<p>Superstition runs deep. Everytime you say body is me , mine or myself, you are being superstitious. Everytime you say feeling is me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious. Everytime you say perceptions are me , mine or myself, you are being superstitious. Everytime you say choices are me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious. Everytime you say consciousness is me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-31T16:06:30.673Z
2023-12-31T16:06:30.673Z
SacrificialEquation
<p>Buddhist practice is to strip away illusions. To ask whether some belief is <em>real</em> or <em>superstition</em> is counterproductive; we should only look to see if it can be stripped away without harm.</p>
<p>Imagine that every belief we have is a thin veil over your eyes. These veils protect us from seeing too much before we are ready to understand. They filter, soften, and structure the world, glossing over details and highlighting important points. When we realize we are wearing a veil we can draw it away, and the world will look the same, but different. If we can pull away all the veils, we'll see the same world, transformed. We will not know whether something we believe is or is not superstition until we pull away the relevant veils and see it clearly.</p>
<p>Don't look for truth; look for the veils over your eyes.  Truth isn't going anywhere.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-02T15:40:08.137Z
2024-01-02T15:40:08.137Z
Ted Wrigley
<p>The ego can very easily be considered a superstition. Buddha’s teachings show us that the “self”, just like everything else, isn’t permanent.</p>
<p>If there are some beliefs you think are just supernatural, you need to remember that you’re not yet completely free from delusion. I’m not either, but I’ve heard that the best way to handle such beliefs is to figure out whether the Buddha’s teachings would still work and make sense.</p>
<p>Quote from Thaganapa, one of the 84 Mahasiddhas:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Inject water into the ear
To release water in the ear;
Contemplate phenomena as a lie
And you see the truth.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-19T16:49:42.850Z
2024-01-19T16:51:08.273Z
2024-01-19T16:51:08.273Z
Gavin R.
<p>Reality is our interpretation. What we think is reality is a reflection of our mind and energy.</p>
<p>So yes, the six realms are states of mind, but it is still true that depending on your state of mind you can find yourself in an entirely different world. It's just not as simple as six worlds, it's more than six. The six is just a simple picture, to make a point.</p>
<p>Miracles, karma, nirvana, rebirth, spirits and yidams are all real, just not how they show them in the movies. Once you learn to &quot;see&quot; you can &quot;see&quot; them with your mind.</p>
<p>It's only a superstition if you think they exist like the grandma in the village, in a primitive way.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-03T03:51:33.790Z
2024-01-19T17:56:37.190Z
2024-01-19T17:56:37.190Z
Andriy Volkov
<p>My impression from studying Buddhist scriptures is doctrines of reincarnation developed more &amp; more with the advancement of Buddhist history. In the early Pali scriptures, there appears actually no word that literally means 'rebirth' or 'past lives'. For example, there appears only one sutta that explains the meaning of the term 'pubba-nivasa', which literally means 'past-dwellings' but is often translated as 'past-lives'. This one sutta is <a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn22.79/en/bodhi?lang=en&amp;reference=none&amp;highlight=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 22.79</a>, which appears to explain a 'past-dwelling' is every time in the past the mind ignorantly clung to one or more of the five aggregates as 'self'. In addition, there are many suttas that appear to use the six realms as here &amp; now mental states, such as <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.135.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 35.135</a>.</p>
<p>In summary, the question of this topic sounds based in later day Tibetan Buddhism, which, similar to later day Theravada, has very structured literal doctrines of reincarnation. However, from the earlier Pali suttas, it appears a case can be made for different (here &amp; now) interpretations of what are called 'the six realms' and 'past lives'.</p>
<p>As for supernormal psychic powers, the early Pali sutta report the Buddha &amp; some (but not all) of his enlightened disciples can these. Supernormal psychic powers have no relationship to the six realms or notions of past &amp; future lives. In the early Pali suttas, it is reported the Buddha used supernormal psychic powers to observe the (moral) rise &amp; fall of beings according to their kamma. The Buddha did not use supernormal psychic powers to observe past-dwellings (or what is commonly translated as past-lives). This can be read in the stock phrases describing the Three Knowledges, as found at the end of MN 4 and <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">DN 2</a>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished,
free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to
imperturbability, he directs and <strong>inclines it to knowledge of the
recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes)</strong>. He recollects his
manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four,
five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand,
one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of
cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion,
[recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had
such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure
and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I
re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan,
