Honoring the Devas

[cookiemonster]

How does one honor the devas?

In whatever place a wise person makes his dwelling, — there providing food for the virtuous, the restrained, leaders of the holy life — he should dedicate that offering to the devas there. They, receiving honor, will honor him; being respected, will show him respect. As a result, they will feel sympathy for him, like that of a mother for her child, her son. A person with whom the devas sympathize always meets with auspicious things.

(from the Pataligama Sutta Ud 8.6) - https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

[bodom]

By reflecting on there virtues and dedicating merit to them.

[6] “Furthermore, you should recollect the devas: ‘There are the devas of the Four Great Kings, the devas of the Thirty-three, the devas of the Hours, the Contented Devas, the devas who delight in creation, the devas who rule over the creations of others, the devas of Brahma’s retinue, the devas beyond them. Whatever conviction they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of conviction is present in me as well. Whatever virtue they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of virtue is present in me as well. Whatever learning they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of learning is present in me as well. Whatever generosity they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of generosity is present in me as well. Whatever discernment they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of discernment is present in me as well.’ At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting the conviction, virtue, learning, generosity, and discernment found both in himself and the devas, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on the (qualities of the) devas. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed senses pleasure. In one sensing pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated.

“Mahānāma, you should develop this recollection of the devas while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children.”

— AN 11:13

[cookiemonster]

By reflecting on there virtues and dedicating merit to them.

[6] “Furthermore, you should recollect the devas: ‘There are the devas of the Four Great Kings, the devas of the Thirty-three, the devas of the Hours, the Contented Devas, the devas who delight in creation, the devas who rule over the creations of others, the devas of Brahma’s retinue, the devas beyond them. Whatever conviction they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of conviction is present in me as well. Whatever virtue they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of virtue is present in me as well. Whatever learning they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of learning is present in me as well. Whatever generosity they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of generosity is present in me as well. Whatever discernment they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of discernment is present in me as well.’ At any time when a disciple of the noble ones is recollecting the conviction, virtue, learning, generosity, and discernment found both in himself and the devas, his mind is not overcome with passion, not overcome with aversion, not overcome with delusion. His mind heads straight, based on the (qualities of the) devas. And when the mind is headed straight, the disciple of the noble ones gains a sense of the goal, gains a sense of the Dhamma, gains joy connected with the Dhamma. In one who is joyful, rapture arises. In one who is rapturous, the body grows calm. One whose body is calmed senses pleasure. In one sensing pleasure, the mind becomes concentrated.

“Mahānāma, you should develop this recollection of the devas while you are walking, while you are standing, while you are sitting, while you are lying down, while you are busy at work, while you are resting in your home crowded with children.”

— AN 11:13

Thank you, bodom.

AN 11.13 seems to talk about recollecting the devas' virtues, but do you know where it says to dedicate merit to them?

Also, do we salute and honor the Pacceka-Buddhas of the past in the same way?

"These and others are paccekabuddhas of great power whose desires for becoming (re-living) are destroyed. Do salute these great sages of immeasurable (virtue) who have gone beyond all attachment and attained Parinibbana."

- MN 116 (Piya) https://accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn ... .piya.html

... honor these great seers who are finally extinguished ...

- MN 116 (Sujato) https://suttacentral.net/mn116/en/sujato

[Lucas Oliveira]

Is this like asking for protection for the angels?

[cookiemonster]

Is this like asking for protection for the angels?

Maybe so! After all, it is written that such honor can produce auspiciousness:

A person with whom the devas sympathize always meets with auspicious things.

[DooDoot]

How does one honor the devas?

(from the Pataligama Sutta Ud 8.6) - https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html

I think the whole sutta should be read so the entire context is considered:

Now, on that occasion, Sunīdha & Vassakāra, the chief ministers of Magadha, were building a city at Pāṭali Village to preempt [or ward off] the Vajjians. And on that occasion many devas by the thousands were occupying sites in Pāṭali Village. In the area where devas of great influence occupied sites, there the minds of the king's royal ministers of great influence were inclined to build their homes. In the area where devas of middling influence occupied sites, there the minds of the king's royal ministers of middling influence were inclined to build their homes. In the area where devas of low influence occupied sites, there the minds of the king's royal ministers of low influence were inclined to build their homes....

Ānanda, it's as if they had consulted the devas of the Thirty-three [the Tāvatiṃsa devas]: That's how Sunīdha & Vassakāra, the chief ministers of Magadha, are building a city at Pāṭali Village to preempt the Vajjians....

Ānanda, as far as the sphere of the Ariyans extends, as far as merchants' roads extend, this will be the supreme city: Pāṭaliputta, where the seedpods of the Pāṭali plant break open. There will be three dangers for Pāṭaliputta: from fire, from water, and from the breaking of alliances.

Pāṭaliputta later became the capital of King Asoka's empire. The "breaking open of the seed-pods (pūṭa-bhedana)" is a wordplay on the last part of the city's name. Archeological evidence from what may have been part of Asoka's palace in Pāṭaliputta shows burnt wooden posts buried in mud — perhaps a sign that the palace burned and then was buried in a flood.

