Virgin Mary & the Earth as Witness

[santa100]

Ah, you must have edited your post while I was responding.

Yes, the contemplative tradition is alive and well in Christianity.

I edited my post BEFORE your post though. So make sure to refresh your browser before replying.

[Coëmgenu]

In the "Life of the Buddha" apocryphon compiled by Master Zhōng, the Earth-Goddess, Devī Pṛthvī, has a "magnificat moment" while praising the Buddha.

The godling prince of the Kāmadhātu summoned his retinue and dressed them for war. He painted their faces with many hues, coloured their hair bright red, and fitted them with vajra-spears. He gave them far-seeing eyes that emitted rays of light. He gave them shining mouths and arms like nāgarājas. He hung shining splendid banners between his generals.

As he approached the King of Trees, brass horns and hide drums were heard in the distance. He ordered his kin: "Seize and bind this Gautama that I may have words with him." The hosts of gods took flight like a swarm of hornets, like a maelstrom at sea.

The Godling Māra stirred-up a fierce and harrowing wind that roared like a mighty waterfall, but he was not able to move even a corner of the Buddha's robe. The hosts of gods were struck down in the air and pinned down to the ground.

Then, the Godling Māra made fall a solid torrent of rain, a massive column rain, a rain like from a great vessel poured onto a cricket, but not even a drop of water dampened the Bhagavān.

Having seen these wonders, with a very shining countenance, the Godling Māra took up his heavenly lute and struck the strings of it.

All at once, the entirety of Bhūmaṇḍala became still and numinous. The soil transformed into lapis lazuli. Trees made of maṇis with trunks as thick as elephants appeared from the lazurite ground. The leaves of the trees were in seven hues of heavenly jewels. Each tree grew five hundred yojanas high, and their canopies spread to cover the skies, adorned with jewelled branches, jewelled leaves, jewelled blossoms, and jewelled fruits that outnumbered and outshone the stars. From the heavenly soil, golden thrones in the shapes of lions and elephants emerged, shaded by the jewelled trees, thrones with wheels wrought of seven gemstones and shaded by umbrellas ornamented with manifold treasures. Curtains and veils criss-crossed the canopies of jewels that were spread everywhere. Garlands of blossoms hung down from the canopy of the sky, and incense infused the airs of the ten directions. Godly flower-petals rained down all around and upon the Godling. Bhūmaṇḍala became a temple, with halls and pavilions and gardens and groves, adorned with all manner of gems. Jeweled orchards sprang up, criss-crossed with rivers of Amṛta. Mandāravā blossoms rained down upon the host of the Evil One, all of this happening through the strength and power of the Godling Māra.

Then, having made the world lovely like had never before been witnessed, the Evil One manifested a shining halo of exceedingly beautiful light that arose and shone from his body like a hundred thousand million risen suns. Then, with his face serene and radiant, with a glowing appearance, having an extremely brilliant, extravagant, yet fearsome countenance, he spoke to the Buddha:

"You are thin and you are pale
because of your useless starvation.
You stand in the company of death.
A thousand parts of you are pledged to death.

Life holds you weakly, with a gentle grip.
You know that you will die in pain and misery.
You were born with a cosmos of merits,
and it will all become ash and dust.

You mock the Holy Life, the path of divinity,
and pour liquor onto the holy fires.
The cosmos of your merit is squandered
by blasphemy, lies, delusion, and foolishness.

What can you do but struggle now?
The path of your struggling is long and rough.
Your enthronement is brief and impotent.
This seat has come to be mine. Rise from it."

Then the Bhagavān, the giver of the great boon, the enjoyer of innumerable merits, said: "Godling Prince, you say that this seat is yours. Who is your witness?"

Called upon like this, the Vainglorious stretched forth his hand towards the heavens, the bejewelled splendour around them, and his great hosts, and said: "All of this beholds my power, my glory, and my authority."

Then, voices emitted from the assembled hosts, from the jewels, the thrones, the trees, the streams of Amṛta, the curtains, and from the falling flower-petals. They all said: "I behold him. I behold him." They declared their witness of the Godling Prince.

The Evil One addressed the Buddha thus: "Who is your witness, Gautama?"

Then Bhagavān said: "I have no armies to bear witness to me."

He revealed his golden right hand from within his beauteous saffron robe, like a brilliant flash of lightning emerging from a sunlit cloud. From his seated position, he touched the Earth with his right hand, which quaked and shook, shattering Māra's jewels and felling Māra's trees, crumbling his thrones and tearing his veils. A thousand cracks rocked the fundament of his temple, and the Amṛta disappeared into the Earth between them.

