As he promised last time, Roshi continued our exploration of the Lotus Sutra with a discussion of Shakyamuni’s cousin Ananda, whose role has gone largely underappreciated in the history of Buddhism. 

Shakyamuni, in his prediction for Ananda, tells him that the two of them have been on this journey side by side for many lifetimes. And in all those lifetimes, Ananda’s commitment has always been to be the protector and sharer of knowledge. And Shakyamuni’s commitment has always been to the practice.

Without Ananda, there would be no Buddhism. Shakyamuni would have been content to sit on a rock or a mountain and practice for the rest of his life, and remain enlightened. But Ananda was not enlightened, he was deeply tied to the human experience, and had a tremendous capacity for empathy. Every teaching we have is through Ananda, none of it directly from Shakyamuni.

Roshi noted again that it was Ananda who brought women into the community, not only to practice, but to be ordained and to spread the dharma.

Years ago, when Roshi was working on the thesis for his MBA, he encountered something in his research. His thesis was an examination of how certain companies become iconoclastic globally. For example, even though Disney is an American company, children in China or Tibet or Mexico all think of Mickey Mouse as their own. And Sony, a quintessentially Japanese company, made the Walkman, which became a huge part of American culture. How do companies achieve this status?

In examining these themes, another theme appeared, which was the relationship of the founder to the co-founder of the company. Everyone knows who Walt Disney is, but the Disney corporation would not have existed without Roy, Walt’s brother.

Sony was founded by the visionary Akio Morita, and co-founded by the engineer Masaru Ibuka. Sony would not have existed without the relationship between those two.

These kinds of relationships are not happy relationships, because the two co-founders are so different from each other. Usually you will see a dreamer, and the partner who is an accountant, or engineer, and they fight constantly. But in those fights is a dynamism, and the sum of the two is greater than the parts.

Over the years, Roshi has come to the conclusion that this side note in his thesis may have been the more important part — that this dynamic relationship between two different entities can produce something greater than they could individually. 

It occurs in marriages as well. We know people who basically marry themselves, and have peaceful marriages as a result. The couple gets along because they are the same person.

In other marriages, the couple are diametrically opposed to each other. Those are rough marriages, and do not always last. But in that dynamism between the two, there is an opening of consciousness. 

The relationship of Ananda and Shakyamuni is like this, and Ananda does not get the attention he deserves.

Roshi then announced the formation of the Ananda Project. The Ananda Project has to do with the relationship of neurodiversity with Buddhism. 

Why name it the Ananda Project?

Members of the sangha have pointed out that Ananda seems to have had some of the qualities of Asperger syndrome. He had the ability to perfectly remember Shakyamuni’s teachings and transmit them. He had an incredible capacity for compassion and emotion. These are qualities associated with Asperger’s, so the Project is named after Ananda. 

The Project will have a senior dharma teacher (Roshi), currently practicing neurodivergent individuals, and representatives from the neuroscience community. They will discuss, among other things, how to accomodate Zen practice to those with neurodivergence. 

The formation of this Project is another example of dynamic relationships at work.

Next week’s talk will continue with Shakyamuni’s prediction for his firstborn son, Rahula.