Episode 17 – How Venerable Ananda Eliminated Delusions
>> With Great Love, Kasyapa helped Ananda succeed in bearing his burdens with great patience. Venerable Kasyapa explained the rules and precepts in detail. Ananda upheld the precepts impeccably with ease.
>>Kasyapa said, “You (Ananda) committed Duskrta offenses and should repent in front of the Sangha. The Buddha was thirsty and you provided no water. You stepped on the Buddha’s robe with your foot. You did not ask the Buddha to remain in this world.”
>> Ananda also sincerely asked the Buddha to accept His aunt, Mahaprajapati, as a member of the Sangha. This was the beginning of the bhiksuni.
>> Ananda repented properly, but Kasyapa still led Ananda out of the cave and said, “Come in when your Leaks are eliminated.” He then closed the door to the cave.
>> The Three Insights are insight of the heavenly eye, insight into previous lives, insight into ending all Leaks. The Six Spiritual Powers are the power of transporting oneself, of the heavenly eye, of the heavenly ear, of knowing others’ minds, of knowing past lives, and of ending all Leaks.
>> Then Ananda wept with grief. To end his delusions, he diligently practiced late into the night. He was extremely tired. Before his head touched the pillow, he suddenly realized the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers, and became a Great Arhat.
I have mentioned previously that in front of the members of the assembly, Venerable Kasyapa led Ananda out to tell him, “Everyone’s mind has been purified. You are the only one with traces of afflictions. You have also committed Duskrta offenses so you cannot remain in this pure Sangha. You need to leave.” But Ananda replied, “As for the offenses I committed, I invite Venerable Kasyapa to enumerate them all.”
With Great Love, Kasyapa helped Ananda succeed in bearing his burdens with great patience. Venerable Kasyapa explained the rules and precepts in detail. Ananda upheld the precepts impeccably with ease.
Venerable Kasyapa then explained, “One time the Buddha set off on a journey by foot. The scorching weather was oppressive. It was very hot. He really wished to have a bowl of water and asked you to bring him the water. But you came back late with an empty alms bowl. At the moment of His severe thirst, you were unable to provide Him with water.”
Ananda then said, “I searched earnestly and found a river. But in the river there was a group of merchants. The convoy of 500 elephants and cattle, loaded with cargo, walked through the river so the river water was filled with dirt, and it became turbid. Therefore, I could not obtain water as an offering to the Buddha.”
Then Venerable Kasyapa said, “And, one time, you stepped on the Buddha’s patch-robe,” which was the Buddha’s outer garment. Ananda replied, “I washed and hung the Buddha’s patch-robe to dry. When I went to collect it, a gust of wind blew the robe underneath my foot. I did not intentionally step on the patch-robe with my foot.”
Then Venerable Kasyapa said, “And one more thing the Buddha had said, ‘A Buddha can abide in this world for one kalpa.’ But the Buddha also said, ‘My conditions here have ended I will enter Parinirvana.’ The Buddha repeated that three times in a row. But you, Ananda, did not immediately ask the Buddha to abide here for a kalpa. So the Buddha entered Parinirvana at age 80.” Ananda recalled that moment and said, “I did! When I heard the Buddha say that He could remain in this world for one kalpa. I was delighted. Then He said, ‘My conditions here have ended I will enter Parinirvana.’ At that moment I intended to ask the Buddha to remain, to abide in this world for one kalpa. But King Mara deluded my mind so I could not speak in time to ask the Buddha to remain in this world.” Because of this karmic condition, the opportunity was lost.
Kasyapa said, “You (Ananda) committed Duskrta offenses and should repent in front of the Sangha. The Buddha was thirsty and you provided no water. You stepped on the Buddha’s robe with your foot. You did not ask the Buddha to remain in this world.”
Venerable Kasyapa then said, “And then, Ananda, you also committed a Duskrta offense regarding Mahaprajapati, the Buddha’s aunt. She led some palace maids and royal relatives into the presence of the Buddha and asked His permission to become monastics. But the Buddha did not allow it! He did not accept women into the Sangha. But Ananda, on behalf of Mahaprajapati, you dared to plea with the Buddha to allow bhiksuni to be part of the Sangha.”
Ananda explained this matter with great sincerity, and told Venerable Kasyapa, “Mahaprajapati was the Buddha’s aunt. She raised Prince Siddhartha,”
“who became a monastic, attained Buddhahood, and returned to the palace to expound the Dharma. King Suddhodana also issued a decree that any royal family with more than two sons could allow one to follow the Buddha and become a monastic. So the youths in the royal families, if they had brothers, vied with each other to become part of the Buddha’s Sangha. Many members of the royal family became monastics, especially since the Buddha expounded Dharma in the palace and transformed many people. Everyone believed in the Buddha’s teachings, especially women in the royal family like. Mahaprajapati and Yasodhara. Their sincere belief led them to aspire to live among the Sangha.”
“After King Suddhodana passed away, the women in the royal family pled with Mahaprajapati to become monastics and follow the Buddha. This was the reason Mahaprajapati led so many women from the palace to ask the Buddha to accept them as monastics. But the Buddha did not allow that, so Mahaprajapati pled with me and asked me to put in a good word with the Buddha.”
“I also considered that all past Buddhas had four groups of disciples, male and female, lay and monastic. So why couldn’t Sakyamuni Buddha accept female disciples into the Sangha? For this reason, I sincerely pled with the Buddha on behalf of Mahaprajapati. In His compassion, the Buddha knew that all past Buddhas allowed this. Since Sakyamuni Buddha was a successor to past Buddhas, He allowed her to become a monastic.”
Then Venerable Kasyapa said, “Did you know that because women joined the Sangha, the Era of True Dharma was reduced 500 years?”
