Throughout the world history, religions have been fighting for dominance. Each of them wanted to prove that it was the most important and made the most sense. People came up with the stories of religious miracles and claimed that only their stories were accurate, and none of the other religions’ miracles actually happened. Nowadays, the question of the accuracy of those stories is hard to answer. We don’t have a lot of historical proof of those miracles, but we can at least argue that they were all equally important. In this paper, I am going to prove that one god cannot beat another, as all of the world religions are equally important and thus, cannot be compared this way. I am also going to talk about the importance of miracles in Buddhist traditions by describing some of them and referring to the articles that analyze them in a detailed way.
Buddhism was one of the most influential and widespread religions of Asia. It came here from Nepal and spread very fast due to the trade. Buddhism taught people to live in peace with themselves and with the outer world, which, however, wasn’t very important (Chung 4). What was truly important was only finding a way out of the endless cycle of birth and rebirth and achieving nirvana (Tripitaka). What was the ultimate role of the religions? In Asia, “religions were usually depicted as embodying ideas, values, and orientations that were at the core of the social and cultural constructions of reality” (Wang 3). Back in the days, religions shaped people’s lives. People couldn’t imagine living without performing the every day religious duties. Of course, for those who worshipped Buddha and his teachings, Buddhism was the only correct religion. Almost all of the major religions reject each other and claim to be the only correct ones. With that said, how could people even consider that other religions could be as appropriate as theirs?
However, the diversity of the world religions proves that they developed depending on each other and influencing each other. It is known that Judaism is very closely connected with Islam and Christianity (all three acknowledge the importance of prophet Abraham, for example). Only by reading their miracle stories can we see their tight connections. Mary was visited by an angel just like Muhammad got the message of Quran from Gabriel. Buddha, just like Jesus in Christianity, was able to cure the sick and convert people to Buddhism. Indeed, in Buddhism, the stories of miracles play an important part, and one can even claim that they helped many people convert to Buddhism. Although Ho calls life according to Buddhism “an inherent misery” (120), because people viewed life as an ultimate suffering, just like in the Middle Eastern “Epic of Gilgamesh”, the miracle stories are worth mentioning.
According to Fiordalis, many of the “superpowers” that Buddha has are not counted as “superpowers” but taken for granted. Dictionary.com claims that a superpower “is power greater in scope or magnitude than that which is considered natural or has previously existed.” Buddha didn’t view his powers as something great and never seen before. It was assumed normal for Buddha to have them. In a famous legend, when Buddha is asked about the origin of his nature, he says that he is neither human nor god. And so, we never get to know who Buddha actually was. But later on, Fiordalis describes how Buddha was able to fly long distances and make people appear and disappear when it was needed (27). This definitely attracted people to Buddhism, because they viewed Buddha as both a human and a divine figure. He was relatable like a human, because he had a human appearance and he acted like a human, but he was also divine, as he could perform all these miracles. By being able to relate to Buddha, people understood that there was Buddha in each of them.
“The Buddha’s prophecy of the future fulfillment of Pūrṇa’s vow is itself a miraculous event, showing the Buddha’s ability to see into the future destiny of other beings” (Fiordalis 28) This was one more “superpower”, which was considered to be mysterious and only open for the chosen ones. People expected their prophet to be close to God, and thus, to know the future. This was one of the major things that attracted people to Buddhism. Through meditation, people could build personal connection with God and reveal something that wasn’t revealed to them before. Everyone wanted to feel special and chosen and concentrate on his or her inner state. People wanted to escape the reality, which rarely understood them. They wanted to feel safe when thinking about life after death. That was what Buddhism promoted. As I said, it wasn’t concerned with the world, which was ruled by scientists and politicians. It had its own cozy and intimate world, where there was a place for everyone.
In this paper, I have proved that each religion had its own significance, and thus, it couldn’t be compared with another one. I have also talked about the importance of Buddhist stories of miracles and briefly answered the question of why they attracted people. Buddha was a very relatable figure, and the stories of miracles that he was involved in only made people surer of Buddha’s human and divine nature. People needed a religion like Buddhism, because it was relatively easy to understand and relate to.
Works Cited
Wang, Fei. "A Study of the Interaction of Confucianism Buddhism and Taosim in Chinese History, and Its Relevance to Interfaith Dialogue." Http://poseidon01.ssrn.com. 8 Oct. 2014. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
Edition of the Sacred Writings of the Southern Buddhists, the Tripitaka .. Bangkok: n.p., 1894. Print.
Ho, David. "Selfhood and Identity in Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism: Contrasts with the West." Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
"Gilgamesh Epic." Brill’s New Pauly. Web.
Chuang, Rueyling. "An Examination of Taoist and Buddhist Perspectives on Interpersonal Conflicts, Emotions, and Adversities." Http://web.uri.edu/. 2002. Web. 21 Feb. 2016.
Fiordalis, David. "Miracles and Superhuman Powers in South Asian Buddhist Literature." 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
"Superpowers." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
