Mary Mother of Jesus: life details

Is the Vatican responsible for the Koran (Quran), the sacred texts of Islam? Did they create these texts or have them compiled, another psyop to control yet another group of people? It is odd that the only woman mentioned by name is Mary (Miriam, Maria), the mother of the prophet, St. Issa (Jesus).

The Enlightened Nun and Mara the Evil One

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Uppalavanna Sutra (SN 5.5); A. Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Mara appears to Uppalavanna

At Savatthi. Then, in the morning, the fully enlightened Buddhist nun [one of the Buddha's two chief female disciples, foremost in psychic powers] Uppalavanna [Theri] dressed... she stood at the foot of a sal tree in full flower.

 

Then Mara [Devaputra] the Tempter, desiring to arouse fear, trepidation, and terror in Ven. Uppalavanna, desiring to make her fall away from absorption [samadhi, coherence, collectedness, concentration], approached her and addressed her in verse:
 

Having gone to a sal tree with flowering top,

You stand at its foot all alone, nun.

There is none whose beauty can rival your own:

Foolish girl, have you no fear of rogues?

Mara as Kamadeva, Cupid, Eros

Then it occurred to Ven. Uppalavanna: "Now who is this...? This is Mara the Tempter... desiring to make me fall away from absorption."

Then Ven. Uppalavanna having understood, "This is Mara the Tempter," replied to him in verses:

 

Though a hundred thousand rogues

Just like you might come here,

I stir not a hair, and I feel no terror;

Even alone, Mara, I fear you not.

 

I can make myself disappear,

Or I can enter inside your belly.

I can stand between your brows,

Yet you would not catch a glimpse of me.*

  

For I am the master of my mind/heart;

The bases of power are well developed;

I am freed from every kind of bondage.

Therefore, I fear you not, friend. 

 

Then Mara the Tempter realizing, "The nun Uppalavanna recognizes me!" was sad and disappointed and vanished right then and there.

*NOTE: Compare these psychic displays to the Buddha's chief male disciple foremost in psychic powers, Maha Moggallana. In one incident, he actually outmaneuvered Mara with them, baffling him in the process that a mere disciple of the Buddha was more powerful than the great Mara himself.

The Buddha's foremost FEMALE disciple

G.P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names (Pali Tet Society, 1988-1973) edited by Ashley Wells, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Uppalavanna Theri, the Buddha's chief female disciple foremost in magical powers.

Modern Theravada Buddhist nun, Ven. Tathaloka, in California wilderness (bhikkhuni.net).

Fragrant lotuses rise above their muddy pond water unstained (dingtwist.com)

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Lotuses arise from mire untainted (FM).

The enlightened Buddhist nun Ven. Uppalavannā Therī was one of the two chief female disciples of the Buddha. The daughter of a banker, she was born in Sāvatthi, an ancient kingdom in what is today northern India.

She received the name "Uppalavannā" because her skin was the color of the heart or calyx of a blue lotus. When she came of age, kings and commoners from all over India sent messengers to her father asking for her hand in marriage.

Not wishing to offend any of them, he suggested that Uppalavannā should leave the world, that is, go forth and become a nun. Because of her past karma acting as a decisive support (upanissaya), she very willingly agreed and was fully ordained.

White lotuses in a pool (mrwallpaper.com)

Soon it came to her turn to perform certain duties in the hall on lunar observance days (weekly visits by lay people for intensive practice of one meal then fasting the rest of the day based on phases of the moon). Lighting the lamp, she swept the room. Taking the flame of the lamp as her visible meditation object, she developed fire-kasina.

 

Then attaining to absorption (jhāna) thereby, she became fully enlightened along with the four special attainments call the analytical knowledges. She became particularly versed in the mystic power of transformation, shape shifting (iddhi vikubbana).

Magic powers

How could a lotus bud be the womb of a baby? The power of merit (passport-love.com).

 

When the Buddha arrived at the gandamba-tree to perform the Twin Miracle, Ven. Uppalavannā offered to perform certain miracles herself, if the Buddha would allow it, but he declined, seeing great danger in disciples who possess them publicly exhibiting magical powers (ThigA.190, 195).

 
Later, at Jetavana, in the assembly of the Monastic Community (Sangha), the Buddha declared her to be a chief disciple, "foremost in supernormal (iddhi) powers (A.i.25), like Ven. Maha Moggallana among male disciples.

According to the Dhammapada Commentary (iii.211), the miracle which Ven. Uppalavannā volunteered to perform at the gandamba-tree, was the assumption of the form of a world ruler (cakkavatti), with a retinue extending for 36 leagues and the paying of homage to the Buddha, with all the ruler's followers, in the presence of the multitude.

The Verses of the Nuns (Therīgāthā, vv.234-5) contains several verses (gāthās of the theris or senior nuns, lit. monastic elders) attributed to her. Three of them were uttered in anguish by a mother who had been unwittingly living as her daughter's rival (or co-wife) with the man who later became the monk Ven. Gangātīriya.

