Did Ananda violate the precepts?

Question: In the Surangama Sutra, it is said that Ananda attained the first fruition, yet he was tempted by Matangi's daughter and almost violated the precepts. If he had not been saved by the Surangama Mantra, would he have fallen into the three lower realms due to breaking the precepts?

Answer: Ananda was lured into the prostitute's chamber by Matangi's mother using heterodox mantras; he did not enter voluntarily. The meditative power of Ananda's first fruition was clearly insufficient to withstand the potent heterodox mantras, which had a binding effect on him, causing him to lose his ability to resist. However, Ananda would never actively violate any precept, so he would not fall into the three lower realms. It is like a person whose meditative power is insufficient and thus cannot resist the intoxicating effects of alcohol. Once alcohol enters the mind, it causes confusion and loss of clarity. This alcohol might not have been consumed voluntarily but was forcibly administered or tricked into them by others, so it does not count as breaking the precept against drinking.

Ananda's situation involved being forcibly subjected to heterodox mantras by outsiders. Due to insufficient spiritual power, he could not resist the force of the mantras; it was not that Ananda willingly accepted them. Once the mantras entered his mind, Ananda could no longer remain clear-headed. When a person is under the influence of hallucinogens, they lose self-awareness involuntarily. This is not a personal choice or an active willingness to lose oneself, so it does not constitute an active violation of precepts arising from afflictions of the mind and would not result in falling into the three lower realms. If Ananda did not give rise to a mind of greed during this delusion, then no matter what happened, he did not commit any transgression. To remain completely unmoved and free from greed requires cultivation up to the third fruition or higher, where greed is completely severed. Ordinary people rely on conscious control, but consciousness is easily influenced by external forces. Thus, merely cultivating consciousness and pursuing extensive learning cannot lead to complete spiritual strength, resulting in situations like Ananda's.

When subjected to extremely powerful external forces, a practitioner with insufficient spiritual strength will inevitably be affected. As long as the aggregate of form within the five aggregates has not been exhausted, one will be influenced by it. If the aggregate of sensation within the five aggregates has not been exhausted, one will be influenced by it. If the aggregate of perception has not been exhausted, one will be influenced by it. This is unavoidable.

When can one become free from the influence of the five aggregates and exhaust the aggregates of form, sensation, and perception? At the very least, this requires attaining the fourth dhyana. Only within the fourth dhyana can the aggregates of form, sensation, and perception be completely severed. Otherwise, everyone will be influenced by the five aggregates. Having a body entails this great affliction; without a body, there is no affliction. This is why one must cultivate the path, cultivate meditative absorption, and cultivate up to the mental faculty to seek the exhaustion of the five aggregates of clinging, thereby liberating the mind.

Followers of the Hinayana tradition judge whether a person has broken precepts based solely on external behavior. As long as the behavior conforms to the five precepts, the bhikshu precepts, or the bhikshuni precepts, they consider the precepts unbroken. However, the Mahayana tradition judges whether a bodhisattva has broken precepts primarily by examining the bodhisattva's mind—whether the mind has violated the precepts or whether there was any mental agitation during the act. If there was no agitation, it is considered pure. But ordinary people can only observe external behavior and cannot discern a person's true mental conduct, leading to a high probability of misjudgment. If a person outwardly performs good deeds and appears to benefit others, but all their mental conduct is driven by self-interest, and their behavior is a cover and a pretense—where the mind's intention does not align with the action—then this person is not performing good deeds or benefiting others but is instead benefiting themselves or harming others. Such deception, using behavior as a facade, not only brings no merit but also incurs negative karma.