The following is a chapter of a book on the Life and Teachings of
Shakyamuni Buddha according to the Pali Canon and/or the Agamas that I have been writing since college. I am restricting myself to the Pali Canon and the Agamas in an effort to present
only what is likely to have been taught by the historical Shakyamuni
Buddha. While this essay and the others which constitute this work in progress are
informed by Mahayana and Theravada teachings, my main purpose was just to present what I perceive to be the most straightforward meaning of the
canon. In the future, I hope to cover the Mahayana canon in the same way.
Ultimately, I hope to take all this material and show how it does or does
not relate to the faith, teaching, and practice of Nichiren Buddhism as a source of common sense and spiritual guidance.
The First Monks and Lay Followers
After attaining enlightenment the Buddha
sat beneath the Bodhi Tree and other nearby trees for seven weeks. He
abided in the bliss of his awakening and contemplated the interdependent
nature of reality and also the ways and means whereby others could also
attain enlightenment. During this time, a haughty brahmin approached him
and was instructed in the true virtues of humility and self-control that
make one holy. Another time a storm came and he was protected by the naga
(a serpent) named Mucalinda who coiled around him and spread out his hood
to protect the Buddha from the rain. Two merchants, named Tapussa and
Bhalluka, also came across the Buddha and were so impressed by him that
they offered him food that the Buddha accepted in a stone bowl given to
him by the Four Heavenly Kings. The two merchants then took the two-fold
refuge in the Buddha (the teacher) and the Dharma
(the teaching), as the Sangha (community of the Buddhas disciples) had
not yet come into being.
During that time, the Buddha also resisted Maras discouragement
and received Brahmas encouragement to teach, whereupon he decided to
seek out the five ascetics at the Deer Park near Varanasi. On the way, he
encountered the ascetic Upaka who asked the Buddha what teaching he
followed and who his teacher was. The Buddha told him that he had no
teacher and that he was in fact fully enlightened and able to teach the
way to the deathless. Unfortunately, Upaka found this doubtful and merely
replied, May it be so, friend. He then went on his way and missed
the opportunity to become the first disciple of the Buddha. This story
shows that it is not enough to just see or hear the Buddha. There must
also be an inner receptivity to his teaching and example and a willingness
to put his teachings into actual practice in order to benefit from them.
When the Buddha finally arrived in the Deer Park, his former
companions in asceticism saw him coming in the distance but they still
felt that they could not respect him because he had stopped practicing
asceticism. However, as he came nearer, they found that they could not
help but be courteous to him. They could tell that something was different
about him and eventually the Buddha was able to convince them that he was
indeed fully enlightened and worthy of their reverence. He then turned the
Wheel of the Dharma for the very first time by teaching them the four
noble truths: the truth of suffering, the truth of the cause of suffering,
the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the eightfold
path or Middle Way leading to the cessation of suffering. Ajnata Kaundinya
was the first to get a glimpse of the truth and he became a stream-enterer,
the first of four stages leading to complete liberation from birth and
death. He immediately asked to become the Buddhas disciple. Ajnata
Kaundinyas request and the Buddhas acceptance became the formula
whereby others would receive full admission into the Sangha directly from
the Buddha.
Lord, I wish to go forth under the Blessed One and to receive
the full admission.
Come, monk, the Blessed One said: The Dharma is well
proclaimed. Live the holy life for the complete ending of suffering. (The
Life of the Buddha, p.45)
Over the course of the next several days Vashpa, Bhadrika, Mahanama,
and then Ashvajit also realized the truth and became the Buddhas
disciples and thus the Sangha was born. The Buddha then followed up the
teaching of the four noble truths by teaching them about the five
aggregates of form, sensation, perception, volition and consciousness
which make up our lives and are characterized by the three marks of
impermanence, suffering and selflessness. Before long, all five of the
former ascetics had become arhats (worthy ones) and were no longer
subject to rebirth.
During the Buddhas stay at the Deer Park, he met Yasha, the son
of a wealthy merchant. Yasha had grown up in luxury with three palaces,
one for each season. He had a wife and was surrounded by beautiful women
musicians, singers, and dancers. One night he awoke to find them all
sleeping after a party and he found himself repulsed as if viewing a
charnel ground. This is also what tradition says happened to the young Siddhartha, but the original story was about Yasha and was attributed to
the life of the Buddha in later times. In any case, Yasha fled to the Deer
Park where he encountered the Buddha who discerned his readiness to hear
the Dharma. The Buddha taught him what Buddhism refers to as the
progressive teachings which consists of a review of those spiritual
teachings and values common to most people such as generosity,
self-discipline, and aspiration for the heavenly realms, as well as the
dangers of sensual pleasures and the benefits of renunciation. Following
this the Buddha taught Yasha the unique insight of the four noble truths
and Yasa thereupon became a stream-enterer.
The Blessed One gave him progressive instruction, that is to say,
talk on giving, on virtue, on the heavens; he explained the dangers, the
vanity and the defilement in sensual pleasures and the blessings in
renunciation. When he saw that Yashas mind was ready, receptive, free
from hindrance, eager and trustful, he expounded to him the teaching
peculiar to the Buddhas: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the
path to its cessation. Just as a clean cloth with all marks removed would
take dye evenly, so too while Yasha sat there the spotless, immaculate
vision of the Dharma arose in him: All that is subject to arising is
subject to cessation. (Ibid, p. 49)
When Yashas father came looking for him, the Buddha hid Yasha
and instructed the father as well. The father also became a stream-enterer
who was fully confident of the Buddhas teaching and had a direct
insight, though only a glimpse as yet, of the truth and did not need to
rely on descriptions of it from others. He then became the first layman to
take the threefold refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha of
monks. It is worth noting that Yashas father and many other lay people
would specifically take refuge in the Sangha of monks because it was
the order of monks who first upheld the way of life taught by the Buddha
in all its particulars as arhats or fully liberated beings. The nuns order
would come later and would be subordinated to the monks order as we
shall see. While the lay followers could also attain degrees of
realization, as Yashas father did, the fully liberated arhats were
always monks, or were lay people who became monks within a day of
attaining arhatship. So it was to the Sangha of monks that the lay people
would take refuge in as the exemplars of the ideal way of life taught by
the Buddha. Others would often repeat the fathers experience and
statement at that time after hearing the Buddhas teaching:
Then the merchant saw and reached and found and penetrated the
Dharma; he left uncertainty behind him, his doubts vanished, he gained
perfect confidence and became independent of others in the Teachers
Dispensation. He said: Magnificent, Lord, magnificent, Lord! The Dharma
has been made clear in many ways by the Blessed One, as though he were
righting the overthrown, revealing the hidden, showing the way to one who
is lost, holding up a lamp in the dark for those with eyes to see visible
forms. I go to the Blessed One for refuge and to the Dharma and to the
Sangha of monks. Beginning from today, Lord, let the Blessed One receive
me as his follower who has gone to him for refuge as long as breath
lasts.
While overhearing the Buddhas teachings to his father, Yasha
himself became an arhat. The Buddha then revealed Yasha to his father.
