Canonical Rebirth Stories
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Stories of past (and future) lives found in the Buddhist Canons, especially those in the Pāli Khuddakanikāya and its commentaries.
This 19th century thanka from Phajoding Gonpa in Bhutan depicts Shakyamuni Buddha surrounded by scenes from the Jataka Tales, showing how these past-life encounters made the Buddha the Buddha.
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Books (6)
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272 pages[recommended but under copyright]
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Canonical Works (21)
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A wealthy man dies childless, having not enjoyed his riches. The Buddha tells what past karma led tohis present life.
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Formerly, when this young deva was a human being, he undertook faith, virtue, learning, generosity, and wisdom…
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I offered all those flowers with a happy mind
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Readings (23)
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We should bear in mind that jātaka is not an inflexible category. The same narrative can fulfill different functions, at one and the same time or at different times, as a jātaka, a deśanā, an ānisaṃsa, a paritta, or a sūtra.
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What is interesting about Ajātaśatru is that he is not only a committer of an ānantarya crime, but also an eminent lay disciple of the Buddha. […] Given his transformation, the salvation of Ajātaśatru provides a convenient platform for Buddhist authors to express their ideas on how to balance the workings of karma…
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This paper offers a comparative study of a cluster of stories in which the Buddha-to-be makes a sacrifice – of flesh, family members or wealth – in exchange for a single verse of teaching. […] The paper argues that these tales reveal new perspectives on the oft-studied relationship between Buddha and Dharma, and between the Buddha’s physical body and his body of teachings
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This article presents an avadāna excerpt found in Śamathadeva’s Abhidharmakośopāyikā-ṭīkā. The tale reports a monk’s change of sex to female, followed by five hundred successive births as a woman, all of which happened as the karmic result of having addressed his fellow monks as women. The avadāna identifies this monk, who is introduced as a reciter of the Tripiṭaka, with the Bodhisattva in a past life.
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I investigate the tale of the Buddhaʼs sojourn in the Heaven of the Thirty-three to teach his mother, based on a translation of a version of this episode in the Saṃyukta-āgama preserved in Chinese, with a view to discerning the gradual development and significance of this tale.
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The emergence of a new type of sūtra emphasizing motherly love seems to reflect a powerful current of filial sentimentality conspicuous in Indian Buddhism
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In some works Sadāprarudita is presented as the paragon of one who searches for prajñāpāramitā; in others he is the model for those who desire to serve their gurus. In China, moreover, during the early stage of the Pure Land tradition, Sadāprarudita was regarded as the preeminent exemplar of one practising the niànfósānmèi 念佛三昧 (recollection of the buddhas).
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Once upon a time, the Bodhisattva was born in a distinguished brahmin family…
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In the traditional world one never hears a story for the first time; every telling is a retelling.
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In early Buddhism paccekabuddhas are liminal figures in two senses: they appear between Buddhist dispensations, and they are included as a category of awakening between sammāsambuddha and arahat. Because of their appearance in times of no Buddhism, paccekabuddhas feature regularly in jātaka literature, as exemplary renouncers, teachers, or recipients of gifts. This article asks what the liminal status of paccekabuddhas means for their interactions with the Buddha and his past lives as Bodhisatta.
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A true hero will be prepared to sacrifice much of himself or herself for others.
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It is possible to know the original intent of our sacred literature.
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Audio/Video (7)
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Mythology isn’t about “should.” It’s about “is.” It’s about describing life.
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Chuchok fits into this genre of “Thai trickster figures.” When you think about the story not from the perspective of Vessantara but from the perspective of the peasantry, think about how amazing it is that a peasant would even think to ask a member of the royal family for their two children to be his wife’s servants! It’s absurd!
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The disconnect between the popular portrayal of pretas and the reality of these early texts drives the first half of my book, which looks at how the concept of the ghost solidified over time. But what really interested me about these stories was the bodies of these pretas: how horrific they are…
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An accessible introduction to the Avadānaśataka of the (Mūla)Sarvāstivāda Tradition including a basic explanation of the fragmented nature of “Middle Period” Indian Buddhism.
48 min
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