大神通 (mahābhijñā, "great supernormal power") refers to the great power possessed by all buddhas and great bodhisattvas that transcends the ordinary, is free and unhindered, and is inconceivable. In Chinese-translated Mahāyāna scriptures, it is not merely physical or mental supramundane transformations, but the complete embodiment of the buddhas and bodhisattvas' taming of sentient beings, universal benefit to the world, and unhindered wisdom reaching through the three times.
Its core meaning lies in its 無體性 (niḥsvabhāvatā, "essencelessness"), 無依 (anāśraya, "non-reliance"), 無著 (asaṅga, "non-clinging") — an empty, still nature utterly beyond the reckoning of 聲聞 (śrāvaka, "voice-hearers"), 緣覺 (pratyekabuddha, "solitary realizers"), and 凡夫 (pṛthagjana, "ordinary worldlings").
What This Concept Is Saying
In popular everyday perception, 神通 (abhijñā, "supernormal power") is often mistaken for a magical special ability — flying through walls, foreseeing the future, moving mountains and filling seas, or a supramundane means of gratifying personal desires. Yet the 大神通 expounded in Mahāyāna Buddhism overturns this worldly fantasy entirely in its ground and content.
To understand 大神通 accurately, it must be examined within the overall framework of the 解脫道 (vimukti-mārga, "path of liberation") and the 菩薩道 (bodhisattva-mārga, "bodhisattva path"). It unfolds from the following core dimensions:
1. The Tathāgata's Inconceivable Absolute Power (Parables Beyond the Ordinary and Narrow)
The scriptures (such as the 《大宝积经》(Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra)) employ a series of shockingly powerful contrasts and parables to display the immovability of the Tathāgata's great supernormal power:
* The mustard-seed parable: 大目犍連 (Mahāmaudgalyāyana), foremost in supernormal powers among the śrāvaka disciples, already possesses power astonishing to the world. But if all sentient beings in the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, were all endowed with Maudgalyāyana's power, their combined strength could not move a single mustard seed that the Tathāgata has cast upon the ground. * The fierce-wind parable: When a violent gale capable of destroying the trichiliocosm, Mount Sumeru, and the heavenly palaces (the great fierce wind 吠嵐僧伽, Vairambhaka) arises, not even a single hair-tip of the Tathāgata's robe can be stirred — indeed, the Tathāgata can with a single hair-tip shield against this wind and cause it to cease. * Shifting worlds: When the great wind-wheel is about to destroy the world, the Tathāgata can with a single fingertip relocate the entire world elsewhere, without any diminution of his power.
The essence of these parables is not to extol a "greater physical force," but to show this: the Tathāgata's great supernormal power transcends all mechanical logic built upon conditioned causes, material laws, and narrow selfhood.
2. The Bodhisattva's Non-Retreating Transformations and Sovereign Ease
Through cultivating such Dharma-gates as 靜慮波羅蜜多 (dhyāna-pāramitā, "the perfection of meditative concentration"), bodhisattvas attain the "如意神足無退自在" (the non-retreating sovereign mastery of the will-fulfilled bases of supernormal power, ṛddhi-pāda). In the 《大方等大集經》(Mahāvaipulya-mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra), the bodhisattva's 如意神通 displays absolute sovereignty over the material forms of the world:
* The bodhisattva can contract the great sea into a cow's footprint (牛迹), while the sea itself does not shrink; and can likewise expand a cow's footprint into the great sea, while the footprint itself does not enlarge. * When the three calamities at the end of a kalpa — water, fire, wind — arise, the bodhisattva can at will transform the water calamity into the fire calamity, the fire into the wind, and so forth. * This supernormal power is driven by the bodhisattva's great vows (as when 無言菩薩, the Bodhisattva of Silence, caused the great assembly each to see in their right hand a great lotus flower, with a bodhisattva seated cross-legged on the lotus platform, and triggered the sixfold quaking of the earth), and its "加念神通被物" (supernormal power directed upon beings through focused intention) is firm and indestructible — apart from the Buddha, no 魔王 (māra-king) or 天帝 (heavenly king) in the world can externally obstruct or damage it.
3. The Compassionate Skillful Means of Taming Sentient Beings and Subduing Māras
大神通 is not a prop for display, but a skillful means for subduing arrogance and liberating sentient beings.
