Ananda as a young teacher (Robe Sutra)

Bhikkhu Bodhi (trans.), Cīvara Sutra, "Connected Discourses with Kassapa" (SN 16.11), "The Robe" Discourse; edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

The Robe*

Ven. Ananda was a stream enterer.

(SC 1) On one occasion Venerable Maha Kassapa was living in Rajagaha (Rajgir) in the Bamboo Grove, in the Squirrel's Sanctuary.

On that occasion Ven. Ānanda [who was not yet appointed the Buddha's personal attendant] was wandering on tour in Dakkhiṇagiri together with a large community (saṅgha) of monks (bhikkhus).

On that occasion 30 monks — pupils of Ven. Ānanda — most of them youngsters, had given up the monastic training and had returned to the lower life. (sn.ii.218)

(SC 2) When Ven. Ānanda had wandered on tour in Dakkhiṇagiri as long as he wanted, he came back to Rajagaha, to the Bamboo Grove, the Squirrel Sanctuary.

He approached Ven. Maha Kassapa, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. Ven. Maha Kassapa said: “Friend Ānanda, for how many reasons did the Blessed One lay down the rule that monks should not take meals among families in groups of more than three?”

(SC 3) “The Blessed One laid down this rule for three reasons, Ven. Kassapa:

1. for restraining ill-behaved persons and for the comfort of well-behaved monastics,
2. with the intention, ‘May those of harmful wishes, by forming a faction, not create a schism in the Monastic Saṅgha!’
3. out of sympathy towards families.

It is for these three reasons, Ven. Kassapa, that the Blessed One laid down this rule.”

• Ten principal disciples of the historical Buddha

(SC 4) “Then why, friend Ānanda, are you wandering about with these young monks who are unguarded in their sense faculties, immoderate in eating, and not devoted to mindfulness [wakefulness, vigilance, bare awareness, presence of mind]?

Painting of Ven. Maha Kassapa with beard and hair, Kizil Caves, carbon dated to 422-529 CE

.

“One would think you were wandering about trampling crops. One would think you were wandering about destroying families. Your retinue is breaking apart, friend Ānanda. Your young followers are slipping away. But still this youngster does not know his measure!”

(SC 5) “Grey hairs are growing on my head, Ven. Kassapa. Can’t one avoid being called 'youngster' by Ven. Maha Kassapa?” (sn.ii.219)

(SC 6) “Friend Ānanda, it is just because you wander around with these young monks who are unguarded in their sense faculties…. But still this youngster does not know his measure!”

Rahula, the Buddha, and Ananda (but no Bimba)

(SC 7) The Buddhist nun Ven. Thullananda heard: “Master Maha Kassapa has disparaged Master Ānanda, the Videhan Sage, by calling him 'youngster.'”

Then, being displeased at this, she expressed her displeasure in this way: “How can Master Maha Kassapa, who was formerly a member of another sect, think to disparage Master Ānanda, the Videhan Sage, by calling him 'youngster'?”

(SC 8) Ven. Maha Kassapa overheard the nun Ven. Thullananda making this statement and said to Ven. Ānanda: “Surely, friend Ānanda, the nun Thullananda made that statement rashly, without consideration. For since I shaved off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and went forth from the home life into the left-home life, I do not recall ever having acknowledged any other teacher except the Blessed One, the Arhat, the Supremely Awakened One.

(SC 9) “In the past, friend, when I was still a householder, it occurred to me: ‘Household life is confinement, a path of dust, whereas going forth [into the left-home life] is like the open air. It is not easy for one living at home to lead the perfectly complete, perfectly purified supreme life [of a Buddhist monastic], which is like polished conch.

“Let me then shave off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and go forth from the household life into the left-home life.’ Some time later (sn.ii.220) I had an outer robe made from patches of cloth; then, acknowledging those who were arhats [fully enlightened ones] in the world as models, I shaved off my hair and beard, put on saffron robes, and went forth from the household life into the left-home life.

(SC 10) “When I had thus gone forth, I was travelling along a road when I saw the Blessed One sitting by the Bahuputta Shrine between Rajagaha and Nalanda. Having seen him, I thought: ‘If I should ever see the Teacher, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see. If I should ever see the Fortunate One, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see. If I should ever see the Supremely Enlightened One, it is the Blessed One himself that I would see.’

“Then I bowed right there at the Blessed One’s feet and said to him: ‘Venerable sir, the Blessed One is my teacher, and I am his disciple. Venerable sir, the Blessed One is my teacher, and I am his disciple.’

