Biography of a Future Buddha?

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rybka3
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Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2021 8:49 am

Biography of a Future Buddha?

Post by rybka3 »

I came across the name of Most Venerable Nā Uyane Ariyadhamma Mahāthera while reading about the Sri Lankan Forest Tradition. He was a highly respected figure of the Sri Kalyani Yogasrama Samstha order. He wrote an autobiography but "mentioned that it should not be made public during his lifetime". After his death in 2016, a book named Asirimat Budumaga Piyasaṭahan was soon published and then translated into English as Footprints on the Wonderful Path to Buddhahood. There's a PDF version of this book - within the first result page when you search Google. The book is a compilation of Mahāthera's autobiography and notes (in Sans-serif and first-person POW) with commentaries from the editors.

The most intriguing part of the book to me was his visions that he would become the Buddha succeeding Metteyya. He first saw that vision as a nine-year-old kid:

The thought came into my mind to get the Pūjāwaliya book and recite the Dhamma as I could read such a book even at that time, but did not ask for it because it would not have been given to me, being the youngest devotee in the group. While listening intently to the Dhamma talk, my mind fell into a strange state, as if in samādhi concentration and I had a wonderful and clear vision of myself transformed into a beautiful Buddha statue, seated against a large wooden pillar of the Dhamma talk hall, delivering a discourse facing east. I consider this memorable event to be an indication of the path of my attainment of Nibbāna.

Information regarding his supposed future Buddhahood was scattered throughout the book, but was summarised in chapter 66: The Path to Buddhahood. In meditation, he saw himself as a Bhikkhu during the Sāsana of
Kassapa Buddha. Here are some other interesting extractions:

Day 16. It is Binara full moon day. Early morning in sitting meditation, while practicing vipassanā, was able to see 14 lives up to the life in the Sāsana of Kassapa Buddha, saw clearly a saṃsāric journey with the assurance of certainty of Buddhahood from the time of Dīpaṅkara Buddha. At that time impermanence became the object, respiration stopped and I stayed for a long time in deep concentration.

7:00—Sitting meditation. Looked at three previous lives after attaining the four jhānas in mindfulness of breathing. Saw deva, brahma, rāja rishi of Makhādeva lineage. Saw that the four sublime abodes and the perception of non-self were developed.

Our Mahāthera had a dream at dawn soon after completing 4,000,000 repetitions of the “iti’pi so” stanza. A brahma wearing white came to him and asked “Bhante, do you know when your determined wish will be realized?” When our Mahāthera said “I do not know,” the brahma said “One thousand eight hundred” and vanished.

It is also noteworthy that when investigating future mentality-materiality during meditation, when Mahāthera directed his mind to the end of the stream of mentality-materiality he saw that it would end 1800 lives into the future. He recorded: “...the attainment of Sammāsambuddhahood at the end of 1800 lives came into view.”


These passages are ... intriguing, to say the least. I wondered why this book hasn't gone famous in the Theravada Buddhism community. I'm a layperson, so I don't have a lot of info.

Would be great if anyone can share more information regarding the life of Ariyadhamma Mahāthera and his claims. Thanks.
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