Post by Neo on Oct 14, 2020 14:43:32 GMT -5
Ananda spoke the words "Thus have I heard" for four reasons:
1. To resolve the assembly's doubts.
2. To honor the Buddha's instructions.
3. To put an end to disputes.
4. To distinguish Buddhist Sutras from the writings of other religions
But when Ananda took the Dharma seat and said, "Thus have I heard", the three doubts were all resolved. The Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Bhikshus then knew Ananda was saying, "This is the Dharma. It is thus. Thus it was that I personally heard this Dharma from the Buddha. It is not my own invention."
The second reason the words "Thus have I heard" were used was in order to honor the Buddha's instructions. When the Buddha was about to enter Nirvana, he told Ananda, "All the Sutras should begin with the words `Thus have I heard.'" And so when Ananda compiled the Sutras, he followed the Buddha's instructions and used these four words at their beginning.
The third reason was to put an end to disputes. Ananda was one of the youngest of the Buddha's disciples. If he hadn't made it clear that the Sutras he was speaking were the Buddha's and not his own, there would certainly have been objections. "You say you can speak Sutras? Well, so can we!" people would have said. But when Ananda said that the Sutras were not his own but were the Buddha's, all the assembly, including his elders, his peers, and his juniors, had nothing to say. They were the Buddha's Sutras. This silenced their objections and ended all disputes.
The fourth reason was to distinguish the Buddha's Sutras from the writings of other religions. The texts of other religions begin their works with the words "A" or "O" meaning "non-existence" or "existence", respectively. They say that all the ten thousand dharmas either exist or do not exist. The phrase "Thus have I heard" at the beginning of the Buddha's Sutras sets them apart from the writings of other religions, which have a head but no tail, or a tail no head, because they advocate either existence or non-existence. -- Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
Source:
www.cttbusa.org/dfs1/dfs1.asp
1. To resolve the assembly's doubts.
2. To honor the Buddha's instructions.
3. To put an end to disputes.
4. To distinguish Buddhist Sutras from the writings of other religions
But when Ananda took the Dharma seat and said, "Thus have I heard", the three doubts were all resolved. The Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Bhikshus then knew Ananda was saying, "This is the Dharma. It is thus. Thus it was that I personally heard this Dharma from the Buddha. It is not my own invention."
The second reason the words "Thus have I heard" were used was in order to honor the Buddha's instructions. When the Buddha was about to enter Nirvana, he told Ananda, "All the Sutras should begin with the words `Thus have I heard.'" And so when Ananda compiled the Sutras, he followed the Buddha's instructions and used these four words at their beginning.
The third reason was to put an end to disputes. Ananda was one of the youngest of the Buddha's disciples. If he hadn't made it clear that the Sutras he was speaking were the Buddha's and not his own, there would certainly have been objections. "You say you can speak Sutras? Well, so can we!" people would have said. But when Ananda said that the Sutras were not his own but were the Buddha's, all the assembly, including his elders, his peers, and his juniors, had nothing to say. They were the Buddha's Sutras. This silenced their objections and ended all disputes.
The fourth reason was to distinguish the Buddha's Sutras from the writings of other religions. The texts of other religions begin their works with the words "A" or "O" meaning "non-existence" or "existence", respectively. They say that all the ten thousand dharmas either exist or do not exist. The phrase "Thus have I heard" at the beginning of the Buddha's Sutras sets them apart from the writings of other religions, which have a head but no tail, or a tail no head, because they advocate either existence or non-existence. -- Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
Source:
www.cttbusa.org/dfs1/dfs1.asp