had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of
pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that
state, I re-arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in
their modes and details. Just as if a man were to go from his home
village to another village, and then from that village to yet another
village, and then from that village back to his home village. The
thought would occur to him, 'I went from my home village to that
village over there. There I stood in such a way, sat in such a way,
talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that
village I went to that village over there, and there I stood in such a
way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in
such a way. From that village I came back home.' In the same way —
with his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished,
free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to
imperturbability — the monk directs and inclines it to knowledge of
the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past
lives... in their modes and details.</p>
<p>&quot;This, too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible
here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.</p>
<p>With his mind thus
concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects,
pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he
directs and inclines it to knowledge of the passing away and
re-appearance of beings. <strong>He sees</strong> — <strong>by means of the divine eye [supernormal psychic power]</strong>,
purified and surpassing the human — <strong>beings passing away and
re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior,
beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their
kamma</strong>: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body,
speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and
undertook actions under the influence of wrong views — with the
break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of
deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these
beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind,
who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook
actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the
body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the
heavenly world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified and
surpassing the human — he sees beings passing away and re-appearing,
and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and
ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma. Just
as if there were a tall building in the central square [of a town],
and a man with good eyesight standing on top of it were to see people
entering a house, leaving it, walking along the street, and sitting in
the central square. The thought would occur to him, 'These people are
entering a house, leaving it, walking along the streets, and sitting
in the central square.' In the same way — with his mind thus
concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects,
pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the monk
directs and inclines it to knowledge of the passing away and
re-appearance of beings. He sees — by means of the divine eye,
purified and surpassing the human — beings passing away and
re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior,
beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their
kamma...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To conclude this question, which is about 'superstition', in the early Pali suttas, there is only one Dhamma Refuge, which is defined as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>‘Bhikkhus, this Dhamma is visible here and now, immediately effective, inviting inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves.’</p>
<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/mn38/en/bodhi?lang=en&amp;reference=none&amp;highlight=false" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MN 38</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-02T04:56:12.703Z
2024-01-02T05:01:40.940Z
2024-01-02T05:01:40.940Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>The Buddhist concept of miracles is different from our stereotypical conception of miracles, i.e. some eponymous bit of God does something &quot;impossible&quot;. It is not being miraculous in a literal sense but appears to defy laws that are natural to this world i.e. they defy what we see to be possible even with enough time and our knowledge of the world and us. Siddha lists are one way of showing or knowing of such anomalies.
Specifically for Buddhists, the main work explaining it using siddhis which is as you know, the literal translation of &quot;miracle&quot;. The Pāli canon gives such a lot of detail regarding the more apparent miracles and lacks details about every other miracle.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-02T06:07:54.173Z
2024-01-02T13:40:06.407Z
2024-01-02T13:40:06.407Z
Pointwavestandard
<p><strong>Hello,</strong></p>
<p>I understand that the six realms can be interpreted as states of the mind. But at the same time I believe in Yidam yoga, not only as symbolic but as a real emanation too - I have devotion.</p>
<p>If the six realms are only symbolic then Buddhas / Siddhas cannot surpass the three times and cannot preform any miracles also; as I think they are both superstitions, so may be rebirth.</p>
<p>At the same time nirvana may not be reachable by mantras as only a 8th level Bodhisattva can compose a mantra; and a lower level Bodhisattva in the 1st step is able see 100 lives before and after.</p>
<p>I do believe in miracles, karma, nirvana, rebirth and &quot;spirits&quot; because of my experiences in life. I might be wrong, but shouldn't this make sense ? I mean Buddhism is very logical...</p>
<p>What is considered a superstition from a Buddhist point of view ?</p>
<p><strong>Thank you !</strong></p>

