The "Coachella Sutra" (The Hill Festival)

This'll is the best weekend of our lives, right?

It will happen this weekend -- as it has happened every year Coachella has convened for a weekend of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll in the desert -- that two friends will grow weary of the worldly life and seek something more spiritual and meaningful to make an end of all further suffering.

Getting high, one can distract and delude oneself that one is being "spiritual," or that one's friends are on the right track and on the verge of a breakthrough in insight or understanding. But continued asinine behavior when they return to the suburbs and the big city proves that was just a "pipe dream," of the sort for which Alice in Wonderland was famous.

One parties, one explores hedonism with great zeal, one claims to be a "seeker," an atheist or agnostic, but something eats away at one, and it can't just be what parents and society inculcated.

Humans have an innate drive to make sense of things: Who am I? What am I? What is my purpose? WTF is the meaning of it all? Inquiring minds want to know.

Another year, another giant West Coast Woodstock festival

As has been pointed out in the past, we are neither Faith Quarterly nor Easy Answers Digest. We are on a quest, as many readers must be, to know things directly: What's the meaning of all this? Why do things happen? What's really going on in the human world? We know the mainstream media has been lying and filling our heads full of BS, and it's been going on our whole lives.

As members of The Empire, we have a far better chance of figuring things out than the victims of our American imperialism and its hegemony. It, therefore, behooves us to speak out, to protest, to speak truth to power, to stand up for the powerless, to point out our own U.S. hypocrisy and not just comfort ourselves at others' expense. That reminds us to say, the emperor has no clothes. He's totally naked and no one has said anything about it. The nominal left (our side) is little better than the nominal right (their side). We prefer Purple in the Red vs. Blue, Bloods vs. Crips Battle that is our sorry excuse for a political system. We oppose the wars of our endless war economy. ("Fight war, not wars.")

What d'you like most? The beat, the beat, the beat

So, living in luxury, we get to go to music festivals and enjoy a lot of leisure time, eat well and exercise, do yoga and meditate. We're spoiled. And this kind of privilege leads to a kind of pre-awakening the motivated Siddhartha to leave the palace and find reality. It's not just psychonauts who are searching and seeking, questioning and questing.

We're on a quest. Who else was on an ancient quest? Two friends who became the Buddha's chief male disciples foremost in wisdom and psychic powers, respectively. This "sutra," more a portion of their life stories than a discourse, speaks of what happened when two young guys and all their friends went to ancient multiday music festival to see performers, enjoy art, meet new people, date, eat, and above all be entertained!

Nevertheless, what in the Avici does Coachella have to do with Buddhism?

What if we could go back to the Hill Festival?

By a strange synchronicity, I was traveling through Buddhist India, on the circuit, in search of a teacher or temple really following the Buddha's ancient path.

I came to the royal city of Rajgir, thinking this ancient citadel more important than world-famous "Enlightenment Grove" (Bodh Gaya, Bihar) because so many things had happened here. Not the least of which, this is the site of Vulture's Peak and Pipphali Cave and even the Squirrel's Feeding Ground at Bamboo Grove (Veluvana). It's unclear that this is the exact location of the squirrels, but there is a large pond (tank).

I stayed at a monastery run by an Asian Buddhist monk (Japanese, Korean, it's unclear), who seemed devoid of any spiritual motivations and was just running a hostel in the pre-season. It was nice except for the noise. What was that noise? Day and night, I could not sleep. Finally, upset and wanting to get to the bottom of it, I set out in the direction of the racket. Imagine my surprise that the 24-hour disturbance was The Hill Festival!

It still happens. I was offered a couch, but I recoiled. Who would waste time on such worldly distractions in the most spiritual place on the face of the planet? There really are seven big hills ringing this ancient capital on the Gangetic plains.

View of Vulture's Peak, looking away from Rajgir's city gates

I sat atop Vulture's Peak. There's a redstone deck for viewing, just as the Buddha once looked upon the forested valley below. One can see Isigili Hill (Eater of Seers, Swallower of Sages), where the Buddha questioned Jains (Niganthas) about severe asceticism (Isigili Sutra), where Maha Moggallana was killed, where many pacceka buddhas gathered. There have never been any vultures here. The peak gets its name from the shape of the stones, which resemble eagles and vultures (like we have in LA, where California condors and bald velociraptors share the skies) in the morning and evening. To the side of the platform Tibetan Buddhists place or discard hundreds of white scarves. Under the platform is a small cave in which to meditate, as someone famously did at the time of the Buddha. It is even the setting of a very famous apocryphal Mahayana discourse (the Heart Sutra).

