Miracles of Gautama Buddha

The miracles of Gautama Buddha refers to supernatural feats and abilities attributed to Gautama Buddha by the Buddhist scriptures. The feats are mostly attributed to supranormal powers gained through meditation, rather than divine miracles.^[1] Supranormal powers the historic Buddha was said to have possessed and exercised include the six higher knowledges (abhiññā): psychic abilities (iddhi-vidhā), clairaudience (dibba-sota), telepathy (ceto-pariya), recollection of one's own past lives (pubbe-nivāsanussati), seeing the past lives and rebirths of others (dibba-cakkhu), and the extinction of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhaya).^[2]^[3] Miracles found in Mahayana sutras generally play a more direct role in illustrating certain doctrines than miracles found in non-Mahayana Buddhist texts.^[4] Apart from texts, several of the miracles are often shown in scenes of the life of Buddha in art.

Stories of Gautama Buddha's miracles include miraculous healings, teleportation, creating duplicates of himself, manipulation of the elements, and various other supernatural phenomena. Many of the Buddha's disciples, as well as some non-Buddhist hermits and yogis who attained high states of meditative absorption, were also said to have had some of these same abilities.^[1]^[2]^{[note 1]} According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha frequently utilized or discussed these abilities but talked about them unfavorably as a conversion method. Instead, the Buddha emphasized the "miracle of instruction", or the teaching of the Dhamma, as the superior method of conversion.

^ ^a ^b Keown, Damien (2013). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-1136985881. Archived from the original on 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
^ ^a ^b Nyanaponika; Hecker, Hellmuth (2012). Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Simon and Schuster. p. 89. ISBN 978-0861718641. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
^ "Maha-sihanada Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar". www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
^ Fiordalis, David (2008). "Miracles and Superhuman Powers in South Asian Buddhist Literature"". University of Michigan: 56–57. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.604.4958.
^ Jacobsen, Knut A. (2011). Yoga Powers: Extraordinary Capacities Attained Through Meditation and Concentration. Brill. p. 108. ISBN 978-90-04-21214-5. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2020-05-25.

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[:0-1] Keown, Damien (2013). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Routledge. p. 96. ISBN 978-1136985881. Archived from the original on 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-05-22.

[:1-2] Nyanaponika; Hecker, Hellmuth (2012). Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy. Simon and Schuster. p. 89. ISBN 978-0861718641. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-09-24. Retrieved 2019-05-22.

[3] "Maha-sihanada Sutta: The Great Discourse on the Lion's Roar". www.accesstoinsight.org. Archived from the original on 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-05-22.

[:72-4] Fiordalis, David (2008). "Miracles and Superhuman Powers in South Asian Buddhist Literature"". University of Michigan: 56–57. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.604.4958.

[jacobsen108-5] Jacobsen, Knut A. (2011). Yoga Powers: Extraordinary Capacities Attained Through Meditation and Concentration. Brill. p. 108. ISBN 978-90-04-21214-5. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2020-05-25.

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