Ananda: Pre-eminent in Remembering

Buddhanet.net

Among the disciples of the Buddha, Venerable Ananda had the most retentive memory. Ananda joined the Sangha when he was a child. It was said that he became a monk together with Aniruddha and Bhadra. Initially when the four Sakyas princes became monks, Ananda was the youngest of all.

The father of Ananda was King Suklodana, Buddha's greatest betrayer, Devadatta was Ananda's elder brother. Once when Buddha returned to his homeland to preach, King Suklodana was afraid that Buddha would influence Ananda so after meeting Buddha, he brought Ananda to Vaisali so that there would be less opportunity of Ananda meeting Buddha. However, later Buddha went to Vaisali too so King Suklodana again brought Ananda back to Kapilavastu.

In fact, among the princes, Buddha had the greatest hope that Ananda would leave home with him. The Buddha could foresee the future and he thought, " If Ananda leaves home, he shall spread Buddha Dharma to the future generations.

When the Buddha knew Ananda had returned to Kapilavastu, he immediately went to the palace of King Suklodana. When Ananda saw the Buddha, he paid his respects to the Buddha and used a fan to fan Him. From here we can see that little Ananda had respected Buddha even at a young age.

When the time was ripe, Ananda and prince Bhadra joined the monk's community.

Helping in the Setting up of the Order of Nuns

Growing up in the Sangha, Ananda had a gentle and compassionate disposition. He was most respected by women because he was caring towards the bhikkhunis and women followers of the Buddha.

It was due to the effort of Ananda that Buddha allowed female to become bhikkhunis.

When Buddha's foster mother Mahaprajapati saw that the Buddha had attained enlightenment, that some of the princes had taken refuge in Buddha and the king was dead, she wanted to leave home to be a bhikkhuni or nun.

Mahaprajapati begged the Buddha to permit her to stay in the Buddha's community or Sangha but the Buddha refused. To avoid the frequent begging from his foster mother, the Buddha went to preach in Namantini monastery which was not far from Vaisali.

Mahaprajapati was not deterred. She gathered five hundred women of the Sakyan clan who had similar thoughts as her, shaved their hair and walked bare-footed to catch up with the Buddha. They walked for over two thousand miles and finally reached the monastery where the Buddha stayed. Having stayed in the palace for so long and not used to walking such long distances, the women looked tired and haggard. They paced outside the monastery and dared not enter. Ananda happened to come out and when he saw Mahaprajapati and the other women wearing the robes of bhikkunis, with dust and tears on their faces, he had a shock. He asked them, "What is going on?"

Mahaprajapati replied, "We leave our loved ones and relatives and walked all the way here to become bhikkunis. If Buddha refuse us again, we shall die here and never return!"

Ananda was so touched by the words that he could not control his tears. He related the message to Buddha and begged the Buddha to grant the women their wish.

The Buddha, however, refused, "Ananda, I sympathise with them but it is not appropriate to let women enter our community."

"Lord Buddha! Are men and women different in the Buddha Dharma?" Ananda picked up the courage to ask.

"Ananda! the Dharma is the same in heaven or in the world. I do not discriminate against women, that is to say that I treat all sentient beings as equal. Women can do as the men did, follow my Dharma and practice but they need not become bhikkunis. This is the question of our system and not whether men and women are equal. Women leaving home are like wild grass in the field which will affect the harvest."

This speech of the Buddha had profound meaning. On the aspect of humanity, women should be allowed to leave home however on the aspect of Dharma logic, it s not good to allow the two sexes to practice together. Wisdom and love move opposite ways, some people might give up practice for love so Buddha refused to let women to join the Sangha. Or perhaps the Buddha felt that as compared to men, women are more vain, delicate and slower than men so he disallowed women from entering to teach them a lesson.

Although the Buddha refused, nevertheless Ananda said in tears, "Lord Buddha! Can you bear to see them die, shouldn't you show them compassion and give them a helping hand?"

The Buddha felt that at times, it was impossible to care for both Dharma and feelings at the same time, he also understood that there was no pure and unchanging Dharma. Buddha was quiet for a while and finally agreed to Ananda's request to allow women to leave home. Happily, Ananda rushed outside to announce the good news. Mahaprajapti and the other women were overjoyed with tears. The Buddha met the five hundred women and wanted them to obey eight extra rules towards the monks.

Encounter with Matanga

Ananda was young and handsome and this caused him some trouble. One day, he begged in Sravasti and on the way back he saw a well. A peasant girl was getting water from the well. Ananda was thirsty so he asked the girl to give him some water.

The girl recognised the young bhikkhu in front of her was Ananda. Very shyly she said, "Venerable! I am a lowly peasant who is not fit to offer you anything."

When Ananda heard this, he consoled her, "Young lady! I am a bhikkhu and I am equal towards the rich and poor!"