Yasha, however, did not wish to return home. Instead, he requested and
received full admission into the Sangha. The Buddha convinced his father
that this was for the best, so the father invited them both to his home
for dinner. The Buddha, with Yasha as his attendant, went to Yashas
former home, and there he instructed Yashas mother and former wife.
They too became stream-enterers and became the first laywomen to take the
threefold refuge.
After this, fifty-four of Yashas friends discovered what had
happened and they too sought out the Buddhas teachings, became arhats,
and joined the Sangha. They all stayed at the Deer Park until the end of
the rainy season at that point the Buddha sent his sixty arhat-disciples
out into the world in order to teach the Dharma.
Then the Blessed One addressed the monks: Monks, I am free from
all shackles whether human or divine. You too are free from all shackles
whether human or divine. Go now and wander for the welfare and happiness
of many, out of compassion for the world, for the benefit, welfare and
happiness of gods and men. Teach the Dharma that is good in the beginning,
good in the middle and good in the end, with the meaning and the letter.
Explain a holy life that is utterly perfect and pure. There are beings
with little dust in their eyes who will be lost through not hearing the
Dharma. Some will understand the Dharma. I shall go to Uruvilva, to
Senanigama, to teach the Dharma. (Ibid, p. 52)
After a time, these monks began to bring others back to the Buddha
in order to receive full admission into the Sangha. The Buddha then gave
permission to the monks to accept others into the Sangha themselves.
Why should I not now authorize monks to give the going forth and
the admission there in whatever quarter, in whatever country they happen
to be? This in fact, I allow you to do. And it should be done in this way:
first the hair and beard should be shaved off. Then after putting on the
yellow robe the upper robe should be arranged on one shoulder and homage
should be paid at the monks feet. Then kneeling with the hands held out
palms together, this should be said: I go for refuge to the Buddha, I
go for refuge to the Dharma, I go for refuge to the Sangha. For the second
time ... For the third time ... I allow the going forth and the
admission to be given by the Threefold Refuge. (Ibid, p. 53)
This simple ceremony would later become the going forth or
home leaving which is the lower ordination for novices. Though the
novice initially only needs to do this in the presence of a single monk,
he or she will eventually have to confirm their acceptance of the ten
novice precepts in the presence of the Sangha. These precepts are:
1. Not to kill
2. Not to steal
3. Not to engage in sexual relations
4. Not to lie
5. Not to indulge in intoxicants
6. Not to wear ornaments or perfume
7. Not to attend singing recitals, dances or other
forms of entertainment
8. Not to sleep on soft or luxurious beds
9. Not to eat after noon or before dawn
10. Not to own valuables such as gold or silver.
These ten precepts are a general description of the ideal way of
life that is to be upheld by the monastic Sangha. It outlines a way of
life free of harming or exploiting others, a life of simplicity, and a
life of learning, contemplating, realizing, and teaching the Buddha Dharma.
Those who are old enough (20 being the minimum age) or who have
passed a four month probationary period if they are converting from
another teaching, are eligible for the higher ordination as full monks or
nuns. This more elaborate ceremony requires at least ten monks presided
over by an elder in good standing with at least ten years of seniority,
and the aspiring monk or nun must have a preceptor to sponsor them. The
candidate is asked a series of questions pertaining to his or her fitness
to join the monastic Sangha and to ensure that they have the requisite
three robes and a bowl. Then their full admission as a monk or nun is
proposed four times. If all the qualifications are met and there are no
serious objections, the candidate receives full admission, also called the
higher ordination.
Upon leaving the Deer Park and sending his disciples forth to
spread the Dharma, the Buddha traveled back to Uruvilva near the town of
Gaya. On the way he converted a party of thirty friends who had been
having a party in the forest with their wives. One of them had brought a
prostitute, as he had no wife. The prostitute stole his belongings and so
the friends were all searching for her when they encountered the Buddha.
The Buddha asked them whether it was better to search for a woman or to
search for themselves. They agreed that the latter course was wiser and so
received the Buddhas teachings. They too became stream-enterers and
received full admission into the Sangha.
The Buddha then arrived at the banks of the Neranjara River in
Uruvilva. There he used his supernatural powers to win over the eldest of
the three Kashyapa brothers who were the leaders of a thousand matted-hair
ascetics whose main practice was the performance of the Vedic fire
sacrifice. The elder, Uruvilva Kashyapa, was especially hard to win over
since he arrogantly assumed that he was already an arhat. Seeing that the
eldest Kashyapa was impressed but not humbled by his ability to tame the
snakes in the fire hall or read Kashyapas mind, the Buddha bluntly
pointed out to him that he had not yet freed himself from defilement nor
was he doing anything whereby he might do so. Uruvilva Kashyapa was
finally convinced and became the Buddhas disciple. His followers did
likewise, and soon his two younger brothers, Gaya Kashyapa and Nadi
Kashyapa, and their followers also joined the Sangha. The Buddha then
taught them the Fire Sermon which examines the six roots of the five
physical senses and the mind; the twelve fields consisting of the six
roots and their respective objects; the eighteen elements consisting of
the six roots, their respective objects, and the six consciousnesses
associated with the interactions between each of the roots and their
respective objects; the three poisons of greed, anger and ignorance; and
the many forms of suffering which all these bring about. Hearing this
discourse, the Kashyapa brothers and their one thousand former followers
all became arhats.
The
First Visit to Rajagriha
Accompanied by the Kashyapa brothers and the thousand new arhats,
the Buddha then traveled to Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha, in order to
keep the promise he had made earlier to King Bimbisara that he would
return and teach the Dharma if he should succeed in attaining
enlightenment. The Buddhas reputation preceded him and as he approached
Rajagriha, the king and his entourage of brahmin householders came out to
meet him.
Now the good name of Master Gautama has been spread thus: That
Blessed One is such since he is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect
in knowledge and conduct, sublime, the knower of worlds, the incomparable
leader of men to be tamed, the teacher of gods and men, enlightened,
blessed. He makes known this world with its deities, its Maras and its
divinities, this generation with its monks and brahmins, with its princes
and men, which he has himself realized through direct knowledge. He
teaches the Dharma that is good in the beginning, good in the middle and
good in the end, with the meaning and the letter, and he explains a holy
life that is utterly perfect and pure. It is good to go and see such
accomplished ones. (Ibid, p. 65)
However, when King Bimbisara saw him accompanied by Uruvilva
Kashyapa and his brothers and the thousand former matted-hair ascetics, he
was at first confused and wondered if the renowned Uruvilva was the
teacher and the Buddha the disciple. Uruvilva Kashyapa made it clear that
he and his brothers and their former followers were all in fact disciples
of the Buddha. The Buddha then taught the progressive teachings and then
the Buddha Dharma itself to King Bimbisara and the brahmin householders of
Rajagriha. The king and many others attained to stream-entry as a result
and thereupon took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha of monks and
became lay followers of the Buddha. The king invited the Buddha and his
followers to dinner and then donated the Bamboo Grove just outside the
city of Rajagriha to the Sangha where they could dwell under the trees and
in caves.