Vulture's peak platform looking at Isigili Hill

I entered the small cave where the First Buddhist Council was held. (There's no way 500 could ever have fit in it, but "500" only means "a large number" in the ancient Pali vernacular).

There's a gondola to a peak where a Japanese Buddhist temple sits. This was off season, so there were no crowds. But one could see where the crowds must be. There's another Japanese temple with "Zen" drawings of the great disciples down in the valley by the river (which has leeches).

Sacred Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Rajgir, India

There are in Rajgir natural hot springs and mini ghats to walk down and bathe in them. I must have wandered here in past lives. It's just a sense. What proof could one evince of that being the case other than testifying about resonating with the place so powerfully that nothing else makes sense to explain why, as an American, I would gravitate to the Dharmic traditions and recognize Buddhism as the ultimate?

• PHOTOS: Buddhist pilgrimage 2012: Rajagaha

Jainism's Mahavira naked and set in stone

Some of the nicer ancient temples are set high near the entrance of the city next to the Bamboo Grove. I could not help but admire the meticulous of the ancient Buddhist artisans who built them, carving beautiful sculptures of the naked Buddha, only to find those were Jain buildings and sculptures of Mahavira, the founding Jina, a great spiritual contemporary of the Buddha.

Showing up at the Hill Festival is not so different than taking a trip to Coachella, which was originally billed as a "Woodstock" for California.

Mara is a god of sensuality, a reckless Tempter.

Coachella is seductive. Coachella is an ordeal. Coachella is a vacuum that often sucks: walking around on lawns (polo grounds) and dirt in the heat, dust blowing, a mad crush all around the stage, a dusty, sweaty, unruly mosh pit and, worst of all, an early curfew. It's an expensive disappointment, but the people-watching and all the circus tents with different shows going on, providing little darkness for midday EDM in the desert. It's a mixed bag, and it's overkill.

That time at the ancient art and music festival

Hellmuth Hecker and Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, edited and updated by Wisdom Quarterly

Those old legends and folk comedies will make great fodder for art festival entertainments.

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Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives

Upatissa (the future Ven. Sariputta) was a pioneer type, daring and enterprising, while Kolita (the future Ven. Maha Moggallana) had a different way, which was to preserve, cultivate, and enrich what he had gained.

Their places within their rich and privileged families were different. Kolita was an only child, but Upatissa had three brothers and three sisters.

For both, their friendship meant so much that it filled their daily lives. It filled it to such an extent that as young males, they had little interest in girls compared to other boys. They were not quite free from the indulgences of their youthful age and its lightheartedness.

Each led a group of friends with whom they undertook many kinds of sport and play in high spirits.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous Brahmins

When they visited the river, Kolita's companions galloped in on horseback and those of Upatissa arrived in rich, fancy vehicles like celebrity royals.

It was similar with Francis of Assisi (the future San Francisco): He, too, had been the leader of a group of playboys, and like him, both friends, too, had been enamored by the intoxications of youth, health and life.

"Buddhism" was created in a cave: First Council

In Rajagaha (now Rajgir, India, a royal city encircled by seven hills where "Buddhism" was born with the First Council), the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Magadha, there was a great festival with popular entertainments and amusements called "the Hill Festival."

Partying for days at the Hill Festival

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Dance like there's no tomorrow because one day...

The rich and privileged friends, living in luxury, went to enjoy it. They had great seats reserved, where they could easily see the entertainments. [When the music was good, one imagines they must have tapped their feet, sang along, danced, and enjoyed the sight of provocatively dressed dancing girls]. When there was something to laugh at, they joined in the laughter. When there was something fascinating, they got excited.

They enjoyed the entertainments so much, they returned for a second day. They were keen to watch the dramatic performances, a mixture of folk comedies and great legends. However, attend as much as they did, the heightening of their mood that they expected failed to come.

Kolita (Ven. Maha Moggallana) had very dark skin

However, they reserved a third day, too, with a new program of entertainers announced in glowing terms. They slept poorly at night as the impressions of the day haunted their minds.

