Initiation of Buddha Shakyamuni and the 16 Arahants

by

Palpung Khen Rinpoche Samten Gyatso

 

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Asita, the sage, visits the newborn prince

 

Asita the sage, in his mid-day meditation,

saw the devas of the Group of Thirty

               ?a  exultant, ecstatic  ?a 

dressed in pure white, honoring Indra,

holding up banners, cheering wildly,

& on seeing the devas so joyful & happy,

having paid his respects, he said:

 

 

"Why is the deva community

               so wildly elated?

Why are they holding up banners

& waving them around?

Even after the war with the Asuras

               ?a  when victory was the devas',

               the Asuras defeated  ?a 

even then there was no excitement like this.

Seeing what marvel

are the devas so joyful?

               They shout,

               they sing,

               play music,

               clap their hands,

               dance.

So I ask you, who live on Mount Meru's summit.

Please dispel my doubt quickly, dear sirs."

 

 

"The Bodhisatta, the foremost jewel,

               unequaled,

has been born for welfare & ease

               in the human world,

in a town in the Sakyan countryside,

               Lumbini.

That's why we're all so wildly elated.

He, the highest of all beings,

the ultimate person,

a bull among men, foremost of all people,

will set turning the Wheel [of Dhamma]

in the grove named after the seers,

like a strong, roaring lion,

the conqueror of beasts."

 

 

Hearing these words,

Asita quickly descended [from heaven]

and went to Suddhodana's dwelling.

There, taking a seat, he said to the Sakyans:

               "Where is the prince?

               I, too, want to see him."

The Sakyans then showed

to the seer named Asita

               their son, the prince,

               like gold aglow,

burnished by a most skillful smith

in the mouth of the furnace,

blazing with glory, flawless in color.

On seeing the prince blazing like flame,

pure like the bull of the stars

going across the sky

               ?a  the burning sun,

               released from the clouds of autumn  ?a 

he was exultant, filled with abundant rapture.

The devas held in the sky

a many-spoked sunshade

of a thousand circles.

Gold-handled whisks

waved up & down,

but those holding the whisks & the sunshade

               couldn't be seen.

The matted-haired seer

named Dark Splendor,

seeing the boy, like an ornament of gold

on the red woolen blanket,

a white sunshade held over his head,

received him, happy & pleased.

And on receiving the bull of the Sakyans,

longingly, the master of mantras & signs

exclaimed with a confident mind:

               "This one is unsurpassed,

               the highest of the biped race."

Then, foreseeing his own imminent departure,

he, dejected, shed tears.

On seeing him weeping,

the Sakyans asked:

               "But surely there will be

               no danger for the prince?"

On seeing the Sakyans' concern

he replied, "I foresee for the prince

               no harm.

Nor will there be any danger for him.

This one isn't lowly: be assured.

               This prince will touch

               the ultimate self-awakening.

He, seeing the utmost purity,

will set rolling the Wheel of Dhamma

through sympathy for the welfare of many.

His holy life will spread far & wide.

               But as for me,

my life here has no long remainder;

my death will take place before then.

               I won't get to hear

the Dhamma of this one with the peerless role.

That's why I'm stricken,

               afflicted, & pained."

?a Snp III.11

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Cousin of the Awakened One 

I have heard that on one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Savatthi, in Jeta's Grove, Anathapindika's monastery. Now at that time Ven. Nanda ?a the Blessed One's brother, son of his maternal aunt ?a told a large number of monks, "I don't enjoy leading the holy life, my friends. I can't endure the holy life. Giving up the training, I will return to the common life."

Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he told the Blessed One: "Lord, Ven. Nanda ?a the Blessed One's brother, son of his maternal aunt ?a has told a large number of monks, 'I don't enjoy leading the holy life, my friends. I can't endure the holy life. Giving up the training, I will return to the common life.'"

Then the Blessed One told a certain monk, "Come, monk. In my name, call Nanda, saying, 'The Teacher calls you, my friend.'"

"As you say, lord," the monk answered and, having gone to Ven. Nanda, on arrival he said, "The Teacher calls you, my friend."

"As you say, my friend," Ven. Nanda replied. Then he went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, the Blessed One said to him, "Is it true, Nanda, that you have told a large number of monks, 'I don't enjoy leading the holy life, my friends. I can't endure the holy life. Giving up the training, I will return to the common life.'?"

