A LEARNED DEVIL
Among Shakyamuni Buddha's disciple was a
brilliant priest called Ananda. He was
the Buddha's favorite pupil and far ahead of his fellow disciples in Buddhist
learning. He absorbed whatever teachings
Shakyamuni had given them. He was a
virtual tape recorder. It is said that
without Ananda's great memory, we would have no present record of Shakyamuni's
sayings and writings that are now Buddhist scriptures.
There is a tale about Ananda that goes as
follows; although he was a learned priest, he was incapable of attaining spiritual
enlightenment during Shakyamuni Buddha's lifetime and was often unsparingly
tormented by Gaki. Gaki means
"hungry devils," which are believed to inhabit the hellish inferno of
starvation.
Why was he bound by such distress? The Gaki would say to him, "Ananda, you are
within three days of your death! What do
you think will await you after death? It
is the very same inferno of starvation as that we live in. Although you are not aware of it, you are
destined for this place and all of its types of torture. As long as you are not kind enough to share
your food and learning with us, you will not be able to escape from this
consequence."
How did the Gaki manage to scare a priest of such great learning in this way? The reason was that Ananda was self-centered,
only understanding abstractly the Buddhist knowledge he had acquired and
continued to undertake ascetic practices in which self-preoccupation was
dominant.
He was merely a "learned devil" and not yet
ready to share his 'food,' or the Buddha's teaching with other people. In due course, however, wise by birth, and
Ananda became aware of the undesirable way he behaved towards others. Therefore, as may be expected, he became a
venerable priest by undertaking further ascetic practices.
