Search This Blog

20130306

Dipankara Buddha

After enlightenment, the Buddha is said to have listed 27 Buddhas before him and the next Buddha, Maitreya.

Being the third Buddha, Dipankara is mentioned in the Diamond Sutra and in the Sangatha Sutra.

According to the Wikipedia entry on Dipankara Buddha, "Dīpankara, Gautama (Buddha of the present), and Maitreya (Buddha of the future), collectively form the Buddhas of Three Times."

In the Sangatha Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha first encounters Dipankara in a former incarnation known as Sumedha, a rich Brahmin turned hermit. who gave away all his wealth to become a Monk.

In an act of piety, he knelt and laid his long black hair on the ground so that the Dīpankara Buddha could cross a mud puddle without getting his feet dirty.

This encounter "between Dipankara Buddha and Sumedha occurred many lifetimes before Shakyamuni's enlightenment."

Touched by his piety, Dīpankara predicted that Sumedha "will come to be a Buddha called 'Shakyamuni'." On hearing this, Sumedha replied, "I am to become a Buddha, awakened to enlightenment; may you tread with your feet on my hair - on my birth, old age, and death."



Diamond Sutra: Commentary Part IV: http://web.archive.org/web/20030905132041/http://www.buddhistdoor.com/bdoor/archive/sutra_comm/diamond/diamond_07.htm#d2

List of the 28 Buddhas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_twenty-eight_Buddhas
In this Wikipedia entry, Sumedha is also known as Sumati or Megha Mānava, a rich Brahman.

Dipankara Buddha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C4%ABpankara_Buddha

Sangatha Sutra: http://www.sanghatasutra.net/
Sangatha Sutra mentions a brahmin youth named Megha who, on seeing Dipankara, scattered seven utpala flowers and dedicated himself to enlightenment. The Dipankara Buddha predicted that in the future he will become enlightened as Sakyaùuni Buddha.

Utpala refers to the blue lotus.

Utpala: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphaea_caerulea

No comments: