The Bodhisatta in Theravada Buddhism by Nico Moonen (ebook reader for pc and android .TXT) 📕

    But this is not recorded in the Pāli Canon. Among the five ascetics who were together with the Buddha Gotama, we find the ascetic named Assaji. And this Assaji attained Arahantship! So, he cannot be reborn again, neither in the Tusita Heaven nor as a coming Buddha.

    A Venerable Ajita is mentioned in Sutta Nipāta 1032-1039. But no further details are given about his future.[322] And Malalasekera mentions several other persons with the name Ajita.[323] One was a monk at the Second Council; he cannot be the Bodhisatta. Another was a paribbājaka who visited the Buddha; no further details are known about his future. A third one was the General of the Licchavīs and a follower of the Buddha. After his death he was reborn in the Tāvatimsa heaven. And still another one was a thera who became an Arahant. He cannot be reborn again.

    If the Buddha Gotama foretold to a certain Ajita that he would be the coming Buddha Metteyya, then this prediction must have been a confirmation of a prediction made by another Buddha, living many aeons ago.

    According to the commentary on the Anāgatavamsa, Ajita was the son of King Ajātasattu and Queen Kāñcanadevī. When the prince reached the age of 16, the king asked him to take on the Buddha’s heritage. The prince agreed and the king took him to the Veluvana Monastery. Prince Ajita was ordained as a novice; later he was ordained as a bhikkhu. The Buddha took him when he went from Rājagaha to Kapilavatthu to reside in the Nigrodhārāma Monastery. While residing there, Maha-Pajāpatī-Gotamī presented two special robes to the Buddha (see M.142). The Buddha refused to accept the robes three times. Then he said that it would be better to present one robe to the Sangha. Venerable Ajita accepted one robe. There was some talk about how an unknown bhikkhu could accept the robe when none of the leading disciples had accepted it. In order to dispel any doubts, the Buddha is recorded as saying: “This bhikkhu is a Bodhisatta who will be the coming Buddha Metteyya.”[324]

    This story cannot be true. Mahā Pajāpatī Gotamī presented the robe to the Buddha at the end of the 5th rains retreat. At that time Ajātasattu was not a king but a prince. Ajātasattu killed his father in the 37th year after the Enlightenment of the Buddha Gotama. And it was after this event that the prince became a king; and it was after this event too that he became a follower of the Buddha. It seems unlikely that before this event he would not have asked his son to become a bhikkhu. And his son was named Udaya, not Ajita. And Vajirā, Pasenadi’s daughter, was his wife.[325]

    In a text of the Srī Saddharmāvavāda-Sangrahaya, a Sinhalese work, cited by Ven. H. Saddhatissa it is written that the Bodhisatta Metteyya in this Buddha-period was conceived in the womb of the wife of the rich householder Sirivaddhana, in the city of Sankassa (near Sāvatthi). Given the name Ajita, he grew up amidst great affluence. He studied all the arts and sciences of the age and after the death of his parents he received the great inheritance left by them. Having heard the questions and answers between the Buddha Gotama and Sariputta, concerning the virtues, which bring about Buddhahood, he renounced his home and worldly life and became a bhikkhu. He learnt the whole Buddhist Canon and taught it to many hundreds of monks. Mahā Pajāpati Gotamī offered him two lengths of cloth. He offered them to the Buddha Gotama, who predicted: This monk will in the future, in this great auspicious aeon, become a Buddha, by name Metteyya.” This story indicates that the prophecy concerning Metteyya was uttered at the Nigrodha Monastery in Kapilavatthu.[326]

    The Chinese traveller Hiueng Tsiang (629 C.E.) refers to the Gridhakūta Hill in Rājagaha, on which, it is said, the same assurance was received on another occasion.[327]

    Which story is true? Is it true that the future Buddha Metteyya was a bhikkhu named Ajita during the time of the Buddha Gotama? And if yes, in which place was the prophecy made: in Isipatana, Rājagaha or Kapilavatthu? According to Ven. H. Saddhatissa it would appear that the prediction was made by the Buddha Gotama on more than one occasion.[328] But the story about Ajita who was given the prediction near the Dhamekh Stupa in Isipatana cannot be true. The other stories seem to be fictitious, stories inserted after the Canon was compiled and mixed with some details of the Dhamma. What is certain is only that the future Buddha will have the name of Metteyya.