Some time later, at King Bimbisaras urging, the Buddha declared
that on the eighth, fourteenth and fifteenth day of the lunar half month
the monks of a given residence should all gather together to expound the
Dharma. These were the days of the half moons, full moon and new moon in a
complete lunar month and had long been considered sacred days when other
groups of ascetics would gather together to teach their doctrines. It was
the kings hope that if the Buddhist monks also assembled and taught on
these days then more people would have a chance to hear and take refuge in
the three jewels of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Many years
later, the Buddha instructed the monks to recite the monastic precepts
that he had set forth on either the fourteenth or fifteenth day of each
half lunar month. The monks are to recite these altogether after each monk
had been given a chance to confess to any wrongdoing and perform any
necessary expiation or receive any necessary penalty. In this way, the
assembly of monks remind themselves of the proper way of conduct and begin
afresh every two weeks. During these days, Buddhist lay followers can come
to hear the Dharma. Many even take upon themselves eight precepts for the
duration of the day. The first five consist of the five major precepts
which Buddhist lay followers already take, but the next three are taken
temporarily so they can briefly partake of the self-discipline and
simplicity of the monastic life. These eight are:
1. Not to kill
2. Not to steal
3. Not to engage in sexual relations
4. Not to lie
5. Not to indulge in intoxicants
6. Not to wear ornaments or perfume
7. Not to sleep on soft or luxurious beds
8. Not to eat after noon or before dawn
It was during the Buddhas stay in Rajagriha that his two
greatest disciples joined him. Shariputra and his lifelong friend
Maudgalyayana were born to brahmin families in neighboring villages near
Rajagriha. As young men they were both disillusioned with worldly life.
Together they left home to find enlightenment and eventually became the
leading disciples of the skeptical philosopher Sanjaya. This teaching did
not satisfy them for long however, and so they both set out again to find
the truth. The two friends even made an agreement that whoever discovered
it first would find and tell the other. Shariputra traveled to Rajagriha
and there he met Ashvajit. Ashvajit was one of the five ascetics who
became the first disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha. Ashvajits calm
demeanor so impressed Shariputra that he asked him who his teacher was and
what teaching he had received. Ashvajit told Shariputra about Shakyamuni
Buddha and then gave him a summary of the Dharma as he understood it in
the following verse:
Of
those things that arise from a cause,
The
Tathagata has told the cause,
And
also what their cessation is:
This
is the doctrine of the Great Recluse.
(Great Disciples of the Buddha, p.7)
Upon hearing these words, Shariputras quick mind realized the
profound implications of this seemingly simple verse and became a
stream-enterer. At that moment, he knew that Shakyamuni Buddha was the
teacher he and his friend had been looking for. Shariputra immediately
went to Maudgalyayana and shared with him Ashvajits verse.
Maudgalyayana also became a stream-enterer. The two seekers agreed to see
Shakyamuni Buddha, but first Shariputra insisted they go to their former
teacher Sanjaya and try to convince him to join them. Sanjaya, however,
was not willing to relinquish his position as a teacher in order to become
the disciple of another. He even tried to convince Shariputra and
Maudgalyayana to stay - offering them positions as co-leaders of his own
movement. Shariputra and Maudgalyayana were not interested in mere
leadership, they were determined to attain liberation under a true teacher,
and so they both left and took 250 of Sanjayas disciples with them.
When Shakyamuni Buddha saw the two friends coming to meet him, he
announced to the assembly that these two would become his chief disciples.
The Buddha ordained the two as monks at that time.
After a week of intensive practice, Maudgalyayana attained the
fourth stage of enlightenment and became an arhat. Maudgalyayana soon
proved very good at training monks to refine their meditative stability
and insight to the point where they could become arhats. Because he was so
adept in the miraculous powers that resulted from meditative practice such
as the power of mind-over-matter, clairaudience, clairvoyance, mind
reading, and the ability to recall past lives, he would become known as
the foremost in developing supernatural powers.
After another week had passed, Shariputra also became an arhat
while listening to the Buddha preach a sermon to Dighanakha,
Shariputras nephew. It is said that Shariputra took two weeks to attain
enlightenment because he needed to think through and examine all the
implications and permutations of the Buddhas teachings. Because he did
this, he was second only to the Buddha in preaching the Dharma, and
several sutras are actually taught by Shariputra with the full approval of
the Buddha. Because of this he was known as foremost in wisdom.
Shortly after the appearance of the two chief disciples,
Mahakashyapa joined the Sangha. Mahakashyapa grew up in a brahmin family
near Rajagriha, the capital of the kingdom of Magadha. His father was very
wealthy and owned a large estate encompassing sixteen villages. Despite
growing up in luxury (or perhaps because of it) Mahakashyapa wished to
renounce the world and live a simple life in search of enlightenment. His
parents insisted that he marry and he reluctantly agreed. However, he
commissioned an artist to caste a golden statue based on his idea of what
a perfectly beautiful woman should look like. He demanded that the woman
his parents chose to be his wife should look exactly like the statue. Of
course, he never imagined they would find a woman to match the statue but
much to his dismay they succeeded. The woman, Bhadra Kapilani, also wished
to leave the home life. In fact, they had deep karmic affinities for each
other due to having spent many past lives together perfecting virtue and
seeking enlightenment. They ended up being a good match for each other due
to their shared aspirations. Not long after Mahakashyapas parents
passed away and he inherited their estate, the couple agreed that the time
had finally come when they could both leave the home life and take to the
road as homeless wanderers seeking enlightenment. So that it would not
cause a scandal, they both agreed to part company and take different roads.
Bhadra Kapilani ended up going to Shravasti, the capital of the
kingdom of Koshala. There she stayed for a number of years with an order
of non-Buddhists nuns near the Jeta Grove monastery until the
establishment of the Buddhist order of nuns - a story that will be related
below. At that time, Bhadra Kapilani joined the Buddhist nuns and attained
the stage of arhat and freed herself from the bonds of birth and death.
She became known as the foremost among the nuns for recalling her past
lives, many of which were spent as the wife of Mahakashyapa in his
previous lives. Bhadra Kapilani was also know for her patience and
compassion, and was a popular teacher of the Dharma.
Mahakashyapa ended up meeting the Buddha on the road outside
Rajagriha. The Buddha was sitting beneath a banyan tree emitting rays of
light, and Mahakashyapa saw this and recognized all the signs and marks of
a great man on him. He immediately went up to the Buddha and declared that
he would be his disciple. The Buddha responded by saying that anyone who
tried to explain enlightenment without any real knowledge of it in the
presence of someone as perceptive and sincere as Mahakashyapa would have
their head split into seven pieces. In other words, the assertion of a
falsehood in the face of the honesty and sincerity of someone like
Mahakashyapa will cause the liar to fall apart. The Buddha then gave
him a brief teaching and accepted him as a disciple. At that time,
Mahakashyapa folded his outer robe and gave it to the Buddha to use as a
seat. The Buddha remarked upon the softness of the robe and Mahakashyapa
immediately asked the Buddha to keep it. In return, Shakyamuni Buddha
offered his own ragged robe that had come from a cremation ground.
Mahakashyapa joyfully accepted. This was the only time that Shakyamuni
Buddha ever exchanged robes with a disciple.
From that time on Mahakashyapa took up the dhuta,
the various ascetic disciplines sanctioned by the Buddha for those who
wished to strengthen their self-discipline and live as simply as possible.