(SC 11) “When I had said this, the Blessed One said to me: ‘Kassapa, if one who does not know-and-see should say to a disciple so single-minded as yourself: “I know, I see,” his head would split [into seven pieces]. But knowing, Kassapa, I say, “I know”; seeing, I say, “I see.”

“‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “I will rouse a keen sense of shame and fear of wrongdoing towards elders, the newly ordained, and those of middle status.” Thus train yourself.

(SC 12) “‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “Whenever I listen to any Dharma connected with the wholesome, I will listen to it with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, applying my whole mind to it.” Thus train yourself.

(SC 13) “‘Therefore, Kassapa, train yourself thus: “I will never relinquish mindfulness directed at the body associated with joy.” Thus train yourself.’

(SC 14) “Then, having given me this exhortation, the Blessed One rose from his seat and departed. (sn.ii.221) For seven days, friend, I ate the country’s alms food as a debtor [an ordinary worldling], but on the eighth day final knowledge arose.

(SC 15) “Then, friend, the Blessed One descended from the road and went to the foot of a tree. I folded in four my outer robe of patches and said to him: ‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One sit down here. This will lead to my welfare and happiness for a long time.’

“The Blessed One sat down on the seat I prepared and said to me: ‘Your outer robe of patches is soft, Kassapa.’

“‘Venerable sir, let the Blessed One accept my outer robe of patches, out of compassion [for me].’

“‘Then will you wear my worn-out hempen rag-robes?’

“‘I will, venerable sir.’ Thus, I offered the Blessed One my outer robe of patches and received from him his worn-out hempen rag-robes.

(SC 16) “If, friend, one speaking rightly could say of anyone: ‘He is a son of the Blessed One, born of his breast, born of his mouth, born of the Dharma, created by the Dharma, an heir to the Dharma, a receiver of worn-out hempen rag-robes,’ it is of me that one could rightly say this.

(SC 17) “Friend, to whatever extent I wish, secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states, I enter and dwell in the first meditative absorption (jhana), which is accompanied by thought and examination (sn.ii.222), with rapture and happiness born of seclusion…. [As in §9, down to:]

(SC 18) “Friend, by the destruction of the taints, in this very life I enter and dwell in the taintless liberation of mind, liberation by wisdom, realizing it for myself with direct knowledge.

(SC 19) “Friend, one might just as well think that a bull elephant seven or seven and a half cubits high could be concealed by a palm leaf as think that my six direct knowledges could be concealed.”

(SC 20) But the nun (bhikkhunī) Ven. Thullananda fell away from the monastic life. Source

*Why would Maha Kassapa want the Buddha's old, worn-out hempen robe?

Together the Buddha and Maha Kassapa returned to Rājagaha. Great Kassapa bore on his body seven of the 32 Marks of a Great Being, following the Buddha who bored all 32.

On the way, the Buddha desired to sit at the foot of a tree by the roadside, so Kassapa folded his outer robe (pilotikasanghāti) for him as a seat. The Buddha sat on it and, feeling it with his hand, praised its softness.

Therefore, Kassapa asked him to accept it. "And what would you wear?" inquired the Buddha. Kassapa then begged that he might be given the rag robe worn by the Buddha. "It is faded with use," said the Buddha, but Kassapa said he would prize it above the whole world. The robes were exchanged.

(The robe which Kassapa exchanged with the Buddha was Punnā's cloak. See Punnā 6). Kassapa always recalled this incident with pride (e.g., S.ii.221).

It is said that the Buddha paid him this great honor because he knew that Kassapa would hold a recital after his final nirvana (his passing) and thus help in the perpetuation of this Dharma (SA.ii.130).

Ven. Mahākāśyapa (Wikipedia)

The earth quaked again in recognition of Kassapa's virtues, for no ordinary being would have been fit to wear the Buddha's cast-off robe.

Kassapa, conscious of the great honor, took upon himself the 13 Sane Ascetic Practices (austere vows or dhutagunā) and, after eight days, became an arhat (fully enlightened).

In the past Kassapa and Bhaddā had been husband and wife and companions in good works in many rebirths. In the time of Padumuttara Buddha, Kassapa was a very rich householder named Vedeha and married to Bhaddā and very devoted to that Buddha.

One day he heard that Buddha's third disciple in rank (Ven. Nisabha) being awarded the place of preeminence among those who observed austere practices, so he registered a wish for a similar honor for himself in the future.

He learned from the Buddha of the qualities in which Ven. Nisabha excelled the Buddha himself, and he determined to obtain them. With this end in view, during rebirth after rebirth, he expended all his energies in goods deeds. More

An ancient enlightened Buddhist nun

Therīgāthā (16.1), Verses of the Elder Nuns, The Great Chapter, Mahā Nipāta, Verses of Ven. Sumedhā Theri, Sumedhātherīgāthā; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Guru Ma, an Indian female teacher (Yoga Ayurveda and Vedic Sciences, Glendale)

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In the City of Mantāvatī,

of King Koñca and his main royal-consort,

she was the daughter Sumedhā,

confident in those applying the Teaching.

Virtuous, eloquent,

very learned and disciplined in the Teaching of the Buddha.

She approached her mother and father and said:

“Dear parents, listen!

I seek the joy of nirvana,

as all states of existence -- even the divine -- are temporary.

Sensual pleasures are worthless without fail:

they bring little satisfaction but much distress.

Fools become infatuated with sensual pleasures

that are acrid like snake-venom.

They are consigned to hell for long periods of time,

where they experience injury and pain.

Those who have done unskillful deeds feel sorrow

in their state of downfall, where they constantly do even more harm.

Unrestrained in body, speech,

and mind,

lacking wisdom,

not intending to stop the arising of suffering,

and not knowing the Teaching,

such fools do not recognize the ennobling truths.

Mother, most people do not understand

the truths skillfully taught by the Buddha.

They are delighted with planes of existence,

they long for rebirth as shinging ones (devas).

But rebirth as a shining one

is a finite and temporary state of existence.

Fools are not frightened,

of being reborn again and again.

From the four planes of downfall,

it is hard to obtain the two higher destinations.

For one gone to a place of downfall,

there is no going forth [as a Buddhist monastic] in the hell realms.

The two of you should allow me

to go forth in the doctrine of the One Possessed of Ten Powers.

Living at ease, I would be able to strive

for the abandoning of rebirth and death.

How can there be delight in a plane of existence

with a worthless body devoid of substance?

Allow me to go forth,

so that I may bring an end to craving for eternal existence [again becoming].

One who is distant from the arising of buddhas

has no opportunity.

I will not spoil the virtues of the spiritual life,

for the rest of my life.”

Then Sumedhā further said to her parents:

“I will not take food

from a householder,

I will be overtaken by death.”

Distressed, her mother and father start to cry,

completely overpowered.

Together they try to convince her,

while she is lying on the floor of the palace.

“Rise up, little child! What is this sadness?

You are engaged to be married in Vāraṇavatī.

King Anīkaratta is handsome

and you have been promised to him.

You will become his chief queen-consort,

the wife of King Anīkaratta.

Holding precepts, keeping celibacy,

life as an outcast [recluse] — these are difficult to do, little child.

As a queen you will have authority, wealth, sovereignty,

fortune, and pleasure.

You are a young lady; enjoy sensual pleasures!

Get married, child!”

Then Sumedhā replied:

“Who would want such a worthless state of existence?

Either I will go forth,

or I will die, but I will not marry.

What is this impure putrid body,

a dreadful corpse with a tainted smell?

Who would want to enter

this oozing skin-bag full of impurities?

What do they know about this

disgusting thing plastered with flesh and blood,

a carcass which will be given as food

to worms and birds?

Before long it will be taken to the cemetery,

a corpse deprived of consciousness,

left there like a discarded log,

by disgusted relatives.

Thrown away in the cemetery,

it becomes food for others.

Even one's own mother and father are disgusted and [afterward] go bathe themselves,

what can be expected from everyone else?

Hanging on to this worthless corpse,

bones bound together by tendons

in this putrid body

full of excrement and saliva.

One who dismembered it,

bringing the internal parts out,

would not be able to endure its smell —

even one's own mother would be disgusted.

The aggregates, elements, and sense domains,

are conditioned, rooted in birth, suffering.

Pondering wisely,

why would I wish to marry?

If day after day 300 spears

would constantly attack the body,

100 years of this torment

would be good if then there were a final end of suffering.

I would consent to this torment,

as would anyone who has heard the Teacher’s words:

‘Long is the cycle of rebirth and death,

for those who are slain again and again.’

Among shining ones and human beings,

among animals and among titans,

among hungry ghosts and in the hell realms,

no limit to torment is seen.

