Map of The Four Noble Truths

The First Noble Truth is the effect of suffering.
The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering.
The Third Noble Truth is the effect of the end of suffering.
The Fourth Noble Truth is the cause of the end of suffering.

The First Noble Truth
is about knowing your current situation
(of being lost in suffering),
For if you don't know where you are,
As a reference point,
Even the best map (of the Dharma) is useless
(as you might assume you're elsewhere).

The Second Noble Truth
is about knowing what cause your current situation
(attachment, aversion, delusion),
For if you don't know why you are where you are,
As a reference point,
Even the best map is useless
(as you'll remain stuck where you're).

The Third Noble Truth
is about knowing the situation you wish to be in
(away from suffering; Nirvana),
For if you don't know where you are going,
As a reference point,
Even the best map is useless
(as you can't reach there).

The Fourth Noble Truth
is about knowing how to be in the situation you wish to be in
(by walking the Noble Eightfold Path),
For if you don't know how you are going there,
As a reference point,
The best map is useless
(as you won't be using it as a guide).

Just as realisation of the Noble Truths ennoble,
ignorance of them is to remain ignoble.


Extracted from : The Daily Enlightenment
- Stonepeace

The King of Heaven Seeks Out the Dharma

One day, when the Buddha was teaching at the Jetavana Monastery, King Brahmaloka descended from heaven and came before the Buddha to listen to the Dharma.

The King of Heaven asked :
"Lord Buddha, can you kindly tell me which is the sharpest sword, which is the most potent poison, which is the most furious fire and which is the darkest night?"

The Buddha answered :
"King of Heaven, you should know that harsh and unkind words form the sharpest sword; greed is the most potent poison; worldly worries form the most furious fire; and ignorance is the darkest night."

The King of Heaven asked :
"In the three worlds, who receives the most benefit, who suffers the greatest loss, what forms unbreakable armor, and what is the best weapon?"

The Buddha answered :
"Those who give receive the most benefit; those who are greedy, who look only for gain and never intend to reciprocate, suffer the greatest loss; patience forms unbreakable armor; and wisdom the best weapon."

The King of Heaven asked :
"In all the realms, who is the most cunning thief, what is the most precious treasure, what is the greatest cause for attachment, and what treasure can we rely on most?"

The Buddha answered :
"Unwholesome thoughts are the most cunning thieves; morality is the most precious treasure; mind is the greatest cause of attachment; being liberated from the cycle of birth and death is the treasure upon which we can rely on most."

The King of Heaven asked :
"What quality is the most attractive, what quality is the most disgusting, what is the most horrible pain, and what is the greatest enjoyment?"

The Buddha answered :
"Goodness is the most attractive; evil is most disgusting; regret is the most horrible pain; and liberation is the greatest enjoyment."

The King of Heaven asked :
"What is the reason for death in this world, what can spoil a friendship, what is the most serious fever and what makes the best doctor?"

The Buddha answered :
"Ignorance is the root of death; jealousy and selfishness spoil friendship; hatred is the most serious fever; and the Buddha is the unsurpassed doctor."

The King of Heaven though for a while and asked again :
"Now, I have one more question to ask you. What cannot be consumed by burning fire, what cannot be destroyed by raging floods, what cannot be torn asunder by blustering wind and still remains the source of all existence?"

The Buddha replied :
"The merit created from good karma is the answer to all. It cannot be consumed by burning fire, nor destroyed by raging floods, nor torn asunder by the winds, yet it still remains the source of all that exists in the universe."

After listening to the Buddha's words of wisdom, the King of Heaven was full of Dharma joy. He paid homage to the Buddha and departed...

Dear Sixteen Year-Old Me

Take precautions - slop on the sunscreen everyday.

Season of the Heart

One of the most beautiful song sung by John Denver, a singer who died too young...

Medicine Buddha Mantra

The Medicine Buddha Mantra should be chanted by people who are very sick and is looking for a cure.

The more you chant, the more it will help you.

Chant with a sincere mind and dedicate the merits to all sentient beings in the 10 directions. Doing so will enable merits to come back to you and help you in your recovery from whatever sickness that you are facing.

This Mantra is very powerful...

An Old Pair Of Trousers and a Grain of Rice

Once, there was an old couple who was so poor that they lived in a deserted coal pit. They did not have any possessions and have only a single pair of trousers that they share.