The girl was deeply attracted by Ananda's looks and his gentle speech. She even dreamed of marrying him. In actual fact, young Ananda could not forget the young lady too! Next day, when he passed by her house, the girl smiled and acknowledged him. Ananda began to feel confused. However at the moment he remembered he was the bhikkhu who had to abide by the precepts, he though of Buddha, his power engulfed him. Ananda suddenly found wisdom, as if the Buddha had turned into a gust of wind to guide him back to the Jetavana monastery.

On the second day, Ananda calmed himself then went to the city to beg. The young girl wore a new dress and had a new hairdo. She stood on the road waiting for Ananda. When she saw him, she followed him and refused to let him go. Ananda was nervous and helpless. He returned to the monastery and told the Buddha everything. The Buddha then told him to bring the girl to him.

When the girl heard that Buddha wanted to see her, she was shocked but in order to get Ananda, she picked up courage to see the Buddha. Upon seeing her, Buddha said, " Ananda is a practising monk, to be his wife you need to leave home and be a bhikkhuni for a year, are you willing?"

"I an willing, Lord Buddha!" The girl was surprised that the Buddha had so easily made her wish come true, so she answered very quickly.

"According to my system, leaving home needs approval from parents, can you get your parents to approve of it?"

The Buddha did not make things difficult for her. His conditions were not impossible and the girl immediately went home to fetch her mother. Her mother very happily agreed to let her daughter become a bhikkuni first before marrying Ananda.

In order to be Ananda's wife, the girl very happily shaved her hair to become a bhikkuni. She listened to Buddha's preachings very enthusiastically and practised according to Buddha's guidance. Her desires and emotions calmed down after each passing day and in less than half a year, she realised that in the past her pursuits for love was a shameful behaviour.

Buddha always preached that the five forms of desires were unclean Dharma and the source of sufferings. Only when the five desires were cleared could the mind become pure and the life peaceful.

The girl realised her obsession with Ananda was unclean and bad. She regretted and one day, she knelt in front of Buddha and tearfully repented, " Buddha! I am awake now, I will not be ignorant like I used to be. I am very grateful to you. In order to convert ignorant sentient beings like us, you have put in so much effort to think of various ways! From now on, I am going to be a bhikkuni forever, follow Buddha's footsteps to be a messenger of truth!"

Buddha's earnest teachings had finally awakened her to become a model bhikkhuni!

This girl was the well-known Matanga. In allowing a peasant girl to be a bhikkhuni, Buddha received a lot of criticism and opposition from people as the caste system was prevalent at that time. However, Buddha advocated equality of the four castes. The incidence of Matanga's attraction to Ananda's looks and the turning of misfortune into happiness had become a matter of great interest in the Buddhist community and a charming story through the ages.

Trouble with Females

Ananda was helpful towards bhikkhunis. As he could get along well with people, all women, especially bhikkunis had deep respect for him. Sometimes when he walked with Maha Kassapa, bhikkhunis usually asked for Ananda's advice before they asked Maha Kassapa, though Maha Kassapa was more senior than Ananda, in terms of knowledge, experience and age.

The minds of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis are constantly at war with their sensible reasonings and emotions. If sensibility win, they can become Buddha, if emotions win, they remain as ordinary people. It is difficult to expect all bhikkhus and bhikkhunis to lead a withered and dull life without any form of love of the world.

In the Jetavana monastery, there lived a young female bhikkhuni. She was deeply attracted by Ananda's outstanding features and grace and loved him secretly. However, living in the strict Buddhist community, she was not allowed to break the precepts, so she felt helpless and frustrated.

One day, this young bhikkhuni fell sick and she asked someone to pass a message to Ananda asking him to visit her. Next morning, before he went to beg for food, the kind Ananda went to visit the bhikkhuni. However she was half dressed and when Ananda walked near her, she looked at him with deep love. Ananda immediately understood and without uttering a single word, he turned and walked away. The young bhikkhuni quickly got up from bed, dressed and rushed after Ananda. She invited Ananda to sit down. When Ananda sat down, he said, " Sister! Do not use unclean things to feed your body, do not have incorrect thoughts of sexual desire. Sister! You are unwell, as long as you put your body and mind in an undemanding state, you will soon recover."

However, the young bhikkhuni still looked at Ananda with tenderness and love, she said, "I understand what you mean but no matter how hard I try, I can't control my feeling for you. People, in order to feel protected and peaceful, cannot be without demands!"

"Sister! You must not think this way. People work for clothes, food and shelter for cultivation of body. To cultivate a healthy body is to practice the way, then the mind can be peaceful. To forget the path but instead pursue the impermanent desire is incorrect. We cultivate our body and mind, cut off all desires to pursue the true path and not be lured by void and empty ways!"

The bhikkhuni was deeply touched and put off her desire for love. She received the Dharma eyes.

Actually, Ananda had no thoughts of love nor desire for women but only pure friendship. However, because of women, he encountered a lot of problems thereby causing jealousy and criticisms.

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