After reading some of the good "introduction" books into buddhism like Mindfulness in plain english and a few from Thich Nhat Hanh and a few others, I started to read the Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha.
At the moment I would like to get some help and interpretations on two suttas:
Brahmayu Sutta - MN 91
... Then it occured to the Blessed One: "This brahmin Brahmayu sees, more or less, the thirty-two marks of a Great Man on me, except two; he is doubtful and uncertain about two of the marks, and he cannot decide and make up his mind about them: about the male organ being enclosed in a sheath and about the largeness of the tongue."
Then the Blessed One worked such a feat of supernormal power that the brahmin Brahmayu saw that the Blessed One's male organ was enclosed in a sheath. Next the Blessed One extruded his tongue, and he repeatedly touched both ear holes and both nostrils, and he covered the whole of his forehead with his tongue. ...
A similar passage could be found in the Sela Sutta MN 92 as well.
I started reading the book over the last few month - one sutta per day - and it is something which helped me a lot in my journey. My confusion is twofold
- it is one of the very rare occasions that the buddha uses "supernormal power" at least in what I have covered so far.
- why did the buddha have to prove it in such a way
I would like to hear your opinions or references where this has been discussed.
Have a wonderful day all of you
