Friends,
The Buddha passed without appointing a successor. Instead, he told the monks, “After my passing, the Dharma and the discipline (Dhamma-vinaya) I taught you shall be your teacher.” It took three remarkable individuals to preserve Dhamma-vinaya for all of us to this day. The three are: Mahā Kassapa, who had the amazing foresight to recognize that if the teachings were not consolidated soon, they would be lost to future generations; Ānanda, who remembered all the Buddha’s discourses by heart; and Upāli, who started out as a humble barber but grew into a renowned expert on the monastic rules.
In Topic#15, we will learn the fascinating stories of these remarkable individuals, and how they heroically preserved Dhamma-vinaya. We will also learn about what was preserved, and why we modern people can have a lot of confidence in them. That starts today.
Meng, for the Buddhism.net team