In the 《大集經》(Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra), 魔王波旬 (Māra Pāpīyān) attempts to unleash a great wind to scatter the maidens and rain down deadly knives, spears, arrows, and stones to harm sentient beings. The Buddha, with his supernormal power, transforms all the deadly weapons in mid-air into exquisite fragrant flowers and lotus blossoms, causing Māra to lament that he has "喪失大神通力" (lost his great supernormal power) and retreat in utter defeat.
As the 《華嚴經》(Avataṃsaka Sūtra) states: 「如來十方普現大神通……隨其解欲皆令入法門。」 *"The Tathāgata universally manifests great supernormal powers in the ten directions… and in accordance with beings' understanding and inclinations, causes them all to enter the Dharma-gate."* Supernormal power is the "door-knocker" that conforms to beings' faculties, breaks through their stubborn views, and leads them back to the true Dharma.
4. The Fourteen Unhindered Qualities and the Precise Delimitation of 「神通」 vs 「智」
In the 《華嚴經》, the bodhisattva's great supernormal power is elevated to the "十種神通彼岸" (ten pāramitās of supernormal power), dwelling in fourteen unhindered states (such as 無體性神通, "essenceless supernormal power"; 無作神通, "unconditioned supernormal power"; 無依神通, "non-reliant supernormal power"; 不退神通, "non-retreating supernormal power," etc.). The bodhisattva can "不動本處，而見其身在彼佛所" (without moving from his original place, see his body present at that buddha's locale) to hear the Dharma and make offerings, yet "究竟無所取著" (ultimately without any grasping whatsoever).
More critically, the 《大宝积经》makes an extremely rigorous and subtle distinction between 神通 and 智 — the two must never be conflated:
| 現象與觀察 | 屬於「神通」（事相示現） | 升華為「智」（法性空寂） | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 色相觀察 | 觀見種種色相 | 了知色相盡法而不證盡 | | 聽聞聲響 | 聽聞一切世間聲響 | 了知聲響前際本不可說 | | 洞察他心 | 了達眾生種種心行 | 了知心性寂滅不證彼滅 | | 追溯過去 | 隨念過去無數劫事 | 了知三世無礙 | | 遊歷佛土 | 往來穿梭諸佛國土 | 知國土如虛空相 | | 觀察起滅 | 了達一切法的興起 | 觀一切法本來平等 |
In short, 神通 leans toward the sovereign manifestation in phenomenal aspects, while 「智」 (jñāna, "wisdom") is the thorough realization of things as "without self-nature, originally empty and still." Ultimately, the 《華嚴經》unites the two, pointing out that the great supernormal power at its highest stage is the 「三世無礙智神通」 — wisdom at its utmost is itself the greatest supernormal power.
A Walkthrough in Daily Life
If we take 大神通 merely as the magic tricks of immortals in fantastic tales, we miss its profound revelation for real life. In the daily experience of contemporary people, we are constantly undergoing the frustration of being "without supernormal power," and even frequently mistake "worldly control freaks" for "supernormal power."
Let us walk through the mappings of 大神通 step by step in modern scenarios:
Scenario 1: Morning Rush-Hour Congestion and 如意神通 (The Sea and the Cow's Footprint)
* Contemporary reality: At 8:30 a.m., you are stuck at the intersection of the software park; the red line on your navigation screen stretches for kilometers. Your mind instantly contracts to the extreme — anxiety, irritability, and fury at the car that cut rudely into your lane fill your entire brain. At this moment your mind is like being trapped in a narrow 「牛迹（牛蹄印）」 (cow's footprint), unable to accommodate even the slightest disturbance. * Common mis-mapping: People think 「神足通/如意通」 (the supernormal power of psychic travel / of will) means owning a flying car, or teleporting past this traffic jam. * Classical definition and mapping: The bodhisattva's will-power supernormal power enables "大海入牛迹而海不縮，牛迹容大海而跡不廣" (the great sea to enter a cow's footprint without the sea shrinking, and a cow's footprint to contain the great sea without the footprint expanding). The true 大神通 is the mind's sense of space and its power of transformation. When your body remains seated in the cramped carriage (the cow's footprint) of the traffic jam, your mind can nonetheless be as vast as the great sea, accommodating the present delay, the agitation of others, and the impermanence of life without being crushed or trapped. Expanding the narrow situation into boundless serenity, collapsing the immense anxiety into an insignificant speck of dust — this is the "mutual transformation of sea and cow's footprint" in the mind-nature.
