The Major Shravaka Disciples
The word shravaka means "voice hearer" and refers
to those monastic disciples who directly heard the voice of the
Buddha. From the standpoint of Mahayana Buddhism, the shravakas
are the Hinayana disciples who listened and followed the
teachings of the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path. The
goal of the shravakas is to become an arhat or 'Worthy One.' An
arhat is someone who has realized nirvana and is thereby free of
all greed, anger, and ignorance and will no longer undergo birth
and death. According to the Lotus Sutra, however, even
the shravakas are on the One Vehicle which leads to buddhahood.
The nirvana of the arhats is in actuality a temporary respite or
'magic city' on the journey to perfect and complete
enlightenment. The true 'voice hearer' then, is actually a
bodhisattva who has heard the teaching of the One Vehicle of the Lotus
Sutra and who enables others to hear it as well.
Traditionally there are ten major disciples who are
representative of the different qualities that were valued by
Hinayana Buddhism. They are:
1. Shariputra - foremost in wisdom.
2. Mahakashyapa - foremost in ascetic practices.
3. Ananda - foremost in hearing the sutras.
4. Subhuti - foremost in understanding emptiness.
5. Purna - foremost in expounding the Dharma.
6. Maudgalyayana - foremost in supernatural powers.
7. Katyayana - foremost in explaining the Dharma.
8. Aniruddha - foremost in using the divine eye (clairvoyance).
9. Upali - foremost in observing the precepts.
10. Rahula - foremost in inconspicuous practice.
In the Lotus Sutra, the shravakas fall into three
groups of superior, intermediate, and lesser capacity, depending
upon the manner in which they are able to understand the One
Vehicle. A Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts
states:
"Shariputra alone understood immediately upon
hearing the Buddha preach concerning 'the true entity of all
phenomena' (shojo jisso) in the Hoben (second)
chapter; he constitutes the first group. The Hiyu (third)
chapter predicts his enlightenment. Maudgalyayana,
Mahakashyapa, Katyayana and Subhuti understood the Buddha's
teaching through the parable of the three carts and the
burning house related in the Hiyu chapter. They constitute
the second group. Their attainment of Buddhahood is predicted
in the Juki (sixth) chapter. Purna, Ananda, Rahula and others
finally understood the Buddha's teaching by hearing about
their relationship with Shakyamuni since the remote past of
sanzen-jintengo, as explained in the Kejoyu (seventh)
chapter. They constitute the third group. Purna's
enlightenment is prophecied in the Gohyaku Deshi Juki
(eighth) chapter, and Ananda's and Rahula's in the Ninki
(ninth) chapter." (pp.457-8)
Namu Sharihotsu Sonja
The Venerable Shariputra
Shariputra and his lifelong friend Maudgalyayana were born to
brahmin families in neighboring villages near Rajagriha, the
capital of the kingdom of Magadha. 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 after he preached the sermon on the Middle Way and the
four noble truths at the Deer Park in Varanasi. Ashvajit's 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, Shariputra's quick mind realized
the profound implications of this seemingly simple verse and he
attained the first of four stages leading to complete liberation
from birth and death - stream-entry. 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 Ashvajit's verse.
Maudgalyayana also attained the stage of stream-entry and
together 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, so they both left and took half of Sanjaya's 500
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 Hinayana enlightenment
and became an arhat (a worthy one) who would no longer have to be
reborn. After another week had passed, Shariputra also became an
arhat while listening to the Buddha preach a sermon to
Dighanakha, Shariputra's 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
Buddha's teachings. Because he did this, he was second only to
the Buddha in preaching the Dharma, and several sutras in the
Tripitika are actually taught by Shariputra with the full
approval of the Buddha.
Shariputra was known as the one who had the best knowledge of
the Dharma in terms of analysis and systematization. According to
tradition, the Buddha taught the Dharma in detail to his mother
Queen Maya in the Heaven of the Thirty-three Gods over a period
of three months. Each day, the Buddha would explain to Shariputra
what he had taught in there, and this transmission became the
basis for the Abhidharma, the systematic explanation of the
Buddha's teachings. Because the Mahayana sutras base themselves
on the doctrine of emptiness, rather than the systematic
philosophy of the Abhidharma, Shariputra is often the focus of
criticism and ridicule in many Mahayana sutras. The point is that
an analytical understanding of the Dharma as represented by
Shariputra is inferior to the bodhisattva's intuitive insight
into the empty nature of all phenomena. However, as one can see
from the story of Shariputra's introduction to the Dharma, this
may not be entirely fair to the actual Shariputra of the earlier
teachings who seems to have been a very intuitive person and not
just a dry intellectual.
