Past and Future Buddhas

[@DougsDharma]

Check out this playlist next on beginning Buddhist practice: kzbin.info/aero/PL0akoU_OszRihO7Z4ynccF5rmGgyfNLQr Consider joining us on Patreon if you enjoy these videos, and get fun benefits like exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, audio-only versions, and extensive show notes: www.patreon.com/dougsseculardharma

[@thedoubtfuls]

One understanding from mahayana scholarship is the 7 buddhas refer to the current era and the 20+ buddhas refers to all the eras since the beginning of the world. The implication may be that humans or advanced beings have been on earth far longer than accepted in the current evolutionary model. Separately, I think there is an interesting discussion between where the buddha stands as the ultimate arahant in view of existing of other arahants or (in the mahayana) boddhisstvas who not ostensinly attain such an "ultimate" level of existence.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Mike.

[@1bighug]

Great channel Doug keep up the good work

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks bighug! I'll do my best. 🙂

[@____-oc1bl]

Recently, I read a book by a 20th century Italian philosopher (*) whose philosophy made me furiously think of the Buddhist dukkha. In fact, his entire book looked to me like an exposition of the first two noble truths (**). It helped me to accept the fact that there may be future Buddhas who would "rediscover" Dhamma independently. (*) Michelstaedter, Persuasion and Rhetoric (**) On the other hand, he had not discovered the last two of the four noble truths, so for him suicide was the only solution, which he did after writing his book.

[@DougsDharma]

I'm sorry to hear about this person. Yes, it's important to see the positive as well as the negative.

[@CaroleVosburgh-ns5cw]

Dear Doug thank you so much for your early Buddhist teachings. I try to listen and learn every day. Your dedication and knowledge is truly appreciated sincerely caroler9

[@DougsDharma]

My pleasure, thanks for your kind comment!

[@timetraveller5721]

Sir please discuss about Jataka story the previous life of Buddha.

[@elliottsz.-b.1111]

Thank you Doug for this very interesting explanation. I think you are right when you say that even though past and future Buddhas were found to be later additions, it shouldn't matter that much since there must have been past Buddhas in the past who discovered the Law by themselves and there will be future Buddhas to discover it again and again. Fascinating topic!

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Elliott, yes it's fun stuff!

[@pasanperera6460]

@@DougsDharma en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_named_Buddhas What do you mean by early buddhism and how come you say that future and past buddhas found to be only in later editions. ? Gauthama the buddha is the 4th buddha and there will be only 5 buddhas for this Kalpa ( eara ). You say that Gautama the buddha is the 7th one. What nonsense ? The Tripiṭaka ( Pali Canon ) was composed between about 550 BCE and about the start of the common era. Those are the oldest sets of books you can find in buddhist world. The monks who had previously remembered the Tripiṭaka and its commentary orally now wrote them down in books, because of the threat posed by famine and war. Buddhas said that he had seen more than 500k of buddhas during his life time as a Bodhisattva but there were millions of millions of Buddhas which is countless. He only had given full details of last 27 buddhas before him and one of future ( The Maithree Buddha ) in his teachings. You cant simply say that he has told only details of six buddhas during his life time. I am completely confused when you always say early buddhism. You must tell us what do you mean by that.? You can investigate buddhism but you can't publish like this without knowing the real thing here. Buddha's teachings have been protected by buddhist monks for 2650 years and you guys from western cant change the real details as you wish.

[@namdzoannhat]

in the suttacentral link to DN 14, Bhante Sujato did talk about two suttas in which Gotama said about recollecting 91 aeons. That may serve as a support for the realistic possibility of Buddhas mentioned in DN 14 (note: Vipassi was said to have been born 91 aeons ago).

[@namdzoannhat]

mn 81 is also an interesting sutta. The brahmin Jotipala called Kassapa Buddha a fake, bald-headed ascetic. Then his friend persuaded him to listen to Kassapa's teachings. Jotipala finally met the Buddha and changed his view. Many lives later Jotipala became Gotama himself.

[@Mina_0098]

I’m Tibetan, and we Tibetan Buddhism believe that this is the 4th Buddha. There will be a next coming up soon, and he will be the 5th Buddha. We’ll be a Buddha one day, shortly or 1000000 years or after 100+ life. Buddha means awake one, so one day or other, we’ll awake from this samsara. Sorry, my English is still not good. Anyway, have a great day, everyone. 🙏🏻🍃✨

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@kurumbaatoll9190]

In Theravada also, the Buddha Gotama is the 4th Buddha in this kappa. But there were earlier Buddhas in previous kappas.