Scenario 2: Workplace Conflict and "Turning Knives and Spears into Fragrant Flowers"
* Contemporary reality: At a project review meeting, a partner or colleague suddenly launches a fierce verbal attack on you — blame-shifting, interrogation, cold sarcasm — every word drawing blood. * Common mis-mapping: People think supernormal power means defeating the other side with a greater force (e.g., immediate verbal retaliation on the spot, or crushing them with positional authority). * Classical definition and mapping: 魔王波旬 rained down a sky full of knife-and-arrow weapons; the Buddha, with his supernormal power, transformed them all into exquisite fragrant flowers and lotus blossoms. In the context of 大神通, when malicious words (knives and arrows) fly toward you, if you can receive them with the empty wisdom of 「無體性、無依」 (essencelessness and non-reliance) — not taking the bait, not giving rise to hatred, but instead seeing in the other's loss of control their fear and fixation, and responding with tolerance and reason (fragrant flowers) — the knives stabbing at you from all directions instantly lose their deadly power. Digesting harm and transforming it into goodwill is the great demon-subduing supernormal power of contemporary life.
Scenario 3: Algorithm-Driven Phone Scrolling and 他心智 vs 神通
* Contemporary reality: Late at night you scroll through short videos; the algorithm understands your desires and anxieties better than you do, continuously pushing content that interests you. Or in interpersonal dealings you are extremely perceptive, instantly reading the subtext of your boss or partner (discerning others' minds). * Common mis-mapping: People think the algorithm's big-data predictions, or this shrewd "mind-reading," is 他心通 (paracitta-jñāna, "knowledge of others' minds"). * Classical definition and mapping: The scriptures clearly delimit: 「了達眾生心行是神通，了知心性寂滅不證彼滅是智。」 *"Understanding the mental activities of sentient beings is supernormal power; knowing the extinction of mind-nature without certifying its extinction is wisdom."* An algorithm or worldly mind-reading only captures the surface-level "fluctuations of mental activity" of thoughts and uses them to manipulate or gratify desires. But the wisdom within 大神通, while seeing through the rising and falling of others' — and one's own — thoughts, deeply realizes that these thoughts themselves are impermanent, selfless, and extinct. Therefore, you can both perceive the human mind and avoid being ensnared in the stickiness and inner friction of worldly sophistication (「不雜諸世間」 — "not mingled with the worldly").
Why Contemporary People Need It
Contemporary society is an era of exploding "technological pseudo-supernormal powers."
With smartphones, high-speed rail, AI, and large models, we seem to have realized 天眼 (divyacakṣus, "divine eye" — video across a thousand miles), 天耳 (divyaśrotra, "divine ear" — remote voice), 神足 (ṛddhi, "divine foot" — a thousand miles in a day), and 他心 (knowing others' minds — algorithmic recommendations). But with supreme irony, the modern mind has sunk into unprecedented stickiness, fragility, and loss of control:
* Technology has given us the ability to move objects, yet we cannot move even a single strand of anxiety in our own minds (just as ordinary beings joining forces cannot move a single mustard seed of the Tathāgata); * The fierce winds of information (online public opinion, anxious emotions) blow even slightly, and our emotions are swept away wholesale (just as the Tathāgata's robe-hem is unmoved in the great Vairambhaka gale).
The reason contemporary people desperately need the concept of 大神通 is that it provides a set of "ultimate freedom schemes" that thoroughly deconstruct worldly anxiety and the control-freak mentality:
1. Breaking the fixation on external control Worldly control (money, power, technology) is built upon 「有依、有作」 (reliance and conditioning); the more you control, the more anxious you become. The hallmark of 大神通 is 「無體性、無依、無作」 (essenceless, non-reliant, unconditioned). It tells us that true great power is not forcibly changing every external circumstance in the world, but the mind's ability to 「不動本處」 (not move from its original place) and respond freely in the face of every circumstance. 2. Connecting 「智慧」 (wisdom) and 「行動」 (action) 大神通 is not an escape from reality into seclusion; it is the bodhisattva's dynamic power of "entering the world to liberate sentient beings." It reminds contemporary people: true wisdom is by no means rigid book knowledge or idle talk, but must land as action-energy (神通道力, "the power of the supernormal path") that can solve actual problems, dissolve conflicts (turning knives and arrows into fragrant flowers), and bring peace and joy to others.
