Adventures Of Sariputta & Mogallana III: Five Powers

Do you want special spiritual superpowers? In this episode, Sensei Morris talks about the powers Sariputta and Mogallana developed and tells the story of Prince Five Weapons and about how you can develop five spiritual powers of your own.

Transcript

Hello everyone,

You're listening to The Adventures of Saraputa and Mogallana.

I'm your host,

Morris Sullivan.

So in this episode,

Besides talking about Saraputa and Mogallana,

I'll share with you a Dharma talk that I gave not too long ago about another one of my favorite Buddhist stories.

In the process,

We'll talk about how you can develop your own special spiritual superpowers.

Well after they ordained,

Saraputa and Mogallana remained companions.

They were good friends,

But they had somewhat different personalities that I think reflect different but complementary aspects of Buddhism.

You know,

When we Buddhists bow,

We bring our hands together in front of our heart.

That's called gassho in Japanese.

There's other schools of Buddhism,

Other languages talk about it in different ways.

But we often describe that as representing the coming together of wisdom and compassion into one practice.

There's a side of Buddhism that comes from understanding on a deep personal level.

Teachings like impermanence and the not self-characteristic and those kinds of things that can be kind of abstract if you look at them as just knowledge in the conventional sense.

But when you internalize them,

When you really understand what they mean to you and how they change the way you view life and also the way you live life,

Then they develop into wisdom.

And then there's another side that comes from a different kind of understanding,

One that's less focused on the individual and more inclusive so it can engage more with faith and compassion.

To me,

Saraputa seems to represent that more pragmatic approach to practice,

That more internalized approach.

And Moggallana seems more driven by faith and compassion.

They were both compassionate and they were both wise,

But I think they developed those capacities in different ways.

So for example,

The Buddha once asked Saraputa if he thought a certain kind of meditation could lead to liberation.

And Saraputa said that he did think so.

But he said,

I don't accept it because I have faith in you.

It's only those who have not personally realized something like this that accept a fact like that from someone else.

Well,

Hearing this,

The monk saw this as evidence that Saraputa didn't have faith in the Buddha.

But the Buddha said,

No,

Here's the true meaning.

Saraputa accepts the teaching,

But his acceptance is due to his own personal realization and not merely because the Buddha said it or somebody else said it.

He said,

Saraputa has faith in me,

But he also has faith in the practice because he has seen the results for himself.

Saraputa became renowned for his skill in meditation,

As well as for being able to explain the Dharma very clearly to people.

Moggallana,

Meanwhile,

Had a natural gift for seeing what lay outside of kind of normal human perception.

And he used that gift to enhance his understanding and in ways that benefited others.

The good example of this difference between them is reflected in an incident that occurred when they were staying in a cave.

So this happened in the Buddha's time and still happens some places today,

That monks would leave the monastery and go out into the forest and they'd live and meditate at the base of a tree or they'd find an abandoned building or they'd find a cave and they'd stay there and they'd meditate there.

So they were staying in a cave for a while.

And then one night Saraputa shaved his head and then went outside to meditate in the open air.

So traditionally monks would shave their heads twice a month or twice every lunar month,

The new moon and the full moon.

So this must have been the full moon because he was sitting outside in deep concentration when two Yakas flew over and one of them looked down and saw his head gleaming in the moonlight.

So Yakas are these semi-divine beings.

They sometimes appear as kind of demonic when you see them as paintings or statues.

In fact they're kind of a counterpart to the Deiwas.

If you thought in Western terms as Deiwas as being angels,

Yakas might be demons.

It doesn't align exactly,

But that's sort of the idea.

Anyway,

If you ever visit a Thai temple or someplace like that,

You might see them as these big statues standing out front guarding the temple.

They'll have scowling faces and fangs and bright green skin or bright red skin,

Something like that.

So those statues are the Yakas.

So the two of them were flying over and one looked down and saw Saraputa's head gleaming in the moonlight.

And he said to the other one,

Look at that monk down there with his head shining in the night.

I think I'll go whack him on the noggin.

Well,

I can just imagine this,

Saraputa's freshly shaved head with the moonlight glinting off of it.

I was a big magical beast.

I might want to go down and mess with him too.

But the other Yaga said,

No,

No,

Don't do that.

This is an outstanding monk of great power.

I mean,

Remember,

Saraputa was the Buddha's right-hand person and the Deiwas and the Yakas and all of these different deities and creatures knew this also.

So they argued about it.

But finally,

The first Yaga said,

Oh,

Heck,

I'm going to do it anyway.

And so he swooped down and he hit Saraputa on the head.