There is much torment in the hell realms,

for those who are oppressed in the lower realms,

Even among the shining ones there is no safety,

and no happiness higher than nirvana.

Those who have attained nirvana,

committed to the words of the One Possessed of Ten Powers;

Living at ease, they strive

to abandon birth and redeath.

Today, father, I will leave behind

this worthless wealth,

I am disenchanted with sensual pleasures,

I am at peace because I have renounced sensuality; it has been made like a palm-stump.”

As she said this to her father,

Anīkaratta, to whom she was engaged to be married,

approached Vāraṇavatī

at the time prearranged for the wedding.

Then Sumedhā cut off her thick, soft, dark hair

with a sword,

closed the palace,

and entered the first meditative absorption (jhāna)

She had already entered it,

when Anīkaratta came to town.

Then in the palace, Sumedhā

cultivated well the perception of impermanence.

As she fixed her mind intently on this,

Anīkaratta quickly ascended.

With limbs adorned with gold and gems,

joining palms (añjali), he asked Sumedhā:

“As a queen there is authority, wealth, sovereignty,

fortune, and pleasure.

You are a young lady; enjoy sensual pleasures!

Sensual pleasures are difficult to obtain in this world!

Royalty has been handed over to you:

enjoy wealth and give gifts!

Do not be downhearted,

your mother and father are distressed.”

Sumedhā, who had no need for sensual pleasures

and was free of delusion, said to him:

“Do not delight in sensual pleasures!

Look at the drawbacks of sensual pleasures!

Mandhātā, king of four islands,

embraced the path of enjoying sensuality.

He died unsatisfied,

not with desires fulfilled.

Even if the seven kinds of gems were to pour down from the sky

like rain in all ten directions,

not even then would there be satisfaction in sensual pleasures:

human beings die unsatisfied.

Sensual pleasures are like a knife on a butcher’s block,

sensual pleasures are like a snake’s head.

They burn like a torch,

they resemble a skeleton.

Sensual pleasures are impermanent, unstable,

much suffering, highly venomous;

A heated iron ball,

the root of calamity, resulting in suffering.

Sensual pleasures are like tree-fruit,

like a piece of meat, they are suffering;

Sensual pleasures are deceitful as a dream,

like borrowed goods.

Sensual pleasures are like the stake of a spear,

a disease, an abscess, a calamity, an affliction.

Like a fire pit,

the root of calamity, fear, and destruction.

In this way sensual pleasures have been declared to bring much suffering,

and to be obstructive.

Go, not to me, but to the Buddha!

My own confidence is in him.

What can another do for me,

when their own head is on fire?

When one is bound by birth and death,

one should strive for its end.”

After she opened the door,

and saw mother, father, and Anīkaratta

sitting down on the ground crying,

she said:

“Long is the cycle of birth and death for fools,

they cry again and again,

without beginning or end for the death of the father,

the death of the brother, and one’s own death.

Tears, mother’s milk, blood,

you move along in the cycle of birth and death without beginning or end.

Bear in mind the pile of bones

of all these sentient beings going through one life after the other.

Bear in mind that all the tears, mother milk, and blood

could fill the four oceans.

Bear in mind the pile of bones of one world cycle,

would be just as abundant.

Saṃsaric existence is without beginning or end,

as vast as the land of Jampudīpa [Rose Apple Land = India].

Even if the earth was made into little balls the size of a jujube seed,

it still would not add up to all the mothers among mothers.

Bear in mind all the grass, wood, branches, and foliage,

carried along since beginningless time.

Even if they were made into twigs each only the size of four fingers,

they would still not add up to all of fathers among fathers.

Bear in mind the one-eyed turtle in the eastern sea,

and, far away, a block of wood with a hole in it;

the chance of gaining a human rebirth

is like the chance of putting one’s head through that hole.

Bear in mind the form of this miserable body,

without any substance, like a lump of foam.

See the aggregates as impermanent,

bear in mind that there is much agony in hell.

Bear in mind those filling up the cemetery,

again and again, in all those lives.

Bear in mind the danger of crocodiles,

and bear in mind the four truths.

Knowing about the deathless,

why would you indulge in the five bitter drinks?

For all delight in sensual pleasures,

is more bitter than the five bitter drinks.

Knowing about the deathless,

why would you set yourself on fire with sensual pleasures?

For all delight in sensual pleasures,

is burning, boiling, trembling, aglow.

