Whats in the name of great sage ? Shariputra (Shr Li Tze, as mentioned in Heart Sutra (Sin Ching) name may be translated in three ways : Son of the Body,because his mothers body was extremely beautiful; Son of the Egret,because his mothers eyes were as beautiful as egrets : and Son of Jewels,because his mothers eyes shone like jewels, and Shariputras eyes were like his mothers. Shariputra was foremost in wisdom among the Shravakas. In fact greatly wise Shariputras wisdom was evident even before he was born. Mahakaushtila (Mo her jyu she lo, as mentioned in Amitabha Sutra), Shariputras uncle, used to debate with his sister Sharika, and never had any trouble defeating her until she became pregnant with Shariputra, and then she outwitted him every time. Realizing that his sisters newly acquired skill in debate must be due to the presence of an exceptional child in her womb, Mahakaushtila set out to school himself in all the dharmas of all the non-Buddhist religions in preparation for the day when he would his nephew in debate. He spent many years in Southern India pursuing his studies, and when he returned to seek out his nephew, he learned that the the greatly wise Shariputra had left the home-life to follow the Buddha after having defeated all the master debators from the five parts of India in debate when he was only 8 years old. Mahakaushtila was displeased to learn that his nephew was a disciple of the Buddha, because he had naturally hoped that after all his years of study and with his unsurpassed debating powers, he would win respect and loyalty of the child. He decided to challenge the Buddha, proposing that if he won a debate with the Buddha, the Buddha would relinquish Shariputra to him. And just to show his confidence, he blatantly added that he would chop off his head as an offering to the Buddha if he lost his debate. Once he went before the Buddha, however, his confidence wavered and he searched frantically through his dharmas for a tenet of doctrine to form the basis of this all important debate. Finally Buddha said,Well, speak up. Establish your principle and I will consider your request. Basically I do not accept any principle,said Kaushtila finally and a bit triumphantly, thinking that this would render the Buddha speechless. oh? replied the Buddha without hesitation. Do you accept that position? Bewildered, Shariputras unlce thought,If I say i dont accept the position of having no position. I will have destroyed my own doctrine and will lose the debate. But if I say I do accept it, my acceptance will be in direct opposition to my basic tenet. Caught in the horn of this dilemma, Kaushtila hesitated a fraction of a second and then without a word turned on his heels and ran as fast as he could out of the room, out of the Buddhas way place, and down the road for several miles without stopping. Eventually he regained some self control, recalled that he was a man of his word, and realized that he must return to the Buddha and offer him his head. When he arrived and asked the Buddha for a knife, however, the Buddha explained that in the Buddhadharma things are not done that way. Then the Buddha spoke Dharma for Mahakausththila and enabled him to open his Dharma eye. Once his Dharma eye was opened he could see clearly the falacies in his own dharma and leave the home life. Mahakaushthilas name means Big Knees. Some say his ancestors kneecaps were big. In general, large kneecaps were a family trait. Mahakaushthila wa first among the Buddhas disciples in debate. Mahamaudgalyayanas (Mo he mu chien lian - as in Ulambana Sutra) means kolita tree because his father and mother prayed to the spirit of that tree for a son. He was foremost among the disciples in spiritual penetrations (shern tong). Purnamaitreyaniputra, another sanskrit name, means Son of Fullness and Compassion. Purna. means full, refers to his fathers name which meant Fulfilled Vows. Maitreyani, which means Compasionate Woman, was his mothers name. Putra means son. Purnamaitreyaniputra was foremost in speaking Dharma. No one else could explain the Sutras with such subtlety and in such a deep and moving way. When Purna spoke the Sutrs, maidenly maidens scattered flowers and golden lotuses welled up from the earth. Whoever would like to be foremost in speaking Dharma can recite Nama Venerable Purna, over and over, and Purna will use his wisdom and eloquence to aid you in speaking Dharma so that you will be able to influence people. Subhuti, another of the ten great disciples, was foremost in the understanding of emptiness. His name has three meanings : Born to Emptiness, Splendid Apparition; and Good luck. When Subhuti was born, all the wealth in his household, all the gold, silver, precious gems disappeared. The reasuries stood empty. No one knew where it had gone, but since the disappearance of the wealth coincided with the birth, the infant was given the name Born to Emptiness. Seven days after his birth, all the riches reappeared, and so the child was rename Splendid Apprition. His parents wanted to find out whether their child was good or bad, so they went to a diviner soon after his birth. When Subhutis parents asked the diviner to figure out whether their child was good or bad, he came up with good and lucky, and the child was renamed Good Luck. Subhuti was foremost in understanding emptiness and so in the Vajra Sutra (Diamond Sutra-Chin Kang Ching) he is the Buddhas interlocutor; that is , it was he asked Buddha, to expalin the doctrine prajna (po re). Upanishad, also , Sanskrit, means Dust Nature. Upanishad awakened to the way when he saw that the nature of all dust, of all objective states, is fundamentally empty; he awakened to the doctrine of impermanence as it is embodied in the nature of dust.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:36:10 +0000
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