With a voice like a flaming mountain, the Earth spoke:

"I behold you, for you are the Bhagavān,
the Mahāsiddha, the Arhat, the Tathāgata,
who has shone a bright brilliant shining light
upon the features of my dark and gloomy frame

and has lit it so that it shines brighter
than the various luminous divinities
of the high Akaniṣṭha: Maheśvara, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa,
Sahāmpati, Lakṣmī, Sarasvatī, and Prajāpati.

You have made me shine brighter
than the sun, the moon, and the stars.
I am your disciple, your admirer, your servant,
your ward, your love, and your child.

I am your floor, your walls, your door,
your veil, your throne, and your temple.
You recline upon me, I of the Great Strength,
and I bow before you, God of the gods.

When your hand moves, my being quakes,
and my countenance breaks and is shaken,
for the Lover of Lotuses has blessed me
with an oblation beyond words, beyond measure.

When your hand moves, my mountain-neck roars,
my tree-limbs kneel, and the estuaries of my veins surge,
for the Joy of the Gods, the Nectar-Bearer,
has called upon his loyal steadfast guardian.

I behold you, for you have touched me
with the wheel of your royal hand,
like gold, like crystal, like coral.
O Bull of the Śākyas, O Lion among men, O Wanderer in the wilds,

you have dispelled the darkness, extinguished the fire,
revealed the unseen, corrected the error,
dispersed the storm, guided the lost,
and you have set right what was upended.

The vast hordes of the vain haughty godling
seek to shake you, O Mukta, O Arhat, O Jina.
They do not realize that they are your Mahāsaṃgha
and that I am forever your godly protector.

When you were the Prince Saṃjaya,
you gave your flesh to the beasts of the forest.
When you were the Nāgarāja Cāṃpeya,
you observed the Upavasatha rites reserved for man.

When you were the Śramaṇa Kṣāntivādin,
you accepted the mutilation visited upon your body
by the wicked King Kalābu. Then, you blessed him,
dedicated yourself to him, served him, and humbled him.

My greenery is your discarded flesh,
my seasons are your Upavasatha rites,
my bones are your constant patience,
and my innermost heart is your Bodhimaṇḍa.

When you were the Prince Mahātyāgavat
you fasted homeless for forty-nine nights,
you fought the ocean for fourteen nights,
and you reversed the floodwaters of the Godāvarī.

When you were King Śaṃkhācārya
you sat motionless in deep samādhi
and a crow nested on your head,
gave birth, raised young, and departed.

My mountain is your inexhaustible virility,
my forests are your always-growing vigour,
my caves are the depths of your dhyānas,
and my lakes are the reflections of your samāpattis.

When you were the Brahmin Govinda,
you sat in the Trāyastriṃśa assembly
and litigated against the wicked asuras.
You ruled on behalf of the infant king Diśāṃpati.

You divided Jambudvīpa into seven kingdoms
and brokered peace between warring sons,
preserving the legacy of the Cakravartin Sarvadevābhiṣikta.
You prophesied the arrival of Old Kāśyapa Buddha.

My foundation is the presence of your godly reign,
my thundering is your just chastisement,
my inscrutability is your unfathomable analysis,
and my ever-watching vigil is your prophesy.

I behold you, for upon my very body
you have enacted countless and endless yajñas,
and the robe of your glory clothes my body.
You have filled me with treasures that surpass the seven gems.

Upon my body, your gifts are counted in the asaṃkhyeyas.
Upon my body, you have renounced your own body.
Upon my body, you have cut your skin, spilled your blood,
broken your bones, and burned your flesh.

The ocean of your charity is stored in the rivers of my hair.
Just as the Victor prevails over death,
the torrent of the ocean prevails over Māra's hosts
when I twist my hair and release it upon them."

Then, the Earth twisted her hair and unleashed the deluge of the subterranean waters. The waters swept away the Godling Māra's host. They became covered in mud, dull of hue, emitting no light, their splendour undone. Their vajras were swept away. They shut their shining eyes. Their blazing mouths became extinguished. Their arms flailed, and their banners were torn.

The Evil One was knocked from his station and tumbled in the waves. He tumbled back and forth in many directions. Slowly, the deluge came to a rest, and the Godling emerged from the waters.

He rebuked the Earth, saying:

"You are a treacherous scorpion, O Earth,
for you praise this imposter, all the while knowing
that I am your master. Your domain is mine.
I will grind down your mountains.

I will damn up your rivers, burn your greenery,
and empty your ocean. I will fill your valleys
with ash and dust and dethrone the intruder.
I will leave you a barren rock, a dead heap.

You walk the path of fools against a mighty god.
I can bend the Kāmadhātu like a twig.
I will snap your frail resolve and drive you to wail in misery,
and I will blind you with my godly radiance.

