[Buddha-l] Query on Non-Local Consciousness

[Dan Lusthaus]

Ok, one last vomiting reference...

Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, in _Joyful Path of Good Fortune_, states the following
(pp. 163-64):

---
In _Pile of Jewels Sutra_ [does he mean Ratnakuta?] nine main conditions of
untimely death are mentioned:

(1) Eating without moderation.
(2) Eating unwholesome food.
(3) Eating food before having properly digested our previous meal.
(4) Retaining undigested food in our stomach for a long time without
eliminating.
(5) Vomiting digested food.
(6) Not taking the right medicine.
(7) Not having appropriate skills, such as trying to swim or drive a car
without knowing how to.
(8) Travelling at the wrong time, such as driving through a red traffic
light or jogging at noon at the height of summer in a very hot country.
(9) Indulging in sex without restraint.
---

I love sutras that discuss automobile safety. If one compares the fourth and
fifth items listed here with the ones from the Yogacarabhumi, #4 here seems
to be the opposite of "unhealthy] excretions from not retaining what he
eats," and #5 involves vomiting. If we reverse 4 and 5 of the respective
lists, than his #5 (Asanga's #4) involves the idea of vomiting (though
Xuanzang renders "not vomiting"), and his #4 (Asanga's #5) involves
constipation, though the Geshe adds the stipulation that it is "undigested"
food that is not being expelled -- which is a little odd.

What is interesting is that in some versions of the nine untimely causes of
death, there is a reference to "vomiting" -- though our present Skt edition
of the YBh Manobhumi does not have that (the Chinese does). This suggests
that there may have been some reference to vomiting in Xuanzang's version of
the text. Asanga, after all, does claim he is citing the words of the Buddha
from a sutra, which is probably the Pile of Jewels Sutra...

Don't have time now to check editions of the Ratnakuta, etc., for further
info, but if anyone feels so inclined and would like to report back to us
(or any additional references to these 9 untimely death causes), please do.

Dan Lusthaus