Dhamma and Science > Origin of Life > Mystical Phenomena in Buddhism?

July 28, 2019; revised June 9, 2020; February 26, 2023

Introduction

Some phenomena may be labeled “mystical” or “incomprehensible” only because there are no rational explanations yet. However, logical reasons may become available as science makes progress.

1. There are two essential points to make regarding the series of posts on the “origin of Life,” and in general, regarding Buddha’s teachings.

▪Some characteristics of the other 29 realms may not be compatible with our ordinary sensory experiences. Some phenomena are not “perceivable” or “easily understood” by humans. The Pāli word for “perceivable” is “gocara” pronounced “gochara.”

▪The second issue is how kammic energy can create a manomaya kāya with the ability to “see” and “hear” without physical eyes or ears. Also, how did those “first living cells” on Earth come into existence? See. “Origin of Life – There is No Traceable Origin.”

▪However, with the advances made in science, it is now possible to convince ourselves that such phenomena are scientifically plausible. There are no contradictions with science, at least theoretically (i.e., in principle).

▪We are fortunate to live at a time when scientific findings show that some of the “hard-to-believe” phenomena discussed in the Tipiṭaka are consistent with science. In this post, I will start with some issues (associated with “supernormal powers”).

Non-Perceivability of Some Phenomena

2. Let me clarify what I mean by “perceivable” or “easily understood.” Our six senses can “detect” only a tiny fraction of “our world.”

▪We experience only the human and animal realms, where living beings can be “seen with our eyes.” We have no idea about the “bodies” of those living beings in other realms. For example, if we visit a Brahma or a Deva domain, for example, we may think there is “no one there.” Their bodies are too wispy to be seen with our eyes.

▪Even when scientists probe the universe with their best equipment, they see only a tiny fraction of “things” out there. At a base level, science today can account for only 4 percent of the mass of our universe; see, “The 4 Percent Universe: Dark Matter, Dark Energy, and the Race to Discover the Rest of Reality”, by Richard Panek (2011).

▪Many things have not been “discovered” by science yet. In particular, nothing significant about the MIND.

Buddha Dhamma Is Self-Consistent

3. Trying to gauge the validity of Buddha Dhamma with just what we can see with our eyes is foolish. That is like a blind man trying to figure out what an elephant is like, by touching just a leg of the elephant; see, “How do we Decide which View is Wrong View (Diṭṭhi)?.”

▪A frog living in a well knows nothing about the broader world of 31 realms. Similarly, an average human — including scientists — faces the problem of trying to figure out the “reality” by only using data available through our limited six senses. With the help of scientific instruments, we are making progress.

▪Thus a scientific theory can’t ever be “complete” as proven by the mathematician Kurt Gödel; see, “Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem.” However, science is helping to clarify some concepts.

▪Unless one attains abhiññā powers and can visit those realms, one cannot verify such characteristics of other domains. For example, we cannot see their ultra-fine bodies; see “Clarification of “Mental Body” and “Physical Body” – Different Types of “Kāya”.”

▪However, if one spends time learning Dhamma, one would be able to see the truth of them. We will discuss a few examples below. Also, see “Buddha Dhamma: Non-Perceivability and Self-Consistency.”

Touching the Sun – Is That Possible?

4. Some phenomena described in the Tipiṭaka seem “mystical” or “beyond comprehension.” But they are entirely feasible based on the advances in science. I will discuss some examples in the Tipiṭaka to illustrate this point. In the “WebLink: suttacentral: Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2)”, it is stated, “.. imepi candimasūriye evaṁmahiddhike evaṁmahānubhāve pāṇinā parāmasati parimajjati..” or, “.. he touches and strokes the Sun and the moon, so mighty and powerful...”

▪This verse describes the powers of a yogi with supernormal capabilities (Iddhividha ñāṇa). How can one “touch and stroke the Sun?” Isn’t the Sun supposed to be extremely hot?

▪Here, the yogi is in the manomaya kāya, not with his physical body. Of course, a physical body will burn well before it gets close to the Sun. The key is to note that the manomaya kāya has just a few suddhaṭṭhaka. For example, a human manomaya kāya has a hadaya vatthu and five pasāda rūpa and each is a suddhaṭṭhaka; see, “Clarification of “Mental Body” and “Physical Body” – Different Types of “Kāya.”

