Stairway to heaven.A miracle in the Buddhist pilgrim’s world outlook (5th – 7th centuries)

Abstract

. Miracle tales are often found in the texts of Chinese pilgrims who visited India in the 5^th – 7^th centuries. The role of “miracle” in the world outlook and the text of Buddhist pilgrim looks also structurally determined. One can trace a certain consistency in “embedding” stories of miracles into the overall structure of the text. Being associated with various sacred objects these stories form stable relationships with them and each category of shrines (stupa, statue, cave, etc.) has its own stories about the miracles. The obvious function of “miracles” marking the places of events of the sacred past is to “overcome” the length of time which separates past and present, what looks typical for mythological way of thinking. Miraculous phenomena connect the devotee with the sacred time of the tradition, include him in the attraction zone of deeds of the remote past, make it possible to tangibly feel an impact of the past. In that impact, the degree of holiness of the doer of ancient deeds recognized by the adept as well as the degree of his approach to a world of the true, are of decisive importance in this influence. The possession of “supernatural powers” (ṛddhi) is one of the topics on which attention is also focused in the narratives of the pilgrim.