[@JonPiz]

Hi Doug, curious about your thoughts on the description of the future in Thag 17.1 (Sujato), Pli Tv Bu Vb Pj 1 (1st Parajika, Vinaya, Origin of the Monastic Code) where the Buddha describes the dispensation of past Buddhas, and Mahakassapa's comments about inspiring future generations in SN 16.5? I think these fortify the significance and presence of the Dhamma on either end of a sasana, i.e. descriptions both of previous dispensations and the remainder of the current. These give a bit more weight to the probability that there will be another Buddha, and that the extent to which the bhikkhus and bhikkhunis of that dispensation are established in a formal monastic code (if there is one) is the determination for how long it will last. I know we're only talking about two suttas and one short paragraph in the monastic code, but the descriptions do look as if they set up quite an expansive framework. Hoping these questions find you well.

[@DougsDharma]

I'd have to look at all of them in detail to have a good answer for you Jonathan, but sure, there is an idea that the Dhamma existed before the Buddha and will exist after it is forgotten by everyone. The Dhamma after all is an expression of reality, of the way things are and the way things work.

[@JonPiz]

@@DougsDharma Thanks for the message, Doug. I think you'll be pleased and intrigued by what you find, especially the bit found in the origin of the monastic code story in the Vinaya; I was quite surprised with it myself the first time I read it. Let me know what you think if you're able to give it look. Great channel btw!

[@caseystradley4660]

Hey Doug, could you please tell me some of the best ways to keep myself from becoming sad or in a “deep thought” state of mind. It keeps me up at night a lot and it’s very draining. I love your videos by the way.

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks BackwoodsBub, I think one good practice to keep ourselves from getting sad is gratitude. I did a recent video on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJK3cpKkq5Z_r6M

[@stevevest7206]

I find it interesting that there were only 6 prior Buddhas when the Buddha talks about ions and ions of time in the past.

[@DougsDharma]

Well presumably those were supposed to be the ones he wanted to highlight, the most recent ones. But as I say, the "six" may be due to a misunderstanding of a Jain epithet.

[@anandnainar3590]

Thank you. Very interesting examination on this topic. One question - When you mentioned that the list of past Buddhas may have been put together to give weight to the Dharma or to compete with Jainism, what is the implication? Do you mean that it may have been a fabricated story instead of a revelation? If yes, do you think it was done by the Buddha himself, or by some zealous disciples at a later time?

[@DougsDharma]

I believe these were later fabrications but as to when and why, I'm not sure the evidence is there to say.

[@anandnainar3590]

@@DougsDharma thank you 🙏🏽

[@danchisholm1]

yay doug! thank god bless you rock star.

[@DougsDharma]

😄 My pleasure, Daniel!

[@noah2123]

How can Buddhism be found by the 27th Buddha and not the first one, I don't get it

[@DougsDharma]

Well traditionally a Buddha is someone who rediscovers the dharma in an age when it has been forgotten.

[@Azhishu.Nganguchiko]

One must Understand, When you sleep at night, you become like Buddha, superpowers you have is enabled in your Dreams.

[@edelhardtearnhardt8171]

So according to the religion, the buddha met the ancient buddhas in his past lives, and he remembered all his past lives perfectly upon his enlightenment, which enabled him to tell his followers about them?

[@DougsDharma]

Well I don't think the historical Buddha was traditionally said to have met all prior Buddhas, but again traditionally one of his "three knowledges" was the "divine eye" that allowed him to see karmic reward and punishment, which I suppose allowed him to know of these prior Buddhas.

[@prashant1760]

What are your views on the stupa found in indus valley civilization.... Because some historians try to establish that at the time of kushan dynasty which came much later.. And i don't agree with this

[@DougsDharma]

I'm not sure what you're referring to prashant.

[@Big_Bang_Theory]

Was there a another buddha during the life time of siddhartha gautama lord buddha,who attained nibbana before the enlightenment of siddhartha gautama buddha

[@DougsDharma]

Not to my knowledge. Traditionally it is said that there is only one Buddha at a time in the world. There may be other enlightened beings, but they would be pacekkabuddhas or "lone Buddhas" who did not teach.

