{"collection":"Majjhima Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_mn123/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_mn123","id":"suttacentral_mn123","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/mn123/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Early Buddhist Texts","Majjhima Nikaya"],"text":"So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in Jeta\u2019s Grove, An\u0101thapi\u1e47\u1e0dika\u2019s monastery. Then after the meal, on return from almsround, several mendicants sat together in the assembly hall and this discussion came up among them: \u201cIt\u2019s incredible, reverends, it\u2019s amazing! The Realized One has such psychic power and might! For he is able to know the Buddhas of the past who have become completely quenched, cut off proliferation, cut off the course, finished off the cycle, and passed beyond all suffering: \u2018Such is the birth, names, clans, conduct, teachings, wisdom, meditation, and freedom of those Blessed Ones.\u2019 When they said this, Venerable \u0100nanda said, \u201cThe Realized Ones are incredible, reverends, and they have incredible qualities. They\u2019re amazing, and they have amazing qualities.\u201d But this conversation among those mendicants was left unfinished. Then in the late afternoon, the Buddha came out of retreat, went to the assembly hall, sat down on the seat spread out, and addressed the mendicants: \u201cMendicants, what were you sitting talking about just now? What conversation was left unfinished?\u201d So the mendicants told him what they had been talking about. The Buddha said, \u201cWell then, \u0100nanda, say some more about the incredible and amazing qualities of the Realized One.\u201d \u201cSir, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Mindful and aware, the being intent on awakening was reborn in the host of joyful gods.\u2019 This I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Mindful and aware, the being intent on awakening remained in the host of joyful gods.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018For the whole of that life, the being intent on awakening remained in the host of joyful gods.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Mindful and aware, the being intent on awakening passed away from the host of joyful gods and was conceived in his mother\u2019s womb.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening passes away from the host of joyful gods, he is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb. And then\u2014in this world with its gods, M\u0101ras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, gods and humans\u2014an immeasurable, magnificent light appears, surpassing the glory of the gods. Even in the boundless gloom of interstellar space\u2014so utterly dark that even the luminosity of the moon and the sun, so mighty and powerful, makes no impression\u2014an immeasurable, magnificent light appears, surpassing the glory of the gods. And even the sentient beings reborn there recognize each other by that light: \u201cSo, it seems other sentient beings have been reborn here!\u201d And this ten-thousandfold galaxy shakes and rocks and trembles. And an immeasurable, magnificent light appears in the world, surpassing the glory of the gods.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, four godlings approach to guard the four quarters, so that no human or non-human or anyone at all shall harm the being intent on awakening or his mother.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, she becomes naturally ethical. She refrains from killing living creatures, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and beer, wine, and liquor intoxicants.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, she no longer thinks of men in a sexual way, and she cannot be violated by a man of lustful intent.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, she obtains the five kinds of sensual stimulation and amuses herself, supplied and provided with them.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, no afflictions beset her. She\u2019s happy and free of bodily fatigue. And she sees the being intent on awakening in her womb, whole in his major and minor limbs, not deficient in any faculty. Suppose there was a beryl gem that was naturally lustrous, eight-faceted, well-worked. And it was strung with a thread of blue, yellow, red, white, or golden brown. And a person with clear eyes were to take it in their hand and examine it: \u201cThis beryl gem is naturally lustrous, eight-faceted, well-worked. And it\u2019s strung with a thread of blue, yellow, red, white, or golden brown.\u201d In the same way, when the being intent on awakening is conceived in his mother\u2019s womb, no afflictions beset her. She\u2019s happy and free of bodily fatigue. And she sees the being intent on awakening in her womb, whole in his major and minor limbs, not deficient in any faculty.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Seven days after the being intent on awakening is born, his mother passes away and is reborn in the host of joyful gods.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Other women carry the infant in the womb for nine or ten months before giving birth. Not so the mother of the being intent on awakening. She gives birth after exactly ten months.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018Other women give birth while sitting or lying down. Not so the mother of the being intent on awakening. She only gives birth standing up.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, gods receive him first, then humans.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, before he reaches the ground, four godlings receive him and place him before his mother, saying: \u201cRejoice, O Queen! An illustrious son is born to you.\u201d\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, he emerges already clean, unsoiled by waters, mucus, blood, or any other kind of impurity, pure and clean. Suppose a jewel-treasure was placed on a cloth from K\u0101si. The jewel would not soil the cloth, nor would the cloth soil the jewel. Why is that? Because of the cleanliness of them both. In the same way, when the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, he emerges already clean, unsoiled by waters, mucus, blood, or any other kind of impurity, pure and clean.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, two showers of water appear from the sky, one cool, one warm, for bathing the being intent on awakening and his mother.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018As soon as he\u2019s born, the being intent on awakening stands firm with his own feet on the ground. Facing north, he takes seven strides with a white parasol held above him, surveys all quarters, and makes this dramatic proclamation: \u201cI am the foremost in the world! I am the eldest in the world! I am the first in the world! This is my last rebirth; now there\u2019ll be no more future lives.\u201d\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible quality of the Buddha. I have learned this in the presence of the Buddha: \u2018When the being intent on awakening emerges from his mother\u2019s womb, then\u2014in this world with its gods, M\u0101ras, and divinities, this population with its ascetics and brahmins, gods and humans\u2014an immeasurable, magnificent light appears, surpassing the glory of the gods. Even in the boundless gloom of interstellar space\u2014so utterly dark that even the luminosity of the moon and the sun, so mighty and powerful, makes no impression\u2014an immeasurable, magnificent light appears, surpassing the glory of the gods. And the sentient beings reborn there recognize each other by that light: \u201cSo, it seems other sentient beings have been reborn here!\u201d And this ten-thousandfold galaxy shakes and rocks and trembles. And an immeasurable, magnificent light appears in the world, surpassing the glory of the gods.\u2019 This too I remember as an incredible and amazing quality of the Buddha.\u201d \u201cWell then, \u0100nanda, you should also remember this as an incredible and amazing quality of the Realized One. It\u2019s that the Realized One knows feelings as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. He knows perceptions as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. He knows thoughts as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. This too you should remember as an incredible and amazing quality of the Realized One.\u201d \u201cSir, the Buddha knows feelings as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. He knows perceptions as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. He knows thoughts as they arise, as they remain, and as they go away. This too I remember as an incredible and amazing quality of the Buddha.\u201d That is what Venerable \u0100nanda said, and the Teacher concurred. Satisfied, those mendicants approved what Venerable \u0100nanda said.","title":"Incredible and Amazing","tradition":"Majjhima Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":1726}