I have a student with the surname of Qiu. He is particularly interested in subjects about the universe, UFO's, etc. and has read very many books on these subjects. He believes that the Christian God is an alien spaceman. He also believes that Jesus is also a man from another planet. He believes that most gods and deities are men from other planets. He asked me, "Are Buddhas men from outer space?"

Qiu believes that:

The lotus thrones symbolize spaceships.

The body halos of Buddhas are lights from spaceships.

Constellations are homes of men from other planets.

Qiu bases his arguments on the following evidence:

According to the origin of mankind mentioned in Buddhist sutra, mankind's ancestors were originally gods from Light-Sound Heaven. They were stranded while visiting earth and became human's ancestors.

In the sutra, it says that the beautiful Saturn is a cultivation ground of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Eleven-Faced Avalokiteshvara).

The venerable Maudgalyayana (one of Shakyamuni Buddha's disciples) has the supernatural power to stand with one foot on one planet and his other foot on another planet.

He proposed that Shambala Buddha Pure Land of Kalachakra is possibly one of the nebula in the Milky Way galaxy.

In the Amitabha Buddha Sutra, it says, "At that time, Shakyamuni Buddha said to Sariputra, 'Passing trillions of Buddha Pure Lands to our west, there is a Pure Land called Ultimate Bliss.'"

Qiu asked, "Wouldn't these trillions of Buddha Pure Lands and the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss all be in outer space?"

According to him, Amitabha Buddha is a man from another planet (Venus).

Sutras recorded that Shakyamuni Buddha often mentioned the assemblies of countless multitudes of devas and men. According to Qiu, aren't these great gatherings of alien spacemen?

(to be continued)

(From Book #196 "Refreshing Messages")

(本文選自蓮生活佛第196冊著作「清涼的書箋」文章「佛是外星人嗎？」)