Ven. Uppalavannā repeated these verses to help her reflect on the harm and vileness of sexual and sensual desires, which can reduce one to depravity. Two others are utterances of joy -- verses of uplift (udana) -- on the distinctions she had won; another records a miracle she performed before the Buddha, with his consent.

What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place...

The rest contain a famous conversation between her and Māra Devaputra, the tempter, a beautiful Cupid like deva intent on frustrating the enlightenment of eminent individuals, a kind of Satan or fallen Lucifer figure.

This conversation, which more or less identical with the foregoing, is recorded in S.i.131f, wherein she tells Mara that she has passed completely beyond his power and influence, his temptations and trickery.

Rape

Oh my goodness, the karmic consequences!

The books give several episodes connected with Ven. Uppalavannā. Once a young man named Ananda, who was her cousin and who had been infatuated with her during her life as a layperson, hid himself in her hut in Andhavana. In spite of her protests, he deprived her of her chastity as a nun.

No. Desist, fool, for what has this body to offer bu what great danger in your lust?

 
It is said that as a result of this heinous crime he was swallowed up by the fires of Avīcī, the lowest of the hells known as the "waveless deep." From that time onwards, nuns were forbidden to live in Andhavana (DhA.ii.49f; the incident is referred to in Vin.iii.35), a forest grove used for monastic living and practice in the early forest tradition prior to there being formal nunneries and monasteries (viharas).
 

It is said (e.g., DhA.iv.166f) that this incident gave rise to the question of whether even fully enlightened being (arhats) enjoyed the pleasures of love and wished to gratify their passions. Why should they not? For they are not trees nor ant-hills, but living creatures with moist flesh.

The Buddha most emphatically declared that thoughts of lust never enter the hearts of arhats (fully liberated "saints" freed of all bondage and mental defilements).

Flesh

On another occasion, Ven. Uppalavannā came across some meat left behind in Andhavana, which was obviously meant for her. It was left by a kindhearted thief. Having prepared the meat, she took it to make an offering to the Buddha at the Bamboo Grove (Veluvana).

Finding him away on alms round, she left the meat with Ven. Udāyi, who was looking after the monastery (vihāra), to be given to the Buddha. But Udāyi insisted that Ven. Uppalavannā give him her inner robe as a reward for his services (Vin.iii.208f).
 

Mention is made of a pupil of Ven. Uppalavannā, who followed the Buddha for seven years, learning the monastic disciplinary code or Vinaya (Vin.ii.261).

The other chief female disciple

The Buddha declares that Ven. Khemā Theri (foremost in wisdom" like Ven. Sariputra among the monks) and Ven. Uppalavannā are the measure of his female disciples, and that the believing nun, if she would aspire perfectly, should aspire to be like them (A.i.88; ii.164; S.ii.236).

Past lives

In Padumuttara Buddha's time Uppalavannā saw a female disciple who was declared to be "foremost among those possessed of supernormal power," and wished for herself a similar rank in the dispensation of a future buddha.

In the time of Kassapa Buddha, she was one of the seven daughters of Kikī, king of Benares (Varanasi, India), and having done many good deeds, was reborn in a heavenly world.

Later, she was reborn in the human world and had to work for her living. One day she gave an offering to a nonteaching (pacceka) buddha, who had just risen from deep absorption (samādhi). She made an offering of a meal of fragrant rice in his bowl and covered it with a beautiful lotus.

She had prepared the meal for herself. The beautiful lotus she afterwards took back but again replaced it, asking the pacceka buddha's forgiveness. She expressed a wish that she should beget as many sons as there were grains of rice in her offering and that lotuses should spring up under her feet as she walked.

Lotus born

Red and blue lotus blossom, symbolic flower of the East (devwijewardane)

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Born in a lotus blossom

In her next rebirth she was spontaneously reborn inside of a lotus. An ascetic who found her as an infant adopted her as his daughter. But when she grew up to be a great beauty, the king of Benares, hearing of her beauty, asked the ascetic for her hand in marriage and made her his chief queen, calling her Padumavatī.

• Sophal1 explains that the Abhidharma describes three modes of conception: womb born, born of flowers, fruit, or tree-hollows, and spontaneously born [apparently of mind powered by karma with no intervention of parents].

The king's other wives became very jealous of her beauty, and when the king was away to quell an uprising of border tribes, they concealed in caskets her many sons, chief of whom was Prince Mahāpaduma.

They hid everyone born to Padumavatī and told the king that Padumavatī was a nonhuman who had given birth to a log of wood.

Padumavatī was sent away in disgrace, but later through the divine intervention of Sakka (King of the Devas), their deception was exposed, and Padumavatī regained all of her former power and glory. (Her temporary downfall was due to her having withdrawn her lotus gift to the pacceka buddha).

Later, when Prince Mahāpaduma and his brothers became pacceka buddhas, Queen Padumavatī died of a broken heart and was reborn in a village outside Rājagaha (modern Rajgir, India, a royal city surrounded by a ring of seven hills where Vulture's Peak is located).

There some of the pacceka buddhas who had been her sons discovered her, and they all came to a meal offering at her house. At the conclusion of the meal, she offered them blue lotuses and expressed the wish that her complexion should be like the calyx of the blue lotus.
 