When the husband need to go out, the wife had to stay at home, half-naked. And when the wife went out, the husband was forced to remain in the pit without any trousers to wear.

One day, the Buddha and his disciples came to their neighbourhood begging for alms.

They wanted to pay homage to the Buddha and make an offering but realized that they do not have anything to offer to Him.

The wife sighed deeply and said, "There is nothing here in our pit fit to give the Buddha. What can we offer?"

The husband thought for a while and said firmly, "No matter what, it would be better to starve ourselves to death than to let his great opportunity to pay homage slip by us. We cannot miss the chance to accumulate merit. Well, the only decent piece of property we have is this pair of trousers. Let us take them and make an offering of them to the Lord Buddha."

Happily, they took off the trousers and offered them to the Buddha.

The disciples were startled with embarrassment. Covering their noses, they shoved the pair of dirty trousers back and forth among themselves. They did not know what to do with it.

Finally, Ananda brought back the trousers to the Buddha and asked for his advice.

"Lord Buddha," he said, "This pair of trousers is too filthy to wear. Let me throw them away!!"

The Buddha then compassionately said to His disciples, "Dear bhiksus, do not think that way. An offering from the poor is the most precious. Bring them here and let me wear them."

Ananda, full of remorse, went with Maudgalyayana to the river to wash the trousers. As soon as they dip the trousers into the river, huge waves began to appear and the water started to rise and fall.

In panic, Maudgalyayana used his supernatural power to bring Mount Sumeru to suppress the waves. It did not work and the waves were not calmed. He tried and tried and finally gave up.

The two of them rushed back to the Buddha to report the strange occurrences.

At that time, the Buddha was having his meal. He gently picked up one grain of rice and told them, "The swells on the river are due to the praise of the Naga King of the Four Seas has for the poor couple and their determination to make an offering to me. Thrown this grain of rice into the river, it should take care of the waves."

Ananda was very puzzled, "Lord Buddha, how can a small grain of rice calm the waves if even Mount Sumeru cannot?"

The Buddha smiled and said, "Just give it a try and see."

Skeptically, both Ananda and Maudgalyayana threw the grain of rice into the river. Within minutes, the river returned to it original calmness.

They marveled at such a wonder!! How is it possible that the whole of Mount Sumeru could not compare to a grain of rice?

They rushed back to the monastery and immediately asked the Buddha for an explanation.

The Buddha said, "True nature is without differentiation. From the point when the rice seed is sown, it undergoes irrigation, fertilization, harvest and finally sale. To reach the state of a rice grain, it must go through various efforts and hard work. The merit that is contained in a grain of rice is immeasurable and boundless."

"The same explanation applied to the trousers that the poor couple offered. Those trousers were their entire fortune and because of the couple's enormous generosity, the trousers contained immeasurable, boundless merits."

"Even the Naga King of the Four Seas saw that the merit of the offering of the grain and of the dirty trousers were equally limitless and boundless, both arising from a sincere thought. Recognizing their equivalency in merit, the Naga King gladly retreated, giving praise to such wonderful generosity."

"Thus, we can see that as long as we make offerings with sincerity, the power of even a small rice grain or a dirty article of clothing is equal to that of tens of millions of Mount Sumerus."

The Legendary Shots

How do they do it?

So cool...

Orbs : Gods or Ghosts?

Many people, Buddhist or otherwise, have snapped pictures, be it in broad daylight or night, of mysterious orbs. (I accidentally took some myself.) With much experimentation and checking of the cameras, they are mostly thought not to be due to camera tricks or errors.

Some Buddhists have even snapped, with the same camera, the “before” and “after” pictures of the same night sky - above where they did mass sharing of spiritual merits after chanting. The “before” pictures are empty of orbs while the “after” ones with plentiful.

They also appear in religious places of worship (not just Buddhist ones).

Most Buddhists I'd come across so far believe the orbs are devas (gods, or the Buddhist equivalent of angels) who had come forth to gather in a holy place, or to rejoice in the merits, especially since there is the tradition of inviting the devas to come share the merits. Some even say the orbs looked up close resemble Dharma wheels! Not sure if that is a mere coincidence. (An inkblot test effect perhaps?) Even without actual invitation, merits are usually also shared with all beings in general.