"Yes, lord."

"But why, Nanda, don't you enjoy leading the holy life?"

"Lord, as I was leaving home, a Sakyan girl ?a the envy of the countryside ?a glanced up at me, with her hair half-combed, and said, 'Hurry back, master.' Recollecting that, I don't enjoy leading the holy life. I can't endure the holy life. Giving up the training, I will return to the common life."

Then, taking Ven. Nanda by the arm ?a as a strong man might flex his extended arm or extend his flexed arm ?a the Blessed One disappeared from Jeta's Grove and reappeared among the devas of the Tavatimsa Heaven. Now at that time about 500 dove-footed nymphs had come to wait upon Sakka, the ruler of the devas. And the Blessed One said to Ven. Nanda, "Nanda, do you see those 500 dove-footed nymphs?"

"Yes, lord."

"What do you think, Nanda: Which is lovelier, better looking, more charming ?a the Sakyan girl, the envy of the countryside, or these 500 dove-footed nymphs?"

"Lord, compared to these 500 dove-footed nymphs, the Sakyan girl, the envy of the countryside, is like a cauterized monkey with its ears and nose cut off. She doesn't count. She's not even a small fraction. There's no comparison. The 500 dove-footed nymphs are lovelier, better looking, more charming."

"Then take joy, Nanda. Take joy! I am your guarantee for getting 500 dove-footed nymphs."

"If the Blessed One is my guarantee for getting 500 dove-footed nymphs, I will enjoy leading the holy life under the Blessed One."

Then, taking Ven. Nanda by the arm ?a as a strong man might flex his extended arm or extend his flexed arm ?a the Blessed One disappeared from among the devas of the Tavatimsa Heaven and reappeared in Jeta's Grove. The monks heard, "They say that Ven. Nanda ?a the Blessed One's brother, son of his maternal aunt ?a is leading the holy life for the sake of nymphs. They say that the Blessed One is his guarantee for getting 500 dove-footed nymphs."

Then the monks who were friends of Ven. Nanda went around addressing him as they would a hired hand and a dealer: "Our friend Nanda, they say, is a hired hand. Our friend Nanda, they say, is a dealer. He's leading the holy life for the sake of nymphs. The Blessed One is his guarantee for getting 500 dove-footed nymphs."

Then Ven. Nanda ?a humiliated, ashamed, and disgusted that the monks who were his friends were addressing him as they would a hired hand and a dealer ?a went to dwell alone, secluded, heedful, ardent, and resolute. He in no long time entered and remained in the supreme goal of the holy life for which clansmen rightly go forth from home into homelessness, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now. He knew: "Birth is ended, the holy life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for the sake of this world." And thus Ven. Nanda became another one of the arahants.

Then a certain devata, in the far extreme of the night, her extreme radiance lighting up the entirety of Jeta's Grove, approached the Blessed One. On arrival, having bowed down to him, she stood to one side. As she was standing there, she said to the Blessed One: "Lord, Ven. Nanda ?a the Blessed One's brother, son of his maternal aunt ?a through the ending of the effluents, has entered and remains in the effluent-free awareness-release and discernment-release, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now." And within the Blessed One, the knowledge arose: "Nanda, through the ending of the effluents, has entered and remains in the effluent-free awareness-release and discernment-release, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now."

Then, when the night had passed, Ven. Nanda went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there, he said to the Blessed One: "Lord, about the Blessed One's being my guarantee for getting 500 dove-footed nymphs, I hereby release the Blessed One from that promise."

"Nanda, having comprehended your awareness with my own awareness, I realized that 'Nanda, through the ending of the effluents, has entered and remains in the effluent-free awareness-release and discernment-release, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now.' And a devata informed me that 'Ven. Nanda, through the ending of the effluents, has entered and remains in the effluent-free awareness-release and discernment-release, knowing and realizing it for himself in the here and now.' When your mind, through lack of clinging, was released from the effluents, I was thereby released from that promise."

Then, on realizing the significance of that, the Blessed One on that occasion exclaimed:

One who has

               crossed over the mire,

               crushed the thorn of sensuality,

               reached the ending of delusion,

is a monk undisturbed

by bliss & pain.

Excerpted from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/buddha.html

 

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