The Rainbow Body
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, in addition to spending lots of quality time with friends and family, I also had the opportunity to learn about the Tibetan Buddhist concept of the Rainbow Body.
At first, I scoffed at the story as it was told of people who attain such enlightenment that their body dissipates into the light, becoming a rainbow itself, only to leave behind the dead bodily components like hair and nails. Apparently, there are tales of individuals having achieved Rainbow Body throughout history, the most recent recorded case being Ayu Khandro in 1953.
Ayu was a life-long student of Buddhism. As a child she was drawn to the religion, but was forced into an arranged marriage by her family. An illness befell her just a few years after the wedding. Conveniently enough, a Buddhist teacher told her husband that if she wasn’t allowed to return to her spiritual study, Ayu would die. Thankfully, Ayu had an understanding husband, and Ayu was allowed to go back to her studies. Ayu Khandro survived her illness going on to study and teach for many years, and became well known as a living female Buddha. When she died she was 115 years old.
Ayu’s is a wonderful life story. However, a little digging finds that her corporeal body did not turn into light of all colors at the end of her life. Her body remained for two months before being cremated.
It may be debatable as to whether or not she reached a transcendent mental state. We can’t know what happened to her spirit at the point of her death. Some will say that she simply died. Others will believe that having lived a saint’s life, she went to heaven. Still others will believe that her consciousness transferred to an energetic essence.
Regardless of the belief, she did not physically disappear. In this case, it seems the symbolism of the Rainbow Body became concrete. Whether it was purposeful misrepresentation or a result of human interpretation, the result is that people now take the story literally.
I wonder how often this happens that philosophical symbolism, like this transition from life to leaving the body and joining the rainbow light of Nirvana, becomes real in peoples’ minds. How many stories in the bible or any other historical text are symbolic in nature when written or spoken, but turned to truth somewhere down the road?
We have no way of knowing what comes after death, what lies beyond our universe, or even where our universe came from. If stories like these are meant to give people hope that this life is not all there is, they can’t be all that bad. It’s when they are misrepresented and then mistaken for truth that they stop being as culturally useful.
I don’t necessarily subscribe to Buddhist or any other religious thinking, but I do appreciate the symbolism and the stories. The story of the Rainbow Body has a certain appeal. When you stop to think about it, who wouldn’t want to turn into a rainbow instead of heading off to heaven or hell at the end of life? I find it a particularly satisfying ending.
I took classes in Buddhism (of the Japanese Soto Zen flavor) for a while, and this is exactly the kind of thing that we didn’t really talk about. The teacher would occasionally mention these sorts of claims, and without outright dismissing them, said we should be skeptical. I got the sense he didn’t believe in the supernatural aspects of Buddhism. He laughed when he shared the legend Nagarjuna, author one of his favorite texts.
A lot of us skeptics already know this, but it’s worth pointing out sometimes the variety of belief and lack thereof in Buddhism.
But, she did turn into many colors of the rainbow while her body was being cremated.
One yoga class at a public university teaches that the length of your shadow says something about your prana. No doubt, tall people have more prana.
“The Rainbow Body” as an explanation of ascending through spiritual planes? C’mon.
When a human is enveloped in light, and then their physical body vanishes with little or no trace, that’s clearly an alien abduction.
“If stories like these are meant to give people hope that this life is not all there is, they can’t be all that bad”
I’m not so sure about that. I know when I play pac-man, I play hardest when I’m on my final life. :)
Max: “One yoga class at a public university teaches that the length of your shadow says something about your prana. No doubt, tall people have more prana.”
Yes, fat people too. And especially at sunrise and sunset.
I suppose for some such stories offer hope of some kind.
I tend to believe they do more harm than good. I base this on two possibilities (there may be others, but these I find harmful).
1) a person who believes in such things might eventually distress about their own failure to achieve similar result, or of their loved ones failure to achieve similar results.
2) a person who believes in such things might put more emphasis on achieving such a state than they might put toward their family and friends.
