ĀNANDA, (?):
perhaps the best known of the BUDDHA'S DISCIPLES and a cousin of the
Buddha. His name means "Joy." He lived with the Buddha for twenty-five years as
his personal attendant and was entrusted by the Buddha with the task of teaching doctrine.
He is remembered as a champion of women and the man responsible for persuading the Buddha
to allow women to enter the MONASTIC Order. After the Buddha's death, a dispute broke out
between Ananda and the other MONKS who resented his support for women and charged him with
not obtaining sufficient information from the Buddha to distinguish between minor precepts
which could be changed and major ones which were unchangeable. He was also accused of not
requesting the Buddha to live longer among his followers. Ananda denied any wrongdoing but
confessed his faults to pacify his fellow monks.
