Commentary:
‘Sākyamuni Buddha, who was acetic Sumedha then, met his Master Dīpamkara Buddha after countless experiences of endurance or tolerance for many kapals of previous lives. ‘Sākyamuni Buddha had been a Bodhissattva for countless lifetimes helping countless sentient beings for many kalpas before his final self-enlightenment in India in the 6th century B.C.E .
He journeyed through incessant countless repeated cycles of death and birth before meeting his master Dīpamkara Buddha. He experienced diverse forms of intense sufferings, such as tortures, abuses, illnesses, attacks, sacrifices and so forth. The life of a Bodhisattva is very challenging and extremely hard but the final fruit of enlightenment is extremely rewarding.
Buddha Dīpamkara is considered the first of the twenty four Buddhas preceding the historical Gotama Buddha. Ascetic Sumedha vowed before Dipamkara Buddha that he would strive to become Buddha in future. Utilizing his supernormal knowledge of Divine Eye, Dīpamkara Buddha predicted that ascetic Sumedha, after kalpas of time had lapsed, would emerge as Gotama Buddha in India in the 6th century C.E .
The history of Indian Buddhism vindicates that Buddha Dīpamkara’s predetermination was right. In actual fact, the epistemology from the supernormal knowledge of any Buddha is always accurate. Otherwise, the Exalted One is not fit to receive the credential called the Buddha. Every Buddha has the six attributes of the supernormal knowledges (abhiñās) generally known as supernatural powers or psychic powers. The six supernormal knowledges are enumerated as follows:
- The supernatural power of going to anywhere without any physical or space obstruction, such as flying through air, going through walls and other miracles
- The supernatural power of hearing from sounds from anywhere including the sounds of ants in the forests or the sounds of devas in the heavenly world
- The supernatural power of reading the minds of others
- The supernatural power of collecting past lives of oneself and others
- The supernatural power of perceiving the future lives of all sentient beings
- The supernormal knowledge of the destruction of cankers which is the knowledge of self-enlightenment
Buddha Dīpamkara utilized his fifth supernatural power of Divine Eye to perceive the future lives of ascetic Sumedha . In Buddhism, the first five supernormal knowledges are relatively unimportant. What is crucial is the 6th supernormal knowledge of the destruction of cankers. The destruction of cankers is effected by the complete annihilation of self-centric ego. Non-grasping of the five aggregates as this is not I; this is not mine; this does not belong to me annihilates the self-centric ego. Non-grasping is conditioned by the intuitive discernment of the Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) of the five aggregates.
