In several conversations, written down in Sutras The Buddha speaks of a superman. Buddha himself makes the statement that he is a superman and says that such a man can be recognized by “32 marks” or traits. He says that such a man has only two paths in life. These supermen can either live a life of a world liberator ie; Buddha, or that of a Leader of men in politics and worldly power. I have read these 32 marks or traits and found them to be so bizarre as to suggest that in fact the Buddha was suggesting that anyone can be a king of men or a Buddha. These 32 traits seem so fanciful that they are almost sarcastic. But yet I’m not sure. In the Diamond Sutras these traits are said to be –“…thirty two are really… no-marks” when Buddha is speaking to Subhuti: “The Lord asked: What do you think, Subhuti, can the Tathagata be seen by means of the thirty-two marks of the superman? Subhuti replied: No indeed, O Lord. And why? Because those thirty-two marks of the superman which were taught by the Tathagata, they are really no-marks. Therefore are they called 'the thirty-two marks of the superman.”.
I think that each of us may be born with the potential to become so destined. I think that it is akin to winning the Spiritual lottery. If you have enough Karma in one life you can get many more tickets and improve your chance of winning, but just like a lottery, many drawings might be held until someone gets just the right combination of numbers. So perhaps the Spiritual Lottery has thirty two distinct number slots or factors. This means that if we presume that there are only say 200 distinct marks or traits of the human body and psyche (e-harmony only uses 29). Then we must calculate 1X as 32/200. 2X as 31/199, 3X as 30/198 and so forth down to 1/169 Then we must represent these as decimals and multiply them together. 1X * 2X * 3X * 4X and so forth. This presents us with a probability that any of us might be able to be a Buddha or a King of men. But we must also factor in all those who were born and died since the last Buddha, unless we would like to expand our chances and include folks like Gandhi, and Hitler, Churchill, and Jesus –then perhaps our chances are improved. But what if we also except that some beings will evolve and others will regress. Wow the number I reached before putting all these constraints into the equation was already 32 decimal points below zero. Well my point is that I think The Buddha was making a point. He was essentially saying we are all Buddhas and there are no Buddhas, We are all kings and there are no kings. Life is based on a point of view and we all have one.
Personally I like to think of Leaders of men as Superman –it makes them more human. And I love the idea that when Buddha put on his working robes and some glasses, No one know who he was.
What do you think Superman or sarcasm?
I think that each of us may be born with the potential to become so destined. I think that it is akin to winning the Spiritual lottery. If you have enough Karma in one life you can get many more tickets and improve your chance of winning, but just like a lottery, many drawings might be held until someone gets just the right combination of numbers. So perhaps the Spiritual Lottery has thirty two distinct number slots or factors. This means that if we presume that there are only say 200 distinct marks or traits of the human body and psyche (e-harmony only uses 29). Then we must calculate 1X as 32/200. 2X as 31/199, 3X as 30/198 and so forth down to 1/169 Then we must represent these as decimals and multiply them together. 1X * 2X * 3X * 4X and so forth. This presents us with a probability that any of us might be able to be a Buddha or a King of men. But we must also factor in all those who were born and died since the last Buddha, unless we would like to expand our chances and include folks like Gandhi, and Hitler, Churchill, and Jesus –then perhaps our chances are improved. But what if we also except that some beings will evolve and others will regress. Wow the number I reached before putting all these constraints into the equation was already 32 decimal points below zero. Well my point is that I think The Buddha was making a point. He was essentially saying we are all Buddhas and there are no Buddhas, We are all kings and there are no kings. Life is based on a point of view and we all have one.
Personally I like to think of Leaders of men as Superman –it makes them more human. And I love the idea that when Buddha put on his working robes and some glasses, No one know who he was.
What do you think Superman or sarcasm?
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