Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Little Buddha

In Jamgon Kongtrul's encyclopedic work The Infinite Ocean of Knowledge/The Treasury of Knowledge, the first book deals with Buddhist cosmology, in very epic scope and tone. In the middle of this is the mention of a universe next door to ours called Angustha (Thumb-Sized), "here beings live no more than ten years and are in height no taller than a thumb. They are presided over by the Buddha Delight In Stars (Jyotirama), whose height is one cubit and seven fingers".

In contrast, our universe is called Endurance, because everyone here has to put up with so much.

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