For my part, I would find such pursuit to be a very selfish act, preferring instead to sharing the here and now with someone I love, some good friends, or even the stranger who might one day morph into a good friend.
Although, in all truthfulness, I’m not doing very well with regards to the last two.
I think you nailed it. We love the idea of appealing endings, especially where we have “proof” that we’ve reached some pinnacle of attainment.
The problem, though, with stories like this is that they set up unrealistic expectations among practitioners who take them literally.
And those unrealistic expectations lead to people spending time, effort and money on practices and paths that don’t deliver the promised results.
Another interesting point is that it was your FRIEND who was the Buddhist practitioner, but it was YOU who, with a bit of research, unearthed the facts and shed light on the myth.
It’s ironic that people in the West think of Buddhism as less full of magical thinking than Western religions, and yet the practitioners are no less magical in their thinking.
(this is, in part, why I started http://www.meditationtruth.com)
The fact that the rainbow was chosen for this myth tells you everything. Who wouldn’t want to morph into a rainbow? Who would want to morph into a lightning storm, hail storm, tornado, or some other not-so-romantic physical effect? (OK, I’d love to be lightning at times, but you see what I mean). This rainbow thing is a consummate example of credo consolans, a comforting belief.
Er, where exactly is the skepticism in this posting? “Don’t necessarily subscribe” doesn’t quite fit in with the ethos of the site or, indeed, what I thought you were promoting as a group. This is very close to the woo-woo journalism I thought you were trying to counter.
Yes there are many many stories that now are taken literally. Let’s take the whole bible for instance there are a ton of people who take it literally word by word, when really it is all fiction created as a good read to inspire people to do good. Once people started literally interpreting it, well.. then we have what we have today. Religion was once a good concept but I think somewhere along the line it went down a wrong path. People started killing people in the name of a fictional character originally created to inspire good. It is a shame really.
After reading a little about prana, I realized that it’s actually fairly prevalent in western culture as well. In fact, there’s a whole movie series about it – well, actually a trilogy. With three prequels. And they don’t refer to it as prana, they just call it ‘the force’.
“Let’s take the whole bible for instance there are a ton of people who take it literally word by word…”
A ton of people would be about… 9-12 people perhaps? I think there are far more than that. Wink.
Joel, Western culture borrowed from Eastern culture. The hippies and the Beatles beat Lucas to it.
May the schwartz be with you.
I wonder, does she turn into beams of clearly defined colors, or is she just a beam of light that had to be refracted through something (water droplets,a prism, the male Wonder Twin) before the rainbow effect is apparent?
I too wonder where the skepticism is in this posting. This is one of the things that bothers me about “skeptics”. I’ve seen it several times in the past few years. Skeptics are so quick to completely denounce Christianity yet they find Eastern mysticism to have a “certain appeal”. If it’s not bad for a story like this to give people hope that this life is not all there is, then what’s wrong with heaven or hell? Other than it being your sentimental preference. That just blows all your intellectual credibility.
While you might like the idea of being Rainbow Brite, others might find it comforting that Adolph Hitler, Vladimir Lenin, the 9/11 bombers, Ted Bundy and Jeffry Dahmer are roasting in Hell.
wtf? lol
I had no idea all of us skeptics thought precisely alike, and poorly at that. I really need to make more of the meetings.
Jesus spoke in parables. If Jesus is the son of God and the bible is the word of God, then wouldn’t it seem reasonable to think that the bible is filled with parable?
How could am immortal spirit communicating through a mortal body in a material universe do other than speak in parable about his true nature?
(My grandmother used to see the source of infinite love and foregiveness (God) smiling at her when she saw a rainbow. This reminded me of her- thank-you)
Let’s compare magical thinking with critical thinking. See the difference?
I always thought Lucas was ripping off Carlos Castenada, what with the, “luminous beings,” nonsense and all.
* “Ayu’s is a wonderful life story.”
I tend to think a life lived in fantasy is a terrible waste.
* “We can’t know what happened to her SPIRIT at the point of her death.”
