The Life of Saint Sangha Ananda.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH. Chapter IV Ananda is worth calling the treasure of Dharma -ooOoo- The outstanding merit and talent, which raised Amanda to the rank of one of the most wise disciples of the Buddha, is the apostle's ability to remember quickly, remember a lot and remember long. Although when the Buddha was in money, Ananda was not yet attained Arahant, but he was considered the equivalent of one of the Sravaka of the Holy People community. He deserved to be awarded the title "An outstanding apostle" by all Buddhists at that time. These four outstanding apostolic words mean that he has the qualifications and qualities of a liberating person. Except for the two great Sravaka, which have two extraordinary powers, the Abhidharma Pitaka and the Muc Lien Lien, Amanda is one of the other 75 famous disciples of the Buddha. While the other 74 have special qualities, Ananda is famous for four out of the five "Upper Mahayana intellectual backgrounds": - The first intellectual background is that he has heard more than anyone, listened to almost all the teachings of the Buddha. - The second intellectual background is that he remembered more than anyone, fully remembered the Buddha's teachings. - The third intellectual background is that he understood more than anyone else, understood the system of Dharma, including the concise meaning when combining the previous teachings with the Buddha's teachings, either side by side or second. self. - The fourth intellectual background he believes in the Buddha's Dharma, believes most firmly, above all the doctrines (According to Anguttara Nikàya n.1,19 = Sang Nhat Am Ham 1.19). (Particularly the fifth intellectual foundation is "the industriousness, endurance, lots of energy in serving a level of Omniscience", should not be mentioned. That intellectual, for Aanda, is a redundant story! It's like praising "seawater is the most salty liquid" in this world). When we study carefully in the Buddhist scriptures we will find that the above intellectual foundations belong to a very useful endeavor, from which the virtue of vigilance is born, called Sati in Pāli. The meticulousness that its strength and influence constantly helps the practitioner to have a clear, solid spirit, capable of distinguishing all feelings in the body as well as all external concepts, barely letting the mind. consciousness is enticed by greed, anger, and delusion. And also thanks to that wonderful effort, that the ability of the practitioner to use the memory of the practitioner, at any time, and to face all problems, is always pure, free from the memory of they lead into the path of stubbornness. In other words, it is easier to understand: the vigilance is the nucleus that will bring true self-knowledge. Then, thanks to that knowledge, the practitioner recognizes all surrounding phenomena, distinguishes the good from the evil, which is arousing in his mind; to self-restrain the six sense doors, to live in accordance with the Dharma. In fact, the Pāli word "Sati" has the common meaning of "memory" (ie the ability to "know" of what has passed by itself). Thanks to that "memory" that the past and the present are connected by chains of memory transmitters. But for Ananda, in the last life, memory (sati) has turned into knowing self (sampa jànnã). That is, he not only remembers things that he has memorized by heart, but he also feels, the effect of it. So when he met again, he knew that, depending on the intellectual level of each listener, he could express from low to high, from shallow to deep, from gross to subtle, but he did not have to close his eyes again and again, in a way. chaos, chaos bar. In terms of fast and sure memory, Aanda can be considered as the champion. Thanks to the stored virtues from many previous lives, in this life, he only heard it once that he could easily repeat a sermon of the Buddha of 60,000 words with ease. Another time, Ananda recited 150,000 verses, each of the four-verse lessons taught by the Buddha. Ananda's record of immediate memorization, and full memorization, makes one feel, as if he had used a miracle, to perform such a feat. But according to Buddhism, the "miracle" of Aanda is nothing other than not allowing his mind to be entangled by useless ideas. The useless ideas that have hundreds, thousands of things and always "fill up" in people's minds, where is the potential for their memory to develop? The Buddha taught that: "The only cause that makes a person forgetful is dhamma: lust, malice, lethargy, delusion (distraction) and doubt" (according to Anguttara Nikàya V 193). Alana at that time, although not attained Arahantship, but because he obeyed the Buddha to take righteous thoughts as the basis of his cultivation, at the same time, thanks to the grace of cultivating many past lives, every time he concentrated his mind to listen to the dharma. , is that the legal obstacles could not disturb him. Even today, many Buddhist monks in Burma, thanks only to some success in eliminating these five dharma s, can easily recite the Vinaya, the Sutra Pitaka or the Vinaya. There is a taste who can remember the entire