Nu Wah -- 女娲
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Hi all
We often hear of theories of how the world came about. I like to share with all some of my view to refute some doubt-worthy speculations
The theory of origination can be broadly classified into 3 aspects
1. How the world (Earth) came about
2. How the universe came about
3. How man came about
Many mono-theistic religions claim knowledge of how the world came about. Their answers are commonly one of the following
1. Creator God
2. Cosmic Egg
3. Man as moulded from mud or clay
Below is a forgotten story which I like to point out. As I often see Christians criticise Taoists for praying to wooden idols. I like to point out one of the Theory of Creation of man by Taoism.
This is the story of Nu Wah
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A5%B3%E5%A8%B2
It is said that Nüwa existed in the beginning of the world. She felt lonely as there were no animals so she began the creation of animals and humans. On the first day she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the forth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses.
On the seventh day she began creating men from yellow clay, sculpting each one individually, yet after she had created hundreds of figures in this way she still had more to make but had grown tired of the laborious process. So instead of hand crafting each figure, she dipped a rope in clay and flicked it so blobs of clay landed everywhere; each of these blobs became a person. In this way, the story relates, were nobles and commoners created from the hand crafted figures and the blobs respectively. Another variation on this story relates that some of the figures melted in the rain as Nüwa was waiting for them to dry and in this way sickness and physical abnormalities came into existence. -
So what is the Buddhist view of above?
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If there may be ppl from mono-theistic religions who find the story of Nu Wah ridiculous, let them know that their holy text's story of creation is equally similar and is thus questionable.
The Buddha says that
"Undetermined is the beginning of this universe. The furthest point of beings moving on from birth to birth, being bound for ignorance and craving, cannot beknown. "
From here we know that the Buddha implies that the answer to how the world came about may perhaps never be known. But that we should focus more on the now. The problems that we are facing. This should be the priority instead of seeking an answer to creation
"Living the holy life could not be said to depend on whether the universe is finite or infinite or both or similar. For whether the universe is finite or not, there is birth, there is ageing, there is dying, there is grief, sorrow, suffering, lamentation and despair and it is for the overcoming of these that I teach"
The Buddha also said
"As far as these suns and moons revolve, shining and shedding their light in space, that far extends the thousand-fold world system. In it there are thousands of suns, thousands of moons"
"Sooner or later there comes a time when, after a long period, this universe contracts...But sooner or later, after a very long period of time, this universe begins to expand again
The Buddha talks in accordance with science that planet Earth is but a member of a large boundless universe filled with many other stars, planets, moons and solar systems. Furthermore science does say that the universe is in a state of expansion right now but it is so subtle that we do not feel it.
I would think that the Buddha's word are much more in accord with modern day science than mere speculations of cosmic eggs, man being moulded of clay etc.
Eternal Now pls put the Guang Yin Tian story below. Thanks.... -
Shi4 Jie4 Wei1 Chen2 , Yin1 Xin1 Cheng2 Ti3.
Yi4 Qie4 Wan4 Wu4, Wei2 Xin1 Suo3 Xian4, Wei2 Shi2 Suo3 Bian4.
Yi4 Qie4 Fa3, Chong2 Xin1 Xiang3 Sheng1. -
Ok
From the previous topic, The Earth People: Genesis in Buddhism
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol7no1a.htm
Volume 7 no 1
Feature
THE EARTH PEOPLE - Part 1
People often ask, "Why are there human beings on earth?", "Where did the ancestors of the human race come from?" or "How did the world come about?" Questions such as these have plagued mankind since time immemorial. The answers lie in the Buddhist scriptures and over the next four issues, Venerable Shen-Kai shall deliberate on them.
The ancestors of the human race came from the Light-sound heaven (Abhasvara)
In the Ekottaragama Sutra and other Buddhist scriptures, it was precisely stated that the human race originated from the Light-sound heaven. Being the most intellectual of all living things on this earth, the ancestors of the human race could not possibly have been made from clay by some divine gods; this is a myth. They could not have been evolved from apes; this is a fallacy.
People often ask:
Where is the Light-sound heaven?
Why is it called the Light-sound heaven?
How did the human race come from the Light-sound heaven?
