Who is your favorite great disciple?

Textual analysis and comparative discussion on early Buddhist sects and scriptures.
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Sobeh
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Sobeh »

The unnamed monk The Elder, about whom there are a few stanzas in the Samyutta, as a signpost of all the other unnamed monks who didn't have history on their side, but who nevertheless Did What Had To Be Done.
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DNS
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by DNS »

Too many good ones, but in the interest of some female representation:

Khema

Khema was one of the wives of King Bimbisara and was very beautiful. One day the Buddha explained to her impermanence in a way to show her that the beauty would not last. Khema practiced and became enlightened and then decided to become a nun. She penetrated to the truth very quickly and was the chief nun during the time of Buddha.

Dhammadinna

Dhammadinna was the wife of a merchant. She and her husband became Buddhists and she decided to ordain as a bhikkhuni (nun). Shortly thereafter she became enlightened (arahant). Her husband progressed well, but to the stage of non-returner, which is not yet enlightened. She surpassed her husband, which became one of many examples of where women exceeded either their husbands or their teachers in spiritual progress, once again showing the gender equality in the teachings of the Buddha. On one occasion Ven. Dhammadinna was giving a Dhamma talk and the Buddha sat silently and listened. After the talk, the Buddha said that he could not have said (the teachings) it any better and praised her vigorously.
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SDC
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by SDC »

thereductor wrote:Kassapa!

His acceptance into the Sangha was very unique, and his approach to the asceticism was unmatched. I admire that in my great disciples.
Seconded.
“Life is swept along, short is the life span; no shelters exist for one who has reached old age. Seeing clearly this danger in death, a seeker of peace should drop the world’s bait.” SN 1.3
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Khalil Bodhi
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Khalil Bodhi »

Mahakassapa!
To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one's mind — this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
-Dhp. 183

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Strive
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Strive »

retrofuturist wrote:Sariputta
I admire Sariputta too, he is my ideal disciple with with great wisdom. :anjali:

"Indeed, friend, we did not know that we were talking with the venerable Sariputta, the disciple who is like the Teacher himself."-- Venerable Punna mantaniputta.

"Sariputta has reached the peak in virtue, peace, and wisdom's way; Any bhikkhu who has gone beyond at best can only match him." -- Anathapindika
Last edited by Strive on Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
"Faith is here a man's best treasure;
Dhamma practised well brings happiness;
Truth is really the sweetest of tastes;
One living by wisdom they say lives best."--Bhikkhu Bodhi's Samyutta Nikaya, Sagathavagga verse 853
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

Sariputta, Angulimala, Khema, Dharmadinna, and Moggallana.
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Ceisiwr
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Ceisiwr »

Is this restricted to people who met and knew him or modern disciples as well?
“The teacher willed that this world appear to me
as impermanent, unstable, insubstantial.
Mind, let me leap into the victor’s teaching,
carry me over the great flood, so hard to pass.”
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Wizard in the Forest
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Wizard in the Forest »

It's in the early Buddhism so I thought direct disciples.
"One is not born a woman, but becomes one."- Simone de Beauvoir
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tiltbillings
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by tiltbillings »

Nanda
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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tiltbillings
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by tiltbillings »

And Bahiya.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Prasadachitta
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Prasadachitta »

Dhammadina
"Beautifully taught is the Lord's Dhamma, immediately apparent, timeless, of the nature of a personal invitation, progressive, to be attained by the wise, each for himself." Anguttara Nikaya V.332
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bodom
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by bodom »

gabrielbranbury wrote:Dhammadina
I was just reading this sutta today
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at
Baranasi in the Deer Park at Isipatana. Then the lay follower
Dhammadinna, together with five hundred lay followers,
approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, and sat down
to one side. Sitting to one side, the lay follower Dhammadinna
then said to the Blessed One: “Let the Blessed One, venerable
sir, exhort us and instruct us in a way that may lead to our
welfare and happiness for a long time.”

"Therefore, Dhammadinna, you should train yourselves thus:
‘From time to time we will enter and dwell upon those
discourses spoken by the Tathagata that are deep, deep in
meaning, supramundane, dealing with emptiness.’ It is in such a
way that you should train yourselves.”