Tripitaka, including 45 volumes with full text. When Ananda listened to the Dhamma, he did not have a ripple of thought in his mind. He did not let the "self" rise up to comment "This sentence is long, the other is short. This sentence is deep, the other is normal, the sound of one sentence is high, the sound of the other sentence is low, etc.". In his consciousness at that time there was only one thing that was spontaneously listening and memorizing, without panic or panic, afraid that we would forget what Buddha taught. Like a professional secretary, only carefree to copy exactly what other people said, on the white page confidently and calmly. And the pure white page of Ananda is a pure mind, not polluted and tarnished by the five evil dhammas! This is the character of a great Sravaka (The one who is widely listened to). For whoever hears and learns so much with this virtue will eliminate stubbornness, pride in his mind, and turn his mind into a treasure trove of truth. And the more truth a person hears and absorbs, the more evil the evil in his or her mind will of course be eliminated. Such Sravaka classes can be compared to diamonds, receiving the light of truth, from the Buddha's veneration, so the reflection of the light of truth (refers to repetition) is also honest, without further ado. , not less, not clear, not blurred. (According to physics, diamond is the medium in which light is most accurately exposed.) Therefore, a true Sravaka is one who is always natural, and has absolute respect for the truth. Whatever good thing they put into memory to practice, is that they never say "It is through their clever intelligence that can be deduced, but it is" Truth in the Dharma. "And they are just that. listener and objectively recognize its value. Like these verses from Rainer Maria Rilke in praise of Alanda: "Seeing the truth without pride in his eyes, Deep understanding does not think his wisdom is high. How rare is a Thinh Van like a drop of water in the desert" . This poem contradicts the nature of Ananda when he was not ordained. When he first came to the Buddha, Ananda was a man filled with ignorance, defilement, selfishness and pride. But later on, by living beside the Buddha, he was increasingly imbued with the truth of liberation. So imbued that it's not him anymore! He transformed into the embodiment of the Dharma Bao, transformed into the "Law Body" of the Buddha, so that more than 2,500 years later, the name Amanda is no longer a title, but it is the "opening language" of Buddhist sutras. The dignity of listening to the Dhamma and instilling the truth into Aanda's mind is called the first intellectual foundation (of the five intellectual foundations). The Samyutta Nikàya Sutta (Tap A Ham No. 14.5) also clearly states that: "How Amanda was imbued with the Buddha's teaching, when he passed on the Buddha's words to his disciples, it also imbued them like that ! ". But according to the Sangha Sutta No. 3, 78 (Anguttara Nikàya n.3, 78), the Buddha has confirmed that: "Ananda has a very special art of hearing the dharma, unable to find a second person in this world". Once, the Buddha was seated at the Gosinga Song Nagarjuna garden (also known as the Gosinga forest) with a large number of Venerable disciples. The Elder Buddha Xa Loi Buddha (Sàrìputta), seeing the elegant scene, praised: "This can be called the garden of An Lac, because the Song Long trees here bloom with flowers, the scent fills the space, like a Heaven ...! ". Then the Elder asked: - Dear brothers and sisters! What is the most deserving of a tranquil setting like this that can be compared with the qualities of samsara? The great disciples of the Buddha answered one by one. Each of them highlights an aspect of their comparison. But in general, all the main ideas point to one point: Each samana has a unique virtue, worthy of comparison with the pure landscape of the garden. Particularly, Aanda's answer is as follows: - Hey, brother! Whoever hears the Buddha's four thousand disciplines, is one who lives strictly according to the Dharma, is the one who clarifies and preserves the good Dharma in the beginning, the good in the middle, and the goodness in the middle. last. What monk is someone who is able to pass on the Buddha's teachings fully, without adding or subtracting from a humble, natural way. Which monk is someone who always remembers that: Which Dharma we have understood, we have the duty to dedicate ourselves to the social community. That is, the monk has the ability to preach the Dharma to the four ranks (Bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, good men, and female believers) to first delight in the Dharma, and then understand the true meaning of the truth, to advance. to the virtues to cease greed, anger, delusion, liberation ... That samana deserves to be compared with this wonderful garden. (According to Majjhina Nikaya 32 = Middle A Function 32). The second intellectual foundation is to keep in mind any Dharma treasures that we hear and automatically apply those virtuous dhammas to bring our own noble benefits. The third intellectual background, the Pāli commentary called the Gatimanta, is the correct understanding