Episode 47 – Kapphina and Gavampati
>> When we treat others with a Buddha-mind, we are humble and respectful. We must see all people as Buddhas, as Never-Slighting Bodhisattva does.
>>Habitual tendencies accumulated over lifetimes are difficult to eliminate. A moment of disparagement and disrespect, of using humor to make a fool out of others, will result in karmic retributions. So, we must be disciplined, reverent, and create good affinities.
>>Kapphina means the Room [Constellation], because he was born after his parents prayed to that constellation and because he became a monastic after he stayed in the same dwelling as the Buddha.
>>Kapphina means the Room [Constellation], because he was born after his parents prayed to that constellation and because he became a monastic after he stayed in the same dwelling as the Buddha.
>>Gavampati means Cow-rumination Illness. When he was a novice monk, he made fun of an old monk for snorting like a cow. From then on, he was a cow for 500 lifetimes. Even when he was born human, for 500 lifetimes, he had Cow-rumination Illness.
>> When the Buddha entered Parinirvana, Venerable Gavampati heard [the news]. It was said that. Gavampati, the most virtuous monk of the wondrous assembly, bowed his head to the ground and said, “The Buddha entered Parinirvana. I will follow, the way elephants follow the elephant king.”
>> “Bhiksu Gavampati was foremost in receiving offerings in the heaven realm but not in the human realm.”
When we learn the Buddha’s teachings, our goal must be to attain the Buddha-mind. We should treat everyone with respect. Regardless of gender, age, wealth or social status, we treat them all equally. That is a form of respect. Thus, when we see people through a Buddha-mind, everyone is a Buddha. Let us recall Never-Slighting Bodhisattva as an example of this. No matter who insulted him, reviled him or beat him, he always responded by dodging, prostrating and showing them respect. “I do not dare slight you because you may someday become a Buddha too.” See, this method is also a form of spiritual practice. What we are learning now is to return to our intrinsic Buddha-nature. Therefore, the people we interact with may be Buddhas and. Bodhisattvas who continue to return on the ship of compassion.
When we treat others with a Buddha-mind, we are humble and respectful. We must see all people as Buddhas, as Never-Slighting Bodhisattva does.
In addition, we should be more vigilant of our habitual tendencies and eliminate them. Sometimes unintentional mistakes will also bring causes and effects that last life after life. So, I often tell you all that spiritual practice is about changing our habitual tendencies. We cannot allow negative habitual tendencies to manifest in our daily living. We must always heighten our vigilance and eliminate negative habitual tendencies. We should know that.
Habitual tendencies accumulated over lifetimes are difficult to eliminate. A moment of disparagement and disrespect, of using humor to make a fool out of others, will result in karmic retributions. So, we must be disciplined, reverent, and create good affinities.
We should always be vigilant and treat others carefully. We cannot simply say “just joking.” We cannot just treat people casually. Sometimes we may see frustrating habitual tendencies in others. Those are their habitual tendencies; we should not unintentionally adopt their displeasing habitual tendencies. We cannot do that either. So, the Buddha has also warned us by saying, “Even if we do not do so intentionally, if we mock someone accomplished in spiritual practice by making a fool of him or mimicking his manners so others will not respect him, we will face lifetimes of karmic retributions.”
So, even when afflictions are eliminated, habitual tendencies may still remain. Let us consider the next two great Arhats, BhiksuGavampati and BhiksuKapphina.
The name “Kapphina” means the Room (the Scorpio Constellation). Because he was conceived after his parents prayed to the stars for a son, they named him Kapphina after the constellation they prayed to. When Kapphina first became a monastic, he wanted to follow the Buddha and stay by His side. When he was on his way from his home to the Buddha’s abode, it suddenly rained heavily. At that time, he saw a house that belonged to a master craftsman who specialized in making ceramics. So, this young, aspiring monk asked if he could stay overnight.
The master potter saw that this young person was so determined and willing to practice that he was seeking the Great Enlightened One. This really pleased him, so he offered a very small room for his stay. However, that house was completely empty so the potter piled up dried straws to make a bed. Then he said, “Young man, I only have this space, nothing else. But I laid some straw on the ground, so you can take shelter from the rain here.”
Meanwhile, the skies had darkened. As he sat down and started to calm his mind, it continued to rain very hard outside. Suddenly, another practitioner came in. When this young man saw a spiritual practitioner come in, he was very happy. He quickly gave up his spot on the straw bedding and asked the practitioner to sit there. Then he sat across from the man. Suddenly, he [realized] this practitioner had a dignified appearance, so a sense of respect arose in him and he prostrated.
This practitioner was actually the Buddha. When the Buddha saw this young man’s reverence and determination to practice, He sat down and began to teach the Dharma to him. As this was happening, Kapphina’s mind filled with joy. These were his causes and conditions. Because he had this intention, when he saw a monastic, he treated him with great reverence. Indeed, the one he had bowed, paid respects and given up his seat to was the Buddha, the Great Enlightened One whom he wanted to follow.
Kapphina means the Room [Constellation], because he was born after his parents prayed to that constellation and because he became a monastic after he stayed in the same dwelling as the Buddha.
The Agama Sutra states,
“Of those practicing my teachings, Kapphina is foremost in knowledge of astronomy.”
Besides having the name of a constellation, Kapphina was accomplished in astronomy. So, the Buddha praised him by saying, “Kapphina is foremost in knowledge of astronomy.” BhiksuKapphina treated others with a Buddha-mind, so everyone was a Buddha [to him]. He treated others with humbleness and reverence, like Never-Slighting Bodhisattva.