Suffering insomnia, Kolita thought: "What's the use of all this for us? Is any of this really worthwhile? What benefit does it give? After a few years, these glamorous performers will be old, frail, and feeble; they will leave the stage of life and carry on their wanderings through samsara existence after existence, driven by their cravings. It's the same with us. These actors cannot help themselves to solve the problem of existence. How, then, can they help us? We're just wasting our time here instead of working out our spiritual liberation!"

Upatissa also had a restless night, and similar thoughts occurred to him. He reflected on how the ancient legends and myths dramatized in these performances actually concerned the reality of rebirth. The jokes and frolicking that overlay the ideas in the plays pretended that there was only this present life one needed be concerned with. Was this not an artificial suppression and habitual repression of the truth with vain illusions?

When, on the morning of the third day, they got to the festival, Kolita asked his friend Upatissa, "What's the matter with you? You are not as merry as you have been. What depresses you?"

His friend Upatissa replied, "Tell me, what is the use to us of all these pleasures of eye and ear? It is absolutely useless and worthless! I would rather seek a way to escape from the devastating law of impermanence, a way to find liberation from the fleeting illusions of life that are alluringly and haunting and just leave us empty. That is what went through my mind and made me think.

Hey, c'mon, why don't you enjoy the party?

"You, friend Kolita, look anything but cheerful!"

Kolita replied: "I have felt the same as you. Why should we stay any longer in this vanity show? We ought to seek a way to real freedom!"

When Upatissa heard his friend had the same wish, he happily exclaimed: "That is a good thought that came to us independent from one another! We've wasted our lives and time long enough with all these unprofitable things. But if one earnestly seeks a teaching of freedom, one has to give up one's home and possessions and go forth into the left-home life as a seeker, free of worldly and sensual bonds, rising above them like a feathered bird."

• What got into them as they grew disillusioned and dispassionate towards these frivolous sensual pursuits? A "sense of urgency" called samvega

The two friends decided to adopt the life of yogis and wandering ascetics who at that time, like now, wander in large numbers along the roads of Asia in search of a spiritual teacher, a guru or guide, who can show them the path to freedom.

When they announced their decision to their friends, the other young men were so impressed that most of them joined in this spiritual quest. All of them gave up home life, removed the sacred Brahmin's thread, cut their hair and beard and put on the pale earth-colored garments of religious wanderers. Discarding all distinguishing marks and privileges of their caste, they entered the classless society of ascetics. More: The Life of Maha-Moggallana

From birth to attainment of enlightenment

Ven. Sariputta became "foremost in wisdom"

The story begins at two ancient Brahmin villages in Magadha, near Rajagaha, where Upatissa and Kolita were born. Before the Buddha appeared in the world, a wealthy Brahmin lady named Sari, living in Upatissa Village [1] conceived. On the same day, in Kolita Village, another rich Brahmin lady named Moggalli did, too.

The two families were connected, friends with one another for seven generations. From the first day of their pregnancies, the families gave due care to the mothers-to-be. After ten [lunar] months, the women gave birth to boys on the very same day.

On the name-giving day, Sari's son (Sari-putta or -putra meaning "Sari's son") received the name Upatissa, as he was a son of the foremost family of the village. For the same reason, Moggalli's son (Moggallana) was named Kolita.

When the boys grew up, they were educated and mastered their lessons. Each had a large following of Brahmin youths. And when they went to a park or to the river for sports and recreation, Upatissa used to be carried their on fancy palanquins (vehicles), whereas Kolita arrived on horse-drawn carriages.

One day Rajagaha was having its annual Hilltop Festival [an ancient version of the Coachella Festival]. Entrance was arranged for the youths who sat together with all their friends.

When there was something funny, they laughed. When the spectacles were exciting, they became excited. They liked it so much that they paid the fees for extra shows.

In this way they enjoyed the festival for a second day. But by the third day, their understanding was awakened, and they could no longer laugh nor get very excited. They didn't feel inclined to pay for extra shows as they had at the beginning of the festival.

They will be my chief male disciples.

Each had the same thought: "What is there to see here? Before any of these people reach a 100-years, they'll all be dead. What we ought to do is to seek for a teaching of liberation [from this Wheel of Birth and Death]."

With such thoughts in mind, they took their seats at the festival. Then Kolita said to Upatissa: "How are you doing, friend Upatissa? You seem not as happy and joyous as on previous days. Your mood seems discontented. What's on your mind?"

"Friend Kolita, to look at these things here is of no benefit at all. Watching this is utterly worthless! I ought to seek a doctrine of deliverance for myself. That, Kolita, is what I was thinking seated here. But you, Kolita, seem to be discontented, too."

