In reality, ‘mind’ in Buddhism is inseparable from wisdom. Wisdom is based on the perfectly clear mind.
by Khenpo Tashi
Buddhist Wisdom: Big Numbers
In one Sutra, gong pa nge drel (The Sutra Unravelling the Intent), many Bodhisattvas were talking and asking each other questions. It has 10 Chapters, and there are different Bodhisattvas in each chapter. The main topic of that Sutra is the ‘ultimate nature of reality’ (the core topic of Buddhist wisdom).
That Sutra is named after a Bodhisattva in Chapter 1. His name is Bodhisattva Don zab gong pa nge par drel wa. (the Sutra’s title is gong pa nge drel). This Bodhisattva received a question from another Bodhisattva in that chapter.
In the second chapter, there is another Bodhisattva. His name is Choe Phak (Noble Dharma). He asked Buddha Shakyamuni a question. That question is the main topic of that chapter, Chapter 2.
You know what Choe Phak asked Lord Buddha? He asked him, “Lord Buddha, in a very ancient previous time, during a universe past of this present universe, with as many universes in between them as the number of sands in 77 Ganges rivers, that universe called Well-Renowned is the Nirmanakaya realm of a Buddha.
“In that realm is a world called Renowned. I was there (in that world), surrounded by many teachers holding wrong view. At that time, the discussion was about the ‘ultimate nature of reality’… and so on.”
Can you count how many sands that is?
He said, a past universe before this present universe with the number of universes in between them as many as the sands of 77 Ganges River.
Get a handful of mud on the side of the Ganges river, how many sand particles are found in that hand full of mud? 1 million? Ok, possible.
Just think. On one side of the Ganges river, how many handful of mud like this are there? So, multiply that handful with 1 million times. Because maybe there are 1 million sand dust in one handful, right? Slowly, imagine, think of that number.
Now, not just one side of the river, but two sides of one Ganges river. After that, multiply that number again by 77 times. The Bodhisattva said 77 Ganges Rivers. Ok, finished? Haha!
So, if ever you have counted that number, that is the number of universes between this universe and that past universe when Bodhisattva Choe Phak had a question about ‘the nature of reality’. Inside one universe, how many billions and trillions of years between the birth and death of one universe?
The Bodhisattva’s Mind
This Bodhisattva, Choe Pak, he could remember that time when he was there in that world, in that universe, not yet fully clear with the ultimate nature of reality. So, when Buddha Shakyamuni appeared here in this universe now, he got the opportunity to ask that question he had before. He got the chance to discuss it again and clarify his ignorance.
His mind could remember ALL that past! How long ago was that?! He could remember the details of that ancient universe, up to now, when he asked Buddha Shakyamuni his question, in this present age. Can you imagine that kind of mind, which can remember so much? That is just a Bodhisattva’s mind, not even a Buddha’s mind.
He could remember that many lifetimes, but still his mind still has some very small obstacles to understand ‘nature of reality’. He still did not have a full understanding of Buddhist wisdom, or ’emptiness’. (READ: The Three Aspects of the Buddha’s Mind)
Potential of Mind in Buddhism
Of course, mind is very powerful!
All these material things, nowadays, such as the wireless signals, people are getting scared of them. It seems that we get scared of what we cannot see. Because of that, the invisible, such as the wireless signals, seems much more powerful than what we can physically see. And it makes us scared.
When we send a “hi” to someone via the internet, one message, one send, a friend in America receives it in one instant, then, he makes one reply. Then we see it within one second in our phone.
How many messages such as that traveling around the world at the same time? That technology is truly powerful!!!
Who made that? The human mind. We say that, the mind is still more powerful than that technology! Because the mind created that! That technology is still lower than the power of mind that we can have.
But that wireless, invisible signal is still created by physical materials. It is produced by the routers and wires inside. It is dependent on those physical things. Due to that, we can say that such invisible signal is still limited. Because it is produced by physical things.
Buddha’s Mind
Now, the Buddha or the Bodhisattvas’ mind. They are not dependent on physical things. This mind is therefore very special. That is why it can do those things, like remembering so many, so many universes from the past. And seeing billions and billions of universes in the future. That kind of mind is mentioned many times in other Sutras.
Our ordinary minds are also not dependent on physical things. But our minds have inner obstacles, the afflictions and obscurations that are too thick. This (situation) makes our mind so limited.
The Bodhisattvas’ minds don’t have these negative habitual tendencies and obscurations, having been purified already. That mind is much, much more unlimited than the minds of normal sentient beings, like ours.
If we say that they (Buddhas and Bodhisattvas) can see past or future, this is how we can slightly understand that ‘Buddha’s mind’ or ‘Bodhisattva’s mind’ as defined in Buddhism.
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*Nirmanakaya realm – a realm where a Buddha has appeared