▪A suddhaṭṭhaka is the smallest unit of matter in Buddha Dhamma and is a billion times smaller than an atom in modern science. Therefore, the manomaya kāya of a yogi is unimaginably tiny; it is a “packet of energy.”

5. An entity at the level of suddhaṭṭhaka will not be affected by the Sun’s high temperatures or a supernova explosion. We can understand that from modern science as follows: A regular fire can burn dense things like wood or paper. At higher temperatures, melting ovens can melt steel bars. But neither of those can burn molecular gases like hydrogen or nitrogen. Those gases burn at even higher temperatures.

▪However, even at the temperatures generated by a supernova explosion, matter at the suddhaṭṭhaka level is not affected. A supernova is the blowing up of a star.

▪The Earth and the Sun are destroyed at the end of a mahā kappa. However, the Brahma realms at or above the Abhassara Brahma realm survive. Those Brahmā have very subtle bodies (with only a trace of matter) that are not affected even by a supernova; see, “Buddhism and Evolution – Aggañña Sutta (DN 27).”

▪Well before that destruction, all living beings in the lower realms move up to the Abhassara Brahma realm.

▪Now we can see how a yogi with a manomaya kāya of a Brahma can touch the Sun. That is not a miracle. It is just that a manomaya kāya is so fine (subtle) that it is not affected by even a supernova, which has much more power than the Sun.

How Can One Go Through Walls?

6. The same sutta (and many other suttā) also describe the ability of yogis with iddhi powers to go through walls, dive into the Earth and come out from a different location, among others.

The following verse appears in many suttā in the WebLink: suttacentral: Iddhipāda Saṁyutta of the Saṁyutta Nikāya (SN 51.11 through SN 51.32): “Ye hi keci, bhikkhave, etarahi samaṇā vā brāhmaṇā vā anekavihitaṁ iddhividhaṁ paccanubhonti—ekopi hutvā bahudhā honti, bahudhāpi hutvā eko honti; āvibhāvaṁ, tirobhāvaṁ; tirokuṭṭaṁ tiropākāraṁ tiropabbataṁ asajjamānā gacchanti, seyyathāpi ākāse; pathaviyāpi ummujjanimujjaṁ karonti, seyyathāpi udake; udakepi abhijjamāne gacchanti, seyyathāpi pathaviyaṁ; ākāsepi pallaṅkena kamanti, seyyathāpi pakkhī sakuṇo; imepi candimasūriye evaṁmahiddhike evaṁmahānubhāve pāṇinā parimasanti parimajjanti; yāva brahmalokāpi kāyena vasaṁ vattenti, ..”

Translated: “Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu or a brāhmana who has developed supernormal powers (iddhi) wields various psychic powers: He can become many copies of himself. He appears and vanishes. He travels unimpeded through walls, ramparts, and mountains, and dives in and out of the Earth as if it were water. He walks on water without sinking as if it were the Earth. Sitting cross-legged, he travels through space like a winged bird. He touches and strokes the Sun and the Moon with his hand. He displays mastery as far as the brahmā-realms...”

▪It is also evident in this verse that anyone could cultivate these powers (by getting into anāriya jhāna,) not just Buddhists.

▪Let us first clarify a few things with science, and then we will discuss how it is possible to “go through walls and dive into the Earth.”

▪We need first to discuss some aspects of atoms and molecules uncovered by modern science.

An Atom is Virtually Empty!

7. Here is a simplified version of some relevant properties of an atom. An atom has a tiny nucleus with 99.9% of the mass (or “weight” in ordinary language.) It is surrounded by an “electron cloud” that takes up almost all the “space occupied by the atom.” In other words, it is analogous to a miniaturized version of our Solar system, where the massive Sun is at the center, and several planets revolve around the Sun.

▪The main difference is that those electrons are not in circular orbits. They have complicated “orbitals,” and the easiest is to visualize an “electron cloud” around the nucleus.

▪The nucleus is tiny but has all the mass of the atom essentially. Electrons spread out in a large volume around the nucleus (core.)

▪We can use the following analogy to get a perspective on the size of an atom compared to the nucleus. If a mustard seed with a millimeter diameter represents the nucleus, the “electron cloud” would occupy a volume with 100 meters in diameter. We could say a nucleus would be like a grain of sand in a large cathedral or football stadium chamber.

