The miracles of Gautama Buddha refers to supernatural feats and abilities attributed to Gautama Buddha by the Buddhist scriptures. The feats are mostly attributed to supranormal powers gained through meditation, rather than divine miracles.
Supranormal powers the historic Buddha was recorded to have possessed and exercised include the six higher knowledges (abhiññā): psychic abilities (iddhi-vidhā), clairaudience (dibba-sota), telepathy (ceto-pariya), recollection of one's own past lives (pubbe-nivāsanussati), seeing the past lives and rebirths of others (dibba-cakkhu), and the extinction of mental intoxicants (āsavakkhaya). Miracles found in Mahayana sutras generally play a more direct role in illustrating certain doctrines than miracles found in non-Mahayana Buddhist texts. Apart from texts, several of the miracles are often shown in scenes depicting the Buddha's life in art, and are included in the traditional grouping of The Eight Great Events in the Life of Buddha.
Stories of Gautama Buddha's miracles include miraculous healings, teleportation, creating duplicates of himself, manipulation of the elements, and various other supernatural phenomena. Many of the Buddha's disciples, as well as some non-Buddhist hermits and yogis who attained high states of meditative absorption, were also said to have had some of these same abilities. According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha frequently utilized or discussed these abilities, but spoke of them as an unfavorable method if used by monks to convert the general public, although the Buddha himself also employed the exhibition of supernatural miracles (Pali: iddhi-pātihāriya) as a conversion method. Instead, the Buddha emphasized the "miracle of instruction" (Pali: anusāsanī-pātihāriya), or the teaching of the Dhamma, as the superior method of conversion.
Pre-Enlightenment Buddhists texts record several instances of miraculous feats happening to Prince Siddhartha prior to his enlightenment as the Buddha.
Miraculous birth
It is said that immediately after Gautama's birth, he stood up, took seven steps north, and uttered:"I am chief of the world,
Eldest in the world. This is the last birth.
There will be [henceforth for me] no more re-becoming."Furthermore, every place the baby Gautama placed his foot, a lotus flower bloomed.
The still shadow One day, when Prince Siddhartha's father took his young son out into a village area for a ploughing festival, his nurses left the would-be Buddha alone under a tree. During the festival, the young prince noticed various sights of suffering, such as laboring men and oxen, and worms and insects being exposed by the ploughing and eaten by birds. Seeing these sights, he then began to meditate under the tree and attain jhana. As time went by, the tree's shadow miraculously stayed in place, sheltering the prince in shade as the sun moved across the sky. In another version of the story, the would-be Buddha fell asleep under the tree during the festival. As time went by and the sun moved across the sky the tree's shadow likewise stayed still, keeping the young prince under the shade for the duration of his nap.
The floating hairknot After Prince Siddhartha left the palace, he cut his hair to signify his future life as an ascetic in search of enlightenment. After cutting his hair, the would-be Buddha took hold of his recently cut hairknot and declared "If I am to become a Buddha [an enlightened one], let them stay in the sky; but if not, let them fall to the ground". Throwing the hairknot, it went a distance into the air and then stopped, floating in midair.
The golden bowl After giving up extreme asceticism prior to his enlightenment, the would-be Buddha then accepted a meal of rice pudding in a golden bowl from a village girl named Sujata. It is said that when he finished, he took the golden bowl and threw it in the river, declaring, "If I am to attain enlightenment, let this bowl go upstream." The golden bowl then flowed upstream.
Psychic abilities Following his enlightenment, the Buddha was said to have possessed and discussed several supranormal powers attainable through meditation. Such abilities include walking on water, walking through walls, becoming invisible, levitation, and making copies of himself. The Buddha discusses these abilities in several texts such as the Samaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), Kevatta Sutta (DN 11), Lohicca Sutta (DN 12) and Mahasakuludayi Sutta (MN 77). In the Iddhipada-vibhanga Sutta, the Buddha states:
"When the four bases of spiritual power have been developed and cultivated in this way, a bhikkhu (monk) wields the various kinds of spiritual power: having been one, he becomes many; having been many, he becomes one; he appears and vanishes; he goes unhindered through a wall, through a rampart, through a mountain as though through space; he dives in and out of the earth as though it were water; he walks on water without sinking as though it were earth; seated cross-legged, he travels in space like a bird; with his hands he touches and strokes the moon and sun so powerful and mighty; he exercises mastery with the body as far as the brahmā world."
The Buddha states that such powers like walking through walls, levitation and telepathy can be developed through concentration, but a prerequisite to them is the attainment of the four jhanas, or higher states of meditative absorption. Regardless, the Buddha described most of these powers as being merely mundane. It is only the power of the extinction of the mental defilements (āsavakkhaya) attained by Arahants that was supramundane and leading to the end of suffering.
Miracles in the Tipitaka The Tipitaka records numerous instances of the Buddha performing miraculous feats after his enlightenment. Religious studies scholar David V. Fiordalis describes the supranormal displays as being useful for initial conversion and functions as evidence for the holiness of the Buddha. The displays are often followed by a Dhamma teaching, which is considered in Buddhism to be the greatest miracle.
