Evidence of Supernatural Power 《神通的證明》

As I have told all of you, if we differ from one another in the knowledge we have acquired through learning, then our points of view and our standpoints will differ as well. If our points of view are different, the expectations derived from our points of view will be different too. I have explained to all of you how the bodhisatta practised near the Nerañjara River, in the sāla forest, when he had given up practising austerities after six years. Do you remember what he practised in the sāla forest? He practised the eight attainments and five kinds of supernatural powers. Based on the eight attainments, he practised in fourteen ways to train the mind, to make the mind pliable, and to proceed to the supernatural powers. 
就像我告訴你們的，如果我們學習得來的知識不同，我們的觀點與立足點也會有所不同。我們的觀點不同，我們的期待也會不同。我已經解釋過，菩薩在放棄六年的苦行後， 在沙喇樹林裡的尼蘭迦拉河附近如何修行。你們記得他在沙喇樹林裡修什麼？他修八定及五神通。以八定做基礎，他修十四禦心法來訓練他的心智，讓心柔軟後，轉入五神通。

Do you accept that the bodhisatta practised the eight attainments? Do you accept that he could attain supernatural power within the fifteen days that followed his abandonment of the austerities he practised for six years? Do you accept the explanation of the sub-commentary Jinālaṅkāra? Do you have doubt about these things?
你認可菩薩證得八定嗎？你相信他能在放棄六年的苦行後的十五天內證得神通嗎？你接受《勝者莊嚴附註》的解釋嗎？你對這些事有疑惑嗎？

Yes, there may be those who feel doubtful about these things. There may be those whose point of view does not agree with them. I want to explain to all of you whether it is true that the bodhisatta successfully practised supernatural powers before he approached the Bodhi Tree for his Full Enlightenment. This is something you should consider. While the bodhisatta was sitting under the Bodhi Tree, Māra and his army came and disturbed the bodhisatta. Do you remember?
是的，可能有些人對這些事尚有疑惑，有些人可能不同意。我要跟你們解釋，菩薩在菩提樹下證果前，成功地修得神通是否屬實？你們需要深思。當菩薩坐在菩提樹下時，魔王和他的軍隊現身阻撓。記得嗎？

What did the bodhisatta say to Māra at that time? He said, ‘If I want, I can walk to and fro inside a mustard seed.’ Are you familiar with mustard seeds? A mustard seed is very small. If he hadn’t attained supernatural power, could he have spoken like that? This is one reason to lessen your doubt. Then the bodhisatta continued, ‘If I want, I can cover the whole universe with my body.’ If he hadn’t attained supernatural power, could he have made a claim like that? This is the second reason to lessen your doubt. Then he said, ‘Māra with your troops: If I wanted, I could destroy all of you by snapping my fingers. But I have not the slightest inclination to kill anyone. That is why I will not destroy all of you in this way.’ Without having attained supernatural power, could he speak like this? This is the third reason.
當時菩薩對魔王說了什麼？他說：你知道芥菜籽是什麼嗎？芥菜籽非常的小，若他沒有證得神通，他能這麼說嗎？這是減少你的疑問的第一個原因。菩薩又繼續說：「如果我願意，我可以用我的身體覆蓋整個世界。」若他沒有證得神通，他怎麼能如此說？這是降低你的疑慮的第二個原 因。他接著說：「如果我願意，我可以按壓我的手指就完全摧毀你和你的軍隊，但我沒有一點意願要殺任何人，這是為什麼我不會用這種方法摧毀你們的原因。」若他沒有證得神通，他又怎麼能如此說呢？這是第三個理由。

Another reason is that, when Māra told the bodhisatta, ‘This is my invisible throne. Please leave here’, the bodhisatta replied, ‘Who is your witness, that you say this is your throne?’ Then Māra said, ‘There is no need to search far for any witness. All my army, they are my witnesses.’ And all of Māra’s troops, all the army soldiers, shouted, ‘Yes, we are his witnesses, we are the witnesses.’ So then the bodhisatta said, ‘Māra, I have fulfilled pāramī for four incalculable and one hundred thousand eons. Over this long, long period, there is no charity which I have not done, there is no morality which I have not practised. There are no austerity practices in which I have not engaged, over the whole very long period of four incalculable and one hundred thousand eons. Let alone the four incalculable and one hundred thousand eons – in even just a single one of my former existences as King Vessantara, when I offered great dāna seven times, culminating with the giving away of the queen Maddi, the lifeless earth trembled seven times. Why now does this earth remain still? I will take this earth as my witness.’ Then He pointed to the earth. The earth trembled so violently that Māra and his troops fled away in great fear.
另一個理由是，魔王告訴菩薩：「這是我無敵的寶座， 請離開。」菩薩回答說：「誰是你的證人能證明這是你的寶座？」魔王接著說：「不必老遠去找證人，我的軍隊就是我的證人。」魔王的軍隊就全體吼叫：「是的，我們都是他的證人，我們就是證人。」所以菩薩接著說：「魔羅，我已經用四個不可數及十萬大劫圓滿我的巴拉密。在這麼漫長的一段時間裡，沒有任何布施我未曾做過，沒有任何戒律我沒有守過， 也沒有任何苦行我沒有修過。尚不提四個不可數及十萬大劫， 就僅僅一世，在我過去生做韋三達拉（Vessantara，毘輸安呾囉）國王時，我做了七次大布施，甚至把我的瑪坻（Maddi） 皇后布施出去，大地為之震動七次。現在為什麼大地如此沈靜呢？我會請大地做我的證人。」接著，他指著大地，大地劇烈震動到魔王和他的軍隊心生大恐懼而倉惶逃逸。

So how many reasons do you see? Four reasons. You heard how the bodhisatta spoke of the life in which he was King Vessantara. If he hadn’t attained supernatural power, could he talk about his past life? For these reasons, the explanation that appears in the sub-commentary Jinālaṅkāra is reasonable. In this way, too, the bodhisatta’s own point of view was not the same from one time to the next. As I have told all of you, when his bad kamma blocked him, he thought that the eight attainments were not the way to Full Enlightenment, not the way to make an end of suffering. Yes, as I have told all of you, just attaining the eight attainments is not enough to make an end of suffering. Only by contemplating and seeing the arising and perishing of the jhānadhamma of those eight attainments is it possible to make an end of suffering.
所以，你看到多少個理由？一共有四個。你聽到菩薩提到他做韋三達拉國王的那一世，如果他沒有證得神通，他如何能談到他的過去世呢？由於這些理由，《勝者莊嚴附註》 的解釋就合情合理了。如此看來，菩薩的觀點也不是在所有時間裡都一樣。如我之前告訴你們的，當不善業障礙他時， 他以為「八定不是圓滿覺悟之路，也不是滅苦之道。」是的，僅僅證得八定是不足以滅苦的，只有透過照見那八定的禪那法之生滅來修觀才有可能滅苦。

That is why the point of view of the bodhisatta, when he was an ordinary being, was different from the point of view the Buddha had after He became a Buddha. ‘Ordinary being’ here means he was still a great being, but not yet a Noble One. So this was one of the points of view that the bodhisatta held, the very same point of view that changed in him when the time ripened.
這是為什麼當菩薩還是凡夫時，他的觀點跟成佛以後是不同的。「凡夫」這裡指的是他還是一位偉大的人物，但他還不是一位聖者。菩薩所持有的這個觀點，當時機成熟時，就改變了。

Source:
EXPECTATION DERIVED FROM ONE’S OWN POINT OF VIEW-3B
[主觀與期待]
Ven. Revata尊者 雷瓦達