Maudgalyayana

Maudgalyāyana.

Maudgalyāyana (P. Moggallāna; T. mo'u 'gal gyi bu མོའུ་འགལ་གྱི་བུ་; C. mujianlian/mulian 摩訶目犍連/目連), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana, was one of the two chief disciples of Gautama Buddha, together with Śāriputra.

"The Buddha declared Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana his chief disciples the day they were ordained, giving as his reason the fact that both had exerted themselves in religious practice for countless previous lives. Śāriputra was declared chief among the Buddha’s disciples in wisdom, while Mahāmaudgalyāyana was chief in mastery of supranormal powers (ṛddhi)."

Traditional accounts relate that Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra became spiritual wanderers in their youth. After having searched for spiritual truth for a while, they came into contact with the Buddhist teachings. Eventually they met the Buddha himself and ordained as monks under him. Maudgalyāyana attains enlightenment shortly after that.

Maudgalyayana and Śāriputra are depicted in Buddhist art as the two disciples that accompany the Buddha, and they have complementing roles as teachers. As a teacher, Maudgalyayana is known for his psychic powers (ṛddhi), and he is often depicted using these in his teaching methods. In early Buddhist texts, Maudgalyāyana is instrumental in re-uniting the monastic community after Devadatta causes a schism. Maudgalyāyana died at the age of eighty-four, killed through the efforts of a rival sect. This violent death is described in Buddhist scriptures as a result of Maudgalyāyana's karma from a previous life.

In the Mahayana tradition

Maudgalyāyana appears frequently in the Mahayana sutras, sometimes playing a significant role.

In the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa, he is one of the śrāvaka disciples who is reluctant to visit Vimalakīrti. In the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, he is one of four arhats who understands the parable of the burning house and rejoices in the teaching of a single vehicle (ekayana); later in the sūtra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood.

In East Asian Buddhism, Maudgalyāyana is famous for his role in the Yulanpen jing.

The text describes his efforts to save his mother from the tortures of her rebirth as a ghost (preta). Maudgalyāyana (C. Mulian) is able to use his supranormal powers to visit his mother in the realm of ghosts, but the food that he offers her immediately bursts into flames. The Buddha explains that it is impossible for the living to make offerings directly to the dead; instead, one should make offerings to the sangha in a bowl, and the power of their meditative practices will be able to save one’s ancestors and loved ones from rebirths in the unfortunate realms (durgati).

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

Further reading

• Maudgalyayana (Wikipedia)
• Nyanaponika Thera; Hecker, Hellmuth (2003), Great Disciples of the Buddha: Their Lives, Their Works, Their Legacy (PDF), Wisdom Publications