Episode 14 Devas, Mara, Brahma #buddha #mindfulness #dharma #buddhism #enlightenment #awakening

When the Buddha achieved enlightenment, and the wheel of his teaching started rolling, it is said that there was a seismic reaction in the entire cosmos, a spasm throughout the universe…and it is a strange universe… This Episode continues to explore the "Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta" (dhumma-chak-ka-pawat-tana soot-a), or, the “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Dhamma” Sutta, I am using the translation of the sutta by Thanissaro Bhikkhu, ie., monk Thanissaro (birth name, Geoffrey DeGraff). The sutta explored in this episode can be found here: https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/SN/SN56_11.html. There is a site where all of his works can be accessed: www.dhammatalks.org. For anyone wishing to compare translations of this Sutta, or others, Access to Insight is a helpful resource: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.than.html. The site is technically “retired” but is a treasure trove of resources, translations, and backgrounds to the many translators, etc. Here is the portion of the sutra being discussed in this Episode: …. And when the Blessed One had set the Wheel of Dhamma in motion, the earth devas cried out: “Near Vārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by contemplative or brahman, deva, Māra, or Brahmā, or anyone at all in the cosmos.” On hearing the earth devas’ cry, the Devas of the Four Great Kings took up the cry… the Devas of the Thirty-three… the Devas of the Hours… the Contented Devas… the Devas Delighting in Creation … the Devas [Muses?] Wielding Power over the Creations of Others… the Devas of Brahmā’s Retinue took up the cry: “Near Vārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the Blessed One has set in motion the unexcelled Wheel of Dhamma that cannot be stopped by contemplative or brahman, deva, Māra, or Brahmā, or anyone at all in the cosmos.” So in that moment, that instant, the cry shot right up to the Brahmā worlds. And this ten-thousand-fold cosmos shivered & quivered & quaked, while a great, measureless radiance appeared in the cosmos, surpassing the effulgence of the deities.