I’ll just get right to it. How about establishing a lay order and/or research group loosely drawing on inspiration from Venerables Moggallāna and Anuruddhā to investigate Buddhadhamma in more unconventional ways perhaps balanced out with more accepted means like double-blind testing?
Then, if it makes sense to — especially if it would not interfere with the more important and vital aspects of the path — seek the approval of the Monastic Community for such operations — like blameless funding sources and project tasking — in order to attract and bear fruit to the least amount of unskillful influences and unskillful perceptions of such work. Such a group or order could also take full responsibility so as not to detrimentally impact the monastic community while any/all findings and work could be shared with monastics for approval before wider dissemination.
Investigations could range from informal ways to academic style projects to (more importantly) double-blind tasking individuals with psychic abilities to investigate Sutta material and/or resolve/address certain Dharma topics that many current Dharma teachers and scholars may not address perhaps due to indoctrination, fear (of loss of credibility and/or career), etc
Some topic examples for investigation:
- Plot and track times and locations of various beings, things and occurrences in the Pali cannon especially those seemingly fantastical and/or impossible by todays zeitgeist
- Buddhist council meeting minutes and/or transcripts; subsequent investigations of Buddhist councils; and verification or lack thereof of claims and issues raised during the Buddhist councils
- What (major) discrepancies and inaccuracies, if any, are there in the Pali cannon? How did they come to be? Why are they still like this and what are the true accounts?
Other potential areas of investigation:
- [Could another way of accessing the information sought for here be for those practitioners who have developed the psychic power of mind reading to (then) locate and read the minds of others who do know this/such information either from past life memories and/or otherwise?]
- can the life span of Brahmas ever be significantly shorter than what is usual and if so how
- any and all agendas (other than nibbana) associated with the the Visuddhimagga, if any; those agendas being for the Visuddhimagga; agendas being against the Visuddhimagga; the origins of any and all agendas, if any; and the beings involved . . . these could include varying degrees of strict adherence to the text as well as dismissal and rejection of the text
- future Buddha(s) (in Tusita heaven)
- whom all have received prophecies from a Buddha that they will become a future Buddha and how long before this happens and what is the account of the next Buddha Maitreya receiving prophecy from a past Buddha
- if already developed use psychic powers to create a mind made body to travel to a time where there was a past Buddha and do anapanasati as a reference point to see how it compares to this life then use the same mind made body to travel to a time outside the dispensation of any Buddhas and try to do anapanasati then see if any of this is possible to integrate in this present life
- did the Buddha’s teacher
Uddaka Rāmaputta “personally” attain the 8th jhana he taught or not - according to his daily routine who all of special needs did the Buddha scan for and help and also what teachings did he give to which particular devas and other nonhuman beings that aren’t already mentioned in the suttas
- sutta text authenticity verifications
- could humans do spontaneous human births in the past and if so what happened
- how do Buddhas come to know and develop mindfulness of breathing they way they do (and why is it said it is only possible to do mindfulness of breathing fully in this way during the dispensation of a Buddha)
- transition points in the kalpas (cycles) and/or firsthand accounts of how the kalpas (cycles) operate and can be experienced
- Jātaka(-like) past life recounts of the Buddha’s disciples especially Moggallāna and Sāriputta
- lake containing any of Ananda’s relics
- royal snake lineages: Virūpakkha, Erapatha, Chabyāputta and Kaṇhāgotamaka
- only if it would maintain and increase harmony and concord: (only) those with stream entry and above (and I have no idea how to determine this) — from both sides of the aisle — investigate the nuns order(s) (if there were ones) during prior Buddhas in order to inform relevant decisions now
- since the Buddha, after full awakening, was no longer subject to kamma in the same way as before, what dynamics or principles governed the situations and events that occurred after his enlightenment? Additionally, among the intentional thoughts, speech, and actions described in the Jātaka tales, which ones are explicitly mentioned in the suttas as having borne fruit for Siddhartha Gautama prior to his enlightenment? Conversely, are there any intentional actions—mental, verbal, or physical—not mentioned in the Jātakas, but referenced in the suttas as bearing fruit for him from previous lives before his awakening?