    We find one more invented story in the Dasabodhisattuppattikathā. It is written in the language used in magical tales, uncommon to the real Buddhist Dhamma. In brief, it is as follows:

    The elder Ajita will be the Buddha named Metteyya in this auspicious aeon. He will have a lifespan of 82,000 years. In the past the Bodhisatta Metteyya was born in the Kuru country, in the city of Indapatta. He was the emperor named Sankha. From the four gates of his capital city sprang up wish-bestowing trees. Then the Buddha Sirimata arose in the world. Going from village to village, he arrived within the precincts of the kingdom of the emperor Sankha. The emperor heard of the arrival of the Buddha Sirimata, who at that time resided in Pubbārāma with a great bhikkhu-sangha. The emperor Sankha renounced his kingdom and relatives. He proceeded on foot to Pubbārāma. During the first day of his journey on foot, the soles of his feet split open. On the second day they began to bleed; on the third day he was unable to walk any further. Then he went on his knees using the palms of his hands as support. On the fourth day his knees and palms bled. So he began creeping on his chest. Then the Buddha Sirimata surveyed the world and saw his mighty effort. And he thought: “This Sankha is certainly a Buddha-sprout” (= Bodhisatta). In the guise of a youth and in a chariot he went to meet him. The Buddha Sirimata asked the emperor Sankha to get into his chariot. The emperor consented and they went to Pubbārāma. On the way the emperor got food and drink. In the monastery the Buddha discarded the youthful form and sat down on the Buddha-seat. The emperor entered the Pubbārāma, venerated the Teacher and sat down on one side. And he asked: “Please give me a discourse that would bring me peace.” Then the Buddha Sirimata taught a discourse connected with nibbāna. The emperor asked the Buddha not to preach more, because he thought that he had no suitable offering to make for it. Then the emperor Sankha said to the Exalted One Sirimata: “Venerable Sir, you preach the Dhamma culminating in nibbāna. I too would pay homage to your doctrine with my head. By this giving of the head I will attain nibbāna.” And he cut off his head with his nails. The offering of the head and the sacrifice of his life was called the highest perfection. Having passed away, he was reborn in the Tusita heaven as the deity Sankha. Thus, by the offering of his head, he will become the Exalted One Metteyya.[329]

    This story seems to be fictitious. We find for example: wish-bestowing trees; cutting off the head with the nails – the nails must have been very long and sharp and strong! And what is more, normally the Buddha Gotama started with a discourse about giving (generosity), about morality and about a better world (the heavens), and after that he explained the Four Noble Truths (including Nibbāna). According to Ven. H. Saddhatissa the Dasabodhisattuppattikathā may well be the result of the influences of certain popular Hindu and Mahāyānist practices. There is a great admixture of non-Buddhist practices in the book, such as elements of self-destruction and bloody sacrifice. He wrote that possibly it was compiled at a place where non-Buddhist religions had influenced the thoughts of nescient Buddhists.[330]

    The Buddha Metteyya will be the last Buddha to arise in this world cycle. According to Ven. U Chit Tin it will be possible to be reborn in the time of the Buddha Metteyya through the fruit of good actions. The following actions are the basis of meritorious action (puñña): if one encounters the Teachings of the Buddha Gotama, if one gives gifts (dāna), observes morality (sīla), and cultivates development of the mind (bhāvanā). Through these actions a person can be assured of rebirth in the higher planes of existence.[331]

    The Anāgatavamsa states that one has to act rightly, firmly, energetically in order to see the Buddha Metteyya here. Whoever does good things here and dwells vigilant, whoever esteems the great Buddha, pays honour to him, that person together with the Devas will see the auspicious assembly at that time. One should practise the holy life, give suitable gifts, keep the observance days, practise loving-kindness carefully and perform meritorious actions always. Having acted skilfully here, one will make an end of misery.[332]

    The Dasabodhisattuppattikathā states that the Dispensation of the Exalted One Metteyya will last for a long period, and that after the lapse of a long period, this great earth will be burnt by the fire, which brings about the destruction of an aeon. After the close of this auspicious aeon, there will be one asankheyya (incalculable period) empty of Buddhas.[333] There will be no Buddha, Dhamma or Sangha for gods and men.[334]

    Other Buddhas will follow the Buddha Metteyya. Besides the present Bodhisatta the names of nine succeeding Bodhisattas are given in the Dasabodhi-sattuppattikathā or Account of the Arising of Ten Bodhisattas.[335] Only Metteyya will arise in this present aeon. The stories and the names of the others are fictitious. But there must be other Bodhisattas, of course, who received a declaration, a prophecy, from a living Buddha.

    The stories of the nine other Bodhisattas follow here in brief.

The 10 future Buddhas, painted on the ceiling in the Main Temple of the Siam Nikaya, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

(courtesy of Mrs. Khanti Salgado)