Essay On Miracles In Buddhism

How a miracle means varies depending on the religion, the person, and the region in which it is constructed. Miracles can be ongoing, they can be as simple as a story, or one miraculous event, and they can be a combination. The meaning of a miracle is complex, pulling from several various meanings throughout history, religion, and personal connection. Within the Buddhist religion, miracles are a largely complicated aspect of the Buddhist belief. The particular Buddhist Saint miracle story of King Asoka and the Forest Saint depicts a meaning of the impact of conversion, the pratyekabuddha, and how it affects the religion today. King Asoka was a famous Mauryan monarch who was fortunate enough to inherit an entire empire extending from Bengal to Afghanistan until he eventually conquered the whole Indian subcontinent. Within the Buddhist tradition, King Asoka is known as the first Buddhist king. The life of the King, after his conversion, was devoted to pronouncing the ethics of Buddhism in order to establish a peaceful land where compassion abounded freely. Prior to the compassionate life of King Asoka, he first had to be converted to the Dharma. It is important to remember, however, that the interest of this …show more content…
As a pratyekabuddha, Samudra remains in human form, the King Asoka claimed that, “having broken through the bonds of samsara in a single night, Samudra has risen above human nature” (Woodward, 346). In order for a pratyekabuddha to achieve the space of total enlightenment, they must conquer what is known in the buddhist tradition as “the fetters”. The fetters are used as a measurement by pratyekabuddha’s towards their path to enlightenment. Then, once they have completed all ten fetters, they are supposed to have conquered themselves and samsara, meaning the cycle of birth, death, and