Manga Hijiri ☆ Old Man

I love the comic called “Holy ☆ Old Man” in which Buddha appears, and I would be happy if any monks read it well could read this question.

Bonten and Taishakuten appear in the story, but Buddha is called “Siddhartha” by his name before he realized it, and Buddha uses honorific expressions. Even when I was penitent during the Siddhartha era, I thought, “Oh, do your best!” You're saying something like that. There are also a lot of scenes where it looks like they are producing Buddha.

I also read “Buddha” by Osamu Tezuka (it seems to include quite a bit of fiction), and since Bonten appears in front of Siddhartha when he is at his heart (when he is lost, when he is aware, etc.), I think he is like a master who pushes Siddhartha's back.
Are Bonten and Taishakuten not humans in the first place?
Does that mean it existed even before Siddhartha was born?

This comic is one of my favorite works that broadened my interest in Buddhism.
I think it's rudimentary, and if you look it up on the internet, it will probably come up right away, but since there is a place called Hasunoha, I thought I'd ask a question to the monk.

(The fact that Taishakuten's suit is Armani, and Bonten's suit is Konaka is a pressure point)

4 Zen Responses

Brahma, heaven, people

I haven't read Sei ☆ older brother though.
In Buddhism, living people are classified into 3 levels (the Three Realms).
These are the three realms of those who live in the world of desire, those who live in the world of color, and those who live in the colorless world.
The world of desire is literally a living person caught up in desire, and they also have a body. The living beings in the Realm of Desire are the Rikudo (Heaven, Man, Ashura, Hell, Gaki, Beast).
Taishakuten is a “heaven,” and although his level is higher than humans, he is still a living person in the Realm of Desire (six ways).
On the other hand, Bonten is a color world (a living person who has the influence of matter but is not bound by greed) or a colorless world (a living person with only a heart that is not bound by matter).
In other words, Brahma has a different rank from heaven and people.
Thus, those who have reached supreme enlightenment (having destroyed all afflictions) called Buddha or Arahan can be freed (enter nirvana) from all three realms.
Buddha is a person who graduated from both the Rikudo (heaven, people, etc.) and Bonten, and is a person who can be freed from the Three Realms.
People are middle school students, Ten is a high school student, Bonten is a college student,
Arahans (those who have enlightened, including Buddha) are graduates of all of them.
However, I feel like Buddha is a teacher who has graduated but remains at school as a teacher.
So, Bonten and Ten (Taishakuten, etc.) probably have a much longer lifespan than humans, so they are older than Siddhartha.
However, only Siddhartha, who became Buddha, realized (was able to graduate).
So, many Arahans (those who were able to graduate) appeared among Buddha's disciples.
There may have been many graduates on Earth before Siddhartha, but Siddhartha (Buddha) was the first to become a teacher and raise his disciples.
Bonten (a college student who has been studying for a long time) asked Buddha, who graduated (enlightened), to stay as a teacher.
Incidentally, Siddhartha's mentors, the two hermits, were not Arahans (qualified graduates).
When Siddhartha realized it, he wanted to report his teachings to his two mentors, but unfortunately they had already passed away.

I also have all the volumes.

The content is so well done that I'm impressed.
I feel like the relationship with Bonten and Taishakuten is also amazing.
I wonder if the relationship between Jesus and the angels is like that too.

I think everyone has a different way of looking at it.
It's a story without a dream, but for me personally, Bonten is the Buddha's conscience, and I think Taishakuten is the god of other religions.

I read your question.
Bonten and Taishakuten are the gods of Brahmin religion, which is the origin of present-day Hinduism.
In the episode described in Buddha folklore, Bonten bowed down to the Buddha and said, “Your teachings are wonderful, so please spread them to the world.” I beg you, but the Buddha said, “No matter, everyone doesn't understand, and I don't like it because it just makes me tired even if I don't understand it.” There is a “Bonten recommendation” where Bonten refuses, asks for it over and over again, and the Buddha finally decides to proselytize.

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