Nevertheless, in the Mahayana canon he did come to represent
a certain type - a humorless monk whose understanding of the
Dharma was too literal and naive. He is portrayed as someone who
takes himself and his status as a monk too seriously. He is often
presented as a male chauvinist as well. Finally, he is made to
represent those whose spiritual concern is limited to their own
liberation.
The picture of Shariputra that emerges from the Pali Canon is
very different. In the Pali Canon, Shariputra is the right hand
man of the Buddha who assists him in teaching the Dharma up until
the very end of his life. He is even known as the "regent of
the Dharma" due to his role as the Buddha's principal
teaching assistant. He is compassionate, helpful, and solicitous
of the welfare of the other disciples. He is also given
responsibility for the administration and material well-being of
the Sangha. He has great facility in abiding in the highest
stages of meditative absorption (the dhyanas) including
the ability to "abide in emptiness." Contrary to the
Mahayana sutras, Shariputra almost seems to be the prototype of
the Zen Master: a master of meditation, a compassionate teacher,
and one who can abide in emptiness at will. In the Pali Canon,
the Buddha himself holds up Shariputra and Maudgalyayana as
models for all the disciples.
One of the most important events in the life of the early
Sangha was the schism created by Devadatta. Devadatta had
convinced 500 newly ordained monks to follow him instead of
Shakyamuni Buddha. Out of compassion for those 500 monks, the
Buddha sent Shariputra and Maudgalyayana to visit them. Devadatta
was eager to have these two revered disciples join his group and
so he invited them to join him and even preach to the 500 while
he rested. Devadatta's overconfidence was his undoing however,
for Shariputra and Maudgalyayana taught the true Dharma which the
monks had not heard before and convinced them to return to
Shakyamuni Buddha. Devadatta awakened to discover that all his
followers had left him.
In the last year of the Buddha's life, Shariputra returned to
his home in the village of Nalaka. He returned because his mother
had not yet taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the
Sangha and yet he knew that she had the potential to attain the
state of stream-entry. So he returned home in order to try one
last time to awaken that potential.
Upon returning home, he fell ill with dysentery and all the
gods visited him on his death-bed. Witnessing this, his mother
realized that the gods that she worshipped in turn payed their
respects to her son Shariputra because he had attained
liberation. At that time she asked Shariputra to tell her about
the Buddha and to explain the Dharma to her. Finally she was able
to open her mind and attain the state of stream-entry by taking
refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Shortly after
that, Shariputra summoned the monks who had accompanied him and
asked forgiveness for anything he might have done to upset them.
He then entered into the highest stages of meditative attainment
and passed away.
In the Lotus Sutra, it is Shariputra who the Buddha
first addresses when he emerges from the Samadhi of Innumerable
Meanings at the very start of chapter two. He tells Shariputra
that the wisdom of the Buddhas is profound and immeasurable and
beyond the capabilities of the Shravakas - of whom Shariputra was
the chief representative. Three times Shariputra enthusiastically
requests the Buddha to teach this great wisdom. Finally, the
Buddha teaches the one great purpose for which the Buddha's
appear in the word. The Buddha teaches the One Vehicle, by which
he reveals that he only teaches bodhisattvas and so by
implication even Shariputra and all the other disciples are
actually bodhisattvas who will be able to attain buddhahood. In
chapter three, Shariptura is the first to understand the import
of this teaching and the sutra says that he felt like dancing for
joy. Shariputra then reveals that all along he had wanted to be a
bodhisattva and now he is very happy to learn that he too will
attain buddhahood. Shakyamuni Buddha then explains that
Shariputra has aspired to enlightenment in a previous existence
but had forgotten. Now, upon hearing the Lotus Sutra, he
was able to return to that original vow. So in a sense,
Shariputra had actually been a bodhisattva all along without
realizing it. Shakyamuni Buddha then predicts Shariputra's future
buddhahood; announcing that in the future he will become
Flower-Light Tathagata in the world Free-From-Taint. He also
explains that even someone as wise as Shariputra can only
understand the Lotus Sutra through faith. Shariputra
then recedes into the background until he reappears in the latter
half of chapter 12. In that chapter, Shariputra appears once more
as the male chauvinist monk who can not believe that the eight
year old dragon girl can attain enlightenment. Shariputra is
proved wrong and unlike his earlier joyful reception of the
Dharma the sutra states that he "received the Dharma
faithfully and in silence." (Lotus Sutra, p. 202).