- could there be more to the translation and the story of incident involving a monk who demonstrated his psychic abilities by levitating to retrieve a bowl placed atop a pole that led to widespread admiration and a surge of followers, prompting the Buddha to establish a monastic rule prohibiting monks from publicly displaying such powers? Where did the sandalwood come from? What did the bowl look like? Where did this idea of doing such a thing come from? Why would it attract so much attention? After learning about a relic bowl of the Ophite Gnostics’ mystery schools and the very special properties of the pendulous or swinging column at Tatev monastery and some more symbolic notions of sky poles (from this podcast with Andrew Collins) I wondered about other highly advanced groups and practitioners around the same time. To investigate further, how else could some of the pali words without clear translations in this account be interpreted? Are we missing any symbolic depictions and understanding of bowls and poles as well as more background information and subtext needed to better understand what happened? Could there have been rivalries among groups during this time (even beyond the Indian subcontinent) where such a victory/display could lead to perceptions of superiority/inferiority, and if so, what all would have been involved because the account does mention Makkhali Gosāla, Ajita Kesakambala, Pakudha Kaccāyana, Sañcaya, Belaṭṭhaputta, and the Jain ascetic from Ñātika
- can merit be “hijacked” and how other beings do or don’t directly benefit from the merit from others
- survey time, space and worlds to see if rootless beings have ever developed (a root or) roots in a single lifetime. Also, what is the most efficient way for rootless beings to develop roots in future lifetimes
- what happened to the Sinhala Atthakatha
- investigate, clarify and make unobscured the meanings of those difficult words describing the distinctions of the Buddha’s foremost disciples in those records (etadagga) (p693-4 in Buddhadhamma)
- if there are perhaps any other paccaya (or stories that often precede monastic rules) involved with other Vinaya rules/guidelines where there are no specific stories mentioned in the canon and/or should what is briefly mentioned as reasons for the establishment of certain rules/guidelines be expanded upon
- during or around the time of the Buddha’s enlightenment, the realms of existence momentarily opened up, and beings from different planes—humans, devas, animals, and others—became aware of each other. During this period was there a greater possibility of making contact with the Buddha that day? If so, could one then remote view that occurrence?
- events surrounding paranibbana (of the Buddha)
- what exactly is/was “pig’s delight” the substance the Buddha consumed before paranibbana
- pertaining more to Mahayana, other sects, schools, etc:
- was there one or two Vasubandhus?
- how did Vasubandhu come upon the Abhidharma, develop it and why didn’t he mention his process, or if he did, why don’t we know about it?
- why were people in Kashmir so threatened by Vasubandhu’s questions?
- current locations and origins of Buddhist source texts
- what happened to the Guge Kingdom (in Tibet)?
- who was the naga or nagas giving nagurgina text stories and where did they themself(s) naga get it from?
- what documents/sutras (from India) were lost on Xuanzang’s elephant mishap and what are the current locations of the original texts that did make it back?
- who all were the Indian monks, philosophers, ascetics, etc that interacted with Alexander the Great’s campaign into the Indian subcontinent?
- who was the naga or nagas giving Nagarjuna texts/stories and where and/or how did the naga(s) get it (from)?
- what were Upagupta views on the Sarvāstivāda school?
- who were the key player and events in the origins of the Sarvāstivāda school, its split and its decline and how did it all play out? And the same questions for other schools of Buddhism
- past life stories of the future Buddha Maitreya
Question to ask Pali scholars and those studying the suttas to gain more topics for (psychic) investigation: If you could go back in time to witness, investigate or watch videos about anything from the Pali cannon that you’re unclear about, wondering about or have questions about what would you look into?
I’ve mentioned this to only a handful of people varying in scope from broad to narrow based on what’s outlined above. Simply put, I don’t know many layfolk capable enough of wielding such skills. For those who do possess these skills, I imagine they are already quite busy with various projects, both internally and externally. They might find the risk-to-reward ratio or kammic potential unfavorable, or they might be content with just letting it be.
Such a project requires no sales pitch or convincing. Those who are capable of such work likely understand that this endeavor aims to lead towards awakening and the long-term benevolence of themselves and others.
I’m green lighted to mention that David Johnson and Delson Armstrong from http://www.dhammasukha.org are aware of this. From what I gather, Delson is highly accomplished and skilled yogi in several areas. Although I haven’t received a response from him yet, I made it clear that his feedback would be highly valuable due to his qualifications.
While I may or may not be involved, this is a public call for anyone trustworthy to take these notions and implement them in a skillful, wholesome, and wise manner, including any and all changes and structuring. May the proper dhamma(s) guide any and all unfolding.
Somewhat related posts:
Integrating Presence 