This account is a summary of the Therīgāthā Commentary, pp.182ff; AA.i.188ff; but see also DhA.ii.48f.

 

The Collection of Monastic Stories (Apadāna) account of the past lives of Uppakavanna differs from the above in several details (ii.551, but vv.1-15 quoted in the Therigatha differ from those in the Apadāna and agree with the Therigatha account).

Reptilian

Naga princess (allexandramonica)

According to this account, in Padumuttara Buddha's time, she was a reptilian (nāga) maiden named Vimalā and was impressed by the supernormal-powers displayed by a nun, hence her wish for similar powers.

The Apadāna also mentions Uppalavannā's birth as the daughter of a banker of Benares in the time of Vipassī Buddha. She gave great alms to the Buddha and monastic disciples and made offerings of lotuses.

She was the second daughter of Kikī, and her name was Samannaguttā. In her next rebirth she became the ravishing daughter of Tirītavaccha of Aritthapura. In her last rebirth she became an arhat within a fortnight (two weeks) of her ordination as a nun.
 

Uppalavannā's name occurs several times in the Jātakas, the Rebirth Tales of the Buddha:

• 

  Jataka Tales (Rhys Davids)

  In the Kharādiya Jātaka (J.i.160) she was a deer, the sister of the Bodhisatta (the Buddha-to-be).
• In the Tipallatthamiga Jātaka (J.i.164) she was the mother of Rāhula (the Buddha's son), then reborn as a stag.
• She is identified with the old woman, the foster-mother of Ayyakālaka (J.i.196),
• with the queen Mudulakkhanā (J.i.306),
• the female Brahmin in the Sārambha Jataka (J.i.375),
• the courtesan in the Kurudhamma Jataka (J.ii.381),
• the Brahmin's daughter (and sister of Rāhula) in the Dhonasākha Jataka (J.iii.168),
• Siridevī in the Sirikālakanni Jataka (J.iii.264),
• the goddess in the Bhisapuppha Jataka (J.iii.310),
• Manoja's sister in the Manoja Jataka (J.iii.324),
• the ascetic's daughter in the Kumbhakāra Jataka (J.iii.383),
• the deity in the Jāgarajā Jataka (J.iii.405), in the Sankha Jataka (J.iv.22), and in the Kiñchanda Jataka (J.v.11),
• the sister in the Bhisa Jataka (J.iv.314),
• Sutanā in the Rohantamiga (J.iv.423),
• the younger sister in the Jayaddisa Jataka (J.v.36),
• Kundalinī in the Tesakuna Jataka (J.v.125),
• Ummadantī in the Ummadantī Jataka (J.v.227),
• Hiridevatā in the Sudhābhojana Jataka (J.v.412),
• the goddess of the parasol in the Mūgapakkha Jataka (J.vi.29),
• the ocean spirit in the Mahājanaka Jataka (J.vi.68),
• the goddess in the Sāma Jataka (J.vi.95),
• Selā in the Khandahāla Jataka (J.vi.157),
• Accimukhī in the Bhūridatta Jataka (J.vi.219),
• Bherī in the Mahā-ummagga Jataka (J.vi.478), and
• Kanhajinā in the Vessantara Jataka (J.vi.593).

It was Ven. Uppalavannā who ordained Anojā and her companions by the express wish of the Buddha (AA.i.178).

The Buddha's chief disciple was black

Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly; Hellmuth Hecker, Maha-Moggallana, The Wheel Publication No. 263/264 (Buddhist Publication Society), German original Wissen und Wandel (magazine, XXII, 9/10), Bradford Griffith and Robert Bussewitz (transcribers) DharmaNet

The Buddha and his black chief male disciple, diverse representations (Wisdom Quarterly)

   

The Buddha may have had as many as 80,000 monastic human disciples (savakas, "hearers") during his 45 years of teaching with countless more devas who were able to attain liberating insight. But he only singled out four "chief disciples," two monks (Great Moggallāna and Sariputra) and two nuns (Uppalavanna and Khema). Great Moggallana had very dark black skin described as being the "color of a rain cloud." He was not African, of course, but Dravidian, from a wealthy and privileged Brahmin family in ancient north India. He may have been Indo-Ariyan nevertheless with very dark skin, usually depicted as blue as is customary in India. It is explained in Sri Lankan commentaries as being due to the residual effects of weighty past karma. But whatever the case, he was joyfully welcomed by the Buddha, ordained, and immediately singled out as a chief disciple. His special ability was helping bring new monks to full enlightenment after the Buddha attracted them to the Dharma and Sariputra aided them to stream entry (the first stage of enlightenment). Presumably, Upalavanna and Khema helped the Buddha in the same way with nuns. Great Moggallana was also singled out as "foremost in psychic powers." There are many stories of his putting them to good use, which is interesting because the Buddha -- who also possessed great supernormal abilities -- saw danger in them and normally discouraged their display.