<nirvana><mantra><correct-interpretation><six-realms><buddhist-miracles>
If the 6 realms are states of the mind, are Buddhas / Siddhas miracles real?
# If the 6 realms are states of the mind, are Buddhas / Siddhas miracles real?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-12-31)

**Hello,**

I understand that the six realms can be interpreted as states of the mind. But at the same time I believe in Yidam yoga, not only as symbolic but as a real emanation too - I have devotion.

If the six realms are only symbolic then Buddhas / Siddhas cannot surpass the three times and cannot preform any miracles also; as I think they are both superstitions, so may be rebirth.

At the same time nirvana may not be reachable by mantras as only a 8th level Bodhisattva can compose a mantra; and a lower level Bodhisattva in the 1st step is able see 100 lives before and after.

I do believe in miracles, karma, nirvana, rebirth and "spirits" because of my experiences in life. I might be wrong, but shouldn't this make sense ? I mean Buddhism is very logical...

What is considered a superstition from a Buddhist point of view ?

**Thank you !**

**Tags:** nirvana, mantra, correct-interpretation, six-realms, buddhist-miracles


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-12-31. Score: 1

Superstition runs deep. Everytime you say body is me , mine or myself, you are being superstitious. Everytime you say feeling is me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious. Everytime you say perceptions are me , mine or myself, you are being superstitious. Everytime you say choices are me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious. Everytime you say consciousness is me , mine or myself , you are being superstitious.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-01-02. Score: 1

Buddhist practice is to strip away illusions. To ask whether some belief is *real* or *superstition* is counterproductive; we should only look to see if it can be stripped away without harm.

Imagine that every belief we have is a thin veil over your eyes. These veils protect us from seeing too much before we are ready to understand. They filter, soften, and structure the world, glossing over details and highlighting important points. When we realize we are wearing a veil we can draw it away, and the world will look the same, but different. If we can pull away all the veils, we'll see the same world, transformed. We will not know whether something we believe is or is not superstition until we pull away the relevant veils and see it clearly.

Don't look for truth; look for the veils over your eyes. Truth isn't going anywhere.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-01-19. Score: 1

The ego can very easily be considered a superstition. Buddha’s teachings show us that the “self”, just like everything else, isn’t permanent.

If there are some beliefs you think are just supernatural, you need to remember that you’re not yet completely free from delusion. I’m not either, but I’ve heard that the best way to handle such beliefs is to figure out whether the Buddha’s teachings would still work and make sense.

Quote from Thaganapa, one of the 84 Mahasiddhas:

> Inject water into the ear
> To release water in the ear;
> Contemplate phenomena as a lie
> And you see the truth.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-01-03. Score: 1

Reality is our interpretation. What we think is reality is a reflection of our mind and energy.

So yes, the six realms are states of mind, but it is still true that depending on your state of mind you can find yourself in an entirely different world. It's just not as simple as six worlds, it's more than six. The six is just a simple picture, to make a point.

Miracles, karma, nirvana, rebirth, spirits and yidams are all real, just not how they show them in the movies. Once you learn to "see" you can "see" them with your mind.

It's only a superstition if you think they exist like the grandma in the village, in a primitive way.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2024-01-02. Score: 0

My impression from studying Buddhist scriptures is doctrines of reincarnation developed more & more with the advancement of Buddhist history. In the early Pali scriptures, there appears actually no word that literally means 'rebirth' or 'past lives'. For example, there appears only one sutta that explains the meaning of the term 'pubba-nivasa', which literally means 'past-dwellings' but is often translated as 'past-lives'. This one sutta is [SN 22.79](https://suttacentral.net/sn22.79/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false), which appears to explain a 'past-dwelling' is every time in the past the mind ignorantly clung to one or more of the five aggregates as 'self'. In addition, there are many suttas that appear to use the six realms as here & now mental states, such as [SN 35.135](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.135.than.html).

In summary, the question of this topic sounds based in later day Tibetan Buddhism, which, similar to later day Theravada, has very structured literal doctrines of reincarnation. However, from the earlier Pali suttas, it appears a case can be made for different (here & now) interpretations of what are called 'the six realms' and 'past lives'.

As for supernormal psychic powers, the early Pali sutta report the Buddha & some (but not all) of his enlightened disciples can these. Supernormal psychic powers have no relationship to the six realms or notions of past & future lives. In the early Pali suttas, it is reported the Buddha used supernormal psychic powers to observe the (moral) rise & fall of beings according to their kamma. The Buddha did not use supernormal psychic powers to observe past-dwellings (or what is commonly translated as past-lives). This can be read in the stock phrases describing the Three Knowledges, as found at the end of MN 4 and [DN 2](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.02.0.than.html).