When one can be without enmity,

why would you want the many enemies that come with sensual pleasures?

Like rulers, fires, thieves, and other unpleasant things,

sensual pleasures are common and bring many enemies.

Knowing freedom,

why would you want the imprisonment of sensual pleasures?

For sensual pleasures are undesirable

and result in the suffering of imprisonment.

As a blazing grass torch

burns one who holds it and does not let it go,

sensual pleasures are like a torch:

they burn the one who does not let go of them.

Do not renounce abundant happiness

for the sake of the minute happiness of sensual pleasure.

Do not be like the fish who swallows the hook,

and is then slain.

One should willingly train oneself with regard to sensual pleasures.

You are like a dog bound by a chain:

sensual pleasures will attack you

like hungry savages would a dog.

Yoked to sensual pleasure,

you will experience unlimited suffering,

and much mental distress.

Give up these unstable sensual pleasures!

When there is the undecaying,

why would you want sensual pleasures, which are subject to decay?

All rebirths in all places are

seized by death and sickness.

This is non-decay, this is non-death,

this is non-decay and non-death, the path of sorrowlessness.

Without enmity, unobstructed,

unfaltering, fearless, not afflicted.

Attained by many,

the deathless state even today can be obtained in this way:

it is possible by whomever wisely commits themselves,

but not without striving.”

Thus spoke Sumedhā,

without desire for any conditioned things.

Teaching Anīkaratta in this way,

Sumedhā threw her hair on the ground.

Having stood up, Anīkaratta

with hands in añjali asked her father:

“Set free Sumedhā,

to go forth for liberation and seeking truth.”

Released by mother and father,

she went forth, leaving behind fear and sorrow.

She realized the six special knowledges,

the highest fruit for one who is training.

Wonderful and extraordinary,

was the Nirvana of the princess.

This is a story of some of her past lives,

that was explained near the end of her life:

“In the Buddha Koṇagaman’s time,

in a new settlement in the Saṅgha’s park,

myself and three friends,

gave the gift of a monastic dwelling.

Ten times, a hundred times,

hundreds and hundreds of times,

I was born as a Deva,

not to mention among humans.

When we were amongst the devas we had great psychic power,

not to mention among humans.

I was a queen of seven jewels,

a woman like a jewel.

This is the cause, the origin,

and root of my acceptance of the teachings.

That was my first contact,

enjoying the Dhamma and Nirvana.

This is how they act, those who have faith

in the words of superior wisdom.

They are disenchanted with states of existence,

and after becoming disenchanted, they become dispassionate.”

Thus, Sumedhā Theri [the elder nun or theri, a monastic with at least ten rains retreats or years seniority in the Bhikkhuni Sangha or Nuns Order] spoke these verses.

The Great Chapter is finished.

Complete is the Therīgathā.

THE VERSES OF THE ELDER NUNS ARE FINISHED.

Why would anyone become a monastic?

Bhikkhu Bodhi (BAUS, Bodhi Monastery), Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist wat or temple, Benjamabopit, Bangkok, Thailand (Krunja Photography/flickr.com)

Lay vs monastic practice under the bodhi tree (Tapas Ghosh/tapasphotography/flickr.com)

Burmese "novice monk" or samanera, training for ordination at age 20 (Silvia Pasqual)

.

Thai novices (Valerio Allasla)

There is a long and esteemed monastic tradition in popular, Hindu-influenced Mahayana Buddhism. But it is even stronger in the ancient Theravada tradition prevalent in Southeast Asian. The question is, Why would anyone want to become a fully ordained monk, nun, temporarily ordained novice, or anagarika (aspirant who has left home)?

The Buddha gave the best explanation in answer to just such a question. In a discourse entitled "The Fruits of Recluseship" (Samana-phala Sutra), the Enlightened One lists some of the benefits that worldly people can hardly comprehend or imagine.

An anagarika, April 2016

The American scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi delivers a great expose on the Monastic Community or Sangha, one of the three precious jewels in Buddhism alongside the Buddha and the Dharma. As Wisdom Quarterly is fond of saying, these Three Jewels translate as:

1. the Teacher,
2. the Teaching, and
3. the Taught.

It might be clearer to say:

1. the Enlightened One,
2. the Path to Enlightenment, and
3. the Enlightened.