“Venerable sir, it is not easy for us – dwelling in a home
crowded with children, enjoying Kasian sandalwood, wearing
garlands, scents, and cosmetics, receiving gold and silver – from
time to time to enter and dwell upon those discourses spoken by
the Tathagata that are deep, deep in meaning, supramundane,
dealing with emptiness. As we are established in the five training
rules, let the Blessed One teach us the Dhamma further.”
“Therefore, Dhammadinna, you should train yourselves thus:
‘We will possess confirmed confidence in the Buddha... in the
Dhamma... in the Sangha.... We will possess the virtues dear to
the noble ones, unbroken... leading to concentration.’ It is in
such a way that you should train yourselves.”

“Venerable sir, as to these four factors of stream-entry taught by
the Blessed One, these things exist in us, and we live in
conformity with those things. For, venerable sir, we possess
confirmed confidence in the Buddha, the the Dhamma, and the
Sangha. We possess the virtues dear to the noble ones,
unbroken... leading to concentration.”

“It is a gain for you, Dhammadinna! It is well gained by you,
Dhammadinna! You have declared the fruit of stream-entry.”
~ S 55.53, (Bhikkhu Bodhi trans.)
:anjali:
Liberation is the inevitable fruit of the path and is bound to blossom forth when there is steady and persistent practice. The only requirements for reaching the final goal are two: to start and to continue. If these requirements are met there is no doubt the goal will be attained. This is the Dhamma, the undeviating law.

- BB
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Prasadachitta
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Prasadachitta »

bodom wrote:
gabrielbranbury wrote:Dhammadina
I was just reading this sutta today
On one occasion the Blessed One was dwelling at
Baranasi in the Deer Park at Isipatana. Then the lay follower
Dhammadinna, together with five hundred lay followers,
approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, and sat down
to one side. Sitting to one side, the lay follower Dhammadinna
then said to the Blessed One: “Let the Blessed One, venerable
sir, exhort us and instruct us in a way that may lead to our
welfare and happiness for a long time.”

"Therefore, Dhammadinna, you should train yourselves thus:
‘From time to time we will enter and dwell upon those
discourses spoken by the Tathagata that are deep, deep in
meaning, supramundane, dealing with emptiness.’ It is in such a
way that you should train yourselves.”

“Venerable sir, it is not easy for us – dwelling in a home
crowded with children, enjoying Kasian sandalwood, wearing
garlands, scents, and cosmetics, receiving gold and silver – from
time to time to enter and dwell upon those discourses spoken by
the Tathagata that are deep, deep in meaning, supramundane,
dealing with emptiness. As we are established in the five training
rules, let the Blessed One teach us the Dhamma further.”
“Therefore, Dhammadinna, you should train yourselves thus:
‘We will possess confirmed confidence in the Buddha... in the
Dhamma... in the Sangha.... We will possess the virtues dear to
the noble ones, unbroken... leading to concentration.’ It is in
such a way that you should train yourselves.”

“Venerable sir, as to these four factors of stream-entry taught by
the Blessed One, these things exist in us, and we live in
conformity with those things. For, venerable sir, we possess
confirmed confidence in the Buddha, the the Dhamma, and the
Sangha. We possess the virtues dear to the noble ones,
unbroken... leading to concentration.”

“It is a gain for you, Dhammadinna! It is well gained by you,
Dhammadinna! You have declared the fruit of stream-entry.”
~ S 55.53, (Bhikkhu Bodhi trans.)
:anjali:
This must be before she went forth and became fully awakened. Obviously she was a powerful influence within her community.

Thanks Bodom.

Gabe
"Beautifully taught is the Lord's Dhamma, immediately apparent, timeless, of the nature of a personal invitation, progressive, to be attained by the wise, each for himself." Anguttara Nikaya V.332
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legolas
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by legolas »

Wind wrote:That's easy. Ananda. His hard work gave us the Suttas. :smile:
Being an ardent sutta enthusiast, I agree. The depth of Ananda's gift to the world is mind blowing. He also gets my vote because he comes across as so human, a link between the highest and the rest of the masses. I suppose this is due to Ananda not becoming an arhant for so long yet still sustaining a mind of love, the tears at the Buddha's death are also a reminder to me that you can still be well on the path and still be overwhelmed at times.
nobody12345
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by nobody12345 »

I like all the disciples of the Buddha.
Each disciple has unique quality that inspires me and moves me.
However, I believe that I owe the greatest debt to Ananda.
Without him, many of the great discourse of our kind teacher would have been lost forever.
:anjali:
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