འཕགས་པ་ཚངས་པས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.2

intro.2

In the middle of the night at Kūṭāgāraśālā, the monastery in the great forest grove near Vaiśālī, the Buddha is seated cross-legged, engaged in a progression of the four concentrations—proceeding through them forward and then backward—at the end of which he enters a meditative absorption which makes his whole body radiant. Far away in the brahmā heavens of the form realm, the great god Brahmā sees the Buddha’s radiance and leaves his heaven in order to ask him a question. Arriving there in an instant, he politely rouses the Buddha from his absorption with gentle verses of praise and then proceeds to ask his question. The arrival of Brahmā is especially noteworthy, considering that according to Buddhist literature, it was Brahmā who first beseeched the reluctant Buddha to teach, just after the latter had gained awakening.