[@Big_Bang_Theory]

@@DougsDharma yes true,as i heard he was one of that typhe buddha,

[@vidya014]

Revised: namo bhagavate amita-buddhāya, amita-āyus-buddhāya, amita-ābhā-buddhāya, tathāgatāya, arhate, sam-yak saṃ-buddhāya, vidyā caraṇa saṃpannāya, sugatāya, lokavide, an-uttara puruṣāya, mārga dharma sārathī, damya sārathī, deva manuṣya śāstṝye, bhagavān, buddhāya. namo 敬礼 bhagavate 世尊 佛陀12个主要称号： 1. tathāgatāya 如来 2. arhate 应供，供养乃是理应 3. sam-yak saṃ-buddhāya 正等正觉，等觉乃是正 4. vidyā caraṇa saṃpannāya 明行足，具足的明行 5. sugatāya 善逝，逝后能去善处 6. lokavide 世间解，瞭解世间一切现象事物 7. an-uttara puruṣāya 无上士（丈夫），具足无上徳相的士（丈夫）。 丈夫 = 具有32德相之人 三十二相（梵文：dvātriṃśan mahā-puruṣa-lakṣaṇāni) 8. mārga dharma sārathī 道法御，能御驶道法之司 9. damya sārathī 调御司，能调御damya之司, 比喻为能令难受调御、难受御驶、走在歪道之六道众生走向正道的调御司 10. deva manuṣya śāstṝye 天人师，善于教导天神与人类的明师 11. bhagavān 薄伽梵 12. buddhāya. 佛也 References: 1. On ten epithets of Buddha. www.academia.edu/10737483/The_Ten_Epithets_of_the_Buddha_in_the_Translations_of_Zhi_Qian?sm=b 2. On mārgadharmasārathi anuttarapuruṣa. sites.google.com/site/ekottara/ea21.4 3. On “tathāgata, arhan, samyaksaṃbuddha, vidyācaraṇasaṃpanna, sugata, lokavid, anuttara puruṣa, damyasārathi, śāstādevānāṃ ca manuṣyānāṃ, ca buddha, bhagavān|”. Page 233 footnote orca.cardiff.ac.uk/110373/1/Shi%20final.pdf alt.cardiffuniversitypress.org/articles/10.18573/alt.26/galley/26/download/ www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Annotated-English-Translation-of-Kum%C4%81raj%C4%ABva%27s-S%C5%ABtra-Shi/7ba6c6a110ab06c6ae3da37e1a7f20639714476a 4. 關於無量佛 lokamitra.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/%E3%80%8C%E9%98%BF%E5%BD%8C%E9%99%80%E3%80%8D%E4%BD%9B%E8%99%9F%E7%9A%84%E6%A2%B5%E6%BC%A2%E7%BF%BB%E8%AD%AF%E7%95%A5%E8%AB%96/ picservice.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/03_150219~UT-library_sanskrit_ms/MF13_50_003~MF13_50_003/054.jpg

[@austinhill5825]

Good video

[@DougsDharma]

Thanks Austin!

[@Octoberfurst]

Hi Doug, that was a great video but I was surprised that you didn't mention Amitabha Buddha. I find him to be a rather bizarre to say the least. From what I can gather he was a Buddha from the distant past who lived for 30,000 yrs and became totally enlightened and righteous. He then created, through shear force of his will, the Pure Land where people can go to get enlightened without any obstacles to their practice. What do you make of this? I think he is pure folklore but where did he come from?

[@DougsDharma]

Hi Octoberfurst and thanks for the question. In this video I was discussing Buddhas of the past and future who were mentioned in the early texts. I am not an expert on Amitābha Buddha but I believe the notion of this Buddha did not originate until the Common Era. During the Mahāyāna all sorts of Buddhas arose who were not mentioned in the early texts.

[@Octoberfurst]

@@DougsDharma Thank you. I was not sure if Amitabha was in the early texts or later texts. It makes sense that he is a later invention.

[@pasanperera6460]

@@Octoberfurst There was no buddha called Amithab buddha. That buddha had been created by Mahayan buddhism. We can call it lije a avatar of Gautama the buddha but not a real one..There is no sigle place in thripitakaya about Amithab buddha . It is just a human created one....

[@dulangachamika9171]

To my knowledge, in theravada buddhism there were 28 buddhas. Mithri Buddha will be the next buddha. Anyway that does not matter for understanding laws

[@4drunkendonuts931]

They are a countless Buddha’s. But only known is 28 Buddha’s. And there is also people who reached the enlightenment same as Gautama Buddha.

