The Legacy of Venerated Ānanda (vegan): Wisdom, Memory, and Devotion, Part 2 of 2

Ānanda’s loyalty sometimes led Him to risk His life for His Master. In one instance, the rebellious monk Devadatta attempted to kill the Buddha by releasing a wild, drunken elephant-person. Fearlessly, Ānanda stepped in front of the Buddha, ready to protect Him. When the Buddha instructed Him to move, Ānanda refused. However, the Buddha, using His supernatural abilities, gently moved Ānanda aside and subdued the elephant-individual with loving kindness, touching him tenderly and speaking softly.

Ānanda was respected by the mass of bhikshunis. When the Buddha’s foster mother, the Venerable Mahaprajapati Gautami (vegan), sought the Buddha’s permission to join the Holy order, He initially refused. In the end, the Buddha consented to establish the bhikshuni order, together with a set of rules known as Eight Respects, or Garudhammas. Since then, women have been accepted into the monastic order, and this was attributed to Ānanda.

When the Buddha entered into Nirvana, the sangha elected Venerated Mahākāśyapa (vegan) as the presiding monk and started to assemble the Buddha’s discourses to compile the sutras. Ānanda was also present, but Mahākāśyapa listed out His past wrongdoings and reprimanded Him for polluting the council since He had not yet attained Arhat status. Ānanda, faced with such humiliation, diligently meditated on the Quan Yin overnight and finally attained enlightenment.

Ānanda then recited all the discourses made by the Buddha through the decades. Almost all sutras began with the words “Thus have I heard,” since those sutras were recalled from Ānanda’s memory. Among them were “Dīrgha Āgama,” “Madhyama Agama,” “Ekottara Agama,” “Samykta Agama,” “Apadana (Parable Sutra),” “Dhammapada,” etc.

Why was it that Ānanda could not achieve Arhat status before the Buddha passed into Nirvana? Our Most Beloved Supreme Master Ching Hai (vegan) answered this question during a lecture in 2018. “It was not because Ānanda was slower or less spiritual. It was just His destiny to serve the Buddha first, and to try to remember everything the Buddha said in the assembly, or whatever happened in the assembly, and all the spiritual stories that happened within the Buddha’s assemblies and disciples. […] that was His job. If He became Buddha too quickly, maybe He could not have done this, because He would’ve lost His intellectual power, memory, so that He could become more pure, to become a Buddha.”

The Venerated Ānanda enjoyed an extra-long life span. When He reached 120 years, the Magadha Kingdom was about to attack the Vaishali Kingdom. The Venerated Ānanda, hoping to prevent an eminent war between them, surged into the air over them, above the River Ganges. He meditated in mid-air. Upon achieving Samadhi, He made His body go up in fire, then passed into Nirvana with His relics divided into two parts landing on both banks of the river. With these the two kingdoms would build stupas dedicated to Ānanda. As the soldiers of both kingdoms saw this incredible scene, they burst into tears, touched by Ānanda’s greatness. They immediately made peace with each other, and a conflict was prevented.