According to Buddhism, the various celestial levels of existence, in ascending order, are divided into three worlds, namely:
(i) Field of Desires
(ii) Field of Forms
(iii) Field of Formless
(i) Field of Desires:
Within the Field of Desires, there are:
Heaven of Four Heavenly Kings (Catummaharajika)
Thirty-three Heavens (Tavatimsa) - (there are 33 devas in this heaven comprising 8 devas in each direction of East, West, North and South together with the centre being that of Sakka. Sakyamuni Buddha was once the deva-king of this heaven.)
Heaven of Devas Yama
Tusita Heaven
Nirmanarati Heaven
Paranirmitavasavartin Heave
(ii) Field of Forms:
Above the Field of Desires is the Field of Forms where beings delight in Jhanic bliss achieved by renouncing sense-desires. This field consists of 4 Dhyana Heavens - the Heaven of 1st Dhyana, the Heaven of 2nd Dhyana, the Heaven of 3rd Dhyana and the Heaven of 4th Dhyana.
In the Heaven of the 1st Dhyana or Jhana, there are:
- The Heaven of Brahma's Retinue
- The Heaven of Brahma's Ministers
- The Heaven of Maha Brahma (Sakyamuni Buddha was once the heavenly king of this heaven)
In the Heaven of the 2nd Dhyana, there are:
- The Heaven of Minor Lustre
- The Heaven of Infinite Lustre
- The Heaven of Light-sound or Radiant Lustre
In the Heaven of the 3rd Dhyana, there are:
- The Heaven of Minor Purity
- The Heaven of Infinite Purity
- The Heaven of Extensive Purity
In the Heaven of the 4th Dhyana, there are:
- The Heaven of blessing-arising
- The Heaven of blessing-attached
- The Heaven of vast-reward
- The Heaven of no thought
- The Heaven of no vexation
- The Heaven of no heat
- The Heaven of virtue-view
- The Heaven of virtue-appear
- The Heaven of form ultimate
(iii) Field of Formless:
There are 4 other heavens within this Field of Formless. The heavens are totally devoid of matter or bodies. These are:
The Sphere of infinite space
The Sphere of boundless consciousness
The Sphere of nothingness and
The Sphere of no thought, no no-thought
From the above three Fields, there are altogether 28 levels of heavens.
The Light-sound heaven or Radiant Lustre is at the 3rd level of the Heaven of the 2nd Dhyana or Jhana of the Field of Forms. The beings of this heaven communicate not through sounds, but they emit pure radiant lights from their mouths that represent what they wish to express and the receiving party on seeing the lights is able to understand what they mean. As lights represent sounds, hence this heaven is called the Light-sound heaven. It is the most unique and wonderful level of the three heavens of the 2nd Dhyana and is also called the "Heaven of Radiant Lustre."
Â… to be continued in the next issue, Volume 7, Issue No. 2
© Copyright 2002.Jen Chen Buddhism Centre -
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol7no2a.htm
Volume 7 no 2
Feature
THE EARTH PEOPLE - Part 2
The Arrival
People often ask, "Why are there human beings on earth?", "Where did the ancestors of the human race come from?" or "How did the world come about?" Questions such as these have plagued mankind since time immemorial. In the Abhidhamma Patika and other Buddhist scriptures, it was precisely stated that the human race originated from the Light-sound heaven.
In this Part 2 of The Earth People, Venerable Shen-Kai talks about the first phase of the earth's formation and the arrival of the "earth people".
The evolving world goes through four stages, namely:
1. Formation
2. Existence
3. Destruction
4. Void or Emptiness
Each stage has a time span termed a "medium kalpa" [1]. Twenty "small kalpas" make one "medium kalpa". The four stages, each termed a "medium kalpa", make up a "great kalpa".
When the world reaches the final phase of the Stage of Destruction, there will be great fires burning down hell, planet earth, other stars and their cosmic worlds as well as the various heavens within the Field of Desires. Prior reaching the heaven of the 1st Jhana of the Field of Forms, the Devas, Bodhisattvas, Sages and those sentient beings who have performed great virtuous deeds in the lower worlds will naturally be saved. They have already been ascended to the Heaven of Radiant Lustre where they will enjoy happiness and heavenly bliss.