• 

  Kung fu monks, Shaolin temple, China*

  Sangha has two distinct meanings, one being the general Buddhist community, particularly the monastic community, and the more important being the Noble Community composed of laypeople and monastics who have attained at least the first stage of enlightenment. Mahayana likes to talk about the sangha as all Buddhists, whereas Theravada reserves the word for monastics, both forgetting that it is the Ariya Sangha, the "Community of Noble Ones" that is the real jewel over and above any other community.
• *PHOTO: Shaolin monastery, Hunan Province, China (Ana Paola Pineda/flickr.com).

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains The Sangha

Harvest Festival: Super Blood Lunar Eclipse

Wisdom Quarterly; Going West (Hsi Lai) Temple, Fo Guang Shan, Los Angeles

It's a super moon, a tetrad, a harvest moon, a blood moon, a lunar eclipse...and the end of the world (as we know it). Tonight will change everything. At least at the Going West Temple, Hsi Lai, the largest temple complex in the Western hemisphere.

Hsi Lai Temple (Facebook), Lotus SoCal, and YAD-LA present "An Evening Under the Moon."

Buddhist nuns will be preparing jasmine tea and serving free moon cakes in the magnificent courtyard of a traditional Chinese (Taiwanese) Buddhist temple. Free, family friendly, open to the public, all are welcome.

• Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015, 7:30-9:00 pm
• Courtyard @ Hsi Lai Temple
• 3456 Glenmark Drive
• Hacienda Heights (on a hill dividing LA/OC), CA 91745

Entrance gate looking north from Hsi Lai temple across the San Gabriel Valley toward the Angeles National Forest ten miles away under a rare cloudy L.A. County sky (dinewithdonna).

 

Thanks to all for making "An Evening Under the Moon" a tremendous success! The event is at capacity and cannot accept any more registrations. Therefore, the RSVP page is closed. (But attendees may still show up). Look out for autumn 2016's Under the Moon. Peace and compassion to all!

 
For those coming, join the temple for a reflective evening under the moonlight where we will learn how Buddhism relates to the Chinese Moon Festival. Participate in small discussion groups with a temple nun while enjoying tasty moon cakes and tea. The program also includes: meditation, live music, and a candlelight ceremony.

Event FAQ:

Crowd at Mon Festival (Wisdom Quarterly)

1. Where and when? - #HsiLaiTemple courtyard @ 7:30 pm.
2. What's the address? - 3456 Glenmark Dr, Hacienda Heights 91745.
3. How much is it? - It's FREE!
4. Is registration required? - Sort of, please RVSP.
5. What language is the event? - English and Mandarin.

6. What's temple etiquette? - No meat products, smoking, alcohol, and please dress appropriately (no  shorts, tank tops, torn or otherwise provocative articles of dress please).

There really is a rabbit in the Moon -- as anyone can see. Now the People's Republic of China has landed a lunar rover as well to make it literal (makiepencollector).

Comedy: "Festival Supreme" (sutra)

Ashley Wells, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Jack Black (FestivalSupreme.com); Nyanaponika Thera, The Life of Sariputta (edited by Dhr. Seven); PiffTheMagicDragon.com

(FestivalSupreme.com with Tenacious D, Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk...)

 

Mr. Show with Bob and David (Cross)

Tenacious D, the Greatest Band in the World, is proud to present "Festival Supreme." This is the first of its kind one-day comedy-and-music festival set to take place on Saturday, October 19 on the Santa Monica Pier in beautiful Southern California. The incredible lineup includes 25 of the best comedians around. A dream many years in the making, Jack Black and Kyle Gass are the curators of this spectacular set of comedy rock stars who will take over the pier for one special night. We’ve been trying to put this thing together for years, explains Tenacious D. It is the comedy and music event of the century, so we call it Festival Supreme! It will shake the heavens and bring this tinsel town to its knees…in a good way.

 

How Sariputra and Moggallana became ascetics

Nyanaponika Thera (trans.), The Life of Sariputta (edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly)

Maha Moggallana and Sariputra, the Buddha's two chief male disciples (dhammawheel.com)

  

Sariputra, foremost in wisdom

The story begins at two Brahmin villages in India called Upatissa and Kolita, which lay not far from the royal mountain-ringed city of Rajagaha. 

 

Before the Buddha appeared in the world a Brahmin lady named Sari, living in the village of Upatissa, conceived.

