Before Gene Simmons . . .

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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BeduBodhi
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Before Gene Simmons . . .

Post by BeduBodhi »

Image


. . . there was Gautama Buddha.
Sela Sutta MN 92
Then the brahmin Sela approached the Blessed One, exchanged friendly greetings sat on a side, and examined the thirty two marks of a Great Man. He saw most of the marks of a Great Man, except two. Doubting whether the pudendum was encased and whether the tongue was large enough to cover the face, he was dissatisfied. Then it occurred to the Blessed One. The brahmin Sela sees most of the marks of a Great Man except two, he has doubts, as to whether the pudendum [penis] is encased and the tongue is large enough to cover the face. Then the Blessed One performed a psychic exercise so that the brahmin Sela could see the Blessed One’s pudendum encased and the large tongue. The Blessed One pulled out his tongue and with it, touched both ear lobes, nostrils and the whole forehead, and covered up the whole face with it.
http://www.mahindarama.com/e-tipitaka/M ... /mn-92.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Curious about such a large tongue, I googled [buddha tongue] but get only stock Buddha images or photos of a dog named Buddha. Has anyone ever seen an image of this massive Buddha tongue? Surely in 2000 years someone found this interesting enough to do a painting or a sculpture.
Laurens
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Re: Before Gene Simmons . . .

Post by Laurens »

I've always found that description odd. I mean not so much the tongue part, but the penis, I mean why do we want to know about the Lord Buddha's penis? Encased or otherwise.
"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?"

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
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mikenz66
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Re: Before Gene Simmons . . .

Post by mikenz66 »

As I understand it, those "Marks of a great man" pre-date the Buddha.

Mike
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retrofuturist
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Re: Before Gene Simmons . . .

Post by retrofuturist »

Greetings,

Yes, this sutta (along with a wearying number of ones from the Digha Nikaya) is clearly presented with reference to the prevailing religious landscape and appealing to religionists and wanderers of these alternative belief systems, and thus, represent early forms of Buddhist propaganda.

Metta,
Retro. :)
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
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Kokoro
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Re: Before Gene Simmons . . .

Post by Kokoro »

Wouldn't the greatest mark of a man be his awakened state? I mean, if nothing else could be apparent upon encountering the Buddha, I would imagine His Presence alone would have been so immense and powerful, due to His Awakened State that it would be difficult if not impossible for such thoughts regarding the pudendum or tongue to even penetrate the mind in His Presence.

I say this because I have often experienced for myself that when in the presence of certain people, their "vibe" was so strong that I just wanted to be around them, often, along with many other people who were also attracted to this person's "energy." On the opposite side, I have at times enountered people who gave off such a vibe of negativity or deception that being around them actually left me feeling drained, negative, or perhaps even fearful.

So I would imagine that the closer a person is to Enlightenment, the more powerful and magnetic their vibe must be, so the energy of absolute loving-kindness and immense wisdom must have eminated from the Blessed Person of the Buddha so much so that a person would not only be so drawn to the Buddha, but would (I would imagine) be unable to focus on anything except that which the Buddha said or did. I have even heard stories of people becoming instantly awakened upon experiencing the presence of the Buddha.

:anjali:
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