These disciplines included using only cast-off rags instead of accepting
donated robes, eating only by begging door-to-door instead of accepting
invitations to dinner, eating only once a day, only sleeping outdoors, and
other such practices which were austere but not harmful in sub-tropical
India. Mahakashyapa even became known as the foremost in ascetic
discipline.
At this point, the Sangha had grown to more than 1,250 disciples
and the people of the kingdom of Magadha were beginning to worry that the
would lose all their sons, husbands and fathers to the Buddhas Sangha.
They even began to taunt and harass the monks when they went on their
begging rounds, asking them who the Buddha planned to lead away next. The
Sangha appeared to be some kind of virulent cult and needed time to prove
itself. The Buddha instructed the monks to be courteous and to tell those
who asked that they only sought to follow the Dharma. He told them that
people would be impressed by their patience and composure. They would also
come to understand that it was not the Buddhas intention to recruit all
the men (at this time there was no order of nuns) into the monastic Sangha.
He predicted that by the end of the week the sensationalized fears about
the Sangha would become old news. Just as he predicted, after a week the
people of Magadha came to understand and even appreciate the true nature
of the Sangha.
The
Return to Kapilavastu
While all of this was going on, rumors of the Buddhas activities
reached his father, King Shuddhodana. Nine times the king sent emissaries
to his son in hopes that he would come back home, but each time the
emissaries listened to the Buddhas teaching, became monks, attained
arhatship, and then lost interest in worldly things and neglected to pass
on the kings wish that his son return home. Finally, King Shuddhodana
sent Kalodayin, the son of one of his ministers and a playmate of
Siddhartha when they were growing up. Like the other emissaries, Kalodayin
also became a monk and attained arhatship. Unlike the others, he did
remember to relay King Shuddhodanas request that his son return home.
This occurred at the end of the first winter after the Buddhas
enlightenment.
Upon arriving at Kapilavastu the Buddha and the Sangha spent the
night at the Nyagrodha Park where King Shuddhodana and his court came out
to meet them. The Shakyas were a proud warrior clan and the Buddha and his
ragged band did not impress them. They still thought of the Buddha as
merely a wayward kinsman. King Shuddhodana himself was not pleased to see
that his son had become a wandering mendicant, even though he was esteemed
as a great spiritual teacher. In order to put things in perspective, the
Buddha performed a series of miracles including the twin miracle of
levitating into the air and shooting forth jets of fire and water from his
body. Seeing this, the king and his court realized that Shakyamuni Buddha
was no mere ascetic and they all paid homage to him. However, the king
still had trouble realizing that the Buddha was no longer his son and heir
Siddhartha. The very next day, the Buddha went on his begging rounds in
Kapilavastu. Upset that his son was begging door to door, the king rushed
to stop what he saw as a disgrace to the family. The Buddha, however,
explained that he was in fact following the highest customs of his family,
but his family was now the lineage of buddhas. Finally the king realized
that his son was indeed the Buddha and he took the Buddhas bowl and
invited him and his monks to eat at the palace. At that time, King
Shuddhodana became a stream-enterer. He soon become a once-returner, the
second of the four stages leading to the complete liberation of the arhat,
after hearing more of the Buddhas teachings following the first meal at
the palace. At that time, his stepmother and aunt, Mahaprajapati, was
present and she attained the stage of stream-entry while listening to the
Buddhas teaching.
Princess Yashodhara, however, was not present at the meal. She
stayed in her own quarters and insisted that her former husband, now the
Buddha, should come to her. The Buddha did not blame her and agreed to go
see her so that she could pay her respects to him. He went to her escorted
by King Shuddhodhana, Shariputra, and Maudgalyayana. On seeing the Buddha,
Yashodhara performed a full prostration at his feet while the king
explained that she had done everything she could to emulate Siddharthas
strivings for buddhahood while remaining within the palace. She too wore
yellow robes as he did, ate one meal a day, and refused to wear adornments
or use luxurious beds or couches. The Buddha, in turn, commended her
devotion and explained that in past lives she had also shown such
devotion.
The next day, the Buddha returned to the palace just before the
consecration as heir apparent and wedding ceremony of his half-brother
Nanda, who was the 16-year-old son of Mahaprajapati and King Shuddhodhana.
The Buddha gave Nanda his begging bowl and then proceeded to return to the
Nyagrodha Park with Nanda in tow. Nanda was following him with the bowl in
order to return it to the Buddha, but when they arrived at the park the
Buddha asked him if he wished to be received into the Sangha as a monk.
Overawed by the Buddha, Nanda could not but say yes. Several years later,
Nanda began to regret leaving his bride-to-be, a beautiful girl named
Janapadakalyani. Her last words to him the day he had trailed after the
Buddha were, Come back soon, prince. Realizing that Nanda was
discontent as a monk, the Buddha used his supernatural powers to take him
to a jungle to see an ugly little monkey. The Buddha asked Nanda, Who
is more beautiful, the monkey or Janapadakalyani? Nanda naturally
replied that there was no comparison between the two and that
Janapadakalyani, reputed to be the most beautiful girl in the land, was by
far the more desirable. The Buddha then used his supernatural powers to
take Nanda to the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods to see the apsaras,
celestial nymphs, at play. The Buddha asked Nanda what he thought of their
beauty. Nanda was amazed and realized that the apsaras made
Janapadakalyani look like the ugly monkey in comparison. The Buddha then
told Nanda that if he maintained a steady practice and remained a monk his
reward would be rebirth among these heavenly maidens. The maidens were in
fact preparing a heavenly mansion for his future arrival. After that,
Nanda dedicated himself to his practice and no longer concerned himself
with returning to Janapadakalyani. The other monks, however, made fun of
him because of the selfish, shallow, and lustful nature of his
aspirations. Nanda was mortified and at that time the Buddha came to take
Nanda on another spiritual journey. This time they traveled into the
depths of hell where Nanda was shown the most hideous and terrifying
demons preparing an iron cauldron in which to boil a future hell-dweller.
When asked whom they were preparing for, the demons replied that they were
preparing for Nanda, since that would be his destination after his time in
heaven had exhausted all his merits. Frightened and ashamed, Nanda finally
realized the shallow and deluded nature of his previous aspirations and
finally attained enlightenment thereby becoming an arhat. Some may find
this story amusing, others may find it disturbing, and some may even find
that it is both. I will reserve comment on it until the rest of the
Buddhas visit to Kapilavastu has been told.
The next incident occurred on the seventh day of the Buddhas
stay in Kapilavastu. Yashodhara pointed out the Buddha to the now
seven-year-old Rahula and told him that this was his father and that he
should go and ask for his inheritance.
Rahula went up to his father, the Buddha, and said, Your shadow
is pleasant, monk. He then followed the Buddha repeating, Give me my
inheritance, monk. Hearing this, the Buddha had Shariputra ordain
Rahula as a novice. 13 year later when Rahula reached the age of 20 he
received full admission as a monk and soon after became an arhat. Despite
being the son of the Buddha, he would come to be known as foremost in
inconspicuous practice.
