Moggallana: Crash Course

An own-words introduction to Moggallana, the Buddha's chief disciple in psychic power: the friends' pact under the wanderer Sanjaya and the four-line verse that woke them both, the psychic powers as the early texts actually describe them and what the texts say they are for, the longhouse that shook and the palace that followed, his own chapter on noble silence and the question of the smile, the skeleton in the air and the verses no one else could see, a moonlit night in the Gosinga wood, and the assembly that felt empty after he and Sariputta were gone. Narrated by Tara, an AI voice. Provisional interpretation, not an authoritative translation, lineage transmission or practice authorization.

All primary sources are early Buddhist texts, read for this course in the CC0 translations on SuttaCentral: Vinaya Kd 1 (the conversion story), AN 1.188-197 (foremost disciples), SN 21.1 (Kolita), SN 51.14 (the longhouse), MN 37 (Culatanhasankhaya), SN 19.1 (Skeleton), MN 32 (Mahagosinga), and SN 47.14 (Ukkacela), with SN 47.13 (Cunda) referenced. Translations by Bhikkhu Sujato; Vinaya Kd 1 by Bhikkhu Brahmali - all dedicated to the public domain via CC0. The later tradition's dramatic death story is identified as later tradition in the episode, not presented as early-text record, and the psychic-power episodes are presented as the texts' own narrative claims. Original narration and commentary CC0 1.0 Universal.

Sources
Kd 1: https://suttacentral.net/pli-tv-kd1/en/brahmali
AN 1.188-197: https://suttacentral.net/an1.188-197/en/sujato
SN 21.1: https://suttacentral.net/sn21.1/en/sujato
SN 51.14: https://suttacentral.net/sn51.14/en/sujato
MN 37: https://suttacentral.net/mn37/en/sujato
SN 19.1: https://suttacentral.net/sn19.1/en/sujato
MN 32: https://suttacentral.net/mn32/en/sujato
SN 47.13: https://suttacentral.net/sn47.13/en/sujato
SN 47.14: https://suttacentral.net/sn47.14/en/sujato

Chapters
The pact
The power, used on instruction
His own voice
Fully quenched