She had one? If we’re going to use of the word spirit in skeptic circles, I suggest it be written “spirit,” i.e. with quotation marks. Spirit is a religious term. One of my gripes about skeptics and atheists is that some try to defend our beliefs by claiming that “we have a spiritual life, too.” Humans, more correctly, have an emotional life. For that matter, a lot of animals apparently do also. But to divide humans from animals — for man to have dominion over animals — religionists developed the concept of spirit. Giving the term “spirit” credence is not in the spirit of modern biology and ecology…or skepticism.
* “If stories like these are meant to give people hope that this life is not all there is, they can’t be all that bad. It’s when they are misrepresented and then mistaken for truth that they stop being as culturally useful.”
Are people going to get much hope from such stories if they don’t take them as at least mostly true? I doubt it. This isn’t a fun fantasy movie that anyone can enjoy or that imparts a lesson. This is meant to be a literally true story. The point of it all is to tell people what happens to the dead bodies of people who devote their lives to religion.
I agree that when people see truth in such stories, they start trying doing goofy things like teach nurses how to heal “human energy fields.”
By the way, “human energy field” is being replaced by the term “biofield.” Quacks have learned the lesson that there is power in the terms they use.
A ton of people would be about… 9-12 people perhaps? I think there are far more than that. Wink.
THANK YOU.
The overuse of “a ton of x” drives me nuts anyway, but using it to describe a crowd sends me through the roof. “A ton of people” is very very very few people! C’mon folks, do the math (literally)!
9-12 Americans or Europeans? Considering the obesity epidemic here, I’d say 2-3 Americans. ;) :P
I think Carl Sagan said it quite well in 1996 in his book Billions and Billions:
“I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. The world is so exquisite with so much love and moral depth, that there is no reason to deceive ourselves with pretty stories for which there’s little good evidence. Far better it seems to me, in our vulnerability, is to look death in the eye and to be grateful every day for the brief but magnificent opportunity that life provides.”
I really miss Carl Sagan. I really do.
In a similar vein, a quote:
“Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’ve been getting more and more convinced that comforting fictions are certainly all bad. I’m all for being nice and looking for the good in everything, but an exception should be made for lies. If, for a prank, you called a stranger and told them they’d won a million dollars, that would be all bad. You wouldn’t be justified by the slight possibility that they might actually win a million dollars somehow.
Even at their very best, comforting fictions are unnecessary. Comforting perspectives on reality are equally effective, and don’t have the potential for abuse.
“The overuse of “a ton of x” drives me nuts anyway, but using it to describe a crowd sends me through the roof.”
There are three possible reasons you would say that. (1) You actually went through a roof, (2) you’re being inconsistently intolerant of figurative language, or (3) you have ironically specific standards for the use of figurative language.
The Dalai Lama welcomes research into paranormal claims made by his religion (I have read it in his discussions with scientists , Mind and Life institute ). Investigate it!
Steve (#25) –
It’s (A). I go into my attic, then through a skylight onto the roof, where I vent my frustration.
HA! Thought you had me.
I absolutely loved Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” – at the end of the story, rather than die and turn to foam on the sea (as mermaids apparently do) she turned into points of light and ascended to join the stars in the sky. Many of Andersen’s stories have a christian leaning to them, but I love the stories despite any religious undertones. “The Little Match Girl” is another beautiful though sad story. I prefer these Andersen stories to the “Rainbow Body” story – Andersen just seems to be a superior storyteller. If one were to spend time looking through literature, I’m sure there would be plenty similar stories from around the world (Jacob’s Ladder for example). Next to the creation myths, redemption and ascendancy myths seem to me to be the next most popular class of myths around the world and they are invariably tied into observations of some of the natural wonders of nature – rainbows, stars, the moon. After all, a storyteller must for the most part base stories on things observed in the natural world.
It seems that all religions fall prey to the human story-telling-turned-factual-statement instinct. As an amateur historical researcher and author, as well as a (nontheist) fan of religious writings (especially Buddhism), I see this same mistake repeated over and over. It just seems like we are wired for it. As for this specific case…
Words directly from the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhists:
“The Buddha says in a sutra:
Monks and scholars should
Well analyze my words,
Like gold [to be tested through] melting, cutting and polishing,
And then adopt them, but not for the sake of showing me respect.