Kolita replied: "It is just as you have said. I feel the same way."

When he heard that his friend had the same inclination, Upatissa said: "That was a good thought of ours. For those who seek a teaching for their spiritual liberation, there is only one thing to do: leave home and become wandering ascetics. But under whom shall we live the ascetic life?" More: The Life of Sariputta (accesstoinsight.org)

How the Buddha awakened beautiful Khema

It would be a while before they met the Buddha. They all went and ordained under the Yogi Sañjaya, who taught them all he could. They were not satisfied with his doctrine or dhamma. They scoured the countryside, each promising the other that if he found a real enlightened teacher, he would tell the other. The story of how the Buddha's two extremely beautiful chief female disciples, Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna, is equally interesting. It was no accident that these four were chosen to help the Buddha awaken a great many hearers.

• WatchMojo.com; Hellmuth Hecker on Kolita (Ven. Maha-Moggallana) and Ven. Nyanaponika Thera (German born Siegmund Feniger) on Upatissa (Ven. Sariputta), Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy (The Teachings of the Buddha) edited by Bhikhu Bodhi, via accesstoinsight.org introduced and assembled by Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha

Hellmuth Hecker, Sister Khema (trans.) © 1994; Amber Larson (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The following stories, written in German by Hellmuth Hecker, have been translated from the German Buddhist magazine Wissen and Wandel, XVIII 3 (1972), XXLI 1/2 (1976).

While every effort has been made by the translator, Sister Vajira, to conform to the original writing, some changes had to be made for the sake of clarity.

The stories of the famous Buddhist nuns Bhadda Kundalakesa and Patacara have been enlarged and filled in.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Australian monk Ven. Khantipalo for his assistance in improving the style and content of this narrative.

His new translations of verses of the Therigatha and the Dhammapada from the original Pali language have helped to make these stories come alive.

It is hoped that this booklet will serve as an inspiration to all those who are endeavoring to tread in the Buddha's footsteps.

• Sister Khema, Wat Buddha Dhamma, Wisemans Ferry, N.S.W. 2255, Australia, Jan. 1982
• Hellmuth Hecker (dailynews.lk/line/hellmuth-hecker)
  

Bhikkhuni Sujata's Verses of Final Knowledge

With subtle veils adorned,
Garlands and sandalwood bedecked,
Covered all over with ornaments,
Surrounded by my servants,
Taking with us food and drink,
Eatables of many kinds,
Setting off from the house,
To the forest grove we took it all.

Having enjoyed and sported there,
We turned our feet to home
But on the way I saw and entered
Near Saketa, a monastery.
Seeing the Light of the World
I drew near, bowed to him;
Out of compassion the All-Seeing One
Then taught me Dharma there.

Hearing the words of the Great Sage,
I penetrated Truth:
The Dharma passionless,
I touched the Dharma of Deathlessness.
When the True Dharma had been known,
I went forth to the homeless life [as a nun];
The three True Knowledges are attained,
Not empty are the Buddha's Teachings!

(Therigatha 145-150) Verses of the Elder nuns. More

CONTENTS

• Foreword
• Abbreviations
• The Verses of Final Knowledge of Bhikkhuni Sujata
• Queen Mallika
• What Cannot Be Got: The Buddha's Words to King Pasenadi on Queen Mallika's Death
• Khema of Great Wisdom
• Bhadda Kundalakesa, the Former Jain Ascetic
• Kisagotami, the Mother with the Dead Child
• Sona, With Many Children
• Nanda, the Half-sister of the Awakened One
• Queen Samavati
• Patacara, Preserver of the Vinaya

 

Abbreviations of Source References 

A .... Anguttara Nikaya
D .... Digha Nikaya
Dhp .... Dhammapada
M .... Majjhima Nikaya
S .... Samyutta Nikaya
Sn .... Sutta Nipata
Thag .... Theragatha
Thig .... Therigatha
Pac. .... Pacittiya (Vinaya)
J. .... Jataka
Ud. .... Udana
Mil. .... Milindapañha
Jtm. .... Jatakamala
Bu. .... Buddhavamsa
Divy..... Divyavadana
Ap. .... Apadana

Orchid facts. A flower from heaven (sutra)

Mediafeed; Hellmuth Hecker; Kelly Ani, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Vanilla seed pods -- a flavor miracle -- come from Mexico and Guatemala (msn.com).

