Mahakasyapa

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Mahākāśyapa (摩訶迦葉, Mohe Jiashe) or Kāśyapa was a brahman of Magadha, who became one of the principal disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha and who convened and directed the first council. Mahākāśyapa is one of the most revered of the Buddha's early disciples. He is often depicted in statuary together with Ananda, each standing to one side of the Buddha.

According to the legendary history of the Chan and Zen schools, Mahākāśyapa received the Dharma directly from Buddha at the flower sermon on Vulture Peak, where Buddha silently held a flower before his students. A monk named Kāśyapa smiled. The Buddha remarked that Kāśyapa alone of all his students had received his teaching for that day, and should thereafter be known as Mahākāśyapa.

According to Chinese legend, the lecherous monk and Taoist god Ji Gong is a reincarnation of Mahākāśyapa (known as the Taming Dragon arhat, 降龍羅漢).

[edit] External links

• Maha Kassapa (subtitle) Father of the Sangha, Hellmuth Hecker, biography based on the Pali Canon, revised and enlarged translation from Wissen und Wandel volume XXI number 6, 1975, (German) by Nyanaponika Thera, The Wheel Publication No. 345, ISBN 955-24-0026-0
• Mahá Kassapa Thera; biography based on the Pali Canon, apparently excerpted from Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, G.P. Malalasekera, 1937-8
• "Mahakasyapa’s smile" Master Young San Seong Do Snim