When King Shuddhodhana heard that even his grandson Rahula had
joined the Sangha he was quite upset. Now both of his heirs had become
monks, and the other Shakya clan members were getting worried that the
Buddha would begin taking away their children as well. King Shuddhodana
then made the following request of the Buddha:
Lord, I suffered no little pain when the Blessed One went forth.
Then there was Nanda. Rahula is too much. Love for our children, Lord,
cuts into the outer skin; having cut into the outer skin, it cuts into the
inner skin; having cut into the inner skin, it cuts into the flesh; having
cut into the flesh, it cuts into the sinews; having cut into the sinews,
it cuts into the bones; having cut into the bones, it reaches the marrow
and stays there. Lord, it would be good if the venerable ones did not give
the going forth without the parents consent. (The
Life of the Buddha, p. 78)
The Buddha respected King Shuddhodanas wish and from that time
on children required their parents permission before being ordained as
novices. In addition, one had to be at least seven years old as Rahula was.
The minimum age was later changed to 15. On reaching the age of twenty the
novices became eligible to receive ordination as full-fledged monks.
The stories of the recruitment of Nanda and Rahula into the Sangha
probably strike the modern reader as problematic. To begin with the Buddha
seems to have tricked Nanda against his will into joining the Sangha.
There also seems to be a heavy streak of misogyny involved in the story as
well (though the part about the comparing Janapadakalyani with a monkey
and the visit to hell were later embellishments to the original story).
Finally, even though the point of the story is that Nanda needed to raise
his aspirations, the carrot and stick approach of keeping Nanda from
quitting the Sangha with visions of heavenly rewards and hellish torments
do not seem as high minded and edifying as the Buddhas other discourses.
Finally, aside from Nandas wishes, the Buddha also deprived his former
kingdom of its heir and a bride of her groom. In the case of Rahula, the
Buddha brought him into the Sangha at an age when Rahula could hardly have
been aware of what he would be giving up or what he should be striving
for, and furthermore the Buddha had once again deprived the kingdom of
another heir. This hardly seems fair on the part of the Buddha. One could
argue that the Buddha knew better than Nanda and Rahula what would be good
for them, but this seems more condescending than compassionate.
Furthermore, it shows no respect for the ability of others to make their
own decisions in life, especially regarding something as important as
leaving the household life to become a monk (or novice in the case of
Rahula). One could argue that both Nanda and Rahula were free to leave,
but were they really? In the context of the times and in the midst of the
Buddhas scrutiny and peer pressure from the Sangha itself, leaving it
would have become nearly unthinkable. In many ways, these stories are even
more difficult than the story of Siddhartha leaving his wife and child in
the first place to become a Buddha, because now he is taking others away
from their families without really giving them a chance to decide for
themselves. Perhaps all that can be said is that the culture in which
these events happened (or which created these stories) was one in which
the path to liberation was looked upon as the supreme priority and even as
a rare gift. The Buddha was not seen as a recruiter so much as one who was
giving Nanda, Rahula, and others the opportunity of countless lifetimes -
the chance to be free of birth and death. A final consideration is that
the Buddha was able to see the course of cause and effect for individuals
and groups of people. It could be argued that the Buddha was aware that
King Virudhaka of Koshala would decimate the Shakya clan within his
lifetime (according to some sources). By bringing Nanda, Rahula, and so
many other Shakya clansman into the Sangha he was in effect saving their
lives and also giving them the chance to liberate themselves from all
suffering.
Some undetermined time after the conversion of Rahula, the Buddha
left Kapilavastu but was still traveling in the region of northern Koshala
(which encompassed the territory of the Shakya clan). It is said that at
least one child from each family of the Shakya clan had joined the
monastic Sangha by this time except in the family of the Buddhas cousin
Aniruddha. Aniruddhas older brother Mahanama suggested that one of them
should join the Sangha so that their family would be represented.
Aniruddha was reluctant to leave his pampered life, but Mahanama convinced
him that nothing but hard work lay ahead of him once he came of age and
that it would be better to leave the household life under the Buddha.
Curiously, it does not appear as though Mahanama was convinced by his own
arguments because he did not join the Sangha. One wonders if talking his
younger brother into leaving home and becoming a monk were some kind of
stratagem in an ongoing sibling rivalry. In any case, Aniruddha asked his
mother if he could join the Sangha. At first she refused to let him go,
but then seemingly relented and told him that he could join the Sangha if
his cousin Bhaddiya accompanied him. His mother had not really relented
however. Prince Bhaddiya had just recently taken over from King
Shuddhodhana as the leader of the Shakyas. She was counting on
Bhaddiyas refusal to leave the throne. However, Bhaddiya wore the crown
reluctantly and only because Devadatta would take it if he didnt. No
one wanted the cruel and arrogant Devadatta as king. Aniruddha pleaded
with Bhaddiya to come with him. He did refuse at first, but then he
consented to go after seven years. Aniruddha pleaded that this was too
long and in that time anything could happen to them.
In the end, Bhaddiya agreed to go after only a week on condition
that the kingship pass on to his children and brothers and that Devadatta
also come with them.
Ultimately, six Shakya nobles left together to join the Sangha:
Aniruddha, Bhaddiya, Ananda, Bhagu, Kimbila, and Devadatta. Their barber
Upali accompanied them. Originally, Upali was supposed to take the
adornments of the six Shakyas back to the clan after their renunciation,
but Upali realized that the Shakyas might be so angry over the defection
of six more Shakya nobles to the Sangha that they might even put him to
death for his part in it. Unable to return home and in fear of his life,
Upali also became a monk. Graciously, the six nobles allowed Upali to
receive admission first so that their former servant would now be senior
to them in the Sangha, and thus they would learn humility. Each of these
converts would eventually become arhats, with the exception of Devadatta.
Four out of the seven would become especially well known: Upali, Aniruddha,
Ananda, and Devadatta.
Many years later, when the Buddha began to set forth the precepts
for the monastic Sangha as circumstances demanded, Upali would come to be
known as the foremost in observing the precepts. After the Buddhas
parinirvana, it would be Upali who would recite all the precepts and the
background of each at the first council. This recital would become that
part of the Buddhist canon known as the Vinaya.
Aniruddha would come to be known as the foremost in using the
divine eye, a form of clairvoyance that could be used to see into
spiritual realms and faraway lands and even to determine the circumstances
of those who had died and been reborn.
Ananda would become the Buddhas attendant in the 20th year of
the Buddhas teaching, but he would not become an arhat until after the
parinirvana of the Buddha and just before the beginning of the first
council. At that council he would be called upon to recite all the
teachings of the Buddha that he had heard personally and which had been
reported to him from before the time he became the Buddhas attendant.
Because he memorized all the discourses, he was known as the foremost in
hearing the sutras.
Devadatta developed the five types of supernatural powers that can
be developed through meditation soon after joining the Sangha. These five
were: supernatural mastery of the body, the divine ear (clairaudience),
mind reading, past life recall, and the divine eye (clairvoyance).
Unfortunately, Devadatta never gained any insight, and his supernatural
powers only increased his arrogance. Eventually his jealousy of the Buddha
and ruthless ambition would lead him to instigate or perpetrate the most
heinous of acts. This story will be told later.