Your Jina will die, suffering, by his own hand.
He will wish for death long before that.
I will divide and scatter his assemblies to the winds
and confound their defiled Upavasathas.

His disciples will die confused and alone,
and then he will know his folly and see his vainglory.
Kings will slaughter his companions and burn his meeting places.
Kings will outlaw and banish his lunatic teachings.

He will be assaulted as he walks for alms.
The people will call his Saṃgha unworthy.
The gods, asuras, and yakṣas will fear to approach them,
and only the cauldron of the Avīci hell will welcome them."

Then, the Godling Māra let fly his fearsome and dangerous cakravṛddhāstra, faster than Indra's vajra, sharper than the Heavenly Kings’ swords, world-shattering, aeon-ending, capable of piercing Bhūmaṇḍala right through the middle. The Earth stood firm before the Evil One. Without moving from the Bodhimaṇḍa, the Bhagavān applied his unexcelled psychic powers to the fearsome weapon. He caused it to cleanly and smoothly pass through the Earth, without piercing or damaging her, as if she were made of air. The Earth once again praised the Tathāgata, saying:

"Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu! Friend, Gautama,
you are unmatched in the Triple Realm.
Prince Māra's strength crumbles before you.
His weapon is broken and his crown is useless.

Like a red lotus, like a white lotus, like a reed
that is born in the swamp, grown in the swamp,
rises up above the swamp and stands
unblemished and undirtied by the swamp,

you appear in the world, move in the world,
master the world, understand the world,
and completely overcome the defiled world
unblemished and undirtied by the world.

You thoroughly disclose and reveal the world.
You point to the path that transcends the world.
You are my refuge, your students are my beloveds,
and your well-spoken Dharma is my salvation.

From this day forth, may you count me among your assemblies
as one gone forth out of the world, leaving the world,
guarding your children, worshipping your Dharma,
and proclaiming your name as the highest."

The Buddha replied to the Earth:

"You are my first disciple, my first abhiṣikta,
in my invincible dispensation to the gods and to men.
You will walk with elephants and horses
and will know bliss for the rest of your days."

The Godling Māra spoke to the Buddha, saying:

“You speak vain words and hopeful lies.
I can weave an all-encompassing net,
a net pervading every space, every atom.
Where I am, your Saṃghas will never be free.”

The Buddha replied:

“You have the power to break Mount Sumeru
and render the mahādvīpas into ash and dust,
to pulverize the land and boil the vast ocean,
but to frighten an Āryan is an impossible task for you.”

The Godling Māra spoke back to the Buddha, saying:

“I will bind you and your śramaṇas in my godly net
like the hunters bind the birds and then cook them.
You sit with your body upright, your hands humbly withdrawn,
underneath this cursed tree that protrudes like a sick growth.”

[zerotime]

In the "Life of the Buddha" apocryphon compiled by Master Zhōng, the Earth-Goddess, Devī Pṛthvī, has a "magnificat moment" while praising the Buddha.

it's wonderful. Is there an English translation of the book?

[Coëmgenu]

I don't believe so. It's obscure Cheontae apocrypha.

[Coëmgenu]

The text is quite colourful. After this dialogue, Māra and the Buddha have a transformation battle while exchanging gāthā quatrains. Then, the Buddha discloses his past life as "Māra-named-Dūsin."

[zerotime]

The text is quite colourful. After this dialogue, Māra and the Buddha have a transformation battle while exchanging gāthā quatrains. Then, the Buddha discloses his past life as "Māra-named-Dūsin."

yes, is very nice. What a pity there is no printed version, I will save your text.
Thanks so much

[Coëmgenu]

I'll PM you in a bit.

[zerotime]

when you wish, thanks

[Bundokji]

A striking similarity between Buddhist and Islamic cosmologies is the structure of the sensual realm. In Islamic and Abrahamic traditions, God is nicely placed in the seventh heaven, similar to Baka who is placed above the six sensual heavens.

In the story of prophet Muhammad Ascension, In the twelfth year of his mission, the Prophet made his night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and thence to heaven. It is said that he met Jesus and John the baptist on the second heaven:

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, told them about his Night Journey, saying, “We ascended until we reached the second heaven where Gabriel asked for the gate to be opened, but it was said: Who is it? Gabriel said: I am Gabriel. It was said: Who is with you? Gabriel said: It is Muhammad. It was said: Has he been called? Gabriel said yes. When we reached beyond the second heaven, I saw John and Jesus who are cousins. Gabriel said: These are John and Jesus, so greet them with peace. I greeted them with peace and they returned my greeting, saying: Welcome, O righteous brother and prophet.”

https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadi ... ahya-eisa/

In Buddhism, the second heaven above the human realm is where Sakka resides. In Mahayana Buddhism, i heard that Sakka is considered Maha Brahma. Considering that the three Abrahamic religions make a big deal of the return of Jesus, having Sakka being reborn as the upcoming Messiah is not out of the question.