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Things most don’t know about orchids

Flowers of Happiness Will Bloom

Anyone who’s ever cared for orchids knows that they’re pretty special.

From their practically microscopic seeds, to their tasty seed pods, to their worldwide range, these flowering beauties are nothing short of amazing.

They seem more of a celestial item -- like the mandarava (flame tree, coral tree, erythrina) bloom in Buddhist texts (e.g., Maha Kassapa: Father of the Sangha) -- than a terrestrial one. Here are a few things most probably didn’t know about them:

1. They are the largest family of flowering plants

By some estimates, Orchidacea is the largest family of flowering plants, with at least 25,000 to 30,000 species — not including the 100,000 hybrids and cultivars created by horticulturalists that aren’t naturally occurring. Of all flowering plant species on Earth, orchids make up about 10%. More

• [What about the 32,000 species of Asteraceae?]
• New flower species found in Japan: glass orchid
• Orchid Facts | Symbol | Petal Talk (1800flowers)

After the Buddha's passing: A flower from heaven

Hellmuth Hecker, Maha Kassapa: Father of the Sangha, Chp. 8 (DN 16), revised and enlarged translation from German by Nyanaponika Thera (edited by Wisdom Quarterly)

Devas and human beings loved to give the Buddha the gift of fragrant flowers.

Wildflowers are neon signs doing everything they can to attract pollinators like bees.

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Maha Kassap meets an ajivika naked ascetic

One of the Buddha's main disciples, Maha Kassapa, played a leading role in the Monastic Community (Sangha) after the Buddha passed. Only two of the five most prominent disciples were present, the brothers Ananda and Anuruddha. Sariputta and Maha Moggallana had already passed into bliss.

Maha Kassapa, with a large company of wandering ascetics, was traveling on the main road from Pava to Kusinara to see the Buddha. He veered and sat down under a tree to rest. Just then a naked ascetic passed by with a mandarava flower in his hand, which is said to grow only in a celestial (deva) world.

When Maha Kassapa saw it, he knew something unusual must have happened for such a flower to be found on earth.

He asked the naked ascetic whether he had heard any news about the Buddha, and the naked ascetic affirmed that he had, saying: "The recluse Gautama passed into nirvana a week ago. I picked up this mandarava flower from the place of cremation."

It looks like a celestial flower from the deva realm, the flame tree (Erythrina sandwicensis)

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I'm not "naked." I'm a "sky-clad" sadhu.

Among the monastics who heard the news, only those who were arhats [fully enlightened] like Maha Kassapa could remain calm, cool, and collected.

The others who were not yet liberated from the passions and defilements lamented and wept: "Too soon has the Blessed One passed into nirvana! Too soon has the Eye of the World vanished from our sight!"

Flame tree flamboyant (Tropical Plantae)

There was one [crochety] monk named Subhadda who had ordained in his old age. He addressed the others: "Enough, friends! Do not grieve! Do not lament! We are well rid of that Great Ascetic. We have been troubled by his telling us, 'This is befitting, that is not befitting.' Now we can do what we like, and we won't have to do what we do not like!"

[This led Maha Kassapa to realize the need for a great Buddhist council to formalize the Teachings (Dharma) of the Buddha. In that sense, Maha Kassapa became the founder of "Buddhism," taking what he had learned from the Buddha, what he knew about monasticism, society, and Brahmins to give us a new -ism. Prior to that Buddhism was not a religion but a path of practice to enlightenment. It was soon to become a formal structure.]

Until then it had not been possible to set the funeral pyre alight as the devas [celestial "shining ones"] present wanted to wait until Venerable Maha Kassapa came and paid his respects to the remains of the Buddha. When he arrived at the place of cremation, he reverently walked twice around the pyre with clasped hands then, with bowed head, paid his respects at the feet of the Tathagata (the Buddha).

Relics (sarira) are an arhat's cremation remains.

When his company of monastics did likewise, the pyre, it is said, burst into flames by itself. Hardly had the bodily remains of the Tathagata been cremated when there arose a conflict about the distribution of the relics (sarira) among the laypeople assembled and those who had sent messengers later.

The distribution was settled by the Brahmin Dona, who divided the relics into eight portions and distributed them among. He took the vessel in which the relics had been.

