Can we see and communicate with the Buddhas and Arahants after they pass into parinibbana?

Dhamma Reflections

Can we see and communicate with the Buddhas and Arahants after they pass into parinibbana?

This question is a controversial one. In the Mahayana, the answer is a resounding yes. However, Theravada Buddhists are reluctant to accept this, especially educated Theravada Buddhists who like to study the scriptures and suttas. That is why Luang Ta Maha Boowa is often criticised for his biography of Phra Ajaan Mun, who both saw and communicated with Buddhas and Arahants of the past.  In the past, I also did not believe that it was possible. I now accept that this is a distinct possibility, and likely to be true. 

You may find it surprising, but even Luang Phor Lersi Lingdam, who received a visit from Somdej Ong Pathom, the first Buddha to arise since the beginning of time, did not believe that it was possible to communicate with the Buddhas after they have attained parinibbana. When he was young, he learned from textbooks and various monks that nibbana was more like a “void” or “nothingness”. However, after meeting many meditation masters, including Luang Phor Sodh, and practising the boran kammathana, Luang Phor Lersi Lingdam was able to visit nibbana and saw the crystal bodies of the Buddha and the Arahants, just like what Luang Phor Sodh had told him but he refused to believe. 

However, Luang Phor Lersi Lingdam did not practice Dhammakaya meditation per se and formulated his own method, known as the Manomayiddhi method. There are similarities between the methods, because Luang Phor Lersi Lingdam and Luang Phor Sodh generally descended from the same lineage - Luang Phor Niam Dhammajoti (Wat Noi, Suphanburi), who was also the teacher of Luang Phor Parn, Wat Bang Nhom Kho in Ayutthaya. 

Interestingly, Luang Pu Doo was probably influenced by his style of meditation, the Boran Kammathana tradition, because he studied at Wat Pradoosongtham. I have read Luang Pu Doo teaching that one can visualise the Somdej Buddha image in the middle of one’s forehead, in between the eyebrows. This is because according to the teachings of Wat Pradoosongtham, the 7th base is located in the middle of the forehead, also known as the Unalome or Dhipaya. 

Therefore, one who is proficient in meditation can set his awareness at that point to concentrate his mind. 

Seeing the Buddhas is something only those with very strong samadhi can do. As Luang Phor Nong of Wat Amphawan taught, “Many of you may think nibbāna is void. When it is void, how can one meet them [the Buddhas and arahants]. This is the scholars’ view. But for the practitioners who have acquired at least the three knowledges [vijjā] and further, it is not beyond their capacities. It is certainly possible. Because nibbāna is void, but void only of defilements, void of evil. Its true nature, which is that the citta’s power, is not void, and has a deva state. They said that it is a special deva state that does not move anywhere.” (Phra Ratchaphromyan 1989: 2) [translated by Potprecha Cholvijarn]

However, it is not just the geiji ajaans of the Mahanikaya borom kammathana tradition that believe that Nibbana isn’t voidness or nothingness. Many esteemed masters of the Dhammayut Tradition believe so as well, such as Somdej Phra Yansangwon, the 19th Supreme Patriach. The Sangha Raj explains further that the Buddha and arahants that are in ‘the city of nibbāna’ are still aware of what goes on in the world and will appear to those who are ‘worthy’, i.e. Achan Man (Yansangwon 2007: 18 แสงส่องใจ ที ่ระลกึ วนั วสิ าขบูชา).

Finally, I’d just like to add that I once put this question to Chao Khun Keng when I was driving him back to Wat Palelai one day. He said that it is not true that a person enters a state of nothingness or disappears into voidness when one attains Nibbana. There is something there. 

However, he does not know how to express it using conventional language, because we have to practice it to see for ourselves. Perhaps, that is the best answer for us, let us see Nibanna for ourselves. If not in this lifetime, then in a subsequent lifetime in the future.