ânanda’s Weakness — The Reason for this Sermon

ânanda’s Weakness — The Reason for this Sermon
Commanded by the Buddha, Ma¤ju÷rã took the Bodhisattvas
and arhats to the royal feast. ânanda, however, had not
come back from a distant engagement, and so was not
among the invited. He was returning to the vihàra alone
without his superior or teacher, and bowl in hand went begging
from door to door in a nearby town. He intended to call
first on a donor who had not given food to the monks that
day, regardless of whether or not he was virtuous, a noble or
an outcast. In his practice of universal compassion, he did
not especially choose a poor man as his patron. He wanted
to help all living beings earn countless merits, for he had seen
the Buddha scold Subhåti and Mahàkà÷yapa who, though
being arhats, could not realize universal mind (when begging
for food). He very much admired His teaching which had
eliminated all his doubts and suspicions in this respect.
So when he reached the town.s gate, he walked slowly
adjusting his mien to the rules of discipline. As he went begging
for food, he came to a house of prostitution where Màtaïgã,
(a low caste woman) succeeded, by means of Kapila magic, in
drawing him close to her sensual body on the mat, so that he
was on the point of breaking the rules of pure living. But the
Buddha was aware of all this and, after the royal feast, He returned
to the vihàra with the king, princes and elders who
wished to hear about the essentials of the Dharma. He then
sent out from the top of His head a bright and triumphant
multicoloured light within which appeared a transformation
Buddha seated, with crossed legs, on a thousand-petalled
lotus. The Buddha then repeated the transcendental mantra
and ordered Ma¤ju÷rã to use it to overcome the magic and to
bring ânanda with Màtaïgã to the vihàra.2