佛祖統紀 4.42

4.42

阿難身與佛相似。短佛三指。初登高座眾起三疑。或疑世尊重出。或疑他方佛來。或疑阿難成佛。及唱我聞三疑俱遣（妙句）阿難集法藏自云。佛初轉法輪。我是時不見。如是展轉聞（句引智論）舊云。阿難得佛覺三昧。力自能聞（記云。佛加覺力。故名佛覺○舍利弗問經。阿難修不忘禪。得佛覺三昧。力自能聞）又未聞經願佛重說。故佛口密為說。阿難親承佛旨。如仰完器。傳以化人。以瀉異瓶。佛已涅槃。從金棺出金臂。重為現入胎之相。諸經皆聞（妙句）胎相尚聞。況後諸經（句記○此即追現入胎。乃至轉法輪等相。使阿難給侍。二十年已前諸經。皆得以聞之也）阿難面於佛前自聞授記。即時憶念過去諸佛法藏。通達無礙如今所聞。亦識本願（法華學無學記品）。

Ānanda's body resembled the Buddha's, shorter than the Buddha by three finger-widths. When he first ascended the high seat, three doubts arose in the assembly: either they doubted that the World-Honoured One had reappeared, or they doubted that a Buddha from another direction had come, or they doubted that Ānanda had attained Buddhahood. When he chanted 'Thus have I heard,' all three doubts were dispelled (*Miaoju*). In compiling the Dharma treasury, Ānanda said of himself: 'When the Buddha first turned the wheel of the Dharma, I did not see it at that time; I heard it transmitted in this way' (the *Miaoju* cites the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa*). Formerly it was said: 'Ānanda attained the samādhi of the Buddha's awakening, and by its power he was naturally able to hear' (the *Record* says: 'The Buddha aided him with awakening power, hence it is called "Buddha's awakening." The *Śāriputrapṛcchā Sūtra* says: "Ānanda cultivated unforgetting dhyāna and attained the samādhi of the Buddha's awakening, and by its power he was naturally able to hear"'). Furthermore, having vowed that the Buddha would re-expound scriptures he had not heard, the Buddha secretly expounded them orally for him. Ānanda directly received the Buddha's intention, like holding up an undamaged vessel, and transmitted it to transform people, like pouring into another bottle. After the Buddha had entered nirvāṇa, he brought forth his golden arm from the golden coffin and re-manifested the marks of entering the womb, so that all scriptures were heard (*Miaoju*). If even the marks of the womb were heard, how much more so all subsequent scriptures! (The *Miaoju ji* says: 'This means retroactively manifesting the marks of entering the womb up to turning the wheel of the Dharma, allowing Ānanda to hear all the scriptures from before the twenty years he had served as an attendant.') Ānanda directly heard the bestowal of prophecy before the Buddha's face, whereupon he immediately remembered the Dharma treasuries of the past Buddhas, comprehending them without obstruction just as he heard them now, and also recognised his original vow (Chapter on the Conferral of Prophecies on Those in Training and No More Training of the *Lotus Sūtra*).