 

3. Finding the Teaching

Without knowing anything of the Buddha, Great Moggallana (born as Kolita) and Sariputra (born as Upatissa) gave up their life as wandering ascetics and, after many years, returned to their home country of Magadha. This happened not long after the Buddha had delivered his first sutra setting in motion the Wheel of the Dharma at Benares (Varanasi, India).
 
But the two friends still had not given up hope, and they decided now to search separately, for doubling their chances. They agreed among themselves that if one first learned about a convincing path to liberation (the deathless, nirvana), he would quickly inform the other.
 

Black Ven. Sivali (109060883@N02/flickr)

At that time, when both were about 40 years old, the Buddha had sent out the first batch of enlightened missionary disciples, 61 in number, to proclaim the Teaching (Dharma) for the well-being and happiness of humans and devas. The Buddha himself had gone to Rajagaha, the capital of Magadha, where the great king of Magadha soon became his follower and donated the Bamboo Grove Monastery (Jetavana). At that monastery the Buddha was residing when Kolita and Upatissa returned to Rajagaha, staying at their teacher Sanjaya's place.

One day Upatissa went to town while Kolita stayed back at their dwelling. Kolita saw his friend returning. Never had he seen him like that: his entire being seemed to be transformed, his appearance was buoyant and radiant. Eagerly Kolita asked him:

"Your features are serene, dear friend, and your complexion is bright and clear. Did it happen that you have found the road to enlightenement, the path to liberation from all suffering?"
 
Upatissa replied: "It is so, dear friend, the path to the deathless has been found!" He then reported how it happened....
 

Of things arisen from conditions

the Wayfarer the condition told

and what is their cessation,

that, too, the Great Ascetic proclaimed.

 
When Upatissa heard this stanza, the vision of Truth (the "Dharma-eye") arose in him on the spot, and the very same happened to Kolita when he listened to the stanza retold by his friend. He, too, realized: Whatever arises is bound to pass away.

The realization that was evoked by this stanza, may be called a truly mystical event. For us, these four lines do not contain an explanation explicit enough for a full understanding. The deeper and wider meaning of the stanza reveals itself only to those who have trained themselves [and can discern the Four Noble Truths in it] for a long time in wisdom and renunciation and have reflected long upon the impermanent and thed eathless, the conditioned and the unconditioned.....
  
After Kolita listened to that powerful stanza, he asked at once where the Great Ascetic, the Perfected One, the Buddha was staying. Hearing that he was dwelling nearby at the Bamboo Grove Monastery, he wished to go there immediately....

4. The Struggle for Realization

The Buddha teaching monastic disciples, bas relief, Songkla, Thailand, rooftop pyramid

 
Now the two friends, at the head of the 250 fellow ascetics, approached the Bamboo Grove. There the Buddha was just teaching Dharma to his disciples. And when he saw the two friends approaching, the Enlightened One said: "Here, disciples, they are coming, the two friends Kolita and Upatissa. They will be my chief (male) disciples, a blessed pair!"

Having arrived, all respectfully saluted the Buddha, raising their folded palms to the forehead and bowing at the feet of the meditation Master. Then the two friends spoke: "May we be permitted, O venerable sir, to obtain under the Blessed One the going-forth and the full admission?"

Then the Blessed One responded: "Come, monks! Well proclaimed is the Teaching. Live now the life of purity for making an end of suffering!" These brief words served to bestow ordination on the two friends and their following.
 

From then on Upatissa was called Sariputta ("the son of Sari," his mother) and Kolita was called Maha-Moggallana ("the Great One of the Moggallana clan") to distinguish him from other Buddhist monks from that same clan.

 

After all of them had obtained ordination, the Buddha addressed the 250 disciples and explained to them the Teaching in such a way that before long they attained to the first stage of enlightenment, stream-entry, and in due course became fully enlightened. Sariputra and Great Moggallana, however, went into solitude, but this time separate from each other.

 

Sariputta remained in the vicinity of Rajagaha and went to meditate in a cave called "Bear's Den." From there he walked to the city for his alms, which afforded him the opportunity to listen often to the Buddha's discourses. What he had heard he independently worked over on his own and methodically penetrated to a clear understanding of the mind and its laws. He needed 14 days to reach full enlightenment, the utter destruction of all defilement (asavas).

 

Great Moggallana, however, for reasons not known to us, chose as his abode the forests near the village of Kallavalaputta in Magadha. With great zeal, he meditated there while sitting or walking up and down. But in these efforts, he was often overcome by sleepiness. Though he did not wish to fall asleep, he was unable to keep his body erect and his head upright. There were times when he had to keep his eyes open even by force of will.

The tropical heat, the strain of long years of a wandering life, and the inner tensions he had gone through perhaps explain how now, at the end of his quest, his body reacted with fatigue.

 

But the Awakened One, with a great teacher's care for his disciples, did not lose sight of him. With his supernormal vision he perceived the difficulties of the new monk, and by magic power he appeared before him. When Moggallana saw the Buddha standing before him, a good part of his fatigue had already vanished. Now the Awakened One asked him:

"Are you nodding, Moggallana, are you nodding?"

  

"Yes, venerable sir."