And this wasn't a gentle pat on the head.

It was a blow that could have knocked over an elephant.

But as soon as he touched Saraputa,

The Yaga burst into flames and fell screaming into hell.

So remember,

Moggallana is meditating inside the cave at this point.

But with his divine eye,

He sees this.

His kind of deeper awareness recognizes that something like this has happened.

And so he rushes out to Saraputa to check on him,

Thinking he must be badly injured.

And he says,

Are you hurt?

Are you hurt?

And Saraputa says,

No,

He was fine.

Why?

Why do you ask?

His meditation was so deep,

He didn't realize that anything had happened.

So when Moggallana told him what had happened,

He said,

Oh,

Well,

I felt a slight breeze and I have a little bit of a headache.

Moggallana was amazed that Saraputa's concentration was so profound that he could endure this great blow on the head with just a little headache.

And Saraputa,

In turn,

Was amazed that Moggallana saw what had happened,

Even from inside the cave.

He said,

How great your power and might,

Where you saw a yakka just now.

I didn't even see a dust devil.

Most of us will never develop concentration like Saraputa's or gifts of perception like Moggallana's.

And that's OK.

There are powers that we can develop and that will help us live a more enlightened life.

In Buddhism,

There are these stories called the Jhana Kha tales.

Any of you heard that word before?

Basically these are stories about the Buddha's previous existences.

And they're really Indian folk tales that probably came out of the Hinduism or Brahministic religions of the time,

Or just had been around.

And then they fit the Buddhist teachings.

And so they sort of became these stories of the Buddha's previous lives.

And in one of these stories,

The Bodhisattva,

The Buddha to be,

Was born a prince.

And his father invited a bunch of priests and seers to come over and bless him and suggest a name for him.

And so one of the seers predicted that the prince would become this great master of fighting arts,

And that he would master five different weapons.

And he says,

You should name him Prince Five Weapons.

And so that became his name.

And when he was old enough,

He went to school and he studied how to do this combat.

And so he learned how to use five different weapons of combat.

As after he had finished this,

All of his studies and everything,

He decided that he would go and travel around India and just see what the world was like before he went back to the palace again and assumed the mantle of leadership.

And so he's walking through a village one day,

And he went through this village and he started to go into the forest on the other side.

And the villagers came rushing out and stopped him.

And they said,

No,

No,

Don't go in there.

Don't go in the woods.

There's a monster in the woods called Sticky Hair.

And he'll kill and eat anyone who tries to pass through his woods.

Well,

To this prince,

Who was this great fighting artist,

That was as good as an invitation.

He wanted to see this monster for himself.

And more importantly,

He wanted to stop it from terrorizing these poor villagers.

And so he went off into the woods.

And he hadn't gone too far before he was confronted with this horrible sight.

This giant creature came out who was as tall as a tree,

Had a massive head,

A gaping mass filled with jagged brown teeth and two big yellow tusks.

And the demon was covered all over with matted hair,

And he smelled really bad.

And he had blue hands and feet.

And when it saw Prince Five Weapons,

It roared and said,

Oh,

You look good to eat.

I think I will eat you now.

Well,

The prince was undaunted by this.

He said,

No,

No,

Don't,

Not so fast.

I'm Prince Five Weapons,

And I've come into this forest to find you and defeat you.

And so he pulled out his bow and arrow,

And he started shooting poison-tipped arrows at this monster.

And he quickly found out why the monster was called Sticky Hair,

Because his arrows would just simply stick in this matted,

Gooey mass of hair.

It did nothing to injure the monster whatsoever.

And so he shot until this quiver was completely empty of arrows,

And the monster just shook his body,

And all the arrows fell out on the ground,

And that was that.

So the prince says,

Well,

I'll get my spear.

So he takes out his spear,

Hurls it at the monster.

Again,

It just kind of lodges in the hair.

So then he gets a lance,

And he goes lunging at him with a lance.

Same thing,

Just tangles up in the hair,

No effect.

Pulls out his long sword,

Goes to do battle with it.

That does no good at all.

Big hardwood club,

Tries to beat it with that,

Nothing.

So finally the demon just grins and kind of bears his teeth and says,

Okay,

Are you done?

Can I eat you now?

But the prince was even more determined than before.

He says,

I'm Yong Strong,

And I'm master of the fighting arts.

I still have my body.

I will break you into pieces with my bare hands.

And so he swings a fist,

And his fist gets stuck in the hair.

And he swings the other fist,

And pretty soon he's stuck hand and foot into this monster's gross,

Stinky,

Stinky hair.

So the monster grabs him,

Kind of pulls him out.