of the context and context of each problem. It is the same word that in this discourse the Buddha refers to the body of karma, and in another discourse the Buddha can refer to the will of karma. When Amanda was heard twice in two different special cases, he also understood the correct Buddhist language according to the meaning of each dhamma. In other words, Amanda's brain has the ability to accurately "record" and discern all matters chronologically: What you have heard, you understand is different from what you are hearing, no. Never mistake for stubbornness on some words. Many Buddhist scholars have likened Aanda's brain to a super-party phonograph, which has many layers of purification. A digital floor devoted to transceiver a specific problem, never for negative, subordinate sounds that could enter the soundstage of the wave. According to a narrative in the Pāli Tripitaka, Aanda has the ability to listen to many different dhammas at the same time. These dhammas can belong to many different topics, and are alternating theories. But after listening to it, Aanda was able to assemble these discrete dhammas in a coherent, orderly, way to complete the two or three teachings at once, very easily. Even Ananda can both listen and bring the sermons of each discrete Buddhist text for the four-fold to absorb some of the specific dharma s. And when listening to the dhamma passages, the listeners always praise Abanda for her dedication to a discourse. Although many passages are assembled, it is easy to understand, attractive and coherent. This proves that Amanda was able to correctly understand, and master the main idea, word, sentence, or passage taught by the Buddha, with a very scientific art. As a result, many times Aanda, while reciting a number of Dharma treasures, was suddenly questioned by his fellow believers, he could still stop speaking, give a detailed answer, and then return to the main problem himself course, easily, without ever getting lost and embarrassed. The fourth intellectual foundation is the unwavering energy and dedication in the task of learning and maintaining the Dharma of Liberation, as the closest Sravaka of an Enlightened being. The fifth intellectual foundation is the deeds of a most complete servant of the Buddha, of Amanda, as we mentioned in the previous paragraph. Today, when we recall those five intellectual foundations, we cannot help but imagine the flexible image of the great Venerable Amanda. Although he was in the role of the official spokesman of the Buddha, he was the center of all attention, but he was still leisurely, amiable, treated in a simple, open way to everyone. For those who often came into contact with him, Ananda was the type of person who was rarely criticized, for his tirelessly serving the Buddha and the Sangha, as well as his unwavering friendship, which he always had. for everyone. Many times, there were conflicts occurring in the Sangha's ranks, which Amanda knew. Instead of being indifferent to being an outsider for peace of mind, Ananda volunteered to be a "messenger peace" in order to use her kindness to solve a problem smoothly. And Abanda has always been successful, because he is a novice who is not hated by anyone. He is a man without enemies. His image is just one of loyalty to the Buddha. He wholeheartedly served the Sangha at the same time his devotion to the Buddha. So in the mind of his fellow believers, he never left a note of dissatisfaction. On the other hand, Ananda was originally a person who was very good at organizing. He always knew in advance and mastered all activities of the four ranks, related to him every day. He is like a talented "director", knowing clearly distributing the work program to everyone so that the Sangha activities are always going well. Then, thanks to the inherent carefulness and vigilance, Ananda daily learned many valuable lessons. With the same loophole, another may stumble many times, but Ananda never stumbled a second time. The special vigilance and memory also enabled Abanda to miraculously identify hundreds of thousands of different Buddhists. You only need to see someone's face once, and you can recognize them many times. And also thanks to the talent of "remembering the face of each person clearly", that Abanda was able to foresee (today we often call the appearance) to know the nature of each person, in order to treat them. in a reasonable way, for them to automatically learn to instill Buddhism, not to make them feel "He is the one who skillfully led them back to Buddhism". Anyone who takes refuge in Buddhism, after having studied the Buddha's teachings with Amanda, also thinks that: They have found the Dharma, not being influenced by anyone. In short, Amanda is a disciple qualified enough to act as a representative of the Buddha before the four classes, so that together with the other great apostles lead the Church. And the most outstanding virtue, which should always be mentioned here, is the virtue of an outstanding Dharma protector. If the Buddhadharma is a treasure trove of priceless treasures, then Amanda is the surety of that treasure.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.31/3/2021.