1. "Well then, Moggallana, at whatever thought drowsiness befalls you, to that thought you should not give attention and not dwell on that thought. Then, by doing so, it is possible that your drowsiness will vanish. (The Buddha gave many more step-by-step instructions for staying awake). More 

"Nay, not for this that you may slumber long,

Comes the night, in starry garlands wreathed.

For vigils by the wise this night is here." 

— Theragatha, Verse 193 (trans. by C.A.F. Rhys Davids)

The nun Khema, Foremost in Wisdom (sutra)

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly translation based on Ven. Thanissaro (aka Geoffrey DeGraff, Abbot of Wat Metta), Khema Sutta (SN 44.1)

Venerable Khema, the Buddha's chief female disciple (-William/flickr.com)

 

First Buddhist Women (Susan Murcott)

On one occasion the Blessed One was residing near the city of Savatthi at Jeta's Grove in the millionaire's monastery. At that time the nun Khema [the Buddha's chief female disciple, "foremost in wisdom"], wandering on tour among the Kosalan peopple, had taken up her residence between Savatthi and Saketa at Toranavatthu. 

Then King Pasenadi Kosala, while traveling from Saketa to Savatthi, took up a one-night residence between Savatthi and Saketa at Toranavatthu. He addressed a certain man, "Come, now, my good man. Find out if in Toranavatthu there is any Brahmin [priest] or wandering ascetic (shraman) I might visit today."

 

"As you wish, sire," the man replied. Having roamed all over Toranavatthu, he did not see any. However, he did see the nun Khema. And seeing her he went to King Pasenadi Kosala and reported: "Sire, in Toranavatthu there is no Brahmin or wandering ascetic of the sort your majesty might visit. But there is a [Buddhist] nun named Khema, a disciple of the Blessed One, worthy and rightly self-awakened.

Khema "foremost in wisdom"

"And of this lady this commendable report has spread: 'She is wise, competent, intelligent, learned, a fluent speaker, admirable in her ingenuity.' Let your majesty visit her."

 

King Pasenadi Kosala went to the nun Khema. When he arrived, he bowed and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there he said: "Now then, lady, does the Tathagata [the "Wayfarer," the Buddha] exist after death?"

 

"This, great king, has not been declared by the Blessed One: 'The Tathagata exists after death.'"

 

"Well then, lady, does the Tathagata not exist after death?"

 

"Great king, this too has not been declared by the Blessed One: 'The Tathagata does not exist after death.'"

 

"Then does the Tathagata both exist and not exist after death?"

"This also has not been declared by the Blessed One: 'The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death.'"

 

"Well then, does the Tathagata neither exist nor not exist after death?"

 

"This, too, has not been declared by the Blessed One: 'The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death.'"

 

"Now, lady, when asked if the Tathagata exists after death, you [answer no to each of the four exhaustive options]. Now, what is the cause, what is the reason, why that has not been declared by the Blessed One?"

 

Khema, Buddha, and Uppalavanna? (BreenJones)

"Very well, then, great king, I will question you in return about this very same matter. Answer as you see fit. What do you think, great king: Do you have an accountant or actuary or mathematician who can count the grains of sand in the river Ganges as 'so many grains of sand,' or 'so many hundreds of grains of sand,' or 'so many thousands of grains of sand,' or 'so many hundreds of thousands of grains of sand'?"

 

"No, lady."

 

"Then do you have an accountant or calculator or mathematician who can count the water in the great ocean as 'so many buckets of water,' or 'so many hundreds of buckets of water,' or 'so many thousands of buckets of water,' or 'so many hundreds of thousands of buckets of water'?"

 

"No, lady. But why is that? The great ocean is deep, boundless, hard to fathom!"

 

"Even so, great king, any physical form by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him -- that the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising. Freed from the classification of form, great king, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the ocean. 

Modern Theravada "ten precept nun" dressed in white in Burma (As1974/flickr.com)

 

"'The Tathagata exists after death' does not apply. 'The Tathagata does not exist after death does not apply. 'The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death' does not apply. 'The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death' does not apply.

 

"Any feeling... Any perception... Any mental formation...

"Any consciousness [form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are the Five Aggregates of Clinging unenlightened beings cling to and regard as self] by which one describing the Tathagata would describe him -- that the Tathagata has abandoned, its root destroyed, made like a palmyra stump, deprived of the conditions of development, not destined for future rearising. 

"Freed from the classification of consciousness, great king, the Tathagata is deep, boundless, hard to fathom, like the ocean. 'The Tathagata exists after death' does not apply. 'The Tathagata does not exist after death' does not apply. 'The Tathagata both exists and does not exist after death' does not apply. 'The Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist after death' does not apply."

