![]() 10. Rahula, foremost in esoteric practices and in desire for instruction in the
Dharma.
These were all arhats, and famous Teachers of the Buddhas Way. As the
Buddhas Sangha grew, eventually very few monks ever heard the Buddha speak or
were even in the same place that he was staying but instead were trained by these
and other Teachers. As the Buddhas Dharma gained in renown, resources became
more and more plentiful. Better cloth was now available for robes and new sets of
robes could be made more often. The generosity of patrons was such that huge
feasts of rice, soups, curries, and meats were plentiful and even begging door to
door brought good eats.
Mahakasyapa always persisted in the vows that he had made when younger
so that, as an old monk, he was often unrecognized as the great elder Mahakasyapa
and just seemed a filthy lunatic even to the younger monks. On one occasion that
this happened, the Buddha called him forth from the crowd for the first time to sit
beside him while he Taught. This both acknowledged Mahakasyapas great sincerity
and realization through his continuous practice but admonished those who allowed
their preconceptions of someone to cloud their experience.
Dogen zenji says,
Once the Buddha said to him, You are now quite old, please eat what the
monks eat. Mahakasyapa replied, If I had not met with the One Thus Come
appearing in the world, I would have been a pratyekabuddha dwelling alone
in the mountains and forests. Now, because the Thus Come has appeared in
the world, I have acquired the nourishment of the Dharma. In order to
maintain continuous practice, I will not eat the monks food.
The Buddha rarely had to correct or admonish Mahakasyapa but on this one
occasion, out of deep concern for his health, the old man Sakyamuni said to the old
man Mahakasyapa, Why make it so hard on yourself? Just eat what everyone eats.
Mahakasyapa says, Hard? Hard would be not having met you. I would just be self-
fabricating so-called enlightenment experiences without anyone to correct me. But
now Im fed by Dharma. Im okay.
According to the Cullavagga (XI. 1: 5)
About seven days after the Buddha had died, Mahakasyapa heard of
his death, while he was resting on the way from Pava to Kusinara together
with 500 monks. All the younger monks were fallen in deep grief, weeping
and lamenting. But a monk named Subhadda, who though in old age was
recently ordained, said, Grieve not, brothers, weep not. We are now well rid
of the Big Monk He constantly bothered us, saying This is proper, this is not
proper. Now we are free to do what we like and not do what we dont like.
As a consequence of this Mahakasyapa became deeply concerned about the
future of the Buddha's Way. He consulted the other elders and suggested that they
hold a Council of Arahats to review, collect, and classify the Teachings of the Buddha
in order to protect and fortify the Dharma and Vinaya from decay. This was the
origin of the Tipitika, the Three Baskets of the Teachings, as a body of memorized
oral Teachings which were to be written down only after a few hundred years.
Many of the various suttas collected involve Mahakasyapa and some even
record his own sayings. Mahakasyapa appears also in many of the Mahayana sutras,
such as the Surangama and Vimalakirti. While much is written of his early years,
very little is recorded of his last years and his death except legend.
Feeling that death was approaching, Mahakasyapa made his way to a
Kukkutupada, a remote mountain with the intention of climbing to the top. Boulders
blocked his way, but he struck them with his staff and they opened to let him
through. As he approached the summit, he found a large crevice. He entered it, and
resting there, fell into a deep samadhi and remains there alive to this day. The
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