Episode 46 – Mahakatyayana and Aniruddha
>> Being kind and loving gives us a most pleasing appearance. Demeanors and appearances can captivate people’s hearts. We must practice and maintain good habits over many lifetimes. By giving unconditionally, the mind will be free.
>>Mahakatyayana means the family that cuts and shaves. In ancient times many mystics lived in the mountains, and no one helped them shave. One of the mystics had two sons who came to visit him. The younger son cut and shaved all the mystics. Thus, they gave his family this name.
>> “Venerable Mahakatyayana was foremost in discerning meanings and explaining the teachings of the path.”
>> Aniruddha was also called Anuruddha. His name means No-Poverty, it also means Always-Fulfilling. He was the son of King Suklodana-raja.
>> “Of those practicing my teachings, Aniruddha is foremost in [developing] the heavenly eye that sees clearly.”
Learning the Buddha’s teachings is all about [training] the mind. We should maintain pure and good thoughts at all times. In every day, every second, we cannot allow this goodness to leak away.
Being kind and loving gives us a most pleasing appearance. Demeanors and appearances can captivate people’s hearts. We must practice and maintain good habits over many lifetimes. By giving unconditionally, the mind will be free.
This tells us that we all have a nature equal to the Buddha’s and the same infinite loving-kindness. But an ignorant thought in the mind gave rise to many more unwholesome thoughts. Since negative thoughts arise from ignorance, when a bit of evil arises, a bit of good disappears. We must take good care of our goodness.
In particular, good affinities between individuals are very important. When we help others with love, naturally people will respect us. So, what kind of people are the most likable? What kind of people receive the most respect? Others find likable people pleasing and feel love and respect toward them. There is no standard pleasing appearance. That sense comes from seeing that when they are with others, others feel a connection with them. No matter how you look at them, they are pleasing. This is a pleasing appearance.
Besides taking good care of our minds and always treating others with love and respect, we must also take good care of our physical appearance. Our appearance is inextricably tied to the Four Demeanors of walking, standing, sitting, lying down. Every move we make and everything we say, as long as it can be seen, is a demeanor. When our actions can inspire happiness in those who see us, we can influence people’s hearts.
We often talk about leading people harmoniously without obstructions. How do we lead others? We are not just leading the people, but more importantly, leading their hearts. If we can influence all sentient beings’ hearts, whenever we want to do anything, there will be no obstructions. This happens because of our demeanors and our daily actions. This is how the mind works.
If, since we were born, we have given others the impression of having a good demeanor, that means we have nurtured such habits in our past lives as well. In this life, if we inspire happiness in others, if we have good habits in behavior because of our past habitual tendencies, we should cherish them and not act inappropriately. So, once we are behaving appropriately, we should work to maintain it. If we are not, we need to quickly learn [to change that]. This is accumulated life after life.
So, “life after life” refers to the past, present and future and the good habits we have cultivated. In the past, we cultivated them. Now we need to continue to nurture them. Then in the future, we will still have them. So, we should not overlook any thought or any action in our daily living, no matter how subtle. Everything will affect our future, so now we have to watch what we do.
Among the group of Arhats who are known and recognized by all was [a bhiksu named] Mahakatyayana. He was part of the “family that cuts and shaves.” Long, long ago there were many mystics in India who went into the mountains for spiritual practice. We are all familiar with. Brahmanism, which has been passed down in India since ancient times. Brahmins highly valued spiritual practice and felt that it was important to do that before they reach the end of their lives. So, in the forests and mountains, there lived many mystics who left home for their spiritual practice. At that time, when people engaged in spiritual cultivation, their hair and beard were left very long. Because no one helped them trim their hair or shave their beards, they all had long hair and long beards.
One of the mystics had two sons. One day they visited their father in the mountain and saw that all the spiritual practitioners there had disheveled hair and tangled beards. One of the sons felt bad for them, so he resolved to help these mystics cut their hair and shave their beards.
We all know that the climate in India is hot. Though they were in the forests, if they did not groom themselves, they would feel very uncomfortable. Now that this young man was willing to cut their hair and shave their beards, they were very happy. They greatly cherished and respected him. So, they gave his family a special name, “the family that cuts and shaves.” This is the origin of. Venerable Mahakatyayana’s name.
Mahakatyayana means the family that cuts and shaves. In ancient times many mystics lived in the mountains, and no one helped them shave. One of the mystics had two sons who came to visit him. The younger son cut and shaved all the mystics. Thus, they gave his family this name.
For this reason, the Agama Sutra states,
“Venerable Mahakatyayana was foremost in discerning meanings and explaining the teachings of the path.”
This means that this venerable elder was respected by all for his contributions and his contributions and had nurtured his ability to discern teachings and meanings. With his spiritual practice, he achieved the unobstructed abilities of eloquence. Wherever he went, he spread the Buddha’s teachings among people and was always respected by them as they upheld and practiced the teachings. So, his talent was in
explaining the teachings and the path. Therefore, the Buddha praised him as the foremost in explaining the teachings of the path. This was his talent. To trace it back, many people appreciated his teachings because in past lifetimes he had created good affinities with them. That was why so many people loved to listen to his words.