• The Commentary and Sub-commentary try to go further than this discourse and to describe the Liberated One's indescribability. To paraphrase: He is freed from the classification of form [and the other aggregates] because for him there will be no rearising [rebirth] of form and so on in the future, after passing into final nirvana. In addition, he is deep in terms of the depth of his character and the depth of his qualities. As for any description in terms of "a being" which might be used in relation to someone with such deep qualities, when one sees the inapplicability of the description "being," owing to the (future) non-rearising of the Five Aggregates of Clinging, one sees that none of the four statements with regard to the Tathagata are invalid after passing into final nirvana. [Wayfarer is an early English translation of the term Tathagata, which means "welcome one" and "well gone one," sometimes translated in Mahayana Buddhism as "Thus Come One." He is gone-and-going, after having arisen and arrived. He is a welcome teacher of freedom destined for complete freedom.] This explanation, which borrows from Sister Vajira's verse in SN 5.10, misses an important point raised in SN 22.36 and SN 23.2. In SN 22.36 the Buddha states that one is measured and classified by what one is obsessed with or clinging to. If one is not obsessed with anything and no longer clinging even unconsciously, then one is not measured or classified by it in the here and now. In SN 23.2 the Buddha points out that the term "being" or "becoming" (bhava) applies only where there is craving and passion [rooted in ignorance/unenlightenment and therefore leading to the future rearising of a rebirth-linking consciousness, which entails rebirth in samsara yet again for the umpteenth time]. The Tathagata, freed from craving and passion, is indescribable in the present, even though he obviously still functions in the present. SN 22.86 elaborates on this point in great detail. Another problem raised by the Commentary's explanation for this brief discourse is how it would define the Tathagata's qualities and character, for what are they composed of aside from the aggregates.

Then King Pasenadi Kosala, delighting in and approving of the nun Khema's words, got up from his seat, bowed, and -- respectfully keeping her to his right -- departed.

 

Asking the Buddha

A great Indian king (maha raja) meets the Buddha.

At another time he went to the Blessed One. When he arrived, he bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there [he asked the Buddha the same four questions asked of the nun Khema, and he received precisely the same responses and analogies. Then he exclaimed:]

 

"Amazing, venerable sir! It is astounding how the meaning and phrasing of the teacher and disciple agree, coincide, and do not diverge from one another with regard to the supreme teaching! 

 

Recently, venerable sir, I visited the nun Khema. And when I arrived I asked her regarding this matter, and she answered me with the same words, the very same phrasing as the Blessed One. Amazing, venerable sir! It is astounding how the meaning and phrasing of the teacher and disciple agree, coincide, and do not diverge from one another with regard to the supreme teaching!

 

"Now, venerable sir, we must go. Our duties are many, and many are our responsibilities."

 

"Then do as you see fit, great king."

 

So King Pasenadi Kosala, delighting in and approving of the Blessed One's words, got up from his seat, bowed, -- respectfully keeping the Blessed One to his right -- departed.

The Buddha's Sister: Sundari Nanda

Wisdom Quarterly

The mysterious pull of beauty is revealed and undone when we see it clearly according to its true nature as composite with an illusory stability.

Sundari Nanda, Suddhodana and Maha Pajapati's daughter, the Buddha's half-sister

Soon after his birth, Prince Siddhartha's mother (Maha Maya Devi) passed away. He was adopted by her younger sister, King Suddhodana's other wife, Maha Prajapati. She was later to become history's first Buddhist nun.

When she was born, Princess Nanda was lovingly welcomed by her parents: Her father was King Suddhodana, the father of the Buddha; her mother was Mahaprajapati. Nanda's name means "joy, contentment, and pleasure." She was so named because her parents were especially joyous about the newborn's arrival.

Nanda was known in her childhood for being extremely beautiful, well-bred, and graceful. To distinguish her from other Sakyans -- the Buddha's extended family -- with the same name, like her brother, she came to be known as Rupa Nanda ("one of delightful form") and Sundari Nanda ("beautiful Nanda").

Over time, many members of her family, the Sakyans of Kapilavastu [likely located in the vicinity of Bamiyan, Afghanistan -- sakya literally meaning "grey earth" according to Wonderlane -- formerly the mountainous desert northwest of India, or less likely but as is traditionally held, southern Nepal] left the worldly life. They renounced it for the ascetic life, inspired by the enlightenment of Prince Siddhartha, who came to be called the "Sage of the Sakyas" (Shakyamuni).

Among them was her and the Buddha's brother, Nanda, and their cousins Ananda and Anurudha, who were two of the Buddha’s leading disciples. When their mother became the first nun, many other royal Shakyan ladies, including Siddhartha's former wife, Princess Yasodharā, became Buddhist monastics.


So Sundari Nanda also renounced the burdensome household life. But unlike many of the others, who sought the best guidance, she did not do it out of

• confidence in the Buddha's enlightenment
• confidence in the efficacy of the Dharma to bring one to enlightenment
• confidence in the success of that Noble Sangha who followed the Path (the Buddha-Dharma) laid out for quickly reaching enlightenment.

She did it out of love for and attachment to her relatives and a feeling that she belonged with them.

Renunciation

It soon became obvious that Sundari Nanda was not focused on her life as an ascetic nun. Her thoughts were mainly centered on her beauty and popularity with the people, characteristics she enjoyed due to the ripening of meritorious actions performed in past lives. This welcome karmic inheritance became an impediment to Sundari Nanda. She neglected to reinforce it with new merit (profitable karma or weighty good actions).

