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**leijggigf** · 11-29-2011, 05:49 PM

Hi, rlp7786.

I think I was referring to the fact that some schools or teachers teach that places like the deva realms, the Buddhist heavens and hells, a Pure Land, land of the nagas, etc, are real places somewhere out in the universe, or perhaps another dimension.

I think most Western-educated Buddhists take them metaphorically, as you seem to, but there are a lot of people here in Asia, at least, who take that sort of thing literally. Some traditions base the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras on the claim that there is a place called "the realm of the nagas" in another dimension (nagas are supernatural beings).

Beliefs of Mahāyāna Buddhists

Some traditional accounts of the transmission of the Mahāyāna sutras claims that many parts were actually written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the nāgas (serpent-like supernatural beings who dwell in another plane of being). The reason given for the late disclosure of the Mahāyāna teachings is that most people were initially unable to understand the Mahāyāna sutras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE) and suitable recipients for these teachings had still to arise amongst humankind.[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_sutras

Anyway, some purists and/or literalists discuss stories like this seriously, to the point of saying that one can't really be a Buddhist if one doesn't believe in all that stuff. I disagree, of course.

11-29-2011, 05:49 PM	#6
leijggigf Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 398 Senior Member	Hi, rlp7786. I think I was referring to the fact that some schools or teachers teach that places like the deva realms, the Buddhist heavens and hells, a Pure Land, land of the nagas, etc, are real places somewhere out in the universe, or perhaps another dimension. I think most Western-educated Buddhists take them metaphorically, as you seem to, but there are a lot of people here in Asia, at least, who take that sort of thing literally. Some traditions base the authenticity of the Mahayana sutras on the claim that there is a place called "the realm of the nagas" in another dimension (nagas are supernatural beings). Beliefs of Mahāyāna Buddhists Some traditional accounts of the transmission of the Mahāyāna sutras claims that many parts were actually written down at the time of the Buddha and stored for five hundred years in the realm of the nāgas (serpent-like supernatural beings who dwell in another plane of being). The reason given for the late disclosure of the Mahāyāna teachings is that most people were initially unable to understand the Mahāyāna sutras at the time of the Buddha (500 BCE) and suitable recipients for these teachings had still to arise amongst humankind.[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahayana_sutras Anyway, some purists and/or literalists discuss stories like this seriously, to the point of saying that one can't really be a Buddhist if one doesn't believe in all that stuff. I disagree, of course.
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