The
First Monasteries
After visiting Kapilavastu and wandering in Koshala for a time, the
Buddha returned to Rajagriha where he spent the second and third rainy
seasons subsequent to his awakening at the Bamboo Grove. It was most
likely at this time that he made it a rule that the monks must spend three
consecutive months out of the four months of the rainy season in one place.
This was because the people of Rajagriha and the surrounding countryside
began complaining that the wandering monks were trampling the vegetation
just as it was starting to flourish after the dry summer and causing harm
to the small animals and insects which the rains had flushed out. They
pointed out that even the disciples of the other spiritual teachers knew
enough not to wander around during the rainy season. It may have also been
at this time that the Buddha ruled that he and his monks would only go on
alms rounds in the morning and eat only before noon, as this would be less
disruptive to the laity and healthier for the monks according to the
Buddha.
The monks were now staying in one place during the rains, but they
still had no shelter. At this point, a wealthy merchant in Rajagriha
offered to have dwellings built for the monks. The Buddha agreed and
within a day sixty small huts were built for the monks. The merchant than
invited the Buddha and his monks to eat at his home the next day. When the
meal was over he formally presented the dwellings to the Sangha.
It was on this occasion that Sudatta, also known as Anathapindada (Pali
Anthapindika), encountered the Buddha for the first time. Sudatta was a
wealthy merchant from Shravasti, the capital of Koshala. His wife happened
to be the sister of the wealthy merchant who had donated the dwellings and
invited the Buddha and the Sangha to a meal. Usually when he came to
visit, his brother-in-law would fuss over him, but this time he was
fussing over preparations for the Buddha and his monks. When Sudatta
learned that there was someone believed to be an Awakened One in town he
had to meet him as soon as possible. He was unable to sleep that night in
anticipation. As soon as it was dawn he went to the park to meet the
Buddha. That very morning he received the Buddhas teachings, became a
stream-enterer, and took the threefold refuge. He then invited the Buddha
to a meal that he would host the very next day at his brother-in-laws
where he always stayed while in Rajagriha. His brother-in-law, another
wealthy citizen of Rajagriha, and even King Bimbisara all offered to help
him pay for the meal, but Sudatta insisted on paying for it himself. When
the day came and Sudatta had served the Buddha and the Sangha, he invited
them to come to Shravasti where he would prepare a rainy season retreat
for them. The Buddha consented. Sudatta returned home and told all those
he met on the way back that they should prepare lodgings for the Buddha
who would be following with his monks. One of the most famous of these
lodgings would be the Great Forest Monastery in the city of Vaishali, the
capital of the Licchavi tribe of the Vriji Confederacy.
Upon arriving back in Shravasti, Sudatta went to Prince Jeta, one
of the sons of King Prasenajit, and asked to buy the princes park so
that he could build a monastery on it for the Buddha and Sangha. Prince
Jeta was at first not inclined to sell his park so set what he believed to
be a prohibitively high price. He stated that he would only sell it if
Sudatta could cover the entire park with gold coins. Immediately, the
wealthy merchant had cartloads of gold coins brought in and spread over
the ground. Prince Jeta was so impressed by Sudattas dedication that he
changed his mind, and so when one patch near the entrance of the park
remained uncovered he made that part his own contribution and had a
gatehouse built there. The park was known thereafter as the Jeta Grove
Monastery.
In time, King Prasenajit and Queen Mallika of Koshala heard the
Buddhas teaching in Shravasti and were deeply impressed. Both
eventually became the Buddhas lay followers. In fact, King
Prasenajits sister was Vaidehi, the queen of Magadha and the wife of
King Bimbisara. King Bimbisara and Queen Vaidehi had, as previously told,
already become lay followers and royal patrons of the Buddha.
Some time after the Buddha began teaching in Shravasti he also
attracted many new disciples from among the population and from among
those who came to Shravasti on business. Shravasti, after all, was the
capital of one of the most powerful kingdoms in India at that time. One of
these new disciples was Subhuti, a nephew of Sudatta who became known as
the foremost in understanding emptiness.
Another was Katyayana, a brahmin from the kingdom of Avanti who had
once been a disciple of the very same Asita who had visited the infant
Siddhartha and predicted his buddhahood. Katyayana was sent by his king to
Shravasti to hear the Buddha teach. Upon hearing the Buddha teach he
became a monk and then returned to his native land to share what he had
learned. He became known as foremost in explaining the Dharma.
After returning to his native land, Katyayana found it difficult to
ordain new disciples because it was difficult to find even ten monks, the
minimum needed to confer full admission into the Sangha. He also found
that some of the precepts set forth by the Buddha were inappropriate for
those living in Avanti where the environment and customs were different
from those found in the kingdoms where the Buddha was teaching. To remedy
this, Katyayana sent one of his students, whom he had ordained after
finally managing to find enough monks for the ordination, to see the
Buddha and ask if the rules could be changed to fit the local customs and
environment. The Buddha agreed to this, and stated that in the outlying
kingdoms it would henceforth be permissible for only five monks to confer
the full admission. He also allowed monks to wear shoes, bathe more
frequently, use hides for coverings, and wear an extra robe for a longer
period of time in order to suit the local customs and the harsher
environment of the outlying kingdoms like Avanti. This incident is
important because it shows that the Buddha did allow for a certain amount
of flexibility in the rules and regulation that he set forth, and that as
long as the integrity of the Buddha Dharma was not harmed, he allowed for
the adaptation of Buddhism to new situations. It was this principle of
allowing the precepts to suit the local customs and circumstances that
would allow Buddhism to grow into a world religion.
Finally, there was Purna, a wealthy brahmin who had become an
ascetic and then joined the Sangha as a monk after hearing the Buddha
teach in Rajagriha. He became known as the foremost in expounding the
Dharma.
Though it was Sudattas hope that the Buddha would spend the
rainy season in Shravasti, the time was not yet ripe during the early
years of the Buddhas teaching. Many other spiritual teachers and
movements were strongly established there including the six unorthodox
(from a brahmin point of view) teachers who all rejected the authority of
the Vedas. These six included: Purana Kashyapa, who denied the law of
cause and effect; Maskarin Goshali, who taught that everything is
predestined; Samjayin Vairatiputra the skeptic; Ajita Keshakambala the
materialist; Kakuda Katyayana the pluralist, who taught that the elements
that make up life disperse at death with no continuity; and Nigrantha
Jnatiputra, the founder of Jainism, who taught that our actions bind us to
suffering regardless of our intentions and that only complete inaction can
lead to liberation. The Buddha viewed each of these positions as a denial
or misinterpretation of the law of cause and
effect. Each had many
partisans in Shravasti, so it took some time before the Buddhas
teachings could get a fair hearing and garner popular support there.
Eventually, however, the Buddha gained a third of the people of Shravasti
as lay followers and earned the respect of another third, so from the 20th
year of his teaching on the Buddha spent his rainy season retreats there.