Following the passing of twenty small kalpas in the Stage of Void or Emptiness, the world will return to the beginning of a new Stage of Formation. A big golden heavenly cloud will appear from the Heaven of Radiant Lustre and heavy rain will fall to drench the burning worlds. After the floodwater has receded, the various heavens below the heaven of the 1st Jhana (or Dhyana) will reappear. The massive forces of swirling on the remaining materials left over by the receding floodwater will gradually solidify. This process is accompanied by the reappearance of various planets in the sky - many are spherical in shape and others, elliptical. This will, of course, include our earth and the orbiting moon, as well as all the worlds below including the lowest level of hell. As the extreme heat energies rotate and concentrate, many suns are formed - this is what the astronomers called the stars, planets and satellites. Within each galaxy system, the stars have their orbits rotating around the sun, planets have their own orbits around the stars, and satellites around the planets. The revolving stars, planets and satellites coupled with their own rotations maintain motions, thus creating day and night. Further, the process produces day, month, year and the four seasons. However, it is to be noted that the time scales are different between earth, the various worlds of existence in heavens and other stellar systems.
For this period, a passage in the Chinese Old Text story "Qiong-Lin" recorded similar description on the formation of the world. The text reads:
"When earth was first separated from heaven;
pure light air float to form the sky and the polluted air sink to form the ground;
the sun, moon and five stars are called the seven-Polis;
the heaven, earth and humans are called the three-lords; and
the sun is the master of the "Yang" [2]
with the moon as the image of the "Yin" [3]
The above description is very close to what the Buddha said. Further, records from Buddhist scriptures match very well with what astronomers of today have found. It is in this manner that the world is returned to the great natural phenomenon of the universe.
During the first phase of the formation of earth, the earth's crust covering the ground was not fully solidified. The ground surface appeared milky in colour. Looking from the celestial plane, the earth shone brightly and afar. In the heaven of Radiant Lustre, many of those celestial beings whose blissful life in the heaven was coming to an end and who by disposition were more restless and impetuous, on seeing the brightness, and out of curiosity, began to travel down to the earth. They used their "clairvoyance feats" to fly down and reached different continents of the earth. They saw fluid springing out from the ground and they dipped their fingers in it. They tasted the fluid and found it extremely tasty, sweet like honey. While the fluid was so tasty, everyone craved for more. Those who had most, their bodies became rough and heavier. They began to lose their light illusory physical forms and their bodies slowly formed into the material body of bone and flesh. The weight forced them to the ground and they lost their "clairvoyance feats" and "natural heavenly clothes", and were unable to fly through the skies to return to the celestial world. They began to lose many of their intrinsic celestial qualities such as celestial colours, fragrant scent, brightness, beauty, wisdom and their innate miraculous quality. In particular, their "clairvoyance eyes" turned into human eyes; and their "clairvoyance ears" became human ears. They became unable to remember their past lives. They lost their special ability to read the minds of others. They were unable to communicate by radiant light from their mouths and they needed to depend on sounds from the movements of their tongues. While without sufficient languages and vocabulary, they needed sign language to assist them to fully communicate with each other. They became ordinary human beings on earth. After running out of the tasty fluid, they resorted to feed on thick weedy plants, then hard crops from the wild. At that time, the life span of human being was long and there was no disease or sickness. Later, they learned to plant crops and vegetables. During the period of feeding from nature, those who were greedy in feeding themselves acquired darker skin colours, ranging from brown to black. Others who did not feed as much and those who arrived later had lighter skin colour, ranging from fair to yellow. As time went on, together with the influence by climatic conditions of different regions (equatorial, temperate and cold regions), various skin coloured races of people were formed.