Sometimes when I read this text, I feel that I need to be grateful that bhiksunis are accepted as members of the Sangha. Over 2000 years ago, the Buddha allowed Mahaprajapati, whose name means. Path-of-Great-Love, to become a monastic. Because of that precedent, the rules now allow us to become monastics, to become bhiksunis. So we must be grateful!
Ananda also sincerely asked the Buddha to accept His aunt, Mahaprajapati, as a member of the Sangha. This was the beginning of the bhiksuni.
Spiritual practice is the work of a great person. We must be grateful to the Buddha and to Ananda. We must even be grateful to sentient beings. To repay the grace of the Three Treasures, of our parents and of sentient beings, we must be diligent! We must know that it is rare to attain the human form and rare to hear the Buddha-Dharma. Moreover, life is impermanent. How long is our lifespan? We do not know. Moreover, impermanence happens in an instant, so every moment, we must seize the present and be disciplined in body and mind. We must abide by precepts and rules.
Consider that the Buddha wanted a bowl of water, but Ananda could not find clean water to offer and provide it to Him in time. Venerable Kasyapa raised Ananda’s awareness to the fact that this was a sign of disrespect. Then, clothes worn by the Buddha were blown beneath Ananda’s foot. Venerable Kasyapa also blamed Ananda for this, “This is a sign of your disrespect.” Lastly, Ananda failed to say something in time to sincerely ask the Buddha to abide for one kalpa. Because Ananda failed to say these words, the Buddha entered Parinirvana at age 80. This was the way Venerable Kasyapa reminded each of us that in our daily living, we must answer questions in a clear and timely manner.
So I often say that we must speak carefully, and according to the people, time and place. We need to speak differently to different people, and determine if the occasion is appropriate to say it. This is called, “according to the people, time and place.” You should have said this then, why didn’t you say it? Because you did not say this, you lost that opportunity. This is also something we must learn. Sometimes one missed response can create tremendous regret.
So the way we treat people and objects, the way we speak, this all falls under our daily rules. Contained in the precepts are many details called Duskrta. It refers to the fine details of our daily living. Therefore Venerable Kasyapa used detailed precepts as examples. He did not only explain this to Ananda, he wanted everyone to hear, even future sentient beings. Monastic practitioners in particular must know how to respect their elders.
Ananda’s thinking was very straightforward. Indeed, he did not mean to commit these offenses. As for the Buddha’s time in this world, even though the Buddha said those words, King Mara came to confuse and delude Ananda’s mind. Though Ananda wanted to speak in that moment, the words would not come out. Such is the karmic connection between us sentient beings and the Buddha. The Buddha lived a human lifespan because of these conditions. If He abided in this world for one kalpa, He would still be here now. His conditions for staying in this world were such that Ananda could not speak.
Though Ananda repented to Venerable Kasyapa, Kasyapa still led Ananda out of the cave and said, “You must dedicate yourself and work hard, focus on eliminating your afflictions. Attain spiritual powers, then come back.” Then Kasyapa closed the door.
Ananda repented properly, but Kasyapa still led Ananda out of the cave and said, “Come in when your Leaks are eliminated.” He then closed the door to the cave.
Ananda felt very sad, very ashamed. So he quickly returned to his place of practice. Thus with great diligence and reverence, he reflected on his past and on whether any habitual tendencies remained. He kept reflecting diligently. Even at night, his head never touched the pillow. He did not lie down to sleep. Through the night he continued to work diligently, continuously reflected. So before the day dawned, he had expended a lot of physical energy. As he thought about lying down, suddenly, he had a great realization. With this kind of realization, he felt peaceful in body and mind and attained the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers.
The Three Insights are insight of the heavenly eye, insight into previous lives, insight into ending all Leaks. The Six Spiritual Powers are the power of transporting oneself, of the heavenly eye, of the heavenly ear, of knowing others’ minds, of knowing past lives, and of ending all Leaks.
Why highlight the Three Insights along with the Six Spiritual Powers? Because he attained all six spiritual powers, he especially had this kind of true clarity about such things as previous lives. We must know the cause and effect of past, present and future. So Ananda, at that time, had already attained insight into previous lives and truly had the insights and powers. He also had insight of the heavenly eyes. When we use ordinary eyes to see worldly things, we cannot avoid having afflictions. But Ananda had complete clarity. This is insight of the heavenly eyes. He also had insight into end of all Leaks. End of all Leaks means all afflictions have been eliminated, so now what remains is clarity, a sense of great peace and ease. Being peaceful and at ease means that there is not a trace of affliction in the mind. The Dharma expounded by the Buddha brought complete clarity to Ananda’s mind. This is insight into ending all Leaks.
The power of knowing past lives of the heavenly eyes and of ending all Leaks, along with the power of knowing others’ minds, of transporting oneself and of the heavenly ears comprise the Six Spiritual Powers. Along with the insights, they are the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers.
Then Ananda wept with grief. To end his delusions, he diligently practiced late into the night. He was extremely tired. Before his head touched the pillow, he suddenly realized the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers, and became a Great Arhat.
Everyone, he truly attained the fourth fruit of Arhatship. So he completely eliminated his afflictions. Not the least bit remained in his mind. His body and mind was free and at ease. He quickly returned to the door of the Pippali Caves, where everyone was compiling the Buddha’s teachings.
Everyone, we all know. Ananda’s mental state at this moment, so filled with Dharma-joy and meditative-joy, and so free and at ease. This is incomprehensible to us. But the Three Insights and the Six Spiritual Powers, or at the very least, the Three Insights, are things we must mindfully try to realize. I hope we can all reduce our afflictions, then we will naturally grow in wisdom. Therefore, we must always be mindful.