Chapters 22 and 28 mention that Shariputra and the other monks
had great joy upon hearing the teaching of the Lotus Sutra.
Icon: A monk with a long handled fan.
Namu Dai Kasho Sonja
The Venerable Mahakashyapa
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 Mahakashyapa's parent's 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 Kaushali. There she stayed with an order of
non-Buddhists nuns near the Jetavana monastery until the Buddha
agreed to initiate an order of nuns at the urging of Ananda on
behalf of Yashodhara, the Buddha's former wife, and
Mahaprajapati, the Buddha's aunt and foster mother. Bhadra
Kapilani soon 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. 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 any unenlightened person who tried to explain
enlightenment in the presence of someone as perceptive and
sincere as Mahakashyapa would have their head split into seven
pieces. 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 which 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.
Mahakashyapa and many other monks were on the way to
Kushinagara when the Buddha passed away. Mahakashyapa and the
arhats were not upset, but many of the unenlightened monks were
overcome with grief. One monk, however, was actually happy
because he assumed that they would now be able to do as they
pleased since the Buddha had passed away. Mahakashyapa and the
monks continued to Kushinagara where they paid homage to the
Buddha one last time. After Mahakashyapa finished paying homage,
the funeral pyre spontaneously burst into flames.
After the funeral, Mahakashyapa gathered and presided over
the first Buddhist council in order to preserve the Dharma and
the Vinaya. The council consisted of 500 arhats. At the council,
Ananda recited the sutras while Upali recited the Vinaya.
In China in the late 5th century a writing called A
History of the Transmission of the Dharma Treasury appeared.
It was allegedly a translation from a Sanskrit original, but this
has never been proven. In that writing, a lineage of Buddhist
patriarchs is given beginning with Mahakashyapa continuing with
Ananda and ending with Aryasimha, the twenty-fourth patriarch.
This list appears in the preface to Chih-i's The Great
Calming and Contemplation (Jap. Maka Shikan) and
became a part of the T'ien-t'ai tradition. In this system, the
lineage ends with Aryasimha. This later became the basis for the
legendary Zen lineage of 28 Indian patriarchs which extended to
four more Indian patriarchs of which Bodhidharma was the last. It
was Bodhidharma who allegedly transmitted the Zen teaching in
China. Eventually the legend of the transmission of the Dharma
from Shakyamuni Buddha to Mahakashyapa actually became one of the
more famous Zen koans:
"Once, in ancient times, when the World-Honored One
was at Mount Grdhrakuta, he twirled a flower before his
assembled disciples. All were silent. Only Mahakashyapa broke
into a smile.
"The World-Honored One said, 'I have the eye
treasury of right Dharma, the subtle mind of nirvana, the
true form of no-form, and the flawless gate of the teaching.
It is a special transmission outside tradition. I now entrust
this to Mahakashyapa.'" (The Gateless Barrier,
p. 46)
In the Lotus Sutra, Mahakashyapa, along with
Subhuti, Katyayana, and Maudgalyayana all express their joy at
hearing the teaching of the One Vehicle in chapter four. These
four disciples then tell the Buddhist version of the parable of
the prodigal son in that same chapter. In chapter five, the
Buddha addresses the parable of the herbs to specifically to
these four. In chapter six, the Buddha predicts the future
buddhahood of these four disciples beginning with Mahakashyapa,
who he announces will become Light Tathagata of the world
Light-Virtue.
Icon: A monk leaning on a begging staff.
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Lotus World: an Illustrated Guide to the Gohonzon