Â… to be continued in the next issue, Volume 7, Issue No. 3
Note:
[1] Kalpa:
1 small kalpa = 16.8 million years
20 small kalpas = 1 medium kalpa = 336 million years
80 small kalpas = 4 medium kalpas = 1 great kalpa = 1.344 billion years
[2] Yang:
Chinese philosophy; the masculine or positive principle in nature
[3] Yin:
Chinese philosophy; the feminine or negative principle in nature
© Copyright 2002.Jen Chen Buddhism Centre -
http://www.jenchen.org.sg/vol7no3a.htm
Volume 7 no 3
Feature
THE EARTH PEOPLE - Part 3
From Celestial Beings to Human Beings
The Ekottaragama Sutra and other Buddhist scriptures have stated that the human race originated from the Light-sound heaven. How do they become the human race of today? What will happen to this earth eventually? Venerable Shen-Kai answers these questions and more, in this concluding serial of The Earth People. In addition we learn that the earth, as with all phenomena in the universe, is subject to the four stages of formation, existence, destruction and emptiness. There is no beginning and no end, and the best way for us to live is to emulate the spirit and virtuous deeds of the Bodhisattvas.
In the early days, small groups of people lived in scattered places; each group used its own language for communication. The physical separation between the groups and the lack of efficient means of transportation resulted in the creation of hundreds and thousands of different languages. These people were the ancestors of the many different races in the world today.
The early inhabitants, after losing their “celestial clothing”, moved around naked. While they played, their emotions on love and relationship arose resulting in sexual desires. They began to feel shy and shameful. At that time, grass and other plants were grown on earth and they used leaves as clothes, partly to cover their naked bodies and partly to protect themselves from the cold.
From the perspective of the other worlds, the earthÂ’s light had turned green, separating the seas and the land. The devas from other celestial worlds dared not come anymore. The human beings on earth began to live as husbands and wives. They raised children. They lived in caves and later, they learned to build dwelling houses. With improved conditions, the population grew. The six-sensory organs of the human being (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) began to differentiate and this resulted in affliction and vexation. The innate bright and innocent celestial nature disappeared, and in their places arose greed, anger, ignoranceÂ….thereby formed the basis of Asura sentient beings. The Devas, Human and Asura are beings of the three good realms. With the arising of the evil deeds of killing, stealing, sexual misconductÂ… resulting in the sentient beings in the three evil realms of animal, ghost and hell. Together, these formed the transmigration process in the six realms of existence. With this, all sentient beings have four modes of birth, namely,
i. Womb-born beings (jalabuja);
ii. Egg-born beings (andaja);
iii. Moisture-born beings (samsedaja);
iv. Gaseous form-born beings (opapatika).
and thousands and millions of different life forms.
These constitute the corresponding living spheres of the seas, land, sky and motion.
The thinking of humanity and their lives changed from simple to complex states. Some portions of the human race turned from the barbaric stage to a civilised world. Some portions of primitive man that fed on raw flesh and blood of birds and beasts gradually changed to civilisation. The introduction of farming and trading is the beginning of agriculture and commerce sectors. Some lived on making of farming tools, cooking utensils and production of building materials, this was the beginning of industry. In order to administer peace and justice arising from arguments and fights caused by greed, anger, ignorance, killing, stealing and sexual misconduct, virtuous and upright people were elected to maintain law and order, and to manage the affairs of people in the society. From these came education, social ethic and democratic government. The advent of languages created written texts which led to the flourishing of modern civilisation. The barbaric era ended. Communities moved from small tribal groups into big societies, from societies to countries, and from the competitive nature between countries, and they further evolved through scientific progress into the atomic age and the cosmic age. -
(continued from previous post)
When the human inhabitants first arrived on earth, the average life span at that time was longer than 84,000 years. As the people distanced themselves from good deeds and committed various evil deeds, the life span shortened. For every 100 years, the average life span is reduced by 1 year. The human life span continued to shorten and when the life span dropped down to an average of 10 years, disasters and calamities struck. For those who were cultivating good deeds and had been staying away as hermits, they survived. For those who had survived the disasters and calamities, they realised their past mistakes and repented. Each began to cultivate good deeds and promoted to the society to carry out good deeds. With the effect of the communal good karma, the human life span began to lengthen again. And when the age has reached 84,000 years, the same decreasing process would repeat due to the arising of evil or unwholesome deeds. One cycle of such an increasing-decreasing life span is called a “small Kalpa”[1]. Twenty small kalpas make up a “medium kalpa”. With this, the Stage of Formation is completed.
Next come the Stage of Existence. In this stage, the increasing-decreasing life span of human beings also underwent twenty small kalpas before it reaches the Stage of Destruction.