There's a reserve in Los Angeles County for spring wildflowers (weather.com)

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Maha Kassapa brought his share of the relics to the current king of Magadha, Ajatasattu. Having done so, he turned his thoughts to the preservation of the Buddha's spiritual heritage, the Teachings (Dharma) and the Disciplinary Code (Vinaya).

The necessity to do so was demonstrated to him by Subhadda's challenge of the discipline, advocating moral laxity. Maha Kassapa took this as a warning. If that attitude were to spread, it would lead to the decline and ruin of both the Monastic Community and the Teaching.

To prevent this, Maha Kassapa proposed holding a council by which the Dharma and Discipline could be reliably established and secured. He turned to the monastics gathered at Rajagaha (modern Rajgir, India). They agreed and at their request Maha Kassapa selected 500 [lit. "a large number" not actually 500] members, all but one of whom were fully enlightened (arhats). More

• Madelaine Böhme, the paleontologist who challenged long-held tenets about the cradle of humanity
• Missing Link: The remains of Noah’s Ark may have finally been discovered
• Scientists "discover" continent that had been missing for 375 years

Jain nun becomes enlightened Buddhist

Hellmuth Hecker (author, Sister Vajira (translator from the German), Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha via accesstoinsight.org; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

Bhadda Kundalakesa, the former Jain wandering ascetic

Where to find a teacher wiser than I am?

In Rajagaha, the capital of the kingdom of Magadha [Rajgir, India], there lived a girl of good family named Bhadda.

Her parents protected her very carefully because of her passionate nature. They were afraid that she would get hurt due to her attraction to men.

One day from her window Bhadda saw how a thief was being paraded to the place of execution. He was the son of a Brahmin (wealthy priestly caste) but had a strong tendency towards stealing.

She fell in love with him at first sight. She convinced her father that she could not live without him, so he bribed the guards who allowed the condemned man to escape.

Soon after the wedding, the groom became obsessed with the desire to possess his wife's jewelry. He told her he had made a vow that he would make an offering to a certain mountain deity if he could escape execution.

• Bhaddā Kundalakesa (Dictionary of Pali Proper Names)

Through this ruse he managed to get Bhadda away from his home. He wanted to throw her down from a high cliff to gain possession of her valuable ornaments. When they came to the cliff, he brusquely told her about his intention.

Bhadda, in her distress, likewise resolved to a ruse that enabled her to give him a push so that it was he who plunged to his death.

Burdened by the enormity of her misdeed, she did not want to return to lay life. Sensual pleasures and material possessions were no longer temptations. She became a wandering ascetic (shramana).

First, she entered the order of Jains and as a special penance, her hair was pulled out from the roots rather than being cut off when she ordained. But it grew back again and was very curly. Therefore, she was called "Curly-hair" (Kundalakesa).

The dharma (teaching) of the Jain sect did not satisfy her, so she became a solitary wandering ascetic. For 50 years she traveled through India and visited many spiritual teachers to question and learn from them. She thereby obtained an excellent knowledge of spiritual teachings and philosophies.

She became one of the most famous debaters [like the Buddha's famous wife, Bhaddakacca, Bhadda Kaccana, Yasodhara, Yasodhari, Rahulamata, Rahulabhadda, Bimba Devi, who became an enlightened nun and famous debater].

When she entered a town, she would make a sand pile and stick a roseapple tree branch into it and would announce that whoever would engage in discussion with her should trample upon the sandpile and knock over the branch.

The Awareness Center, 2801 E Foothill Blvd, Pasadena, CA (Yelp)

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One day she came to Savatthi and again set up her little sand monument. At that time, Sariputra — a chief male disciple of the Buddha "foremost in wisdom" [like the nun Khema] deemed to have the greatest power of analysis — was staying at Jeta's Grove.

He heard of the arrival of Bhadda and as a sign of his willingness to debate her, he had several children go and trample the sand pile. Thereupon, the female wandering ascetic Bhadda went to Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's Monastery, accompanied by a large number of spectators.

She was certain of victory, since she had become used to winning all her debates.

She put a number of questions to Sariputra. He answered all of them until she found nothing more to ask. Then Sariputra questioned her.

The very first question affected Bhadda profoundly, namely, "What is the One?" She remained silent, unable to discern what the Buddhist elder (thera) could be inquiring about.

Surely, he did not mean "God," "Brahman," or "the Infinite," she reasoned. But what was it then? The answer should have been "nutriment" because all beings are sustained by some kind of food or another.

