"Ananda was the Buddha's first cousin and his
attendant. He also compiled and edited the sutras. His
name means rejoicing, because he was born on the day
the Buddha realized Buddhahood. His father also
rejoiced and gave him that name. The entire country
celebrated the Buddha's enlightenment on that day.
With his flawless memory, Ananda was able to remember
all the Sutras the Buddha spoke and was foremost among
the Buddha's disciples in erudition." (DFS II 124)
"The Shurangama Sutra was spoken for Ananda's sake,
precisely because he didn't have sufficient
samadhi-power. He had not done the work of meditation
required to develop it. When others were sitting
investigating dhyana, Ananda would go read a book or
write instead . . . . Put another way, Ananda hadn't
cultivated real mark prajna; he thought he could
realize Buddhahood through literary prajna alone. He
thought that since he was the Buddha's cousin, the
Buddha, who had realized Buddhahood, would certainly
help him realize Buddhahood too, and so it didn't
really matter whether he cultivated or not. He ended
up wasting a lot of time.
"One day, as the Shurangama Sutra relates, Ananda went
out begging for food by himself. He took his bowl and
went from house to house, and while alone on the road
he encountered the daughter of Matangi . . . . Ananda
was particularly handsome, and when Matangi's daughter
saw him she was immediately attracted to him. But she
didn't know how to snare him. And so she went back and
told her mother, 'You absolutely must get Ananda to
marry me. If you don't, I'll die.'
"The mother, Matangi, belonged to the religion of the
Kapilas, the 'tawny haired', and she cultivated that
religion's mantras and dharma-devices, which were
extremely effective. Since Matangi truly loved her
daughter, she used a mantra of her sect-it was a
mantra formerly of the Brahma heaven-to confuse
Ananda. Ananda didn't have any samadhi-power, and so
he couldn't control himself. He followed the mantra
and went to Matangi's daughter's house, where he was
on the verge of breaking the precepts.
"The first five precepts prohibit killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct, lying, and the taking of
intoxicants. Ananda was about to break the precept
against sexual misconduct. The Buddha knew about it as
it was happening. Realizing his cousin was in trouble,
he quickly spoke the Shurangama Mantra to break up the
mantra formerly of the Brahma Heaven of the Kapila
religion. Ananda's confusion had made him as if drunk
or as if he had taken drugs-he was totally oblivious
to everything. But when the Buddha recited the
Shurangama Mantra, its power woke Ananda up from his
confusion, and there he was wondering how he had
gotten himself into such a situation.
"He returned, knelt before the Buddha, and cried out
in distress. 'I have relied exclusively on erudition
and have not perfected any strength in the Way. I have
no samadhi-power. Please tell me how the Buddhas of
the ten directions have cultivated so that they were
able to obtain samadhi-power.' In reply the Buddha
spoke the Shurangama Sutra." (SS I 25-26)
The Dharma Flower Sutra records the Buddha bestowing
the prediction of future Buddhahood upon Ananda:
At that time the Buddha told Ananda, 'You in a future
age shall become a Buddha by the name of King of Self
Control and Penetrations with Wisdom like the
Mountains and Seas Thus Come One. One Worthy of
Offerings, One of Proper and Universal Knowledge, One
Perfect in Clarity and Practice, Well-Gone One,
Unsurpassed One Who Understands the World, Hero Who
Subdues and Tames, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha,
World-Honored One. You shall make offerings to
sixty-two million Buddhas, protecting and upholding
their storehouses of Dharma. After that you shall
obtain anuttarasamyaksambodhi. You shall teach and
transform twenty-thousand myriads of millions of
Ganges' sands of Bodhisattvas, causing them to
accomplish anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Your country shall
be called Banner of Victory Always Raised. That land
will be pure, with lapis lazuli for soil. The kalpa
shall be called All Pervasive Wonderful Sound. Your
lifespan as a Buddha shall be countless thousands of
myriads of millions of asankhyeyas of aeons. Were
someone to attempt to reckon it through countless
thousands of myriads of millions of asankhyeyas of
aeons, they could not do so. The proper Dharma shall
dwell in that world for twice that length of time. The
Dharma Image Age shall dwell twice the length of
Proper Dharma.
'Ananda, the merit and virtue of the Buddha King of
Self-Control and Penetrations with Wisdom Like the
Mountains and Seas shall be praised by all the Buddhas
of the ten directions equal in number to the sands of
countless thousands of myriads of millions of Ganges
rivers.' (DFS VIII 1500-1501)
BTTS References: FAS-PI (door 7); AS 91-92; SS I
24-26; DFS II 124; DFS VIII 1500-1510.