At the beginning of the Stage of Destruction, everything had developed to the extremes. All the natural resources had been completely exhausted and the earth severely damaged. The destruction process also went through a period of twenty small kalpas. In the final days, the seas dried up. Strong winds, big fires and heavy floods prevail. The Three Disasters (The three major disasters for world destruction – fire, water and wind) and Eight Difficulties (The eight conditions in which it is difficult to encounter a Buddha or hear his Dharma: in the hells; as hungry ghosts; as animals; in Uttarakuru (the northern continent where all is pleasant); in the long-life heaven (where life is long and easy); as deaf, blind and dumb; as worldly philosopher; in the intermediate period between a Buddha and his successor.) all come upon the earth. This is truly the “End of the World”.
When the earth is damaged, it enters into the Stage of Emptiness. This emptiness stage also lasts for a long period of twenty small kalpas. At the end of this period, big golden yellow clouds would appear and heavy rain would pour down from the Light-sound heaven to put out the fires. A new world is thereby created.
According to the above described process, the world has to go through the four stages of Formation, Existence, Destruction and Emptiness which are the four “medium kalpas”. One “Great Kalpa” needs to go through four “medium kalpas” totaling eighty “small kalpas”.
In the Buddhist scriptures, the term “Three Great Kalpas” refers to the Great Kalpas of the three periods of past, present and future.
In the previous world before our present earth world, the era was called “Kalpa of Adornment”. During twenty small kalpas in the Stage of Existence of the Adornment Kalpa, there were one thousand Buddhas in existence to maintain the virtuous adornment of their world, hence its unique naming. Today, the current era is called the “Kalpa of Virtue”. In the twenty small kalpas of the Stage of Existence of this era, one thousand Buddhas will also be born. The present Sakyamuni Buddha is the fourth Buddha. When it comes to the fifth Buddha, his name will be Maitreya Buddha. Today, he is commonly referred to as “Maitreya Buddha – the Buddha to be”. He is presently not a Buddha and hence the name.
The next aeon is called the “Kalpa of Stars”. In this Kalpa of Stars, within the twenty small kalpas of the Stage of Existence, there will also be one thousand Buddhas.
When the earth of the “Kalpa of Stars” era is destroyed, a new earth will be formed again. If the people of our present world wish to lead a long and blissful life, it is really possible to fulfil this wish. All that is needed is for the people to carry out good deeds, to cultivate and emulate the aspiration of the Bodhisattvas, to contribute to the beneficial deeds of Bodhisattvas, … and within the birth-death transmigration in the six realms of existence to continually maintain the human form lifetime after lifetime. When finally the “End of the World” comes, their “nature-soul” will be saved and they will be born in the Heaven of Light-sound where they will enjoy heavenly bliss.
The world may become damaged, but our “nature-soul” is non-ceasing. When a new earth is formed, those beings will come down from the Heaven of Light-sound, and due to the effect of the communal virtuous karma, together a new world is created that will be a brighter, more stable, peaceful and blissful Buddha World.
It is hoped that everyone will emulate the spirit and virtuous deeds of the Bodhisattvas lifetime after lifetime, and never to regress from the Bodhi path and enlightenment, but to continuously cultivate through the aeon of “Three Great Kalpas”. While there are a thousand Buddhas born in each Great Kalpa, if you could meet the Buddha in your lifetime and be guided and blessed; then it is definitely possible to become a Buddha in the next Great Kalpa after the “Kalpa of Stars” era. Therefore, Jen Chen Buddhism advocates the development of a blissful world on this earth. Such virtuous deeds shall bring about boundless blessings and longevity, and in the coming “kalpa” eras, everyone will become a Buddha.
Note:
[1] Kalpa:
1 small kalpa = 16.8 million years
20 small kalpas = 1 medium kalpa = 336 million years
80 small kalpas = 4 medium kalpas = 1 great kalpa = 1.344 billion years
© Copyright 2002.Jen Chen Buddhism Centre -
Also related: When will it be the End of the World?
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Be the religions Taoist, Buddhist, Christian or others, it actually boils down to the many prophets spreading their beliefs and teachings. These were interpreted and practised differently by the lay people.
Just look at the various religions. Its spawn out to many branches and many types of beliefs.
It is not good to criticise another due to their own beliefs.