Hiding Yasa in plain sight Soon after giving his first sermon to the five ascetics who would become the first five Buddhist monks, the Buddha encounters and teaches the young noble Yasa until he attains sotapanna, an early stage of enlightenment. Not seeing his son in the household, Yasa's father later follows his footprints to the Buddha's location. Seeing Yasa's father approaching, the Buddha exercises supranormal powers so that although Yasa is in plain sight, Yasa's father is unable to see him. The Buddha then teaches Yasa's father with Yasa a short distance away, still invisible to his father. This results in Yasa's father becoming the first lay follower of Gautama Buddha and Yasa attaining arahantship, or the highest stage of enlightenment, upon hearing the Buddha's sermon to his father. The Buddha then ceases his supranormal feat and makes Yasa visible to his father again.
Subduing the nāga with fire During a visit to the region of Uruvela, the Buddha goes to a hermitage of fire-worshipping ascetics and asks one of its leaders, Uruvela-Kassapa, to stay in the fire-offering chamber. Uruvela-Kassapa warns the Buddha that there is a dangerous nāga living in the chamber, but agrees after the Buddha insists. The Buddha enters the chamber and begins meditating, the nāga then appears and angrily creates smoke. The Buddha responds by entering into a "fire-element" meditation and using his psychic powers to create his own smoke. The nāga then fills the chamber with fire, which the Buddha responds to by bursting into flames and becoming fire. The next morning the Buddha comes out of the chamber with the nāga reduced in size and harmlessly coiled in his alms-bowl. The Buddha later converts Uruvela-Kassapa, his brothers, and the other ascetics in the hermitage.
The first twin miracle and the miraculous rain When the Buddha returned to his home kingdom of Kapilavastu following his enlightenment, he levitates and performs a version of what would become known as the Twin Miracle. This results in the Buddha's tribesmen, the Shakya Clan, bowing to him in respect. After the Buddha returns to the ground and sits down it suddenly starts raining, with the rain only falling on people who wanted to get wet, and no rain falling on those who wanted to remain dry. Following this event, the Buddha tells the Vessantara Jātaka.
Outpacing Angulimala One day while meditating, the Buddha sees through meditative vision that the serial killer Aṅgulimāla will kill his own mother later that day unless the Buddha intervenes. In order to prevent Aṅgulimāla from committing the grave sin of killing his own mother, the Buddha intercepts him right before he can commit the heinous act and causes the serial killer to go after him instead. As Aṅgulimāla is chasing after him, the Buddha employs supranormal powers so although Aṅgulimāla is running as fast as he can, he cannot catch up with the Buddha, who is walking calmly. One text states the Buddha used his powers to contract and expand the earth, thus keeping a distance with Aṅgulimāla. After a teaching, Aṅgulimāla becomes struck with guilt over his actions as a serial killer and becomes a monk.
Teaching Khema impermanence The Buddha meets Khema, a beautiful consort of King Bimbisara who would later become one of his chief female disciples. The beautiful woman was disinterested in spiritual matters, given her life of sensual indulgence. So, as the beautiful Khema approaches the Buddha, he uses his psychic powers to conjure up an image of an even more beautiful woman in front of her and then ages the image into an old woman before her very eyes. Khema, who was very vain, then comes to understand the nature of impermanence. The Buddha then preached to her about the impermanence of beauty and the problems of attachment to worldly desires eventually leading her to become a bhikkhuni.
Knowing Anathapindika's real name As his future patron Anathapindika approached him for the first time, the Buddha called him by his birth name "Sudatta", which was not known to the public. Surprised to hear his real name, Anathapindika then concluded it could only be the Buddha who was calling him and went forward.
The twin miracle at Sāvatthī
The Twin Miracle is considered to have been the Buddha's foremost miracle. Unlike some of his other attributed abilities, it said that only Buddhas had the ability to perform the Twin Miracle.
According to Buddhist texts, the Buddha performed the miracle at Sāvatthī after being challenged by a group of six leaders of rival religious sects. The Buddha starts by creating a jeweled walkway in midair, and then emits fire from the top half of his body and water on the lower half and then starts to alternate them. The fire and water then shoot up to illuminate the cosmos while the Buddha teaches the Dhamma to the observers. In one version of the story, he creates several duplicates of himself that fill the air, with some walking, lying down, and sitting. At the conclusion of the miracle, it is the rival religious leaders' turn to perform a miracle but they flee. Following the miracle, the Buddha proceeds to create a single duplicate of himself and then have the duplicate ask him questions which he would answer in order to teach the observing audience.
Ascending to heaven and creating a duplicate The Buddha ascends to Tavatimsa Heaven to preach the Abhidhamma to his deceased mother. He recites the Abhidhamma to the devas for the full rains-retreat without stopping, taking a break every day to go on alms-round and eat. During the daily lunch hour, the Buddha creates a duplicate of himself and orders it to preach in his place while he is away.
Descent from heaven at Sankassa