She felt guilty that she was not living up to the lofty expectations of others. She was far from the goal so many members of the Shakyan royal family had left the home life for. And she felt certain the Buddha would censure her. So for a long time, she avoided him.

Enlightenment

One day the Buddha requested all the nuns come to him individually to hear the teaching. Sundari Nanda disregarded the request. The Buddha asked for her to be called explicitly. She presented herself but her demeanor was abashed and anxious. The Buddha wisely appealed to her positive qualities, so she became willing to listen and delighted in his words.

When the Buddha knew the conversation had raised her spirits and made her joyful and ready to accept the Dharma, he began to teach her. Since Sundari Nanda was preoccupied with her physical beauty, he used his psychic powers to produce a vision of a stunningly beautiful woman, one more gorgeous than Sundari Nanda.

The woman then began to age rapidly and forcefully right in front of her. As a result, Sundari Nanda could see in explicit detail what humans otherwise only notice after decades or an entire lifespan: Youth recedes, health and beauty fade, decay and signs aging appear -- wrinkles, hair greying and loss, decline in faculties.

The vision deeply affected Sundari Nanda; she was shaken to the core. Having seen the image, the Buddha could explain the universal mark of radical impermanence [which is not about eventual aging, but moment-to-moment rising and falling of the Five Aggregates] to her in such a manner that she penetrated the truth entirely and thereby attained the first stage of enlightenment, certainty of future liberation, stream-entry.

As a meditation subject, the Buddha advised her to contemplate the impermanent and unpleasant aspects of the body -- to see it as it truly is and thereby be liberated by that truth. This is a systematic contemplation -- the first of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness -- not simply an epiphany (satori) based on a vision of the future loss of beauty. Sundari Nanda persevered for extended periods of practice "diligent and courageous day and night." She described it as recorded in the "Verses of Enlightened Nuns" (Therigatha 82-86):

Ill, impure, and offensive as well,
Nanda, see this jumbled mass [the body].
Toward the unlovely, develop mind
Well-composed to singleness.

As is this, so was that
As that, so will this likewise be.
Exhaling foulness, evil odors,
A thing delighted in by fools.

Diligently inspecting it, just as it is,
By day and night thus seeing it,
With my own wisdom having seen,
I turned away, dispassionate.

With diligence, carefully
I examined the body
And saw this as it really is --
Both within and without.

No longer lusting but quenched
Within this body then was I:
By diligence from fetters freed,
Peaceful was I and quite cool.

As Sundari Nanda had once been infatuated with her physical appearance, it was necessary for her to apply the meditation on bodily unattractiveness to counterbalance that powerful tendency and bias and find equanimity (impartiality).

Later the Buddha recognized his half-sister as being the foremost amongst female monastics who practiced meditative absorption (jhana) -- like the chief female disciple Uppalavanna and chief male disciple Mahamoggallana. This meant that she not only followed the analytical way of insight, but was expert in the foundational stages of serenity.

Enjoying this pure supersensual well-being, she no longer needed any sensual distractions. She enjoyed inner peace at will, in spite of having become a member of the Sangha out of attachment to her loved ones.

I admit it, I'm a doting parent. I want an enlightened child. I show this to her, but she only laughs. She's not getting any younger you know.

Sariputra, "Foremost in Wisdom"

The Buddha preaches to Moggalana and Sariputta (British Library)

The Conversion of Sariputta and Moggallana

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Sanjaya

One of the six famous ascetics at the time of the Buddha, known for his skepticism.

Sariputta

One of the most important of Buddha's disciples. He was originally a disciple of Sanaya and may have been influential in the development of early Buddhist skepticism. Several of his discourses are philosophically important.

Moggallana

One of the most important of Buddha's disciples. With Sariputta, he was originally a fellow disciple of the skeptic Sanjaya.

Rajagriha

The capital city of the powerful kingdom of

Magadha

Located in Bihar State, India.

Arhat

[Enlightened] Noble Being, a Buddhist Sage. Called "Lohan" in Chinese.

Assaji

One of the original five companions and disciples of the Buddha.

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The Buddha and his foremost male disciples.

Now at that time, Sanjaya, the wandering ascetic, was dwelling at Rajagriha in company with a large following of wandering ascetics, two hundred and fifty in number; and at that time Sariputta and Moggallana were leading the religious life under Sanjaya, the wandering ascetic. And they had made this compact: "That one of us who shall first attain to the deathless is to tell it to the other."

Then the venerable Assaji, having put on his tunic in the morning and taken his bowl and his robes, entered Rajagriha for alms, winning the minds of men with his advancing and his retiring, with his looking and his gazing, with his drawing in his arms and his stretching out his arms, and having his eyes cast down, and perfect in his deportment. And Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, saw the venerable Assaji going the rounds of Rajagriha for alms, winning the minds of men with his advancing and his retiring, with his looking and his gazing, with his drawing in arms and his stretching out his arms, and having his eyes cast down, and perfect in his deportment. And when he had seen him, it occurred to him as follows:—

-

"This must be a monk who is either an arhat already, or has entered the path which conducts to becoming an arhat. What if now I draw near to this monk, and ask him, ‘To follow whom, brother, did you retire from the world? Who is your teacher? and whose doctrine do you approve?’" Then it occurred to Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, as follows:—

"It is not a fit time to ask this monk questions while he is inside the city, and going the rounds for alms. What if now I follow in the wake of this monk in the manner approved of for those who have requests to prefer?"

