4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦
Fortune favors the virtuous
0 – True stories of karmic consequence and rebirth
What especially notable events with karma ripening have you lived through, personally witnessed, or heard about from reliable sources/friends?
Please share. Whenever possible, please cite links, references to news articles, etc.
I'll collect and sort them out here. It's nice to reflect on good news and positive events and keep a record of them to inspire people.
1 – Fortune favors the virtuous
A collection of notable events with good karma ripening
Louis Pasteur famously said, "fortune favors the prepared mind".
"Fortune" means: some combination of Great luck, chance, opportunity, wealth, fame, etc.
The meaning of that quote: what often appears to people to be blind luck or chance, has a cause.
Through our own initiative and skillful endeavor, we give ourselves many more opportunities and a much greater chance of maximizing the potential of a good opportunity than a random person.
No disagreement here, but there's another dimension of 'fortune' that has arguably just as much if not a far greater influence on fortunate outcomes. The observable law of karma/kamma.
In short, results of our actions (karma/kamma) are commensurate with our skillful intentions, or lack thereof.
1.1 - Divine intervention on major events affecting affecting communities
Devas (deities), Dharma protectors, guardian angels, invisible forces at work giving miraculous aid.
1.1.1 – Abhayagiri Forest Monastery, Northern Calif. Wildfires 2017
note to skeptics: You can probably see dramatic results if you can find google maps showing the area of the monastery before and after the fires, comparing monastery to surrounding burned areas, with no fire barriers bordering them.
2017 Abhayagiri Forest Monastery, wall of fire stopped suddenly by invisible wall during Northern Calif. Wildfires:
Quote from B. Jotipālo:
I asked the crew from New Mexico how it was fighting the fire. They had been on the property for about 5 days. They said it was the weirdest thing, like the monastery refused to burn.
They said one evening (probably the day Timothy Luke was forced to leave Mt. Tabor, when he reported seeing 200 foot tall flames on the ridge) that 10 battalions (20 to a battalion) were out on the loop trail fighting the fires coming down from the ridge. They reported that the fires got down to the loop trail but the fire wouldn’t cross the trail. They said it was like the monastery refused to burn, and none of them could explain it. They reported their hair sanding on it’s end and then the fire reversed itself and went back up the mountain. Everybody was kind of freaked-out, as they had never seen anything like this.
I asked several of the other crews about their experience and they all reported about this.
1.1.2 – Ajahn Brahm led Vesak celebration, rainstorms suddenly disappear
🔗story
1.1.3 – Hsu Yun sitting meditation presumably asking for help from devas stop Japanese fighter planes bombing
see
Fortune favors the virtuous 2.1.1
1.3 - Rebirth into Deva (heavenly) realms
1.3.1 – Ghost of English girl from 2004 Indonesia Tsunami visits Thai girl in Dream
mp3 audio at 24:40 tsunami 2004 ghost
thai girl visited in dream by battered english girl,
moaning 'help me'.
i died in tsunami, monks are burying me right now
mom is trying to call me.
https://archive.org/details/dreamsandotherthingsat24mtsunamienglishgirlghost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvc5zVfz_6c
https://bswa.org/teaching/dreams-and-other-things-by-ajahn-brahm/
49 days death escrow
14 people of dead sister had same dream that she was ok.
ghost making sure promise kept
wife told a.brahm will half to husband, half to BWSA.
wife didn't trust husband
even in dreams you can meditate
1.3.2 – Taiwan Wheelchair Dharma Teacher monk
A famous Pure Land Buddhist Monk from Taiwan, reborn in higher Deva Realms
🔗
detailed account in blog
Near 7m:10s part of video, there is a photo of his head at the time of his death.. There's a lump of flesh, almost 4 inches high at the peak, protruding from his crown chakra. Near or after the time of death was when it started protruding. The crown chakra area and protruding flesh after his death stayed warm for an unusually long time. According to Tibetan and Mahayana Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, this phenomena happens when highly accomplished meditators are reborn in higher Deva realms, their consciousness leaves through the crown chakra area.
While rebirth is not proven with this story, it's still well worth studying for the many dramatic turns in karmic action and consequence, rehabilitating one self ethically, doing positive deeds in the world, and dying in peace, love, and support of countless friends and family.
1.4 – Śarīra (cremated relics)
The worship of the relics of saints is not really a subject I'm interested in. But when it happened to me, that 2 relics of arahants I had multiplied into 4, 🔗
Mahā Moggallāna and Sāriputta, well, that got my attention and I decided to do some research into it.
A skeptic would view the phenomena of relics multiplying 🔗
like this.
But those arguments aren’t convincing when the parties involved include monks who aren’t liars from an impeccable lineage with powerful and accurate psychic powers: 🔗
relics in Ajahn Mun lineage
1.5 – Divine intervention for individuals
examples: Wild animals & other deadly encounters averte
1.5.1 - poisonous snakes
I almost stepped on a baby black snake in an Asian forest monastery I stayed in for 3 years. It was such a close call, I was taking a step that would have landed on a black poisonous baby snake (venom much worse than adult because they don't titrate, they release all the venom). I adjusted my step at the last moment and stepped about a foot away. This was on grass right next to paved monastery walkway where the snake had wandered out of their adjacent jungle habitat. I congratulated myself for my excellent sati and cat like reflexes, but in hindsight, it's more than likely I had some assist from friends (devas) in high places.