Although she was unable to figure out an answer and thereby lost the debate, she knew that here was someone who had found what she had been looking for during her wandering of half a century.

She chose Sariputra as her teacher, but he referred her to the Buddha. The Awakened One taught her the Dharma at Vulture's Peak and concluded the teaching with the following verses:

Though a thousand verses

are made of meaningless lines,

better the single meaningful line

by hearing which one is at peace.

— Dhammapada 101

Just as the wanderer Bahiya of the Barkcloth was foremost among males who attained enlightenment/awakening (arahantship) faster than anyone else, she was foremost among females with the same quality.

Both grasped the highest Truth so quickly and so deeply that admittance to the Buddhist Monastic Order followed her attainment of enlightenment. Mind and heart (intellect and emotions) had both long been trained and prepared, so they were able to reach the highest attainment very quickly.

Ven. Bhadda's verses have been handed down to us in the collection of the "Verses of the Elder Nuns" (Therigatha) as she summarizes her life:

I traveled before in a single cloth,

With shaven head, covered in dust [ashes],

Thinking of faults in the faultless,

While in the faulty seeing no faults.*

When done was the day's abiding,**

I went to Vulture's Peak

And saw the Stainless One the Buddha

By the Buddhist Monastic Order revered.

Then before him my hands in anjali mudra***

Humbly, I bowed on my knees.

"Come, Bhadda," he said to me:

And thus was I ordained.

Debt-free, I traveled for 50 years

Through Anga, Magadha, and Vajji,

Through Kasi and Kosala, too,

Living on the alms of the land.

That lay-supporter — wise person indeed —

May many merits accrue to that person!

Who gave a robe to Bhadda for

Free of all ties is she.

— Therigatha 107-111

• *Vajja: "fault" can also mean "what is obstructive to spiritual progress."
• **The daytime spent in seclusion in meditation.
• ***Anjali mudra: hands placed palm to palm respectfully.
• "Elder" (theri or thera) refers to nuns and monks of ten years or more.
• Sources: A I,24; Thig 107-111; J 509; Ap 11 No.21 (p.560).

The Buddha's sister, Sundari Nanda

Hellmuth Hecker, Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha (translated from German by Sister Khema, 1994); Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Jen Bradford (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Boys Only Club: The Buddha with relatives Rahula and Ananda, no sister Sundari Nanda, brother Nanda, or wife/baby mom Bimba/Yasodhara/Bhaddakacca in patriarchal Thai artist's rendering.

Sundari (Beautiful) Nanda, the Buddha's half-sister he grew up with, who became a nun

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Sundari Nanda, the Buddha's beautiful sister

I can renounce anything but my self.

When she was born, Sundari Nanda was lovingly welcomed by her parents — the father of the Buddha [King Suddhodana] and his second wife [Queen Pajapati, the younger sister of the Buddha's deceased biological mother, Queen Maya].

Her name Nanda means "joy, contentment, pleasure," and was given when parents were especially joyful about the arrival of a baby.

Nanda was extremely well-bred, full of grace and beauty.

To distinguish her from others [particularly her brother Nanda] by the same name, she was later called Rupa Nanda, "one of delightful form," and Sundari Nanda, "Beautiful Nanda."

In due course many members of her [Scythian/Shakyian/Indo-Saka] family — the royal house of the Sakyans — left the household life for the left-home life [of renunciation enlightenment and liberation from all suffering], influenced by the amazing fact that one of their clan [Prince Siddhartha Gautama known as the "Sage of the Scythians" or Shakyamuni] had become a supremely-enlightened teacher [samma-sam-buddha].

Among them was her brother Nanda, her [Scythian] cousins, and finally her mother [the world's first Buddhist nun, Maha Pajapati or "Great Pajapati"], together with many other Scythian/Sakyan ladies.

Thereupon Beautiful Nanda also took this step, but it is recorded that she did not do it out of confidence [saddha, faith, conviction] in the teacher [the Buddha] and the teachings [the Dharma], but out of love for her family and a feeling of belonging with them.

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One can only imagine the respect and exalted treatment accorded to the graceful sister or half-sister of the Buddha and how touched people were by the sight of the beautiful royal Scythain daughter [nearly as beautiful as the Buddha himself, and Brother Nanda, cousin Ananda, son Rahula, and wife variously called Bimba Devi, Princess Yasodhara, Rahula Mata, Bhadda Kacca, Bhadda Kaccana], so near in family ties to the Blessed One, wandering among them in the saffron ascetic garb of a wandering ascetic nun.

