AbhijnaAbhijñā (Skt., Pali, abhiññā; Tib., mngon shes, མངོན་ཤེས་) has been translated generally as "knowing,"[1] "direct knowing"[2] and "direct knowledge"[3] or, at times more technically, as "higher knowledge"[1][4] and "supernormal knowledge."[1][5] In Buddhism, such knowing and knowledge is obtained through virtuous living and meditation. In terms of specifically enumerated knowledges, these include worldly extra-sensory abilities (such as seeing past and future lives) as well as the supramundane extinction of all mental intoxicants (āsava).
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In my somewhat limited experience, for example;
when these come into development ( or are developed and or perfected ),
the divine eye faculty visually presents whatever might pertain to one's kamma.
Similarly the divine ear faculty when it comes into development ( or is developed
and or perfected ) aurally presents whatever might pertain to one's kamma.
[ In many cultures such faculties and capacities are widely if not commonly considered taboo subjects. However, given that 'western societies' are ostensibly 'free', 'open', 'democratic' and 'enlightened' and, furthermore, considering that such coming into development has been deemed ( by a great many very 'chemically dependent' 'mental health care professionals' to be 'symptomatic' of a 'significant mental illness' to be considered ) worthy of 'chemical restraints' and 'chemical lobotomies', a more open and sympathetic discussion seems long overdue in this and in many other similar regards and respects. Why it takes a high school drop-out to say so when there are so many professionals around I'll never know. However such shortcomings so widespread amid such a storied profession has always appeared grossly criminally negligent to me. ]
- triplethink
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Samaññaphala Sutta: The Fruits of the Contemplative Life
DN 2 PTS: D i 47
translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu © 1997from the:
Translator's Introduction
This discourse is one of the masterpieces of the Pali canon. At heart, it is a comprehensive portrait of the Buddhist path of training, illustrating each stage of the training with vivid similes. This portrait is placed in juxtaposition to the Buddhist view of the teachings of rival philosophical teachers of the time, showing how the Buddha — in contradistinction to the inflexible, party-line approach of his contemporaries — presented his teaching in a way that was pertinent and sensitive to the needs of his listeners. This larger portrait of the intellectual landscape of early Buddhist India is then presented in a moving narrative frame: the sad story of King Ajatasattu.
Ajatasattu was the son of King Bimbisara of Magadha, one of the Buddha's earliest followers. Urged on by Devadatta — the Buddha's cousin, who wished to use Ajatasattu's support in his bid to take over the Buddha's position as head of the Sangha — Ajatasattu arranged for his father's death so that he could secure his own position on the throne. As a result of this evil deed, he was destined not only to be killed by his own son — Udayibhadda (mentioned in the discourse) — but also to take immediate rebirth in one of the lowest regions of hell.
In this discourse, Ajatasattu visits the Buddha in hopes that the latter will bring some peace to his mind. The question he puts to the Buddha shows the limited level of his own understanding, so the Buddha patiently describes the steps of the training, beginning at a very basic level and gradually moving up, as a way of raising the king's spiritual horizons. At the end of the talk, Ajatasattu takes refuge in the Triple Gem. Although his earlier deeds were so heavy that this expression of faith could have only limited consequences in the immediate present, the Commentary assures us that the king's story would ultimately have a happy ending. After the Buddha's death, he sponsored the First Council, at which a congress of arahant disciples produced the first standardized account of the Buddha's teachings. As a result of the merit coming from this deed, Ajatasattu is destined — after his release from hell — to attain Awakening as a Private Buddha.m