TIME MACHINE POET OF THE WEEK

Mahākāśyapa

Mahākāśyapa was a disciple of the Gautama Buddha and director of the First Buddhist council (which took place after Buddha’s death in 483 BC).  He is one of the best-known disciples, along with Ananda, the Buddha’s first cousin.  Mahākāśyapa’s body is entombed at the mountain Kukkutpada and will stay there until the prophecy of the Maitreya.  The Chinese Monk Ji Gong is claimed to have been a reincarnation of  Mahākāśyapa; Ji Gong had supernatural abilities and has been mentioned in the multiple Chinese folktales.

Compared to Christianity, Mahākāśyapa’s presence and importance are along the lines of James, son of Zebedee or John the Apostle — Mahākāśyapa is stated in Zen-Buddhism as the first disciple to receive Dharma transmission from the Buddha and James, son of Zebedee was the first disciple of Jesus to be martyred.   Mahākāśyapa is our TIME MACHINE POET OF THE WEEK.

This is an official PROJECT ASTRAL article.

– Color Pessoa