the former case, one emerges from the 4th dhyana, descends into the life - continuum (bhavanga) and attains parinirvana. In the latter case, one emerges from the 4th dhyana, reviews the dhyana-factors again, then descends into the life-continuum and attains parinirvana, as in the case of the Buddha. But buddhas, pratyeka buddhas, noble disciples, and even ants and termites pass away by way of the noble truth that is suffering, with a karmically indeterminate bhavanga consciousness (SA 1:224)
Dhyana is jhana. The difference between jhana and bhavanga is explained in this answer:
Jhana is more than just the giving up of the five senses. Each of the jhanas is the result of very strong samadhi, and has specific factors that go along with it. For example, the first jhana has five factors: rapture, pleasure, initial application of mind, sustained application of mind, and oneness of mind. As one goes deeper into the second jhana, one leaves behind initial application and sustained application of mind, and so on.
Bhavanga is very different than this however. Bhavanga is like a blank slate. All it has are the mental factors that are necessary for mind to be there and nothing else. It only occurs in the space between other kinds of mindstate. None of the jhana factors are present at all, and there isn't even any meaningful degree of awareness in it.
So, according to these commentaries, the Buddha did not actually pass away in the fourth jhana. Rather he passed away in bhavanga.
More post
- 📝 When would a Buddhist want to attach?
- 📝 What does discourse AN 9.37 describe?
- 📝 How to disconnect family life & become monk?
- 📝 Is there anything akin to 'Jhana' in Zen Buddhism?
- 📝 Māgha Pūjā, traditional celebrating and todays
- 📝 What is the correct definition for Mindfulness?
- 📝 In Depth Study of today's Dharma Teachers teachings
- 📝 Saying May God Bless you
- 📝 The proper meaning of Bhagava
- 📝 Introductory/Beginner books on Buddhism, but for children
- 📝 What is the real meaning of the Pali-word adukkhamasukham in the Mahasatipatthana-Sutta?
- 📝 What is it like to perceive without 5 Skandas?
- 📝 How to navigate the impracticality of Sigalovada sutra?
- 📝 Tolerance – Buddhist in Countries with a Non-Buddhist Majority
- 📝 Fun teaching techniques for children meditation class
- 📝 AN 7.64 kodhana (anger), case 3 of 7 unclear what is meant by "profit" or "loss", and how exactly that sabotages what angry person wants
- 📝 Should a person never lie?
- 📝 Is this an accurate introduction to different paths and traditions?
- 📝 Does the concept of evil spirits occur in Buddhism?
- 📝 Canonical passages mentioning the 13 dhutaṅga practices
- 📝 What are the guides for lay followers, as to how far they should go to be compassionate?
- 📝 What happened to Tanha, Raga and Arati?
- 📝 eye movement during meditation
- 📝 What is the difference between Sakkaya Ditthi and Attanuditthi?
- 📝 What is 'vision externally' in AN8.66?
- 📝 Monks chosen for Tibetan Telepathy
- 📝 How can there be Happiness without suffering?
- 📝 Can you identify these figurines?
- 📝 How to concentrate to suppress hindrances?
- 📝 How to avoid adding concepts to our thinking
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did the Buddha die in absorption?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha suffer before he died?
- 📝 Did the Buddha speak Pali? Are the suttas his word verbatim?
- 📝 What language did the Buddha speak?
- 📝 Did the Buddha really say that "life is suffering"?
- 📝 If there is no soul or self, why did the Buddha speak of his past lives?
- 📝 Did the Buddha ever delve on the dangers of one's own spirtual achievements feeding the ego?
- 📝 Did the Buddha ever say something proven wrong later?
- 📝 Did the Buddha ever mention the Upanishads or the Vedas?
- 📝 Why did the Buddha touch the earth at his enlightenment?
- 📝 Where did the Buddha speak of his difficulty in eating almsfood as a Bodhisatta?
- 📝 Did the Buddha say anything about attachment to meditation?
- 📝 Did the Buddha Meditate?
- 📝 Did the Buddha ever talk about his family?
- 📝 Did the Buddha discover jhana by himself?
- 📝 What did the Buddha say about music?
- 📝 Why did physical representations of the Buddha only start to appear a few centuries after his death?
- 📝 Did Buddha go through the stages of sotapanna/sakadagami/anagami before his enlightenment?
- 📝 Do enlighted people cry? Did the Buddha ever cry?
- 📝 Did the Buddha make any reference to Krishna and Gita?
- 📝 Did the Buddha have advice about dealing with social anxiety?
- 📝 Did the Buddha discourage antropomorphic representations of himself?
- 📝 What is Death? What did Buddha say regarding the experience of Death?
- 📝 What did the Buddha mean when he spoke about samma samadhi?
- 📝 Did the Buddha have more advice for the lay follower than is typically supposed?
- 📝 When did the Buddha get surrounded by lots of animals?
- 📝 Did Buddha say "this is the Middle Way"?
- 📝 Did the Buddha state that there is only one way, and state/imply that any other path (such as those practiced by yogis) was futile?
- 📝 Did the Buddha ever define what he meant by "self"?
- 📝 Did Gautama Buddha endorse the caste system?