These words of the Buddha mean that even if a particular doctrine is set forth in Buddha’s scriptures, one must examine to determine whether or not it is damaged by reasoning. If there is damage by way of reasoning, it is not suitable to assert the literal reading of the passage.
Suppose that something is definitely proved through scientific investigation. That a certain hypothesis is verified or that a certain fact emerges as a result of scientific investigation. And suppose, furthermore, that that fact is incompatible with Buddist theory. There is no doubt that we must accept the result of scientific research. You see, the general Buddhist position is that we must always accept fact. Mere speculation devoid of an empirical basis, when such is possible, will not do. So if an hypothesis has been tested, and has been found to be one hundred percent sure, then that is what we must accept.”
The use of fact and reasoning as the basis for belief is a defining characteristic of fundamental Buddhist teachings. The Tibetan flavor of Buddhism (a mix of Indian Buddhism with the indigenous Tibetan shamanistic/anamistic religion) is particularly rich in symbolism, and I suppose that makes it that much more likely to fall prey to human mental frailty, especially with a lack of proper education in Tibet.
Just thought by reading another post up there- that the human’s attraction to the concept of ‘spirit’ and dominion over the rest of creation is maybe another expression of man’s ego. All this eventually leads back to the awesomeness of human love. However like the one post’er alluded to- animals have ‘spirit’ too. I can’t see why not…they obviously have love, memory, compassion, instinct, strategy(reasoning) and a host of other things we can’t know since we can’t ‘speak’ to them. But observation usually shows me that most animal’s are much more ‘zen’ than most humans could wish to be(including me) . Let’s hear it for the one’s who can’t speak to us! Hurrah! Skeptical of achieving a zen state- I see it as a middle class pursuit to assuage guilt and anxiety.
Buddhism was founded by Matayama Sakla Gautama; crowned prince, who abandoned his wife and child to find enlightenment.
Moral of the story: religion founded upon a coward running from responsibility can only end in pointless tales predicated upon duplicity and mendacity.
Of course, none of the other religions fare any better for their founders either.
I do no think you understand what Buddhism is all about. There are reasons why Buddhism nowadays attracts more attention than Western religions. The most important of all, it encourages skepticism, as Buddha said: “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” It encourages us to use our logics and reason, and to seek the truth behind everything. It does not ask you to have faith nor to believe in everything Buddha taught. Should it have bad consequences, do not believe nor practice it. ^_^ It also encourages its practitioner to interpret some stories and verses not literally, but to think that it has symbolic meanings and should be interpreted that way. And Mastriani, I think you should read more about Buddha’s early life, what are his reasons, and how much he loves his family, what are his fears, and why he named his son Rahula; by doing that i hope you can understand that you can admire him in some ways. Second, each of his teachings has reasons behind it: why we should do meditation or yoga, why do we need to raise our consciousness and so on; should you understand what are the answers to those questions, I think you will admire him as much as I do. Third, its teachings make us more humane and in some ways, a better person. By raising our consciousness, we can decide what to do, what not to do, what to say, or what not to say in every time and every moment so everything that we do, we do it consciously. Last but not least: Buddhists do not believe in God. ^^ They do not believe that by praying to Buddha, they could be saved, or by praying to Buddha, Buddha will grant their wishes, etc. I am a Buddhist by the way. ^^ I do not believe in ghost, in any spirits whatsoever, in any magics, any ritual that has magics, literal meaning of reincarnation, body or spirit turns into rainbow, etc. And I am a skeptic person. lol
Mastriano, your ignorance amuses me. Don’t talk about any subject that clearly you have no idea about.
Tibetan Buddhism = Hinduism & Buddhism hybrid, it shouldn’t be treated as a Buddhist.
Only real Buddhism that Buddha taught is Theravada (school of elders) Buddhism
Rainbow is meaning essences of elements, each of them have a specific colour, in what you call tibetan buddhism…