[Bundokji]

As the death toll of the earthquake that hit Turkey and Northern Syria is still unfolding, it coincided with a full-moon night. As the upcoming Messiah is expected to appear in the Middle East, canonical references to the causes of earthquakes might be of relevance:

Furthermore, there is an ascetic or brahmin with psychic power who has achieved mastery of the mind, or a god who is mighty and powerful. They’ve developed a limited perception of earth and a limitless perception of water. They make the earth shake and rock and tremble. This is the second cause and reason for a great earthquake.

Furthermore, when the being intent on awakening passes away from the host of Joyful Gods, he’s conceived in his mother’s belly, mindful and aware. Then the earth shakes and rocks and trembles. This is the third cause and reason for a great earthquake.

Furthermore, when the being intent on awakening comes out of his mother’s belly mindful and aware, the earth shakes and rocks and trembles. This is the fourth cause and reason for a great earthquake.

[Bundokji]

The archetypes that are used to define different phases of spiritual and mental developments seem to persist since ancient times, and still express itself through modern times:

Psychology of the Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother and Matriarch

The idea of the Triple Goddess is rooted in antiquity, in prehistoric societies, in Greek and Roman culture and mythology. The Triple Goddess is often portrayed as one goddess with three faces embodying the archetypes of maiden, mother and matriarch all in one being. She is associated with the moon, and often called a moon goddess.

These three archetypes are portrayed throughout the world in literature, poetry, mythology, ancient religion, folk stories and fairy tales. Many of our modern archetypes of womanhood are derived from these archetypes and implicitly influence how we define womanhood in today’s world.

The Triple Goddess is a symbolic way to illustrate different developmental phases of a woman’s life and/or different aspects of personality in one person. We carry aspects of all three of the Triple Goddesses within us all of our lives.

There are rituals to mark these life passages throughout the world. The passage to Maiden is marked by various cultures. In modern America, the rituals associated with the Maiden are the Christian confirmation, the Jewish bat mitzvah, the American Sweet 16, the Hispanic Quinceanara, and the Japanese Seijin-no-Hi. The passage to Mother is marked by marriage (is there anything so over the top in America these days?), the baby shower and the more subdued Blessingway. Transitioning to the Matriarch is not so celebrated…. perhaps the endless discussions about menopause and downsizing might be the most obvious rituals of today marking the passage to martiarch.

What qualities does the Maiden represent? The Maiden represents the beginning of a cycle, virginity, youth, romantic love, sexual adventure, new beginnings, exploration and excitement. The maiden is joyously discovering the pleasure of competency in the tasks she undertakes as she forges her identity. The maiden is associated with the waxing crescent and waxing gibbous of the moon, at the beginning of the lunar cycle, moving from new moon to full moon to waning gibbous and waning crescent. The maiden is represented by the Greek moon goddess Artemis. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt. She carries a bow and arrow, is found in the wilderness and is the protector of young girls.

What qualities does the Mother represent? The Mother represents the fullness of creation, creativity, nourishment, sexual love, the Earth Mother, harvest, fertility, mature sexuality, stability, birth and power. The Mother is associated with the full moon. The mother discovers the pleasure of intimacy and closeness with others, as she also integrates multiples life roles into her identity. The Greek moon goddess Selene is associated with the Mother. Selene is the personification of the moon itself. She drives her moon chariot across the heavens. Mythology tells us she has had several lovers in her lifetime and many, many daughters. She is at once powerful, nurturing and life giving.

What qualities does the Matriarch represent? The Matriarch represents the accumulation of wisdom, the Wise Woman, self-development, choices, transitions, crossroads, deliberation, a deeply protective figure ( the fairy godmother), companionable love, the waning of a cycle, magic, and the knowledge of healing herbs. The Matriarch has great power and standing in society. The Matriarch looks back on her life and works to integrate her life experiences with feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction, and yet also looks to the present and continues to contribute. The Matriarch is associated with the waning gibbous and waning crescent moon. The Greek moon goddess Hecate, who has power over heaven, earth and sea and knows magic and brings prosperity, is associated with the Matriarch.

https://www.heartlifeholistic.com/post/ ... -matriarch

The story of lord Buddha also seem to go through three stages: the hedonist prince, the ascetic and the enlightened. A Christian version seems to be more attuned to householder mindset: the son, the father and the holy spirit.