Chapter 5: Anuruta and the Woman
In the scriptures that appear in Anuruta, there are many parts related to women that are unusual. It seems that although he was pure in heart and wanted to be completely free from love, the personal charm exuded by his naturally noble samurai temperament made him very popular with women, not only on earth but also in the heavenly realm, and some of these encounters were undoubtedly due to the karma of previous lives, and although he wanted to transcend them, women were still deeply affected.
The goddess Jaliren persuaded to reunite
For example, on one occasion, Anuluta was living alone in the forest, and the goddess Jalini, who came down from the thirty-three days (1), appeared before him (SN9:6), the wife and empress of Anuluta in her previous life as the Sakka-devanam-inda, who ruled for the thirty-three days. Out of greed, he longed to be reunited with him and restore the relationship between the king and queen of the heavenly realm, and she persuaded him to make a vow to go to thirty-three days:
Guide your heart to the other realm,
where you used to live,
In the thirty-three days,
Full of sensual pleasures.
Thou shalt be honored with courtesy,
Surrounded by celestial maidens.
But Anuluta replied:
The heavenly maiden is really painful,
Attachment to the self.
He who loves the Lady of Heaven,
They are also miserable.
Ignorant of these words, Jasby went on to describe to him the splendor of the heavenly realm, trying to tempt him with it:
Nandana (2),
Thirty-three days of the king's
Those who dwell in the heavens,
He doesn't know happiness.
Yet Anuruta remained steadfast in his determination, which stemmed from his deep insight into the impermanence of all things:
Thou shalt not know the fool,
Alahan's Proverbs?
Everything is impermanent,
In the end, life and death,
To be born is to perish,
Silence is a pleasure.
Listen to the Truth!
I'm no longer there
In the heavens,
Samsara has ceased,
There is not after acceptance.
It can be a pleasure for the senses
On another occasion, many goddesses named manapakayika devata appeared before Anuruta and told them all the extraordinary things they could do. For example, you can change the color you want instantly, make any sounds and sounds at will, and instantly bring joy to any kind.
In order to test them, Anuruta wanted them to turn blue, and sure enough, they could read his mind, and they all turned blue, dressed in blue and wearing blue jewelry. Whatever color he wanted them to become, they could do it—yellow, red, white, with clothes and accessories.
The goddesses thought that Anuluta liked their performance and began to perform very graceful songs and dances, but Anuluta closed the door to their senses, ignored them, and when they noticed that Anuluta did not get any pleasure from the performance, they immediately left (AN8:46).
A woman is reincarnated as a celestial woman
Anuruta must have thought that this experience was worth talking about, so when he met the Buddha in the evening, he asked the Buddha to recount it, and then he asked, "What are the conditions that a woman must have to be reborn in the heavenly realms of those heavenly maidens?" His thirst for knowledge made him want to know the moral level of these celestial women.
The Buddha happily replied that there are eight qualities that must be possessed in order to be reborn in that heavenly realm:
(1) The wife must treat her husband with kindness and compassion;
(2) She should be humble and courteous to her husband's loved ones, such as his parents and certain shamans and brahmins;
(3) She should do housework carefully and diligently;
(4) She should take care of and guide her servants and the workers of the household with a decisive attitude;
(5) She should take proper care of her husband's property and should not waste it;
(6) Ask a lay believer that she should take refuge in the Three Jewels;
(7) She should keep the five precepts;
(8) She should be willing to share with those in need, give to them, and show concern. （ＡＮ８：４６）
On another occasion, Anuruta told the Buddha that he had often seen how women were reborn in the evil path after death and even went to hell. The Buddha replied that there are three evil dharmas that can cause a woman to fall into hell: if she is full of greed in the morning, jealousy at noon, and sexual desire at night (AN3:127).
The relationship with a woman in the story of Bunsen
Anuruta's accounts of past lives also point to his relationship with women, and only once does he mention being reborn as an animal. Once, he was reincarnated as a wild pigeon, and his mate was captured by an eagle. Tormented by lust and sorrow, she decided to fast until she overcame her grief of love and separation:
I used to love hens,
Soar and frolic here,
Then she was captured by an eagle,
should be dismantled and separated in two.
Since the separation,
I always feel pain in my heart,
Therefore I fast,
From now on, he will stay away from the Tao of Eros. （Jat.490）
Other stories of reincarnation tell the following: Anuruta was born as a king, saw a beautiful fairy in the forest, fell in love with her, and shot her husband in order to possess her. Filled with grief, she cried and accused the king of cruelty, and upon hearing his accusations, the king came to his senses and left. Anuluta was the jealous king of the time, Yasodhara was a nymph and her husband was a bodhisattva, and now he is Anuluta's mentor, who was almost killed in that past life for the king's lust (Jar. 243).
Help sisters enter the Dharma Gate
In his last life, he helped his sister Lushini enter the Dharma Gate. On one occasion, he and 500 of his disciples returned to their hometown of Kabilava. When the relatives heard of his arrival, everyone except Lushini went to the monastery to pay homage to him. When the elders asked why Lushini did not come, they said that she was ashamed to see people because of her skin rash. The elders demanded that she be sent immediately.