Then the venerable Assaji, after he had gone the rounds of Rajagriha and obtained alms, issued from the city; and Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, drew near to where the venerable Assaji was; and having drawn near, he exchanged greetings with the venerable Assaji; and having passed with him the greetings of friendship and civility, he stood respectfully at one side. And standing respectfully at one side, Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, spoke to the venerable Assaji as follows:—

-

"Placid, brother, are all your organs of sense; clear and bright is the color of your skin. To follow whom, brother, did you retire from the world? Who is your teacher? and whose doctrine do you approve?"

"Brother, there is a great Shakyaputta monk, one who has retired from the world out of the Shakya clan. To follow this Blessed One have I retired from the world, and this Blessed One is my teacher, and the Doctrine of this Blessed One do I approve."

"But what, venerable sir, is your teacher’s doctrine? and what does he proclaim?"

"Brother, I am a novice and a new-comer, and the time is but short since I retired from the world under this Doctrine and Discipline. I am not able to expound to you the Doctrine at any great length, but I can tell you the substance of it in brief."

Then Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, spoke to the venerable Assaji as follows:—

"So be it, brother. Whether little or much, tell it me. Tell me only the substance; it is the substance I want. Why should you make a long matter of it?"

-

Then the venerable Assaji recited to Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, the following exposition of the Doctrine:—

The Tathagata has explained the causes Of all things springing from a cause, And also how things cease to be— This the great Adept has proclaimed.

On hearing this exposition of the Doctrine, there arose in the mind of Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, a clear and distinct perception of the Doctrine that whatever is subject to origination is subject also to cessation. "If this is the Doctrine," said he, "then, indeed, have you reached the sorrowless state lost sight of and neglected for many myriads of world-cycles."

-

Then Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, drew near to where Moggallana, the wandering ascetic, was. And Moggallana, the wandering ascetic, saw Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, approaching from afar; and when he had seen him, he spoke to Sariputta, the wandering ascetic, as follows:—
"Placid, brother, are all your organs of sense; clear and bright is the color of your skin. Brother, have you attained to the deathless?"

"Yes, brother, I have attained to the deathless."

"But how, brother, did you attain to the deathless?"

"Brother, just now I saw Assaji the monk going the rounds of Rajagriha for alms, winning the minds of men with his advancing and his retiring, with his looking and his gazing, with his drawing in his arms and his stretching out his arms, and having his eyes cast down, and perfect in his deportment; and when I had seen him, it occurred to me as follows:—

"This must be a monk who is either an arhat already, or has entered the path which conducts to becoming an arhat. What if now I were to draw near to this monk, and ask him, ‘To follow whom, brother, did you retire from the world? Who is your teacher? and whose doctrine do you approve?’ Then, brother, it occurred to me as follows: ‘It is not a fit time to ask this monk questions while he is inside the city and going the round for alms. What if now I follow in the wake of this monk in the manner approved of for those who have requests to prefer?’ Then, brother, Assaji the monk, after he had gone the rounds of Rajagriha and obtained alms, left the city; and I, brother, drew near to where Assaji the monk was; and having drawn near, I exchanged greetings with the venerable Assaji; and having passed with him the greetings of friendship and civility, I stood respectfully at one side. And standing respectfully at one side, I spoke, brother, to the venerable Assaji as follows: ‘Placid, brother, are all your organs of sense; clear and bright is the color of your skin. To follow whom, brother, did you retire from the world? Who is your teacher? and whose doctrine do you approve?’ ‘Brother, there is a great Shakyaputta monk, one who has retired from the world out of the Shakya clan. To follow this Blessed One have I retired from the world, and this Blessed One is my teacher, and the Doctrine of this Blessed One do I approve.’ ‘But what, venerable sir, is your teacher’s doctrine? and what does he proclaim?’ ‘Brother, I am a novice and a newcomer, and the time is but short since I retired from the world under the Doctrine and Discipline. I am not able to expound to you the Doctrine at any great length, but I can tell you the substance of it in brief.’ ‘So be it, brother. Whether little or much, tell it me. Tell me only the substance; it is the substance I want. Why should you make a long matter of it? ‘ Then, brother, Assail the monk recited to me the following exposition of the Doctrine:—

The Tathagata has explained the causes Of all things springing from a cause, And also how things cease to be— This the great Adept has proclaimed."

On hearing this exposition of the Doctrine, there arose in the mind of Moggallana, the wandering ascetic, a clear and distinct perception of the Doctrine that whatever is subject to origination is subject also to cessation. "If this is the Doctrine," said he, "then, indeed, have you reached the sorrowless state, lost sight of and neglected for many myriads of world-cycles."

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