[@user-Void-Star]

@@4drunkendonuts931 known Buddhas are 1002 one of the Sutra named 1002 Buddha Sutra describe location, light year distance, life span of those humanoids.

[@Princesschristina4830.]

🙏🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏🙂

[@AnattaAnattata]

สาธุ! สาธุ! สาธุ! 🙏🙏🙏

[@DougsDharma]

🙏😊

[@sagaspace]

Dhamm

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@sagaspace]

@@DougsDharma I think in Buddhism Dharma is called Dham.

[@ashzole]

there are no modern day buddha’s that can can follow what Sidarth buddah

[@DougsDharma]

🙏

[@mtlee7946]

Amitabha

[@sdnnir4723]

Buddha did not sayed only the dharma. He also sayed other things for acknowledge of people. I think You may have found just one sutra describing past buddhas that you think latter addition. Its not a addition. Checkout the Kuddaka nikaya (KN), buddha vamsa that discribe every each buddhas one by one in past and who was the bodhisattva gotama on that time.

[@DougsDharma]

Yes sdn nir, the Buddhavaṃsa is a late addition to the Canon, several centuries after the Buddha's lifetime. For that reason I left it out.

[@sdnnir4723]

@@DougsDharma how do you claim that? this is somthing buddha who had past incarceration seeing knowledge can see. Buddha had eight different samadhis. Buddha is not like a normal human. He is a person who see the truth of the world from his divine knowledge.

[@pasanperera6460]

@@sdnnir4723 the buddha had seen more than 500,000 of Buddhas during his bodhisattva life time. We cant count how many of buddhas were there. I hope it is countless . Anybody can be a buddha as long as we fulfill requirement to be a buddha .

[@sdnnir4723]

@@pasanperera6460 That's it. Buddhas abilities should not be questioned by normal people who dont even have the one of samadhi. If someone have one of jhana then only he can have non human abilities. Other normal humans should not get it a trouble. Also buddhas abilities should not be compiled with other religion's supreme beings that has taken a heroism among fool people. Also the buddhavamsa & jhathaka pali in tripitaka is based on buddhas past incarceration seeing knowledge.

[@pasanperera6460]

@@sdnnir4723 Yes, buddha had told us not even to think about of 5 things. One of those is the abilities of buddha.

[@dannygardiner1823]

I see maitreya as the God mithra 🙂

[@DougsDharma]

Yes that has been one proposed derivation of the name, though I think it's generally believed to derive from "mitra" or "friend" (cognate to "mettā" or "lovingkindness").

[@dannygardiner1823]

Yes mithra is the Avestan cognate of mitra 🙂 mithra is one of my favourite Gods

[@DougsDharma]

Ah OK, cool!

[@dannygardiner1823]

@@DougsDharma I'm definitely learning a lot from your videos 🙂

[@DougsDharma]

Great!

[@VayaconDios018]

Gautama Siddhartha is the last Buddha. After him, there was not a single one in Asia, and that is precisely the period from the prophet Malachi, whose prophecy completed the Old Testament. From about 400 BC until Christ there was not a single prophet. Interestingly, there were no Buddhas in India either. And Gautama Buddha died around 400 BC. It is the same period when the Lord did not send prophets to Israel either. After Gautama, Buddhist prophecies say that Maitreya, the Buddha of Love, should appear as the last Buddha to facilitate salvation. It is actually a messianic prophecy. Yeshua Hamashiach was born in little Bethlehem, and wise men from the east came to worship him, so they knew and expected His birth. The Jews killed him and now they are still waiting for the Messiah just as the Buddhists are waiting for theirs. But the spiritual eyes of those who need it are opened.

[@Giantcrabz]

Very interesting. I'm always fascinated by the eschatology/soteriology similarities between later Buddhism and Christianity with the Maitreya and Pure Land stuff. I hope for some more videos about those Also check out a small channel Let's Talk Religion, I have been watching it and it's similarly high quality and intelligent like this channel

[@DougsDharma]

I don't know that channel, though I have done a video on the channel Religion for Breakfast in the past. 🙂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGrIfmZsq8mekKc

[@amandmx]

Are you boudhist??

[@DougsDharma]

For my own views see: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4XbfJqwbbKYjck