When Lushini, whose face was covered with a cloth, arrived, the elders instructed her to sponsor the construction of a synagogue. So Lucini sold her jewellery to raise the necessary funds. Anuruta supervised the work and was led by a young Shakya. By the time the synagogue was finished, the rash on her skin had subsided. In the fourth, she invited the Buddha and Bhikku to attend the opening ceremony of the synagogue. In the teachings, the Buddha explained the karmic causes of her skin ailments. In a previous life, Lucini was the wife of King Benares, and because she was jealous of one of the king's dancers, she threw scabs on her body and bed in order to torture her. The skin disease she suffered from in this life was the result of that evil deed. After the Buddha's teachings, Lushini attained the Fruit of Flow. After his death, he was reincarnated for thirty-three days and became the beloved consort of Sakka-devanam-inda. (2)
The fault of sleeping with a woman
In the life of the bhikku of Anuruta, there was an incident that led the Buddha to make the precepts. On one occasion, Anuluta marched from Kosala to Savatthi and arrived at a village in the evening, but could not find a special place to stay in the nomadic Samun and Bikhu. He went to the village inn to ask for accommodation, and the inn accepted him, and by this time more travelers began to arrive at the inn for the night, and the room in Anuruta became crowded.
When the innkeeper saw this, he told Anuluta that he could prepare a bed in the inner room for him, and he could spend the night there peacefully, and Anuluta tacitly agreed. However, the hostess proposed it because she was in love with him. Sprinkled with perfume and jewelry, she went to Anuluta and said, "Venerable! You are handsome, noble, and elegant, and so am I. Wouldn't it be great if His Holiness would take me as his wife?
But Anuluta remained silent, and the innkeeper gave him all the wealth he had, but he remained silent. Then she took off her blouse and danced in front of Anuruta, but he took six and ignored it. She knew that she could not tempt him, and she could not help but exclaim: What a surprise, Venerable, what an unusual! How many men have tried in every possible way to please me, and this shaman, whom I myself have opened my mouth to pursue, has no interest in me or my wealth. Then the woman put on her blouse and prostrated herself at the feet of Anuruta and begged him to forgive her for her rudeness, at which point he spoke, forgave and warned her to be careful about her behavior in the future, and then she left. The next morning she brought him breakfast, as if nothing had happened. Anuruta then gave a lecture on the Dharma, and she was deeply moved and later became a devout follower of the Buddha.
Anuruta then continued his journey, and when he arrived at the monastery in the city of Shawati, he told Bhikku about the experience. The Buddha summoned him and rebuked him for staying overnight in a woman's dwelling, and he made a precept to prohibit such behavior (pacittiya 6). ③
This story shows how the self-control of Venerable Anuruta saved him from becoming a slave to love. His resolute character impressed the woman, causing her to regret it, listen to his teachings, and take refuge in the Buddha. Therefore, Anuruta's self-control is not only beneficial to herself, but also to the woman. But the Buddha later rebuked him because in such a situation, the mentally cowardly person may have succumbed to temptation.
That's why the Buddha made precepts out of compassion for them, predicating that Bhikku should not expose himself to such dangerous situations. We can often see that the Buddha wanted to prevent the mentally cowardly from overestimating their own strength and imitating ideals beyond their abilities.
The story is similar to the experience of St. bernard of Clairvaux (4), whose willpower resembles that of Anluta. One day, when the young friar St. Bernard stayed at the inn, he was assigned a bed in the public room, as the other rooms were full. The innkeeper's daughter fell in love with the handsome young Csitercian (5) monk and came to him after dark. However, he turned to face the wall. Put on a cloak and tell her there's plenty of room if you're looking for a place to sleep! This attitude of not being interested in her at all made her sober up and quickly leave in shame. St. Bernard, like Anuluta, overcame that difficulty, not through quarrels, but simply through his own quiet power.
Original Note
(1) The five precepts are the basis of the precepts of Buddhists at home: not killing, not stealing, not committing sexual immorality, not lying, and not drinking.
(2) Source: Dhp.Comy. (for verse 221): See BL. ３：９５－９７
Translations
(1) Thirty-three days: Legend has it that in ancient times, there were thirty-three good men who sacrificed their lives for the well-being of others, and after death, they were reincarnated in the heavenly realm and became the great kings of the realm (Sakka-devanam-inda) and the thirty-two minor kings, so the realm is called thirty-three days.
(2) The Garden of Joy is a garden for 33 days.
(3) The sixth article of the Pacittiya stipulates: If there is a bhikkhu, if he sleeps with a woman, he is pacittiya. Pacittiya means penance, and a bhikku who has broken this vow must report to a bhikku and repent of what he has done in order to be removed from his sins.
(4) Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153): medieval mystic, and a symbol of the Christian spirit of the time. At the age of twenty-two, he joined the Monastery of Cidcian and was appointed as the head of the Clstercian Monastery, where he devoted himself to the experience of introspection and religious truth, was strict in self-discipline, noble in character, familiar with the Bible, zealous in love, and condemned sin, and was regarded as the conscience of Europe.
(5) The Clstercians: The most famous ascetic group in the Middle Ages, which emphasized the spirit of the prophet more than power, emphasized labor over academics, and believed that work was prayer, so they became pioneers in the development of agriculture. At the end of the twelfth century, there were 530 Cistercian monasteries, and 150 more were established in the following 100 years. The most famous friar was St. Bernard of Clever, who was a representative of medieval mysticism.