Next is Gavampati. He was highly accomplished in his spiritual practice, but his name means Cow-rumination. This means that though this monk was already highly accomplished in his spiritual practice, he still had a habitual tendency that was carried over from past lifetimes.
What was this matter? Many, many lifetimes ago, he became a monastic at a young age. In that Sangha, there was an old bhiksu. He was very old, so he had no teeth. But he also had a habitual tendency where his mouth constantly made a chewing motion. This novice monk saw this and thought it was funny, so he often imitated the way his mouth constantly moved in that chewing motion.
Sometimes the old bhiksu would also snort like a cow. So, this little novice monk followed him around and always poked fun at him. This was how he began to develop this chewing habit. The old bhiksu was accomplished in his spiritual practice, so he excused this as actions of a child and did not feel afflicted. However, people around him told the boy, “Little novice monk, you have to respect your elders. Don’t be so naughty.” Still, he continued to mimic the old bhiksu’s quirk to the other monastics. We can imagine how naughty this little novice monk was.
This was how he developed this habit. Starting then, he was born as a cow for 500 lifetimes and had the behavior and habitual tendencies of a cow. Then, after 500 lifetimes, he was born human again, and still brought his bovine habitual tendencies from those 500 lifetimes to his life as a human. He then lived with those peculiar behaviors for another 500 human lifetimes. This is truly taxing 500 lifetimes on top of another 500 lifetimes is 1000 lifetimes
1000 lifetimes ago, the little novice monk did not intend any harm with his actions; he was just mischievous and poked fun at a spiritual practitioner. But this cause and effect led to his retribution. After 500 lifetimes of being a cow, he spent 500 lifetimes as a human, but the bovine habitual tendencies remained even until the Buddha’s lifetime. Though he had the causes and conditions to meet the Buddha and follow him as a monastic, some of those tendencies remained. His tendency to ruminate like a cow was not fully eliminated.
Gavampati means Cow-rumination Illness. When he was a novice monk, he made fun of an old monk for snorting like a cow. From then on, he was a cow for 500 lifetimes. Even when he was born human, for 500 lifetimes, he had Cow-rumination Illness.
The Buddha saw that he was well-cultivated, took the Buddha-Dharma to heart and “had attained benefits for himself.” His afflictions and ignorant thoughts had all been eliminated. He “had eliminated all Leaks” and “had severed all bonds of existence,” but his habitual tendencies were the one thing he was unable [to eliminate]. The Buddha was concerned that if the people who were alive at this time disrespected or slighted Gavampati, they would create similar karma. To lead everyone to have respect for. Venerable Gavampati, the Buddha began to tell them, “Do you know that his mouth keeps moving because he is actually reciting the name of the Buddha?” He gave him a string of beads to hold as he recited the name of the Buddha.
This is just like the seniors we see now holding rosaries. They rotate it one by one as they chant, and we can see that their mouths are constantly moving. Perhaps back in that era, the Buddha started this in order to prevent others from creating more negative speech karma and slighting Venerable Gavampati. In His wisdom and compassion, the Buddha told everyone that. Gavampati was using the beads to count the number of times he chanted the Buddha’s name, and he chanted the Buddha’s name to eliminate afflictions and help him take the Dharma to heart. He hoped that everyone would respect. Venerable Gavampati.
Even so, He was worried that when he begged for alms in other places, people would inevitably and unintentionally say or do something by mistake. So, the Buddha said to him, “Receive offerings from heavenly beings. Do not beg for alms in the human realm.” Then, while the Buddha lived among people until He entered Parinirvana, Venerable Gavampati continued receiving offerings in the heaven realm. But when he heard that Buddha entered Parinirvana, he was very sad. In the midst of receiving offerings, he quickly prostrated with his head touching the ground and said, “The Buddha entered Parinirvana. I will follow.” This is like the intimate bond between a baby elephant and its mother. So, after he heard that the Buddha had entered Parinirvana, he followed as well.
When the Buddha entered Parinirvana, Venerable Gavampati heard [the news]. It was said that. Gavampati, the most virtuous monk of the wondrous assembly, bowed his head to the ground and said, “The Buddha entered Parinirvana. I will follow, the way elephants follow the elephant king.”
This venerable one [faced consequences from] making unintentional mistakes in this world. Therefore, the Buddha was very worried when he went among people. Everyone, we should think about this. Don’t unintentional mistakes also bring us karmic retributions lifetime after lifetime? So, when we deal with people and matters, we need to exercise great reverence.
The Buddha said in the Agama Sutra,
“Bhiksu Gavampati was foremost in receiving offerings in the heaven realm, but not in the human realm.”
It means he received offerings happily in heaven but in this world he had some troubles. So, he was foremost in receiving offerings from those in the heaven realm but not the human realm. This was the unique feature of Gavampati.
Everyone, although he was in heaven and rarely in the human realm, after the Buddha entered Parinirvana, he followed, just like the way elephants follow the [elephant king]. Obviously, he respected the Buddha greatly. This is also a warning to us to always be mindful. We cannot form habitual tendencies that bring us suffering in future lifetimes. In conclusion, we have to be mindful in our daily interactions with people and matters. We must eliminate habitual tendencies immediately, remain vigilant and reverent and form good affinities. This is very important. Everyone, please always be mindful.