> "With his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished,
> free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to
> imperturbability, he directs and **inclines it to knowledge of the
> recollection of past lives (lit: previous homes)**. He recollects his
> manifold past lives, i.e., one birth, two births, three births, four,
> five, ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, one hundred, one thousand,
> one hundred thousand, many aeons of cosmic contraction, many aeons of
> cosmic expansion, many aeons of cosmic contraction and expansion,
> [recollecting], 'There I had such a name, belonged to such a clan, had
> such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of pleasure
> and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that state, I
> re-arose there. There too I had such a name, belonged to such a clan,
> had such an appearance. Such was my food, such my experience of
> pleasure and pain, such the end of my life. Passing away from that
> state, I re-arose here.' Thus he recollects his manifold past lives in
> their modes and details. Just as if a man were to go from his home
> village to another village, and then from that village to yet another
> village, and then from that village back to his home village. The
> thought would occur to him, 'I went from my home village to that
> village over there. There I stood in such a way, sat in such a way,
> talked in such a way, and remained silent in such a way. From that
> village I went to that village over there, and there I stood in such a
> way, sat in such a way, talked in such a way, and remained silent in
> such a way. From that village I came back home.' In the same way —
> with his mind thus concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished,
> free from defects, pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to
> imperturbability — the monk directs and inclines it to knowledge of
> the recollection of past lives. He recollects his manifold past
> lives... in their modes and details.
>
> "This, too, great king, is a fruit of the contemplative life, visible
> here and now, more excellent than the previous ones and more sublime.
>
> With his mind thus
> concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects,
> pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability, he
> directs and inclines it to knowledge of the passing away and
> re-appearance of beings. **He sees** — **by means of the divine eye [supernormal psychic power]**,
> purified and surpassing the human — **beings passing away and
> re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior,
> beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their
> kamma**: 'These beings — who were endowed with bad conduct of body,
> speech, and mind, who reviled the noble ones, held wrong views and
> undertook actions under the influence of wrong views — with the
> break-up of the body, after death, have re-appeared in the plane of
> deprivation, the bad destination, the lower realms, in hell. But these
> beings — who were endowed with good conduct of body, speech, and mind,
> who did not revile the noble ones, who held right views and undertook
> actions under the influence of right views — with the break-up of the
> body, after death, have re-appeared in the good destinations, in the
> heavenly world.' Thus — by means of the divine eye, purified and
> surpassing the human — he sees beings passing away and re-appearing,
> and he discerns how they are inferior and superior, beautiful and
> ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their kamma. Just
> as if there were a tall building in the central square [of a town],
> and a man with good eyesight standing on top of it were to see people
> entering a house, leaving it, walking along the street, and sitting in
> the central square. The thought would occur to him, 'These people are
> entering a house, leaving it, walking along the streets, and sitting
> in the central square.' In the same way — with his mind thus
> concentrated, purified, and bright, unblemished, free from defects,
> pliant, malleable, steady, and attained to imperturbability — the monk
> directs and inclines it to knowledge of the passing away and
> re-appearance of beings. He sees — by means of the divine eye,
> purified and surpassing the human — beings passing away and
> re-appearing, and he discerns how they are inferior and superior,
> beautiful and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate in accordance with their
> kamma...

To conclude this question, which is about 'superstition', in the early Pali suttas, there is only one Dhamma Refuge, which is defined as follows:

> ‘Bhikkhus, this Dhamma is visible here and now, immediately effective, inviting inspection, onward leading, to be experienced by the wise for themselves.’
>
> [MN 38](https://suttacentral.net/mn38/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false)


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2024-01-02. Score: 0

The Buddhist concept of miracles is different from our stereotypical conception of miracles, i.e. some eponymous bit of God does something "impossible". It is not being miraculous in a literal sense but appears to defy laws that are natural to this world i.e. they defy what we see to be possible even with enough time and our knowledge of the world and us. Siddha lists are one way of showing or knowing of such anomalies.
Specifically for Buddhists, the main work explaining it using siddhis which is as you know, the literal translation of "miracle". The Pāli canon gives such a lot of detail regarding the more apparent miracles and lacks details about every other miracle.


---

