In Tibetan Buddhism there is a sect of monks who specialize in "Telepathy". Their job essentially is to protect the Tibetan people from natural disasters. Does anyone know the process on how these Tibetan monks are chosen? And why are not all worthy Tibetan monks allowed in this position?
4 Answers
Not all worthy (enlightened) monks have psychic powers. In fact, Satan or Mara also has psychic powers. The Buddha's enemy Devadatta, who tried to murder Buddha, also had psychic powers. Psychic powers, such as telepathy, can only be developed by individuals that have a latent disposition for them. The Buddha had many fully enlightened disciples but they all did not have psychic powers. The most lucid (Sariputta) did not have psychic powers. The disciple famed for his psychic powers (Maha Moggallana) was said to be Mara in a past life (MN 50). In original Buddhism, psychic powers were not considered a sign of sanctity.
-
The Mahayana traditions emphasize training in mind reading for Bodhisattvas in order to help people.– BuddhoMay 25, 2016 at 7:59
I think you're operating from a misunderstanding. If you got this from Lobsang Rampa's books (written by an English plumber and fraud) please disregard it.
-
Please provide some rationale or explanation for your answer. Thanks Feb 4, 2017 at 0:21
-
I think he's saying that the question might be based on information read in Rampa's books. The information contained in them is wildly fabricated and fraudulent.– user698Feb 4, 2017 at 13:38
As one of the other answers mentioned I never heard of such a thing of monks saving people from disaster. Actually it would be a waste of time from buddhist point of view that instead of teaching and practicing dhamma, monks try to save people from an ever changing world. Buddha himself many a times when faced with such disasters reminded people to remember Anicca and meditate on it.
But talking about supernatural power in general, actually there had been mention of divine eye, divine ear, flying, walking over water, etc. in some discourse and it's said that every disciple experience this in the process. like in "DN 12 PTS: D i 224-Lohicca Sutta: To Lohicca"
more suttas in here.
Noone "has" telepathy. However many people "use" telepathy. For one, I do. It has NOTHING to do with buddhism. Do some buddhists use telepathy? Yes. Absolutely.
-
Welcome to the site. Please reread the question again and, if you can, augment your answer so that it addresses what the questioner is asking. Kind regards.– user17652Feb 1, 2021 at 19:39