Buddhism is about ending of suffering.
It teaches us that living entails old age, sickness and death,
and that we should accept it as fact.
And What
About Miracles?
If a wicked man can become a pure
religious man, this according to Buddhism, is a practical
miracle.
In every religion we hear of
miracles being performed by either the founders of these religious
or by some of their disciples. In the case of the Buddha, he
performed what people would call miracles on the day of his birth
until his passing away into Nirvana. The psychic
powers (so-called miraculous powers in other religions) of the
Buddha were attained through his long and intense training in
meditation. The Buddha meditated and passed through the highest
stages of meditation that culminated in Enlightenment. Among his
many abilities were the power to levitate, to multiply his body, to
read the minds of others, to pass through solid rock and
such. These abilities were performed during many episodes of
his life and were considered common events by his disciples and
those who encountered him. The Buddha taught that such powers
can be acquired through training in meditation. They are not
considered miracles by those who understand them and they fall
within the ability of any person who trains his mind through
meditation and mental concentration to very high levels.
Once a man named Kevatta went up
to the Buddha, paid homage, and said, "Lord, Nalanda is a
successful city. The people living in Nalanda are prosperous, and
they have confidence in the Blessed One. Lord, it would be
good if the Blessed One appointed a monk to work a marvel of
supernormal power, so that the people of Nalanda might become much
more confident in the Blessed One."
The Buddha replied, "Kevatta, I do not teach the Law to monks in
that way". The Buddha gave the same reply when the question
was put to him the second and third time. After the third question,
the Buddha replied that there were three kinds of supernormal
levels:
1. The marvel of supernormal power to appear as many persons, to
pass through walls, to fly through the air, walk on water. All
these are physical actions the ordinary people cannot
perform.
2. The supernormal power to read other people's minds.
3. The supernormal power to be able to guide people according to
their mental development, for their own good, using suitable
methods that fit these people.
He taught that a monk who
displays the first two supernormal powers for their own sake in
order to impress people, is no different from the performance of a
shaman or a magician. The Buddha said that a monk who
practices such worldly miracles is a source of shame, humiliation
and disgust. This is because such actions may impress and win
converts and followers, but they do not help them put an end to
their suffering.
The third kind of supernormal
power which the Buddha calls "the miracle of instruction" helps
people to get rid of suffering. This is the only supernormal power
that is fit to be practiced and is encouraged and praised by the
Buddha.
"Furthermore,
there is the case where a Tathagata appears in the world, worthy
and rightly self-awakened. He teaches the Dhamma admirable in its
beginning, admirable in its middle, admirable in its end. He
proclaims the holy life both in its particulars and in its essence,
entirely perfect, surpassingly pure. ~ Kevatta Sutta"
Another story illustrates the Buddha's
attitude towards miraculous powers. One day the Buddha met an
ascetic who sat by the bank of a river. This ascetic had practised
austerities for 25 years. The Buddha asked him what he had received
for all his labour. The ascetic proudly replied that, finally, he
could cross the river by walking on the water. The Buddha pointed
out that this gain was insignificant for all the years of labour,
since he could cross the river using a ferry for one
penny!
When the uneducated, the
unsophisticated and the naive see the performance of miracles,
their faith and incredulity deepens. The converts who are attracted
to a religion through witnessing these powers embrace a faith, not
because they realize the truth or gain in wisdom, but because they
are either frightened or impressed by matters they do not
understand. In contrast, the Buddha appealed to the reasoning
power of people to consider his teachings. This is best illustrated
in the Kalama Sutta.
It is possible and even quite common for a person to gain psychic
abilities without gaining any wisdom. The Buddha
teaches that if we first gain spiritual power, then we can
easily develop the miraculous or psychic powers too. But if we
develop psychic abilities without spiritual development, then we
are in danger. Because of man's ego it is easy for him to
misuse this power for worldly gain, to impress others and for other
selfish purposes. Indeed, many people who have obtained some
psychic abilities have merely succumbed to their ego and
vanity.
Talking about miracles(not about healing) , about HH Penor
Rinpoche, was that when he was young, he broke a vase(or something
to that effect), he broke a vase and managed to glue the pieces of
the vase together with his saliva.
This recount was heard when HH came to Singapore.