Who is your favorite great disciple?

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

Post by convivium »

Who is your favorite disciple of the Buddha'?
Just keep breathing in and out like this. Don't be interested in anything else. It doesn't matter even if someone is standing on their head with their ass in the air. Don't pay it any attention. Just stay with the in-breath and the out-breath. Concentrate your awareness on the breath. Just keep doing it. http://www.ajahnchah.org/book/Just_Do_It_1_2.php
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Goofaholix
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Goofaholix »

convivium wrote:Who is your favorite disciple of the Buddha'?
Me!
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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cooran
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by cooran »

Hello all,

Without the slightest doubt, the Great Disciple of the Buddha whom I most revere is:

Ananda ~ Guardian of the Dhamma

Contents
1. Ananda's Personal Path
2. Ananda's Renown
3. Ananda as the Buddha's Attendant
4. Ananda as the Guardian of the Dhamma
5. Ananda's Attitude Toward Women
6. Ananda and His Fellow Monks
7. Ananda's Conversations with the Buddha
8. Ananda's Former Lives
9. The Last Days of Gotama the Buddha
10. After the Death of the Buddha

82,000 Teachings from the Buddha
I have received;
2,000 more from his disciples;
Now, 84,000 are familiar to me.[1]

Who nothing has heard[2] and nothing understood,
He ages only oxen-like:
His stomach only grows and grows,
But his insight deepens not.

Who has much heard and learned,
But does despise him who is poor in learning,
Is like one blind who holds a lamp.
So must I think of such a one.

Thou follow him who has heard much,
Then what is heard shall not decline.
This is the tap-root of the holy life;
Hence a Dhamma-guardian [3] thou should'st be!

Knowing what comes first and last,
Knowing well the meaning, too,
Skilful in grammar and in other items,[4]
The well-grasped meaning he examines.

Keen in his patient application,
He strives to weigh the meaning well.
At the right time he makes his effort,
And inwardly collects his mind.— the Venerable Ananda,
in Thag 17.3 (vv. 1024-29)

The one disciple of the Buddha most often mentioned in his discourses is Ananda. Amongst all those great monks around the Buddha he occupies a unique position, and this in many respects, as will be mentioned in these pages.

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el273.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We have the Suttas and the Bhikkhuni Sangha due to this wonderful, diligent, compassionate person.

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---Worry is the Interest, paid in advance, on a debt you may never owe---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Wind
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Wind »

That's easy. Ananda. His hard work gave us the Suttas. :smile:
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mikenz66
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by mikenz66 »

Goofaholix wrote:
convivium wrote:Who is your favorite disciple of the Buddha'?
Me!
Hmm, Goofaholix beat me to it...

Taking the question as it might have been intended, the disciple who's words I enjoy most is Maha Kaccana http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index-names.html#k" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As it says there: "Praised by the Buddha for his mastery in analysing the Dhamma and explaining it to others."

Unfortunately Access to Insight doesn't have some of his discourses, in particular MN133 http://awake.kiev.ua/dhamma/tipitaka/2S ... tta-e.html, which I found the most useful of the "Single Excellent Night" (the Nanamoli/Bodhi title) series (MN131-134). http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some may regard the Suttas as just a summary of the Buddha's ideas, and that putting some discourses in the mouths of various disciples is merely an expositional device. However, my impression is that the discourses by Maha Kaccana (or Sariputta, Ananda, etc) do have a "feel" that seem to me to reflect their particular way of understanding things. Just as Dhamma talks by modern teacher have their own "feel".

Mike
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Reductor »

Kassapa!

His acceptance into the Sangha was very unique, and his approach to the asceticism was unmatched. I admire that in my great disciples.
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Goofaholix
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Goofaholix »

mikenz66 wrote:
Goofaholix wrote:
convivium wrote:Who is your favorite disciple of the Buddha'?
Me!
Hmm, Goofaholix beat me to it...
Actually I didn't notice the word "great" in the question.
Pronouns (no self / not self)
“Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.”
― Ajahn Chah
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retrofuturist
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by retrofuturist »

Sariputta
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
Mukunda
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Mukunda »

Angulamala. If HE can achieve liberation, there's definitely hope for me! :woohoo:
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jcsuperstar
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by jcsuperstar »

ananda
สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat
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Virgo
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Virgo »

Bahiya-- Quckest to attain attain Arahantship through wisdom alone, just by hearing an address by the Blessed One.

kevin
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bodom
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by bodom »

Sariputta, Angulimala and Anathapindinka because the most important of the Buddha's discourses to the laity were given to him.

: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
Lombardi4
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Lombardi4 »

Ajahn Brahm.
plwk
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by plwk »

Ananda :thumbsup:
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Modus.Ponens
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Re: Who is your favorite great disciple?

Post by Modus.Ponens »

Angulimala
'This is peace, this is exquisite — the resolution of all fabrications; the relinquishment of all acquisitions; the ending of craving; dispassion; cessation; Unbinding.' - Jhana Sutta
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