The sutta sounds like political propaganda to me; composed by monks on behalf of King Asoka (hundreds of years after the Buddha). The sutta sounds like Zionists building settlements in the West Bank of Palestine. Regardless, honoring the devas here appears to mean honoring those who politically rule over you; similar to Tao Te Ching 61.

A great country is like low land.
It is the meeting ground of the universe,
The mother of the universe.

The female overcomes the male with stillness,
Lying low in stillness.

Therefore if a great country gives way to a smaller country,
It will conquer the smaller country.
And if a small country submits to a great country,
It can conquer the great country.
Therefore those who would conquer must yield,
And those who conquer do so because they yield.

A great nation needs more people;
A small country needs to serve.
Each gets what it wants.
It is fitting for a great nation to yield.

https://terebess.hu/english/tao/gia.html#Kap61

[Crazy cloud]

A person with whom the devas sympathize always meets with auspicious things.

That is correct in my experiences, but there is no need to ask for further explanations

[DooDoot]

A person with whom the devas sympathize always meets with auspicious things.

That is correct in my experiences, but there is no need to ask for further explanations

So the devas have looked upon you favorably but ignore all of the starving children in Africa?

[Crazy cloud]

Please don't quote me more on this!

Go and save some starving people yourself, maybe less talk and more action is what's needed to get something "special" ...

[DooDoot]

...get something "special" ...

What exactly is received that is "special"... ?

[santa100]

How does one honor the devas?

It's pretty straightforward if we notice this: they can see us, but we can't see them. So, try one's best to observe the precepts and purify oneself in all 3 aspects: thought, body, and speech. Actually by doing this, the devas probably wouldn't even have to do anything to help the person for s/he thru being virtuous already created a pleasant abiding for himself and the people around him:

1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.

2. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.

[Lucas Oliveira]

There are gods, miracles do happen - Ajahn Brahmavamso

A personal experience

I can tell you another story, a personal experience of mine in recent times. The Buddhist Society of Western Australia was getting ready for Vesak Celebrations one day.

Preparations got underway to hold open air celebrations in the night on Vesak day at a Central location in Perth. With just a few days to go we got to hear that the weather forecast was not good for Vesak day and night. It was forecasted that there would be severe storms.

As the days closed in the people who got together to organize the show were very doubtful of going ahead. Many requests came to me as president of the Buddhist Society of Perth to cancel it.

Continued faith

We had invited the Prime Minister to come as a special invitee amongst many other special guests. There were many calls asking me whether it would not be cancelled. But I continued to have faith.

Though people were surprised at my resolution, I decided to go ahead with the celebration despite the requests to cancel it from many quarters.

The day dawned with very cloudy skies. As the day advanced the conditions did not improve. It started to rain heavily and continued on to the evening. We heard over the news that the weather conditions were quite bad in surrounding areas as well.

It was worse than what the forecasts also predicted. However as night time advanced, and it was approaching to the time that we wanted to commence the celebrations the storm ceased and the sky cleared as if by magic. The full moon came out in all its splendour and illuminated the scene of the celebrations.

Vesak celebration

All those who gathered there that day had a most peaceful and serene Vesak celebration. Perfect weather prevailed until the celebrations were over and everyone went away to their homes. Thereafter the storm recommenced. And we got to know that even during the time of the celebration the storm had been raging in the surrounding areas.

I know that this miracle was aided with the help of the Devathas, who enabled us to have the Vesak Celebrations without any hindrance.

Therefore it is not a lie that Gods do exist, and they do assist the pure followers of the Dhamma.

https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebdha297.htm

[cookiemonster]

Thank you for all your replies, everyone! All things to carefully consider.

[cjmacie]

Somewhere in a two-day teaching I've been listening to recently, Thanissaro Bhikkhu explained the recollection of devas rather along the lines of in that quotation in the second post (above, from bodom):

"... Whatever <virtuous quality> they were endowed with that—when falling away from this life—they re-arose there, the same sort of <virtuous quality> is present in me as well. ..."

His point was that recollection on the devas is a way of inspiring oneself, getting the mind into position for meditation (sati and samadhi together); like in the quotation, whatever good qualities devas have attained (they are, afterall, on a higher plane than we humans), we can aspire to also.

The talks are on "Mindfulness and Concentration", found here:
https://www.audiodharma.org/series/16/talk/1869/

[Ontheway]

There are Devas with Maggaphala attainments. So by honouring them, we will gain merits too (not asking favours from them).

Examples that I know of:

Sakka Devaraja, Vessavana Maharaja, Janavasabha, Māyādevaputta, Manduka Devaputta, Suriyadevaputta, Candadevaputta, Pancasikkha, Brahma Sahampati, four Suddhavasakayika Brahmas in Mahasamaya Sutta, and many more.

These Ariya Devas should be honoured and remembered. In a way, they are the living Maggaphala attainers.