Interestingly, most non-Buddhist westerners believe the orbs are ghosts. Now, there is a big world of difference between gods and ghosts (or rather, wandering spirits). The first are much “well-to-do” while the latter are usually unfortunate and deprived. What is generally agreed though, is that the orbs are manifestations of intelligent beings unseen by the naked eye. Ghosts or gods, they are welcomed to partake of the merits we universally share in goodwill.

If you read the suttas, you will find records of devas approaching in the cover of night to consult the Buddha for teachings. They are described with brilliant lights... “I have heard that at one time the Blessed One was staying in Savatthi at Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Then a certain deva, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove, approached the Blessed One.” (Opening of Maha-Mangala Sutta: Discourse on Blessings)

The orbs could also be gods with lesser radiance perhaps?

Many friends had personally twice witnessed probably similar magnificent lights flashing in the night sky - after a long meditation retreat conducted by the late great Venerable Amatha Gavasi. They appeared during the sharing of merits with the recitation of the Maha-Samaya Sutta (Discourse on the Great Meeting of Devas). (Discourse on the Great Meeting of Devas). The Sutta is a detailed formal invitation of devas to partake in the merits offered.

Now, these lights, which I saw on their video, are not lightning flashes - they light up the sky in different areas with various shapes and colours silently. Anything like thunder is absent. The ongoing flashes sustain for up to fifteen minutes or more. Some said they could see the shapes of traditional crowns that devas are commonly depicted with.

One night, the Venerable was also accidentally seen speaking to an “aura” of light in private! On another occasion, he was seen going into the unlit precept house of a temple, when it became suffused with a bluish glow. Maybe he was having another private in-house audience?

There was a popular theory that UFOs might be “chariots of the gods”. But if the devas themselves already glow, maybe the lights are the gods per se!

Some time after writing the above, I saw a documentary on TV showing how orb digital pictures can be made by stirring up and snapping reflected dust particles. Looks quite convincing. It doesn't explain the above light phenomenon though. As such, if the documentary offers good proof to go by, I'll stick more to the lights (not orbs) as described above as the more probable manifestations of deva and/or ghost activity.

Hmmm... but the seeing of reality is only as possible as our delusion allows. Anyway, what's more important than seeing gods or ghosts is seeing one's true nature.

- Extracted from Moon Pointer

Miracles

Once, a layman named Kevaddha told the Buddha that the city of Nalanda was nearby, full of people, many of whom admired him, and that if any of his disciples could perform a miracle, they would have greater admiration for him.

He then asked if the Buddha could request a disciple to do so. Despite being asked thrice, the Buddha rejected his appeal. After all, the Buddha doesn’t encourage the performing of ‘street magic’ just to boast or please the populace. What more essential was to develop one’s mind and to guide others to do the same.

On another occasion by a river, an emaciated ascetic with long thick hair glanced at the Buddha sarcastically, before crossing it on its surface. Seeing this, a disciple of the Buddha asked if he could see him do the same. The Buddha replied that he would show him the worth of the feat instead. When a ferryman came towards the Buddha, he asked him how much one paid him to cross the river. The answer was ‘half a masaka’, a coin of very low value. The Buddha remarked that the ascetic’s miracle was worth only that doable with half a masaka, while he had mortified his body over a long time just to master that. It would had been worthier to use the time for the well-being of others.

However, this does not mean that the Buddha and his disciples were incapable of, or never performed any miracles at all, though he did forbid insensible miracles which served no useful purpose.

As recorded in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta, the Buddha once came to the swelling River Ganges. Some were looking for a raft, and others binding reeds to form one. The Buddha, as swiftly as a strong man stretches or flexes his arm, vanished from where he was with his retinue of monks and remanifested on the other shore.

Commenting on those who have yet to cross, he said, ‘When they want to cross the sea, the lake or the pond, people make a bridge or raft, the wise have crossed already.’ In short, the Buddha had mass-teleported himself and the monks across the river in the blink of an eye! This is surely more efficient than walking on water!

This was done for practical reasons of not being able to find transport, and it was an opportunity to teach. The late fashioning of a bridge or raft represented the belated creation or search of a means to cross the water, which represented the sea of suffering, to reach the other shore, which represented liberation. The Buddha was emphasising that wisdom is the true and speedy vehicle needed to cross over suffering.

In a related story, a ferryman refused to take the Buddha across a river because he did not have the fare to pay. To his amazement, the Buddha simply disappeared from the bank and reappeared on the opposite.