And he realizes he's kind of impressed with this prince's,

The effort that he's put into this.

He had never seen anyone so fearless,

And so he wonders about that.

And he says,

Why aren't you afraid of me?

And the prince thinks about it for a moment.

His weapons of war have been useless.

The strength of his body was not enough to defeat the monster.

But he still had the power of his mind,

The undimmed light of his conviction and his tireless strength and determination.

And he thinks,

Well,

Maybe with that weapon I can overcome this monster.

And he says,

Well,

Guess what?

My greatest weapon is inside me.

It's sharp as a razor,

And it's enduring as diamond.

And if you were foolish enough to swallow me,

It would destroy you from within.

Well,

Stinky Hair sees that this young man is very earnest,

And it kind of scares him a little bit.

So he decides to let Prince Five Weapons go,

And he puts him down on the ground.

And in gratitude,

The prince decides that he's going to try to help this monster out.

And he says,

Stinky Hair,

You were born this murderous demon because of unwholesome karma from your past.

If you can continue to kill this way,

It will lead to even more suffering for you and for the world and for beyond.

Well,

Stinky Hair had spared the prince's life.

And just that little moment of compassion,

That little moment where he had done something good,

That awakened something in him.

And it made it possible for him to listen to this young man who then recognized this and started teaching him about the merit of living in a non-harmful way.

And so as Stinky Hair listened,

He began to shrink,

And he began to change.

And by the end of this Dharma talk from Prince Five Weapons,

He had turned into this friendly,

Protective little forest dewa.

So the prince had learned something from this encounter with Stinky Hair.

He had realized that his greatest power was the power of his mind.

The Buddha talked about how the mind also has five weapons.

He called them five spiritual powers.

These are five strengths that we have that we can bring to the Stinky Hairs that we find in our life and put them to use to overcome our own demons.

So I don't really like the term spiritual powers.

People hear that and they think that I'm talking about clairvoyance or levitation or something like that.

And sometimes the Buddha would be asked by people to teach them how to do things like walk through walls or fly and that kind of stuff.

And he would say,

No,

No,

That's,

We don't really,

Even if you could do that,

That wouldn't do you any good.

We don't want to study powers like that.

There are stories in Buddhism of monks who learn how to levitate.

There's a very famous book about a monk named Shanti Deva who started giving a talk at this the first Buddhist university.

And as he talked,

His speech became so refined that he started floating up off the ground.

And eventually he was giving his talk from the sky and it was thundering through the universe.

These are metaphors.

These are not things that we should see as something that really happened.

I've never seen anybody levitate.

I've seen videos of people sitting in lotus posture and bouncing around and it looks kind of cool,

But it's hard to think of that as levitation.

I don't think there's any real spiritual benefit to it,

But there's spiritual benefit to these five powers.

Faith,

Wisdom,

Energy,

Concentration,

And mindfulness.

If you cultivate those five spiritual powers,

You don't really need to levitate anyway.

So in fact,

Sometimes people will say to me,

Well,

I'm not really religious.

I'm just spiritual.

And they think about,

Well,

What does that mean to be spiritual?

And I think if you saw your life as a way to develop these five spiritual faculties,

That would be a good way to practice spirituality.

So the Buddha talked about how these things related to one another and explained that faith and wisdom work together.

Energy and concentration work together.

And mindfulness helps to keep all of these things in balance with one another to make sure that we stay on our path.

So faith,

You know,

When I talk about faith in the Buddhist context,

It's a little different than what you usually think of as faith.

Faith in Buddhism means that you've heard something and it resonates with you and you start to think,

You know,

Maybe this can help me.

And so then you listen a little bit more.

You learn what the teaching is.

You put it into practice.

You realize the fruit.

And as you do that,

Then you realize that,

Yes,

This is going to help me.

And so faith arises as a loop with practice.

It means that you accept that karma ripens and you believe that your practice will lead to liberation from the cycles of suffering.

So faith is the seed of spiritual practice.

Without it,

Spiritual life doesn't get going at all.

But you don't need to have blind faith.

Truth faith means you analyze what you heard,

You put it into practice and you see for yourself that it leads to results.

And when you do that,

Then faith becomes something that comes out of your heart.

So you don't have to keep thinking about it all the time to sustain it.

You know how it works and you feel it in your body that faith,

That your practice is going to lead you to a better life.

So faith can move mountains.

Faith can get us to do a lot of things that the intellect won't necessarily get us to do.

But we need wisdom to know what mountains need moving.

So we should cultivate wisdom about the true nature of reality,

About what makes life really meaningful,

About how to conduct ourselves in ways that harmonize with reality and lead to authentic living.

