The Blessed One gave consent by his silence. Then the great King Vessavana, knowing that the Blessed One had consented, recited the Atanatiya protection:

1. “Homage to Vipassi (the Buddha) possessed of the eye (of wisdom) and splendor. Homage to Sikhi (the Buddha) compassionate towards all beings.

2. “Homage to Vessabhu (the Buddha) free from all defilements and possessed of ascetic energy. Homage to Kakusanda (the Buddha), the conqueror of (the five-fold) host of Mara.

3. “Homage to Konagamana (the Buddha) who has shed all defilements, and had lived the holy life. Homage to Kassapa (the Buddha) who is fully freed from all defilements.

4. “Homage to Angirasa (the Buddha Gotama), the son of the Sakyas, who is full of radiance, and who proclaimed the Dhamma that dispels all suffering.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.32.0.piya.html

It is important to clarify the following so that Buddhists do not get alarmed. Until here, we learned that many spirits do not celebrate the model of morality that was taught by Buddha. We might mistaken that Buddhists are facing constant spiritual threats from spirits. That is not true.

In the previous post, we learned that these high spirits reside in remote places and they dislike Buddhist spiritual practitioners trespassing their abodes. This is because our practices are aligned with Buddhist precepts. Since we are staying in populated areas, we need not be vexed by them.

On the other hand, these spirits may attempt to corrupt “higher” spiritual practitioners. This usually involves an intentional or unintentional spiritual pact. The direct pact refers to practitioners seeking out favours from such entities. The high spirits will then lend their spiritual powers to the practitioners. Such spiritual powers are known as lowly arts in Buddhism because the spiritual practitioners will be entrapped by the karmic link in the process. Remember, Buddhism is about freeing ourselves from Samsara.

An unintentional pact is more sinister in nature. In this case, the high spirits beguile the practitioners by assuming the form of Buddha or Bodhisattva. They then appear to the practitioners in their meditation or dreams and attempt to corrupt their wisdom gradually. To ward against such undue influences, Buddhist teaching emphasises that our spiritual attainment is derived from mastery of our minds, plus the elimination of greed, hatred, and ignorance. We are taught not to crave for visions or spiritual encounters with Buddha or the divine.

A monk shared nonchalantly that they (the monks) ignored any visions or spiritual encounters during their meditation. If the visions communicated any messages, the monks will simply cross-check against Buddha’s Dharma. If it adhere’s to Buddhist teachings, then it is just a motivational reminder to stick with Dharma. If it is against dharma, they will just ignore it and pretend that its their monkey minds playing tricks again.

Some practitioners may be tempted to communicate with these visions and consult them on various matters. For example, about the health of a loved one, the future, the whereabouts of a deceased, etc. When we do that, we open the opportunity for corruption. The Buddha taught us to develop our own spiritual attainment through Jhana and even then, nothing compares with the goal of enlightenment. Instead of investing time to gain clairvoyance, we are taught to place our priority in breaking the chain of Samsara.

Okay, lets continue with this sutta.

The Blessed One gave consent by his silence. Then the great King Vessavana, knowing that the Blessed One had consented, recited the Atanatiya protection:

1. “Homage to Vipassi (the Buddha) possessed of the eye (of wisdom) and splendor. Homage to Sikhi (the Buddha) compassionate towards all beings.

2. “Homage to Vessabhu (the Buddha) free from all defilements and possessed of ascetic energy. Homage to Kakusanda (the Buddha), the conqueror of (the five-fold) host of Mara.

3. “Homage to Konagamana (the Buddha) who has shed all defilements, and had lived the holy life. Homage to Kassapa (the Buddha) who is fully freed from all defilements.

4. “Homage to Angirasa (the Buddha Gotama / Shakyamuni Buddha), the son of the Sakyas, who is full of radiance, and who proclaimed the Dhamma that dispels all suffering.

5. “Those in the world, who have extinguished (the flames of passion), and have perceived through insight (meditation), things as they really are, they never slander anyone; they are mighty men who are free from fear.

6. “Gotama (the Buddha) dear to gods and men, endowed with knowledge and virtue, mighty and fearless, all do homage to him (homage be to him).

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.32.0.piya.html

Verse one to four is a reflection of Sakyamuni Buddha and the preceding 6 Buddhas before him. It is important to note that each of the qualities or achievements stated therein is not unique to that Buddha whose name was being mentioned along with. These qualities are common to Buddhas.

In Buddhist cosmology, this civilization that we live in is not unique. Prior to our current civilization, there were others. Those civilizations arose and destruct. In each new civilization, a new Buddha might or might not appear. The next Buddha to come will be named Maitreya and he will only appear after every single shred of Dharma had been forgotten from Samsaric consciousnesses of sentient beings.

From a ritualistic perspective, the above seems akin to an invocation of a “higher power”. But in reality, such an interpretation is not very Buddhistic. A better interpretation is that it recollects the quality of enlightenment as timeless. That means the Dharma (Ultimate Truth) is timeless and had existed since the begin-less time. Therefore, Buddhists should feel validated and confident about Buddha dharma because our lineage stretches back beyond our current human history.

Next, the spirit King proclaimed that Buddha is dear to gods and men. Besides being a source of refuge to human beings, The Buddha is also a source of refuge to the Gods. In that manner, Buddhists should also develop a sense of spiritual confidence that we have the support of “higher” spiritual powers too. Let’s continue in the next post.

May all be well and happy.