When King Bimbisara heard of this incident, he issued an edict to allow all ascetics in his country to be ferried for free.

Once again, the Buddha displayed his supernormal powers only as a last resort. Miracles by themselves might amaze, while not necessarily leading the amazed to realise the Dharma. They might distract their witnesses from the Dharma instead, who might be attracted only to learn how to perform such miracles.

One of the most famous of miracles that only the Buddha could do, was the Twin Miracle. He would levitate into the air and sprout the opposing elements of fire and water from his upper and lower body simultaneously (followed by from his left and right), and in reversed directions. This he did on two occasions – once, to humble his proud clansmen, so as to open their minds to listen to the Dharma with reverence, and once, when some other teachers sought to promote their ‘superiority’ by showing off their miracles. As many other incidents would attest, the Twin Miracle is really just the tip of the iceberg of the extraordinary feats the Buddha was capable of!

As for the miracle where a certain person gives [Dharma] instruction in this way:

‘Direct your thought in this way, don’t direct it in that.
Attend to things in this way, don’t attend to them in that.
Let go of this, enter and remain in that’:

this is the miracle that… appeals to me as the highest and most sublime.

- Sangarava Sutta

Balls of Lights

Ball Of Light from Sam Collins on Vimeo.

Watch this documentary of a photographer who creates awesome balls of lights...

Balls of Light

The Miracle Food

Do you know that bananas are a miracle food that brings a lot of benefits to you when you consume it?

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anemia : High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure.. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey.. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight and at work: Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs.. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand, for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood Enhancer tryptophan.

Smoking & Tobacco Use: Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

Strokes: According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!

Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A banana a day keeps the doctor away!'

Korea's Got Talent

Here is a young man, struggling through life, and yet still finds the courage to bring his gifts to the world and grace us with beauty...

Who You Are Born To Be

"That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Each of us are born with gifts, talents and special skills that makes each of us uniquely human and an individual.

However, many people go through life, merely existing and letting the mundane activities totally take over their days.

Days turn into months, months turn into years and all of a sudden, we look back and found that, alas, we have not lived our lives fully.

It takes courage for each of us to discover these special gifts and talents that God has given us. It needs the silence in our soul to listen to the tiny voice, whispering that we are destined for greater things. It takes awareness to be bold and pursue our destiny.

Therefore, take the time to be aware of your calling.

And when you find your calling, go forth and serve humanity with consciousness, compassion and humility.

The Top 5 Regrets

When Ms. Bonnie Ware, a nurse who worked for years with the dying, posted her list of the top 5 regrets people say aloud on their deathbed, we teared up a little bit here at TNW.

According to the blog post, the following regrets were first posted in The Observer in 2010, and we’ve recopied them for you here below. But instead of just the grandmotherly bits of advice about dreams having gone unfulfilled, we’ve supplemented each regret with some rockstar advice on how to not have these regrets in the digital age.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others
expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

TNW Advice: We interview so many entrepreneurs here at The Next Web, some of whom will succeed, most of whom will fail. But it’s about going out and creating a reality out of what was once just an idea in your head. Today, due to the Internet’s accessibility, smart people are discovering that instead of getting the next big paying cog-in-a-machine job that they are able to start their own company and they’re receiving a lot of satisfaction from doing so.

“Yesterday, I had an epiphany that for the first time in my life, who I am and who I want to be are virtually one in the same. It’s so much more effective to be yourself than to pretend to be something your not because doing the latter is so emotionally taxing, you’ll never be someone that is fully committed. Being yourself pays dividends.”

-Brett Martin, the CEO and Founder of Sonar, a hot new social, location-based mobile application.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

TNW Advice: We are really hard workers here at The Next Web, in fact, I am pretty sure that @Zee hasn’t slept in the past 36 hours. But being a Dutch-based company, our roots are in relaxation. We know how to unwind after hard days.