So faith is foremost of the five faculties.

But wisdom in a sense is really the biggest of the five.

The Buddha once said that wisdom is like the footprint of an elephant.

It can encompass the footprints of all the other animals in the jungle.

And similarly,

Wisdom is enough to encompass all the other powers.

But a powerful intellect and deep understanding won't lead to spiritual progress without the powers that derive from faith.

Things like compassion,

Love,

Gratitude,

Serenity,

Those are powers of the heart.

Those are the things that will really carry you forward.

And then you temper them with wisdom,

With understanding.

So energy and concentration also support one another.

If you have faith in wisdom but you don't have any energy,

You're not going to get anywhere with it.

It won't do you much good.

We're talking here about mental energy,

The kind of energy that leads to determination and commitment.

When the Buddha talked about this,

He compared the importance of practice and of energy to a man whose turban was on fire.

So think about that.

If you were wearing a hat and your hat was on fire,

You would do something very quickly to change that situation,

Right?

So it's the same thing.

We should see our practice as if the turban of our life,

What a metaphor that is,

Was on fire,

Right?

We know we're going to experience stress and discomfort at some point.

We want to be prepared for it.

So the sooner you prepare,

The better,

Because eventually it's going to arise.

So we shouldn't wait around until we feel like practicing before we get started.

But always be aware and work diligently.

Concentration focuses that.

You don't want to just have a bunch of energy running around in a bunch of different directions.

You want to develop certain qualities that are associated with spiritual growth.

And so you set your mind on the task that will do that and direct your activity toward it.

So without concentration focusing your energy,

A lot of your energy will likely go to waste and be dissipated.

Let me give you an example.

I mean,

You can find this in meditation all the time.

A lot of people come to meditation and read about it,

A bunch of different stuff,

Download all the apps,

Whatever,

You know,

And then you just kind of basically learn to teach your mind to bounce around more.

I have a,

I go to Palm Coast once a month and lead a meditation group there.

And there was one day when I did a guided meditation.

It was just a guided breath meditation.

And there was a woman there who had practiced a lot of different things and all of that.

And so she was very excited about being at this Buddhist meeting.

So after I did the guided meditation,

Which was really pretty much what we did here,

Meditate on the breath coming and going in your body.

And so I was asking everybody,

How did that go?

Do you have any problems or anything?

And she said,

Oh,

You know,

Mine was okay,

But my mind really wouldn't settle down.

And I said,

Well,

What happened?

She said,

Well,

I started out doing what you said.

And then I decided I would do this Native American thing that I learned that it,

You know,

Visualize doing this and that.

And then I decided to do this yoga thing that I've learned and visualize doing this or that.

And so she,

Over the course of 20 minutes,

She had done about 20 different meditation techniques.

And I said,

No wonder your mind wouldn't settle down.

And so I had her,

So we meditated again for like five minutes.

I said,

Don't do anything but follow your breath.

And after that was over,

I said,

How did that feel?

I've never been so calm.

Right?

So it's good to have a lot of energy.

It's good to put some attention on all these different things.

But we want to find something that works and set our minds on it so that we can really develop that sort of maturity in the practice that that sort of effort takes.

Mindfulness is the last of these.

Mindfulness kind of encompasses the other faculties.

It's sort of the glue that holds everything together.

You don't really need to balance mindfulness with anything because it should always be strong and it is balance itself,

Really.

We could spend a whole retreat talking about mindfulness,

Which sometimes we do.

But let me try to sum it up this way for those of you who are new here.

It's kind of the faculty of remembering that prevents your thoughts from floating away.

It fights forgetfulness,

Carelessness and distraction.

You remember your goal of developing your spiritual life.

You watch to see that you're staying on that path and you continually bring yourself back to it.

So I hope that this has given you something to work with in your spiritual practice,

That you will develop these strengths and that you will realize the fruits of them.

So thank you very much for your attention.

I hope you enjoyed today's installment of the adventures of Saraputa and Mogulana.

And I hope you found a way to awaken some of your own spiritual superpowers in today's Dharma Talk.

The world needs more Dharma superheroes like you.

So I hope you'll subscribe so that we can continue this adventure in the Dharma together.

I want to thank Gerald Sprinkle and Sprinkle Graphics for designing the logo for our podcast.

And thanks again to Edward Simon for sharing his music with us.

We'll be talking to him in a couple more episodes from now.

So thank you for your attention.

Now go save the world.

Hardest euthan

Reviews

Absolutely love this one Morris 🙏🏼🥰🌷🌿💛