Shakyamuni Buddha's Heart Disciples

Relic of Maudgalyayana

Relic of Shariputra

Relic of Ananda

After Buddha gave his first teaching he went to Rajagriha and accepted Sariputra and Maudgalyayana, among others, as his disciples. Both Maudgalyayana and Sariputra were born near Rajgir. Maudgalyayana was well-known for his great powers of clairvoyance. Sariputra is remembered as the disciple who asked the most questions about the nature of reality, thus inspiring the Buddha's Perfection of Wisdom discourses.

Ananda was the Buddha's cousin and served as his personal attendant for 25 years. One day when Ananda was passing a well near a village, he asked Pakati, a young outcaste woman, for water. Pakati replied, "O monk, I am too humbly born to give you water to drink. Do not ask for my service lest your holiness be contaminated, for I am of low caste." Ananda said, "I ask not for caste but for water."

Pakati's heart leapt with joy and she offered water to Ananda. Having heard that Ananda was a disciple of the Buddha, the woman beseeched the Buddha, "O Lord, help me and let me live in the place where your disciple Ananda dwells so that I may see him and serve him, for I love Ananda." Buddha understood her heart and said, "Pakati, your heart is full of love, but you do not understand your own sentiments. It is not Ananda that you love, but his kindness. Accept the kindness that you have seen him practice toward you and practice it toward others".

Relic and Source

The relics of the historical Buddha's heart disciples, Maudgalyayana, Sariputra and Ananda, were offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche by his student, Wu Wen Yuen, during a long life puja (prayer ceremony) for Rinpoche held in Taipei, Taiwan on 18th March 2001.