If you need some literary inspiration, read up on How To Disconnect, A Primer andThe value in jumping off the social media train.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

TNW Advice: Expressing your feelings to loved ones and blogging or tweeting your thoughts are two different things. People often use Twitter as a soap box to express their anger or resentment over things they can not control. We’d like to take this time to remind you that as much as we love living in the virtual world, sometimes a hug, a long chat over a glass of wine or a phone call to a loved one far away is more valuable than any social media valuation, no matter how ludicrous.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

TNW Advice: At first glance, this is a relatively easy problem to tackle as social networks, namely Facebook, have allowed us to keep up with too many friends and social connections. My best friends always say, “Thank god for Facebook, because I know you’re alive.” And this is slightly concerning. My best friends have to follow me on Facebook to know I’m alive? Use Facebook to keep in quick contact with friends, but defer to real life for those that matter. Pokes, Likes and Comments are not the same as ladies’ lunches, beach trips and dinner parties. Make the time.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have sillyness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

TNW Advice: If you’re reading this, chances are you have a long way to go before you die. So, please, allow yourself to be happy. Smile in the sunshine, kick the ball around with your son, have a glass of wine with your wife in the afternoon, move to Argentina, buy yourself that iPad 2 even if you think you don’t need it, buy yourself a Kindle, because you won’t regret it; whatever it is, be good to yourself.

The 5 Top Regrets

- Extracted from The Next Web

How A Dragon Girl Attained "Instant" Buddhahood

Major sudden enlightenment in an instant is the culminating effect
of minor gradual awakenings over much time.

- Stonepeace


In the Lotus Sutra, there is a section where Wisdom Accumulation Bodhisattva asks Manjushri Bodhisattva if there is anyone who could, through diligent vigour, swiftly cultivate the teachings in the same profound sutra to quickly attain Buddhahood.

Manjushri Bodhisattva replied that there is a Dragon King’s daughter, who is only eight years of age, who is able to practise all the teachings taught by the Buddha, who is able to, in an instant, aspire to Bodhicitta and attain irreversibility of spiritual progress.

Being compassionately mindful of all beings as if they were her children, her eloquence in teaching the Dharma is wondrous and her merits complete.

Wisdom Accumulation Bodhisattva remarked that he had seen Shakyamuni Buddha practising the Dharma for the sake of limitless beings throughout immeasurable space and time without rest to attain Buddhahood, which makes it hard to believe that the girl could do likewise so soon.

Just then, the girl appeared, bowed before them, and praised the magnificent form of the Buddha, which is complete with the thirty-two marks and eighty secondary characteristics of a great being, which shines in all directions and is honoured by all.

Shariputra too exclaimed of the difficulty in believing the claim of her quick attainment of Buddhahood, as one with a female form cannot become a Brahma heaven king, Shakra (king of Trayastrimsa Heaven), a Mara king (of the Parinirmita Vasavartin Heaven), a Wheel-turning Sage king (who rules the world with the Dharma), and much less a Buddha (a Dharma King) – unless one has passed through many eons to perfect the paramitas (perfections).

The Dragon Girl then offered a precious gem to the Buddha, asking if her offering was swift, to which Wisdom Accumulation and Shariputra agreed that it was.

Next, she asked them to watch her become a Buddha in an even swifter manner. At that moment, the entire assembly saw her suddenly transform into a man, perfect the Bodhisattva conduct, instantly going to a southern world, sitting upon a jewelled lotus and attaining Buddhahood, embodying the thirty-two marks and eighty secondary characteristics.

There, she proclaimed the wonderful Dharma for many beings, who rejoiced and paid their respects. Hearing the Dharma, many aspired to Bodhicitta, attained irreversibility and received predictions of Buddhahood.

This short teaching speaks against, at the same time, ageism, sexism, casteism, racism and speciesism.

Despite being young, female, a non-brahmin (priests revered in ancient India as the ‘select few’ with higher spirituality), and a dragon (naga), the Dragon Girl was able to attain Buddhahood swiftly, by adhering to the great universal teachings of the Lotus Sutra.

She herself attests to this very teaching against unjustified forms of discrimination by example.

Even if there are relatively few like the Dragon Girl among us, it is true, nevertheless, that anyone of any age, gender, social background, race or even kind, can attain Buddhahood.

It all depends on how diligently one had been practising and realising the Dharma both in this life and in previous lives.

While it is true that Buddhas naturally arise from male forms, it is possible to instantaneously evolve to a male form within this life, also through diligence, as in the case of the Dragon Girl.

Being born in Pure Land is also a fast way to relinquish gender limitations. This incident also subtly reminds us not to discriminate anyone, as anyone might be on the brink of Buddhahood, or even be the skilful manifestation of a Buddha!

The Buddha never spiritually discriminated anyone
as everyone has undiscriminating Buddha-nature.

- Stonepeace