Common Misreadings and Clarifications
To prevent contemporary people from going astray in understanding this concept, the following extremely common misreadings must be clarified:
Misreading 1: Equating 大神通 with "superpowers / special abilities" of the immortals-battling kind
* Clarification: In the Buddhist view, worldly immortals, spirits, and even non-Buddhists, through cultivating meditative concentration or with the aid of drugs and mantras, can also attain the so-called 五通 (pañcābhijñā, "five supernormal powers": 天眼 divine eye, 天耳 divine ear, 他心 knowing others' minds, 宿命 recollection of past lives, and 神足 psychic travel). But these 有漏 (sāsrava, "conditioned") supernormal powers, if not united with the wisdom of emptiness, not only fail to bring liberation, but actually aggravate attachment to the "self" (e.g., 魔王波旬 also possesses supernormal power, yet ends up mired in hatred and dejection). Only the great supernormal power that is united with 無漏 (anāsrava, "unconditioned") wisdom, oriented toward severing defilements (漏盡, āsravakṣaya) and penetrating the three times without obstruction, is the complete great supernormal power of buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Misreading 2: Thinking supernormal power can override karma and replace personal practice
* Clarification: Buddhism clearly states that supernormal power cannot prevail over karmic force. Even 大目犍連 (Mahāmaudgalyāyana), foremost in supernormal powers, could not by his power alone directly rescue his mother fallen into the realm of hungry ghosts (food turned to fire and charcoal the moment it reached her mouth), and ultimately still had to manifest the undergoing of karmic retribution. The essence of 大神通 is "隨其解欲皆令入法門" — buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest supernormal power to inspire beings' faith and guide them to awaken and cultivate on their own, not to bear karma in place of sentient beings.
Misreading 3: Confusing the Mahāyāna 大神通 with the supernormal powers of the śrāvakas (Hīnayāna)
* Clarification: The scriptures repeatedly emphasize that the supernormal powers of 聲聞阿羅漢 (śrāvaka-arhats, such as Maudgalyāyana) lean toward self-regulation and self-liberation, limited to a single corner; while the 大神通 of bodhisattvas and the Tathāgata issues from the vast 菩提心 (bodhicitta, "thought of awakening") and the emptiness of the 法界 (dharmadhātu, "dharma-realm"). As the 《大宝积经》states, the supernormal powers of the śrāvaka assembly do not attain even one-hundredth of the bodhisattvas', and the bodhisattvas' supernormal power in turn falls far short of the Tathāgata's 「第一神通變化波羅蜜多」 (the first pāramitā of supernormal transformation). 大神通 contains the complete manifestation of the infinite compassionate vow toward the entire dharma-realm and all sentient beings.
Misreading 4: Using modern science (e.g., quantum mechanics) to "prove" 大神通
* Clarification: In contemporary times, people often use "quantum entanglement," "multidimensional space," or "superstring theory" to explain Buddhist supernormal powers (e.g., reaching all ten directions in a single thought, the sea entering a cow's footprint). Although these frontier analogies from modern science help us intuitively break through the mechanical materialism of classical physics, analogy is by no means equivalence. Science investigates the objective laws of matter and energy, still within the sphere of consciousness of 「能取與所取」 (grasper and grasped); whereas Buddhist 大神通 is established on the complete transcendence of the subject-object dichotomy and the realization of "self-nature as originally empty," a state beyond conceptual elaboration (離戲論). Science at present still has many unresolved paradoxes and limitations at the microscopic particle level; one must never use scientific theories as a hard support for the Dharma, much less claim that science has already proven supernormal power.
Conclusion
大神通 is by no means a distant, mystical myth, but the originally inherent potential that erupts when the mind utterly breaks free from clinging and bondage.
When a person no longer clings to a narrow self-stance (無依, "non-reliant"), and no longer treats external favorable or adverse circumstances as fixed entities (無體性, "essenceless"), he can maintain the meditative steadiness of "hair-tip unmoved" amid the surging waves of life, and display the compassion of "turning knives and halberds into lotuses" amid complex interpersonal conflicts.
This wisdom that penetrates without obstruction and the power that responds to things with sovereign ease is the greatest and most genuine "大神通" that contemporary people can accomplish in this noisy world.