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Venerable Svasti watched the young buffalo boys cross the Neranjara River.
Drawn homeward in a similar way, Venerable Svasti had returned to the banks of the Neranjara the night before. This was his own
home. He still felt like the eleven-year-old who tended another man’s buffaloes to feed his younger siblings. Uruvela village was the same as
ever. Papaya trees still grew before every house. The rice fields were still there, the gentle river flowed as before. Water buffalos were still
led and bathed by young buffalo boys. Though Sujata no longer lived in the village and his own siblings had started families of their own and
moved away, Uruvela would always be Svasti’s home. Svasti thought back to the first time he saw the young monk Siddhartha doing
walking meditation in the forest. He thought of the many meals the village children had shared with Siddhartha beneath the cool shade of the
pippala tree. These images of the past could live again. When the buffalo boys crossed over to his side, he would introduce himself. Every
one of those boys was Svasti. Just as long ago he had been given a chance to enter the path of peace, joy, and liberation, he would show
the path to these young boys.
Venerable Svasti smiled. A month earlier in Kusinara, he had listened to Venerable Mahakassapa tell about an encounter he had with a
young bhikkhu named Subhada who traveled with him from Pava. When Subhada learned that the Buddha had already passed away, he
remarked glibly, “The old man is gone. From now on, we are free. No one will scold or reproach us any more.” Venerable Mahakassapa
was shocked at the young bhikkhu’s foolish comment, but he did not say anything.
Venerable Mahakassapa did not scold the young Subhada, but he did not mince words with Venerable Ananda, even though Ananda
was a deeply respected senior disciple. Venerable Ananda’s presence at the assembly was considered essential in order to accurately
compile all the sutras. Nonetheless, just three days prior to the assembly, Venerable Mahakassapa told Venerable Ananda that he was
seriously considering barring Ananda from the gathering. The reason he gave was that although Venerable Ananda had a solid grasp of the
teaching, he had not yet attained true realization. The other bhikkhus feared Ananda would be insulted by Mahakassapa’s comments and
perhaps even leave, but Ananda simply retired to his own hut and closed the door. He remained there three days and nights deep in