It was also during these early years staying at the Bamboo Grove in
Rajagriha that the Buddha met two people who would become very important
lay supporters and donors of monasteries. One was Jivaka, the court
physician of King Bimbisara. Jivaka had been borne to the most prestigious
courtesan in Rajagriha, however she abandoned the infant on a rubbish heap
where it was found and rescued by Prince Abhaya, one of King Bimbisaras
sons. Prince Abhaya raised Jivaka as his own, and when he was old enough
Jivaka went to the city of Takshashila to study medicine for seven years.
When he returned, he was appointed King Bimbisaras court physician.
King Bimbisara later asked him to care for the Buddha and the Sangha as
well. Jivaka was greatly impressed by the Buddha, and even donated his
mango grove in Rajagriha to be used as a monastery.
Another important patron was Visakha. Visakha was the daughter of a
wealthy merchant who originally lived in the city of Bhaddiya in the
kingdom of Magadha. When she was only seven years old the Buddha came to
Bhaddiya and her grandfather urged the whole family to go and hear his
teachings. The whole family became stream-enterers and lay followers of
the Buddha from that time on. Later, the family moved to the kingdom of
Koshala. When she was fifteen or sixteen years old, she married into a
wealthy family in Shravasti. Migara, her father-in-law, was a supporter of
the Jains. This created a lot of conflict between them because she refused
to acknowledge the Jains as holy men, and Migara refused to acknowledge
the Buddhists. In the end, however, Visakhas wisdom, caring, and
integrity won over Migara and she convinced him to come to the Jeta Grove
and hear the Buddha speak. Migara was so impressed that he too became a
stream-enterer and took refuge in the three jewels of the Buddha, Dharma,
and Sangha. He was so grateful to Visakha that he declared her his
mother in the Dharma. Visakha then became affectionately known as
Migaras mother. She became well known for her devotion to the
Buddha, her earnest inquiries regarding the Dharma, and her generosity and
support of the Sangha. On one occasion she accidentally left behind a
bejeweled robe at the Jeta Grove Monastery. Instead of reclaiming it she
donated it to the Sangha and then bought it back so that the money could
be used to establish a new monastery in the Eastern Park of Shravasti.
This monastery was called the Hall of Migaras Mother. From that time on,
when the Buddha was staying in Shravasti, he could be found either at the
Jeta Grove Monastery or the Hall of Migaras Mother.
The
Nuns Order
The first rainy season after the Buddhas enlightenment had been
spent in the Deer Park, and the next three rainy seasons were spent at the
Bamboo Grove in Rajagriha. During the fifth rainy season the Buddha spent
the first eight days at the Great Forest Monastery in Vaishali and then
returned to Rajagriha for the rest of the season. A couple of months after
the end of the fifth rainy season retreat the Buddha heard that his father,
King Shuddhodana, was on his deathbed. The Buddha flew back (literally
according to tradition) to Kapilavastu to be at his side. There he gave a
final discourse to his father who became an arhat as a result just before
passing away. The Buddha then stayed for a while at the Nyagrodha Park and
helped to resolve a dispute over water rites between the Shakyas and the
neighboring Koliya clan.
According to tradition, it was during this stay at the Nyagrodha
Park that the Buddhas aunt and foster mother, Mahaprajapati, approached
him and requested that he allow women to leave the home life and become
nuns in the Sangha. She herself was now a widow upon the death of
Shuddhodana. The Buddha refused even though Mahaprajapati persisted and
made three requests. Usually, if someone made three requests to the Buddha
that was sign of great sincerity and need. If it were something wholesome
and good, like a request for a teaching, the Buddha would grant it. So his
adamant refusal to consent to Mahaprajapatis request showed how serious
were the Buddhas misgivings about the formation of an order of nuns.
Though very disappointed, Mahaprajapati paid her respects to the Buddha
and left, but she had not given up. She shaved off her hair, donned yellow
robes like the monks, and when the Buddha returned to the Great Forest
Monastery she and a number of other Shakya women followed him there.
Ananda discovered her on the veranda of the monastery weeping and travel
worn. When he asked her what she was doing there in such a condition, she
told him about the Buddhas refusal to allow women to leave home and
become nuns. Ananda told her that he would intercede on her behalf and
then went in and requested that the Buddha allow Mahaprajapati and the
others to become nuns. Again the Buddha refused up to three times. Ananda
did not give up however. He took a different tact, and asked the Buddha if
theoretically a woman, by leaving home and practicing the Buddhas
teachings, could attain any of the stages leading to liberation up to and
including arhatship. The Buddha admitted that such was the case. Then
Ananda reminded the Buddha of all that Mahaprajapati had done for him in
raising him after his mother died, and how it would be good if she and
other women be given the chance to practice as nuns and attain
enlightenment. The Buddha finally consented, and told Ananda that if
Mahaprajapati agreed to eight conditions which would ensure the
subordination of the nuns to the monks she could consider that agreement
her full admission as a nun. Mahaprajapati readily agreed. These eight
conditions were as follows:
1.
A nun must always pay their respects to a monk as a junior to a senior,
regardless of the actual seniority of the nun to the monk.
2.
A nun must not spend the rainy season retreat in a place where there are
no monks.
3.
Every two weeks the nuns should expect the monks to appoint for them the
day of the Uposatha observance and for a monk to come and instruct them.
4.
At the end of the rainy season retreat a nun should invite criticism
regarding her observation of the precepts from both the other nuns and
from the monks.
5.
A nun who has committed a grave offense should do penance before both the
monks and the nuns.
6.
A probationer who wishes to be a nun must seek admission from both the
monks and the nuns after two years of training.
7.
A nun must not find fault with or abuse a monk.
8.
From that day on the nuns are not allowed to teach the monks but the monks
are allowed to teach the nuns.
Soon after the other women were ordained by the monks in accordance
with the usual ordination ceremony. Among the Shakyan women who were
ordained was Yashodhara, who had been living as a renunciant while at home
ever since her husband Siddhartha had left to seek buddhahood. After
Mahaprajapatis admission, the Buddha commented to Ananda that now the
holy life set forth by the Buddha would last only five hundred years
instead of a thousand now that women had been admitted as nuns. As an
addendum to this story, at the first counsel after the Buddhas passing,
Ananda was severely criticized by the other monks (who were all
enlightened arhats as well) for talking the Buddha into allowing women to
become nuns.
This whole story is remarkable for its seeming portrayal of the
Buddha as a blatant misogynist who resented the idea of women joining his
mens only club. It also depicts the Buddha stubbornly refusing to give
women the opportunity to become enlightened when he later reveals that he
knew they had the potential to do so, and then shows him being convinced
to change his mind by an unenlightened disciple (Ananda did not attain
arhatship until after the Buddhas passing on the eve of the
aforementioned first counsel). Even after admitting the women, the Buddha
does not consent to equality between the monks and nuns but ensures that
the nuns will forever be subordinate to and subject to the authority of
the monks with a list of conditions that will be explained below. Even
then, the Buddha seems to regret his decision and predicts that the
presence of women will hasten the end of Buddhism. As if that was not
enough, Anandas role in this story is not praised but condemned by his
enlightened peers at the first counsel. What can be made of all this?