[According to the Cunda Sutta (in the Satipatthana Samyutta) and its Commentary, the name of Sariputra's birthplace was Nalaka, or Nalagama, which may be an alternative name. It was probably quite close to the more famous Nalanda. Sariputta's father was a Brahmin named Vaganta. (Commentary to Dhammapada, v. 75).]

 

On the same day, in the village of Kolita, another Brahmin lady named Moggalli also conceived. The two families were closely connected, friends for seven generations. From the first day of their pregnancy the families gave due care to the mothers-to-be, and after ten [lunar] months both women gave birth to boys on the same day.

Later on the celebratory name-giving day, the child of Sari received the name Upatissa, as he was a son of the foremost family of the village. For the same reason Moggalli's son was named Kolita. When the boys grew up they were well educated, acquiring mastery of all the arts and sciences of the day. Each of them had a large following ("500") of Brahmin youths. Whenever they went to the river or park for sport and recreation, Upatissa used to go with a large number of palanquins, and Kolita with a large number of carriages.

Ancient Comedy Music Festival

"India" was once a vast empire.

Now at Rajagaha there was an annual event called the Hilltop Festival [which is still held in modern Rajgir]. Seats were arranged for both youths and they sat together to witness the celebrations. When there was occasion for laughter, they laughed. When the spectacles were exciting, they were excited. And they paid fees for extra shows. 

In this way they enjoyed the festival for a second day, but on the third day their understanding was awakened and they could no longer laugh or get excited, nor did they feel inclined to pay for extra shows as they had done on the first two days. 

 

Each of them had the same thought: "What is there to look at here? Before these people have reached 100 years, they will all have come to death. What we ought to do is to seek for a teaching [dharma] of liberation [from samsara, the round of rebirth and disappointment]."

It was with such thoughts in mind that they took their seats at the festival. Then Kolita said to Upatissa: "How is this, dear Upatissa, that you are not as happy and joyous as you were on the other days? You seem now to be in a discontented mood. What is on your mind?"

"Dear Kolita, to look at these things here is of no benefit at all. It is utterly worthless! I ought to seek a teaching of liberation for myself. That, Kolita, is what I was thinking seated here. But you, Kolita, seem to be discontented, too."  Kolita replied: "Just as you have explained, I also feel."

When he knew that his friend had the same inclinations, Upatissa said: "That was a good thought of ours! But for those who seek a teaching of liberation there is only one thing to do: leave home and become ascetics. But under whom shall we live the ascetic life?"

Seeking a Teacher

The Brahmin wanderers meet the Buddha

At that time, there lived in Rajagaha an ascetic of the sect of wanderers (paribbajaka) called Sañjaya, who had a great following of pupils. Deciding to get ordination under him, Upatissa and Kolita went to him, each with his own following of many Brahmin youths. All of them received ordination from Sañjaya. And from the time of their ordination under him, Sañjaya's reputation and support increased abundantly.

Within a short time the two friends learned Sañjaya's entire doctrine (dharma) and asked him: "Master, does your doctrine go only so far, or is there something beyond?"

 

Sañjaya replied: "Only so far does it go. You now know it all."

 

Hearing this, they thought to themselves: "If that is the case, it is useless to continue the ascetic life under this teacher. We have gone forth from home to seek a teaching of liberation. Under Sañjaya we cannot find it. But India is vast! If we wander through villages, towns, and cities, we shall certainly find a master who can show us the teaching of liberation." 

After that, whenever they heard that there were wise wandering ascetics or Brahmins at this or that place, they went and discussed with them. But there was none who was able to answer their questions, yet they were able to reply to anyone who questioned them. Having traveled through the whole of [the portion of] India they turned back, and arriving at their old place they agreed between them that he who should attain to deathlessness [enlightenment, liberation from samsara] first should quickly inform the other.

 

The Buddha, who was younger than Sariputra and Maha Moggallana, is depicted here on alms round in ancient India, which enjoyed a wonderful dana system of hospitality (WQ)

 

It was a pact born of the deep friendship between the two. Some time after they had made that agreement, the Buddha, [at that time referred to as] the Blessed One, came to Rajagaha. For it was when he had delivered the "Fire Sermon" at Gaya Peak that the Buddha remembered his promise, given before his enlightenment to King Bimbisara: He had promised the king that he would come to Rajagaha again when he had attained his goal.

The Buddha, a wandering ascetic (shraman)

So in stages the Blessed One journeyed from Gaya to Rajagaha, and having received from King Bimbisara the Bamboo Grove Monastery (Veluvana, just outside the main entrance to Rajagaha) he resided there.