8. An atom (or a molecule) is mostly empty. That means our bodies that we think are very solid are also empty. Even steel or diamond would be similarly “empty.”

▪P.S. If it is possible to take out all that empty space in our bodies (which of course, is not possible), all the matter in the physical bodies of 8 billion humans today would fit inside a sugar cube!

▪If our atoms are mostly space, why can’t we pass through walls like those ghosts in movies?

▪Electrical repulsion among the electron clouds of neighboring atoms forces them to stay away without getting close.

▪Therefore, we cannot go through walls or any other “solid object” with our physical bodies.

Go Through Walls and Dive Into the Earth?

9. Even though our physical bodies cannot go through other “solid objects,” our manomaya kāya (gandhabba) made of very fine suddhaṭṭhaka can!

▪That level of “matter” is much more refined and subtle than even electrons. Furthermore, “particles” at the suddhaṭṭhaka level are not electrically charged. So, they do not have any problem going through the electron cloud.

▪Therefore, modern science (physics) helps us understand why this is not a miracle.

10. Those objects that appear “highly condensed” — such as walls or even steel — are mostly hollow at the atomic level. An atom has a tiny nucleus surrounded by an “electron cloud.” The size of an atom is defined by the electron cloud, which spreads out over a relatively large volume. Two adjacent atoms cannot come too close to each other because of the mutual repulsion between their electron clouds.

▪Therefore, an atom is “virtually empty.” The dense nucleus takes only a little volume, and the electron cloud is far away. Therefore, a manomaya kāya made of only a few suddhaṭṭhaka can freely move through “solid matter” made of atoms and molecules.

▪A yogi with such abhiññā powers could use the manomaya kāya to travel through “solid objects.”

▪One with even more developed abilities may reduce one’s physical body to the suddhaṭṭhaka level, go through the “solid object” and then “reassemble” at the other end. That sounds like science fiction (“teleportation”), but that is precisely how it may be done in the future with further progress in science. Of course, one with such abhiññā powers could do that right now.

▪P.S. An account from the Tipiṭaka regarding “teleportation”: Ven. Ānanda attained the Arahanthood only the day before the first Buddhist Council, held three months after the Parinibbāna of the Buddha. Only Arahants participated. Everyone was waiting for the arrival of Ven. Ānanda. To remove any doubts of those present that he had attained the Arahanthood — complete with all iddhi powers — Ven. Ānanda is said to have entered the room through the keyhole in the door. So, this is an example of teleportation.

Summary and Other Implications

11. Other “mysterious phenomena” in verse of #6 above can also be explained as consistent with science. As science makes progress, these clarifications will have more support.

▪For details, see “Buddhahood Associated Controversies.”

12. On a side note, this clarification also helps us understand that our concept of “touching someone” is not as intimate as we think. When we “touch” something, it is only the outer electrons of the atoms (molecules) on our body “touching” the same on the other object.

▪I am very serious about this. Suppose you are blindfolded and someone touches you on the arm. If you think it is your girl (boy) friend, that will make you generate sensual thoughts. However, you will feel only affectionate feelings of a different kind if you are under the impression that it is your parent. If you think it is a stranger (and not good looking!), you may barely notice him/her.

Buddha Discouraged “Magic Shows” by Those With Iddhi Powers

13. I must also emphasize that the Buddha discouraged and banned, in most cases, the display of such supernormal powers by bhikkhus. The main reason for that was explained to Kevatta by the Buddha in the WebLink: suttacentral: Kevaṭṭa Sutta (DN 11). The English translation there: “WebLink: suttacentral: To Kevaṭṭa (DN 11).”

▪So, there were people at the time of the Buddha who could do such “miracles” using special techniques like the “Gandhāra magic trick” (gandhārī nāma vijjā). Some others cultivated supernormal powers via anāriya jhāna. Then such people can put down Buddha Dhamma, saying, “I can also do those things without Buddha’s teachings.”

▪Even today, some magicians perform such “miracles.” Here is a video showing “WebLink: youtube: Criss Angel walking on water.”

Of course, it is an illusion. But it looks real! Criss Angel discusses these illusions or magic tricks in his book, “Mindfreak” (2007).

▪However, only Buddha Dhamma can make it possible to stop future suffering, and that is not possible with magic tricks!