There are other problems with this story besides the way in which
it might strike the modern reader. Though it is claimed by tradition that
this was how women came to be admitted as nuns, there are many things
about the story which indicate that the formation of the nuns order
could not possibly have occurred when and how it did here because the
details of the story do not fit with the rest of the traditional history
of the early Sangha. To begin with, Ananda seems to be acting as the
Buddhas attendant. Though it is possible that Ananda may have taken a
turn as an attendant at this early date, the tradition insists that he did
not become the Buddhas permanent attendant until the 20th year after
the Buddhas enlightenment. Another problem with the story is that when
the nuns order was formed, they took on all the precepts that had been
laid down for the monks up to that point. From then on, rules were laid
down for either the monks or the nuns but not for both. So only the
precepts set forth by the Buddha prior to the formation of the nuns
order are shared by both. Even the eight conditions given to Mahaprajapati
presuppose that there are precepts already established. However, the
tradition claims that the Buddha did not need to set forth any precepts
until the twelfth year after the Buddhas enlightenment. So in all
likelihood it would appear that the nuns order could not have been
initiated until after the twelfth or even twentieth year of the Buddhas
teaching. In that case, however, Shuddhodana would have had to have died
at a very old age and Mahaprajapati would also have been in her late
seventies or eighties when she made the journey on foot as a homeless
beggar to Vaishali from Kapilavastu. The eight conditions also assume a
probationary period for women who wish to become nuns, which is rather odd
since these eight conditions are supposedly prior to any other rulings
concerning the training and ordination of nuns. The wording of the last
condition is also curious since it seems to be saying that before that day
the nuns did admonish the monks. But how could there have been nuns prior
to the acceptance of the eight conditions for the establishment of an
order of nuns? The Buddhist canon itself does not provide any kind of
reliable chronology for any of these events, and many of the stories (even
the canonical ones) cannot be verified as eyewitness reports and may very
well be legendary. Still, there are many things about this story which
make it suspect. It may in fact be a story fabricated in later times to
explain the institution of the nuns order and perhaps to justify the
attitudes of the monks and the subordination of the nuns by putting words
in the Buddhas mouth. On the other hand, whenever and however the
formation of the nuns order actually occurred, it may well have been
that the Buddha was concerned about what this would mean for the future of
the Sangha as a whole. The Buddha is reported to have said to Ananda:
Ananda, if women had not obtained the going forth from the house
life into homelessness in the Dharma and Discipline declared by the
Perfect One, the holy life would have lasted long, the holy life would
have lasted a thousand years. But now, since women have obtained it, the
holy life will not last long, the holy life will last only five hundred
years. (The Life of the Buddha,
p. 106)
It is not hard to imagine that this prophecy of the
Buddhas regarding the effect the nuns order would have on the holy
life may have actually been the judgment of the monks who compiled the
Vinaya and first recorded it in writing hundreds of years after the
passing of the Buddha. Perhaps the presence of women did create
opportunities for scandals that hurt the reputation of the Sangha and
caused disharmony within the monastic order. Doubtless such disturbances
were as much the fault of the monks as of the nuns. Even without actual
misbehavior, the formation of an order of nuns by itself would be enough
to scandalize the extremely patriarchal Indian society at that time. The
nuns order was, after all, a liberating alternative from the strictures
of household life wherein women were no more than chattel. To have such an
alternative available for women would have struck many as an incredible
threat. It would have been seen by many as an institution that could
potentially destabilize their entire society. If any woman could go off
and attain the freedom and dignity of life as a nun, then would any woman
remain at home?
Later monks most likely found it easier to blame the nuns for these
problems rather than themselves or society. As for who was to blame for
allowing women to join the Sangha as nuns in the first place, these later
monks probably could not deny that the Buddha himself had established it,
but since they did not want the Buddha to be at fault for setting in
motion the scandalous institution of the order of nuns they blamed the
unenlightened and soft hearted Ananda for talking him into it. There is,
naturally, no proof for this speculation regarding the origin of this
story, but there is likewise no way to prove that the story we have been
given was a faithful rendering of what actually happened. All we have to
go by is the word of the anonymous elder monks who passed on this story in
this form and eventually wrote it down roughly 2,000 years ago. Just
because the story is blatantly chauvinistic, misogynistic, self-serving,
and seemingly at variance with the Buddhas teaching that all people,
both men and women, regardless of caste, could attain liberation by
practicing his teachings (which even this story admits) does not disprove
its authenticity. On the other hand, is it such a stretch to claim that
this story was the creation of monks who lived generations after the
Buddha?
The eight conditions and the many additional precepts that the nuns
order followed may have been given by the Buddha himself in order to
prevent such a scandal. Or they may have been promulgated in the name of
the Buddha after his passing. In any case, these rules and conditions
created a situation wherein women who joined the Sangha would not become
free of subordination to men. Rather, they would become subordinate to the
monks. So the basic condition of patriarchal life was maintained even in
the Sangha. Thus, women would have less incentive to leave their homes to
become nuns, since even as nuns they would not be autonomous nor would
they gain any authority over the monks. Other precepts ensured that nuns
would be held to the strictest standards of propriety so as not create
scandal that would endanger the Sangha as a whole. Still other precepts
were given for the protection and welfare of the nuns, since women at that
time (as now in many places in the world) were not safe from bandits,
serial killers, rapists, and others who would abuse and exploit them. With
the eight conditions and precepts in place, the nuns order was able to
gain the begrudging acceptance of Indian society at least for a time. The
nuns order eventually died out in India in 456 CE, though the nuns
order has continued to this very day in Mahayana countries outside of
India such as China and Korea.
With the formation of the order of nuns, it would seem as though
the Buddha had brought into the Sangha all of the family that he had left
behind so many years before who were still living: his foster-mother
Mahaprajapati, his wife Yashodhara, his son Rahula, his half-brother Nanda,
many of his cousins, and even the family barber Upali. Though his father
never became a monk, he did become a lay follower and died an arhat. Only
the Buddhas mother, who had died a week after giving birth to
Siddhartha had not been given a chance to hear the Buddhas teaching and
attain liberation. According to tradition, this was remedied in the
seventh year of the Buddhas preaching.
The sixth rainy season was spent at a place called Mankula Hill.
After that the Buddha again performed the twin miracle that he had
performed for the Shakyas, but this time in Shravasti. Though the Buddha
had discouraged his disciples from using making public displays of their
supernatural powers, the Buddha had determined that in circumstances it
was necessary in order to break through the incredulity of the people.
Now that the groundwork for the establishment of the Dharma had
been laid in this world, and especially in the increasingly important city
of Shravasti, the Buddha decided that the time was ripe to attend to those
who could benefit from the Dharma in the heavenly realms. During the
seventh rainy season, the Buddha ascended to the Heaven of the
Thirty-three Gods, where his mother had been reborn as a minor goddess.
There he taught her and the other deities a highly detailed, systematic
and refined version of the Buddha Dharma. Each day of the rainy season,
the Buddha returned to this world and gave a summary of these teachings to
Shariputra who, as tradition has it, passed them on as the
Abhidharma (which means Higher Dharma) portion of the
Buddhist canon. In doing this, the Buddha lived up to his title as the
teacher of gods and men, succeeded in bringing the Buddha Dharma to his
birth mother in heaven, and established the final portion of the Buddhist
canon alongside the Sutras and the Vinaya.
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