 

Among the 61 arhats (enlightened disciples) whom the Buddha had sent forth (as missionaries) to proclaim to the world the virtues of the Triple Gem, there was the "Elder" (Thera) Assaji, who belonged to the original group of five ascetics, the Buddha's erstwhile companions before his enlightenment, who afterwards became his first monastic disciples.

Assaji returned to Rajagaha from his missionary wanderings. One morning, as he was going for alms in the city, Upatissa saw him. Upatissa was on his way to the monastery of his school of wandering ascetics. But struck by Assaji's serene and dignified appearance, Upatissa thought: "Never before have I seen such a ascetic! He must be an arhat or at the very least on the way to arhatship. 

"I should approach him and ask, 'Under whom have you been ordained? Who is your teacher, and what teaching do you profess?'" But then he thought: "It is not the proper time for putting questions to this venerable, as he is going for alms through the streets. I had better follow behind him, after the manner of supplicants." And he did so. 

 

Buddha, Kabul, National Museum (Ninara)

Then, when the elder had gathered his alms food and Upatissa saw him going to another place intending to sit down and eat his meal, he prepared for him his own ascetic's seat which he carried with him and offered it to the elder. 

 

Elder Assaji took his meal, after which Upatissa served him water from his own water-container, and in that way performed towards Assaji the duties of an Indian pupil to a teacher. After they had exchanged courteous greetings, Upatissa said: "Serene are your features, friend. Pure and bright is your complexion. Friend, under whom have you gone forth as an ascetic? Who is your teacher, and what teaching do you profess?"

Assaji replied: "There is, O friend, the Great Recluse, the son of the Sakyas [a family clan far to the northwest], who has gone forth from the Sakya clan. Under that Blessed One I have gone forth. That Blessed One is my teacher, and it is his Dharma that I profess."

"What does the venerable one's master teach, what does he proclaim?"

 

Enlightenment

The heart of wisdom: anatta (impersonal)

Questioned thus, Assaji thought to himself: "These wandering ascetics are opposed to the Buddha's dispensation. But I shall show him how profound this dispensation is." So he said: "I am but new to the training, friend. It is not long since I went forth from home, and I came but recently to this teaching and discipline. I cannot explain the Dharma in detail to you."

 

The wanderer replied: "I am called Upatissa [the future Sariputra], friend. Please tell me according to your ability, be it much or little. It will be my task to penetrate its meaning by way of a hundred or a thousand methods." He added: 

"Be it little or much that you can tell, 

The meaning only, please proclaim to me!

To know the meaning is my sole desire;

Of no avail to me are many words."

 

In response, Elder Assaji uttered this stanza:

"Of all those things that arise from a cause,

The Tathagata [Buddha] the cause thereof has told;

And how they cease to be, that too he tells,

This is the doctrine of the Great Recluse."

 

[The exact ancient Pali words recorded are: "Ye dhamma hetuppabhava tesam hetum tathagato aha, tesañca yo nirodho evamvadi mahasamano 'ti." This verse was later to become one of the best-known and most widely spread Buddhist stanzas, standing as a reminder of Sariputra's first contact with the Dharma and also as a worthy memorial to Assaji, his great arahat teacher. Spoken at a time when the principle of karmic causality was not accorded the prominence it enjoys today in philosophical thought, its impact on the minds of early Buddhists must have been revolutionary.] 

EDITORIAL NOTE: How could these few lines ever lead anyone to stream entry? Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw explained to us that implicit in this brief statement of the Buddha's teaching are the Four Noble Truths, the Dharma in a nutshell. Sariputra (Upatissa) was of such brightness, quickness, sharpness, and clear perception that he immediately cut through to the heart of the teaching. For he, like Maha Moggallana (Kolita) and the Buddha's two chief female disciples, Khema Theri and Uppalavanna Theri, had been cultivating and waiting for a buddha to arise so as to be his chief disciples for aeons. First truth: there is this. Second truth: it has a cause. Third truth: there is liberation (from suffering). Fourth truth: that, too, has a cause -- namely one to be developed with the Noble Eightfold Path.

 

Upon hearing the first two lines, Upatissa became established in the path of stream-entry [the first of the various stages of enlightenment], and hearing the ending of the last two lines he listened in the fruition of a stream-winner. More

So remember, kids, you too can become disenchanted and set off on a quest for truth and liberation. It all starts with Festival Supreme! Ask your parents for money.