B. Dhammagavesaka, a senior Theravadan monk told me this story.
He was in a Sri lankan forest monastery, walking late at night, past midnight, pitch black, with a flashlight. This is a huge monastery with hundreds of acres of jungle with no one anywhere nearby. He heard a voice call out loud, "watch out for the snake!" He stops, shines the flashlight ahead, slowly walks forward, and very soon spots the poisonous snake on the path. No people were around, so obviously a Deva had given him the warning.
B. Thanissaro told me a time when he was in Thailand cleaning his teacher's kuti. He stepped on a poisonous snake, but did not get bitten. The reason is, the snake had its jaws clamped down on a frog. When B. Thanissaro stepped on the snake, the frog popped out of the mouth and hopped away to safety, and so did B. Thanissaro.
Thinking about this, I can't believe it was just a lucky coincidence. One wonders, if Devas are looking out after virtuous monks, how did they let B. Thanissaro flirt with death by poisonous venom? Devas, the higher the realm, and the stronger their samadhi, the more accurate their powers of seeing the future. So in hindsight and careful reflection, the odds are extremely high the devas knew what was about to happen and let it. Dharma protectors take their job seriously. They are on time, reliable, extremely comepetent, and not forgetful or negligent like most humans.
1.5.2 – huge trees falling
Downtown in major city, 4 way intersection, my 🔗
mom was seconds away from death
Speaking of Wei Tuo Bodhissattva, on a meditation retreat, my mom was experiencing terror, perhaps worse than a panic attack, she felt like teh meditation building was crushing down on them. Then she recalled Wei Tuo's guarantee, and the terror immediately disappeared.
A good friend was walking in a forest monastery, suddenly she stopped because there were ants crawling around her eyeglasses. As she took her glasses off, a huge tree fell right in front of her. It would have killed her had she not stopped walking.
I lived in Asian monastery for 3 years, a forest monastery with untamed jungle all around. Huge trees, numerous 50-100 feet tall. Every so often, a huge tree would die and fall. Curiously, never once did any of these trees fall onto monastery buildings and dwellings, always in a direction away from them. Keep in mind there are so many kutis in the jungle, just surrounded by these giantic trees. Coincidence?
1.5.3 – American wanting to become monk in Thailand
🔗story
1.5.4 – Ajahn Chob (senior disciple of Ajahn Mun) has food offered by deva when starving to death
Ajahn Mun Biography 7.3.4 – (Deva appears to offer food when he’s about to starve to death)
Ajahn Mun Biography 7.3.5 – (Deva disappeared after walking 25ft)
1.5.5 – Ajahn Chah attacked by pack of wild dogs, mind made body of Ajahn Mun intervenes
see
Stillness Flowing 2.3.6
2 – Misfortune finds the wicked
2.1 - Divine intervention on major events
Devas (deities), Dharma protectors, guardian angels, invisible forces at work giving miraculous aid.
2.1.1 - Hsu Yun, Zen Master, Japanese bombers crash
early 1900's Japanese bombers threatening his monastery crash mysteriously.
EMPTY CLOUD The Autobiography of the Chinese Zen Master XU YUN
In the summer and autumn we repaired the nunnery of Wu-jin to receive all the nuns coming to Qujiang. Da-jian Temple had just been rebuilt, but the renovation of the Nan-hua Monastery was not yet complete. From time to time I was consulted by Gu-shan Monastery on various matters and thus kept busy all of the time. On top of all this, Japanese bombers disturbed us every day by flying over the monastery on their missions.
After the fall of Canton to the Japanese, the provincial wartime capital was set up at Qujiang and high-ranking military leaders frequently came to the Nan-hua Monastery. The Japanese Intelligence learned that the temple was used as a meeting-place for Chinese officials. In the seventh month, when a large number gathered there, eight enemy bombers came and circled over it. The Master knew of their intention and ordered the monks to return to their dormitories. After all the guests had taken refuge in the Hall of the Sixth Patriarch, the Master went to the main hall where he burned incense and sat in meditation. A plane dived, dropping a large bomb which fell in a grove on the river bank outside the monastery without causing damage. The bombers returned and circled over it when suddenly, two of them collided and crashed to the ground at Ma-ba, some ten miles to the west. Both planes were destroyed with their pilots and gunners. Since then, the enemy planes dared not come near the monastery and always avoided flying over it on their bombing missions to the hinterland.
3 – Disaster descends upon the deluded
Differs from the ‘misfortune finds the wicked’ category, in that the actions by the deluded here are not done with evil intentions, but they are still culpable for ignorance, stupidity, and acting irresponsibly when they should be more cautious knowing their own ignorance.
Examples, global warming, stock market or any kind of market overvalued from FOMO (fear of missing out), greater fool theory, and then crashing eventually.
Ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme victims
people staring at their celphones while crossing streets and getting hit by cars
4 – Misc.
https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2020/04/fortune-favors-virtuous-collection-of.html
999 – Bookmarks of interest.