But it soon became obvious that this was not a good basis for a nun's life. Sundari Nanda's thoughts were mainly directed towards her own beauty and her popularity with people, traits which were karmic resultants [vipaka] of former good actions.

These resultant fruits [phala] now became dangers to her, since she forgot to reinforce them with new actions. She felt that she was not living up to the high ideals people envisioned for her. She felt she was far from the goal for which so many nobly-born members of the Scythian family clan had gone into the left-home life. She was sure that the Blessed One would censure her on account of this. Therefore, she managed to avoid and evade him for a long time.

One day the Buddha requested all the nuns to come to him, one by one, to receive a teaching, but Sundaria Nanda did not comply. The Teacher let her be called specially, and then she appeared before him, ashamed and anxious by her demeanor.

The Buddha addressed her and appealed to all her positive qualities so that she listened to him willingly and delighted in his words. When the Blessed One knew that the talk had uplifted her, had made her joyful and receptive to his teaching, he did not immediately explain ultimate reality to her, as is often mentioned in other accounts of the "gradual instruction," frequently resulting in noble attainment of awakening/enlightenment to his listener.

How Sundari Nanda became enlightened

The Buddha awakens his chief female disciple, foremost in wisdom, beautiful and vain Khema, in the same way as his sister, Sundari Nanda: psychic conjuring a vision of aging, sickness, and death.

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Because Sundari Nanda was so taken with her own physical beauty, the Buddha used his psychic powers to conjure up the vision of an even more beautiful woman, who then aged visibly and relentlessly before her very eyes.

Thereby Sundari Nanda could see, compressed within a few moments, what otherwise one can only notice in people through decades — and often because of proximity and habit one does not even fully comprehend: the fading away of youth and beauty, the decay, the appearance of wrinkles and gray hair.

The vision affected Nanda deeply; she was shaken to the center of her being.

After having shown her this graphic imagery, the Buddha explained the law of impermanence to her in such a way that she penetrated the truth of it completely, thereby attaining knowledge of future liberation: stream-entry, the first stage of enlightenment.

As a meditation subject the Buddha gave her the contemplation of the impermanence and the foulness of the body. She persevered for a long time with this practice "faithful and courageous day and night"(Thig 84) as she described in her verses in the "Verses of the Enlightened Nuns" (Therigatha):

Sick, impure, and foul as well,

[Sundari] Nanda, see this congeries

With the unlovely,* develop mind

Well-composed to singleness.

As is that, thus will this likewise be.

Exhaling foulness, evil smells,

A thing it is enjoyed** by fools.

Diligently considering it,

By day and night thus seeing it,

With my own wisdom having seen,

I turned away, dispassionate.

With my diligence, carefully

I examined the body

And saw this as it really is —

Both within and without.

Unlusting and dispassionate

Within this body then was I:

By diligence from fetters freed,

Peaceful was I and quite cool.

— Therigatha 82-86

• *The meditations on seeing the body as unattractive, either as parts, or after it is dead and beginning to bloat and decompose. See Bag of Bones (Wheel 271/272), BPS.lk.
• **This is a play on her own name, Nanda or Joy and "abhinanditam."

Because Sundari Nanda had been so infatuated with her physical appearance, it had been necessary for her to apply the extreme of meditations on bodily unattractiveness as a counter-measure to find equanimous balance between the two opposites. For beauty and ugliness are just two kinds of impermanence. Nothing can disturb the cool, peaceful heart ever again.

Later the Buddha raised his half-sister as being the foremost amongst nuns who practiced meditative absorption or jhana.* This meant that she not only followed the analytical way of insight (vipassana), but put emphasis on the experience of tranquility (samatha).

• *Jhana: total mental absorption in meditation [right mindfulness].

Enjoying this pure well-being, she no longer needed any lower [sensual] enjoyments and soon found indestructible peace [i.e., nirvana].

Although she had adopted the left-home life because of attachment to her relatives, she became totally free and equal to the Blessed One she venerated.

• Sources: A I, 24; Thig 82-86; AP II, No.25 (54 verses).
• NOTE: Wisdom Quarterly refers to Sundari Nanda as the Buddha's sister rather than half-sister, as she was the daughter of the same father and of the Buddha's biological mother's sister, which makes her closer, but English does not seem to have a fractional word for it. Moreover, they grew up together.