Next is Aniruddha, who is also called Anuruddha. Aniruddha is someone we should also be familiar with. Do you remember this story? When the Buddha was about to enter Parinirvana, Venerable Ananda still had afflictions in his mind. The Buddha was surrounded by many bhiksus who were very at ease. Only Ananda was unable to control his emotions and ran outside to cry.
The Buddha was about to relinquish His body and enter Parinirvana. At that moment, this elder arrived and saw Ananda wailing and crying loudly. He then reminded Ananda, “Ananda, this is not the time for you to cry here. There is something else you need to do now.” With Aniruddha’s advice, Ananda quickly came back to the Buddha and asked Him how to tame [the unruly] among the Sangha, what they shall use as an introduction when they expound the sutras in the future, and so on. At the time when. Ananda could not control his emotions, Aniruddha gave him this reminder.
Actually, Aniruddha was also one of the nobles in the Sakyamuni tribe. Not only was he a noble, he was also Sakyamuni Buddha’s younger cousin and Ananda’s elder cousin, so he was the child of King Suddhodana’s brother.
Aniruddha was also called Anuruddha. His name means No-Poverty, it also means Always-Fulfilling. He was the son of King Suklodana-raja.
Speaking of Aniruddha’s past, he was very diligent and kind. He felt much sympathy for the poor, so he constantly gave things to others. Not only was he charitable, he was very respectful to spiritual practitioners. Because of his karma, he was never born into poverty and was always born into wealthy families; in that lifetime he was born to nobility.
Later he became a monastic. After becoming a monastic, he also wanted to be very diligent. But each time the Buddha started to expound His teachings, he dozed off. When he sat down and the Buddha started talking, he began dozing off. If the Buddha saw this, He got frustrated. So, one day He said, “Since you love sleeping so much, you can be reborn as a clam. With two shells covering you, you can sleep in peace.” In that moment, he felt such a strong motivation from the Buddha that from then on, his eyes never closed, and he was very diligent. Whether it was day or night, if his eyes began to close, he would use straw to prop them open so he could train himself to not be sleepy. But he was still a human being. Because he did not allow his eyes to close, he lost his sight.
One day, he wanted to mend his clothes. He tried to thread a needle, but he failed. His eyes could not see, but he had to thread a needle to mend his clothes. So, he yelled, “Which virtuous and compassionate person can help me thread a needle?” The Buddha happened to walk by and heard his voice. So, He approached him, took the needle and helped him thread it. The Buddha did not make a sound, but Aniruddha could feel that the person who approached and helped thread the needle was the Buddha. He quickly prostrated.
The Buddha asked him, “Why can’t you see?” He replied, “I am repenting. I would doze off when I listened to the Dharma. At your urging, I began making vows. I have been working so hard I forget to eat. Not only have I reduced what I eat, I have also reduced how much I sleep. On top of reducing my appetite and sleep, I do not even allow my eyes to close.” The Buddha sighed, “This is your ignorance. We should know that spiritual practice requires a healthy body. Food replenishes our body and keeps us healthy. We need sleep the way we need food when we get hungry; we need to eat. Resting our eyes after heavy use is just like absorbing nutrients. Your extreme practice has caused your blindness.”
Aniruddha answered, “I have no regrets. My mind is at ease. Although I cannot see with my physical eyes, I can see in my mind’s eye.” Then the Buddha smiled, “Indeed, you can see in your mind’s eye. When I drew close, you knew it was me. You could tell. I believe you have attained the heavenly eye. From now on, you can cultivate your sight without your physical eyes so you can see the world, people and everything in the universe very clearly. To make good use of your heavenly eye, you should take [the teachings] to heart.”
Even though the Buddha and Aniruddha were cousins in their lay life, they became teacher and disciple after becoming monastics. The Buddha cherished him and did not want him to be lazy, so when He saw him dozing off, the Buddha had compassion for him. He wanted to awaken his wisdom-life, so He fiercely berated him. It was at that moment that Aniruddha fully woke up. But he did not know how to practice in moderation and protect his body, so he damaged his eyes. But the Buddha was very compassionate and encouraged him by saying, “Even though your physical eyes are damaged, your mind’s eye can be nurtured. You can develop the power of the heavenly eye.”
So, Aniruddha is also called the Heavenly Eye Practitioner. So, it is stated in the Agama Sutra,
“Of those practicing my teachings, Aniruddha is foremost in [developing] the heavenly eye that sees clearly.”
He practiced with diligence and attained the Heavenly Eye. We say that the mind’s eye is developed from the mind with dedication and hard work. So, naturally he could see all things in the world.
In this world right now, there are also many people who cannot see, but when they are working, they can be more nimble and do better than others. So, everyone, we should take good care of our mind’s eye; it is more important than our physical eyes. Moreover, in our daily living, if our mind’s eye is clear, we will be kind-hearted. If our mind’s eye is clear and we respect each other, naturally we will eliminate afflictions and our minds will be at ease. So, everyone, please always be mindful.