ally plain that such
magical or hypnotic practices are not essential to the attainment of the
Buddha's ideal. When lists of attainments are given, iddhi does not
receive the first place and it may be possessed by bad men: Devadatta
for instance was proficient in it. It is even denounced in the story of
Pindola Bharadvaja[711] and in the Kevaddha sutta[712]. In this curious
dialogue the Buddha is asked to authorize the performance of miracles as
an advertisement of the true faith. He refuses categorically, saying
there are three sorts of wonders namely iddhi, that is flying through
the air, etc. the wonder of manifestation which is thought-reading: and
the wonder of education. Of the first two he says "I see danger in their
practice and therefore I loathe, abhor and am ashamed of them." Then by
one of those characteristic turns of language by which he uses old words
in new senses he adds that the true miracle is the education of the
heart.

Neither are the other transcendental powers necessary for emancipation.
Sariputta had not the heavenly eye, yet he was the chief disciple and an
eminent arhat. This heavenly eye (dib-ba-cakkhu) is not the same as the
eye of truth (dhamma-cakkhu). It means perfect knowledge of the
operation of Karma and hence a panoramic view of the universe, whereas
the eye of truth is a technical phrase for the opening of the eyes, the
mental revolution which accompanies conversion. But though
transcendental knowledge is not indispensable for attaining nirvana, it
is an attribute of the Buddha and in most of its forms amounts to an
exceptional insight into human nature and the laws of the universe,
which, though after the Indian manner exaggerated and pedantically
defined, does not differ essentially from what we call genius.

The power of recollecting one's previous births, often mentioned in the
Pitakas, has been described in detail by Buddhist writers and
Buddhaghosa[713] distinguishes between the powers possessed by various
persons. The lowest form of recollection merely passes from one mental
state to a previous mental state and so on backwards through successive
lives, not however understanding each life as a whole. But even ordinary
disciples can not only recollect previous mental states but can also
travel backwards along the sequence of births and deaths and bring up
before their minds the succession of existences. A Buddha's intelligence
dispenses with the necessity of moving backwards fro