6. The activities of the Chief Disciples in the Order

In the canonical scriptures there are many reports about common activities of the two Chief Disciples who were the best assistants of their master in taking care of the Order. Both did much work for the advancement and benefit of the community of monks. Their activities directed to maintain inner concord, stability and discipline within the Order deserve special mention. At the request of the Buddha they brought about the banishment of an extremely reckless and undisciplined group of monks known as "group of six" (chabbaggiya), on whom the Buddha's admonition had no effect, as reported in Majjhima Nikaya No. 70 (Kitagiri Sutta). It was on account of them, that a great part of the disciplinary rules of the Order had to be proclaimed. Finally, they behaved in such a frenzied way that, on the Buddha's bidding, Sariputta and Moggallana, at the head of the virtuous monks, had to banish those six from the place of their mischief, which was near Kitagiri. Thereafter most of them left the Order. (CV I, 13-16).

Above all, the two great disciples were able to achieve that those newly ordained monks who had fallen away, having been instigated by Devadatta, returned to the Buddha's fold and to the right conduct of monk life. When at that time, Sariputta gave his exhortation to those misguided monks, he showed his power of thought-reading, while Moggallana used his magic powers (CV VII, 4). Also the following incident led to a strengthening of concord in the Order: Once when Sariputta was treated with hostility by a certain monk and was wrongly accused by him, Moggallana and Ananda called together all the monks, so that, for their instruction and edification, they could hear Sariputta's dignified answer to those accusations (A.IX,11).9

Once when Moggallana was ill, the Buddha went to see him and gladdened him by a discourse on the seven Factors of Enlightenment. Inspired by it, Moggallana regained mastery over his body and recovered. (S. 46, 15).

The two chief disciples often lived together in one cell of the monastery, and they held many dialogues in the presence and for the benefit of their fellow monks as shown in the Discourse on Stainlessness (Majjh. 5), and frequently they gave discourses to the monks. Some of those given by Moggallana are, for instance, those in Majjhima Nikaya No. 15, Anguttara Nikaya X, 84 and Samyutta Nikaya 35, 202. They also spent much of their time in giving seminar-like instructions to their disciples (see S. 14, 15). Besides, they had conversations with Anuruddha about the meaning of the four Foundations of Mindfulness (S. 47, 26-27) and the difference between a Noble Learner (sekha) and a person who has "finished his learning" (asekha). (S. 52, 4-6).

Both chief disciples were highly praised by the Awakened One for their beneficial work, which, however, left them unmoved by pride as they were saints. Such a situation occurred when they were seated near the Buddha and were both immersed in deep concentration focused on the Recollection of the Body. Then the Buddha spoke one of the following two verses to each of them, first to Sariputta and then to Moggallana.

    "Just as a rocky peak cannot be shaken, being firmly grounded,
    So will not waver anymore a monk when he delusion has destroyed.
    With mindfulness directed on the body
    and well restrained in sixfold sense contact,
    his mind remaining always well collected,
    such monk will come to know his own Nibbana."

    — Udana III, 4-5.

It happened only once that the Buddha preferred Moggallana's attitude in a certain matter to that of Sariputta. The Master, after having dismissed from his presence some noisy and unmannered monks, later asked his two chief disciples what they had thought when he sent away those monks. Sariputta said, he thought that the Master wanted to enjoy a blissful abiding in the present (through jhana) and that they, the chief disciples, were to do the same. But the Buddha reproached him saying that he should not have such thoughts again. Then the Buddha turned to Moggallana, with the same question. Moggallana replied that he, too, had thought the Master wanted to enjoy the bliss of jhana; but if so, then it would have been Sariputta's task to take care of the community of monks and to look after them. The Buddha praised him and said that if both his chief disciples took care of the community, it would be as good as if he himself looked after the monks. (M. 67).
7. Moggallana's Magical Powers [go to toc]

In the discourse about the disciples who excelled in special capacities and qualities (A. I, 13), the Buddha said that Moggallana was foremost among the Bhikkhus who possessed magical faculties. One day when Moggallana with some of his disciples walked up and down, the Buddha told his monks that Moggallana possessed great supernormal powers, and so did his pupils; thus beings congregate according to their nature and disposition. (S. 14, 15) There were, of course, also other prominent disciples highly skilled in one or the other of the various magical powers. But they mastered only some of them: the monk Anuruddha and the nun Sakula, for instance, possessed the supernormal vision of the Divine Eye; the monk Sobhita and the nun Bhadda Kapilani could recollect far into the past; the monk Sagalo had masterly control of the fire element; Cula Panthaka was skilled in "astral travel"; and Pilinda excelled in communication with heavenly beings. Maha Moggallana, however, was perfect master of the magical faculties in a very comprehensive way. He mastered the various kinds of supernormal powers altogether, surpassing in them the other disciples. He also excelled by far the nun Uppallavanna who was foremost among the nuns in regard to magical faculties.

For appreciating the old reports on Moggallana's magical (parapsychological) faculties, one ought to know how such things can be possible at all. The world of so-called matter as perceived through our five senses — which to-day's physicists conceive as a manifestation of energy — is only a small section of that much wider reality which consists of other vibrational forms of energy. Inklings of it, under terms like "anti-matter," "Psi-power," the "Astral," or "Prana," have penetrated into our range of experience. As we perceive only the narrow sector of our human world, we are inclined to regard its limited laws as absolutes. But the universe as experienced by the wise, is much larger, and the laws in force in it have also an impact upon our own world. It is that impact of different laws which is called a miracle. But whenever a higher or wider world manifests itself, the true miracle is that people can be so imprisoned within their narrow outlook that they just ignore all what is beyond their limited faculties, in spite of the fact that the effects of those other forces and laws are undeniably present. But whosoever, as the Buddha and Moggallana, has highly developed his capacity to experience that wider reality with his higher sense faculties refined by cultivating the Four Ways of Power (iddhipada), will realize a sheer infinite widening of experience in space and time. His horizon and experiential knowledge will grow universal and immeasurable, transcending all boundaries and limitations.

When Sariputta asked (in M. 32) to which type of monk those assembled would give the highest praise, Moggallana replied that from his point of view such a monk would be truly brilliant who can engage best in dialogues and discussions on the Teaching. Later the Buddha confirmed that Moggallana was indeed a very capable speaker on Dhamma. In fact, talks on Dhamma gain in range and depth when they issue from an experience that transcends the realm of the senses. The more one had widened one's consciousness by such experiences, the more one had to say. One who has personal experience of those many avenues of liberating wisdom will best be able to conduct talks on Dhamma and make them lively and stimulating. Examples of such discourses given by Maha-Moggallana are M. 15 and 37, A, X. 84, S. 35, 202, S. 44, 7-8.

We shall now turn to what the Buddhist canonical texts relate about Moggallana's supernormal faculties, presenting the material grouped according to the types of faculties concerned.

Source

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