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Mahātissa

1. Mahātissa.– A thera who lived in Bhaggari in Sri Lanka. He was an Arahant, and is mentioned as being among the last of those who took part in various assemblies that followed the departure of the Bodhisatta during different births, such as the Kuddālaka Samāgama, Mūgapakkha Samāgama, etc. J.vi.30.

2. Mahātissa.– Called Vanavāsī-Mahātissa. He was a colleague of Alindakavāsī Mahāphussadeva of Sri Lanka, and witnessed Sakka and other deities waiting on the latter in recognition of his holiness. Mahātissa perceived only the radiance of the devas and questioned Phussadeva, who did not, however, give a direct answer. SNA.i.55 f; VibhA.352.

3. Mahātissa Thera.– Called Ambakhādaka-Mahātissa. He lived at Ciragumba, and is mentioned as an example of a monk who refused to eat food that came to him as a result of signifying in words that he desired it. Vism.43.

4. Mahātissa Thera.– He lived in Cetiyagiri, and one day, while on his way to Anurādhapura, saw a woman who was leaving her husband, having quarrelled with him. She was beautifully dressed, and seeing the elder, smiled at him, in order to show her perfect teeth. The elder looked at her, and acquiring the perception of “the foul” through thinking of the bones of her teeth, became an Arahant. The husband followed his wife and asked the elder if he had seen her. The elder replied, “I know not if it was a man or a woman, but I saw a lump of bones.” Vism.20 f., 194.

5. Mahātissa Thera.– Of Puṇṇavallika. One full-moon day, at evening, he went to the courtyard of the Mahā Thūpa, saw the moonlight, and turning towards the shrine, entered into rapture, the Buddha being his object of thought. He habitually recalled this experience thenceforth until, one day, he was able to travel through the air to the Mahā Thūpa. Vism.143; DhSA.116.

6. Mahātissa.– An elder of the Mahākarañjiya-vihāra. He became an Arahant by developing mindfulness of respiration (ānāpānasati), and was thus able to limit¹ his life-term. Vism.292.

¹ ? Know the limit of (ed).

7. Mahātissa Thera.– While begging for alms in Kalyāṇigāma his mind was defiled by the sight of an “uncommon” form (visabhāgarūpa, naked woman?). SNA.i.6 f.

8. Mahātissa Thera.– An incumbent of the Maṇḍalārāma near Bhokkantagāma. He was a reciter of the Dhammapada. Sumanā, wife of Lakuṇṭaka Atimbara, related the story of her past in the assembly of monks in association with this Thera. DhA.iv.51.

9. Mahātissa.– A man of the Okkāka race, father of Dappula I. His wife was Saṅghasivā, and they had two other sons, Aggabodhi and Maṇi-akkhika, and one daughter. Cv.xlv.38.

10. Mahātissa Thera.– Incumbent of Koṭapabbata-vihāra and teacher of Asubhakammika Tissa. He was an Arahant, and heard, with his divine ear, the description given in the Lohapāsāda by Cittagutta Thera of the marvels of the Mahā Thūpa. Mahātissa told Cittagutta that the description was not full enough. MT. 552 f.

11. Mahātissa Thera.– Incumbent of Kambugallaka-vihāra. He was a colleague of Kupikkala Mahātissa, and interceded on behalf of Vaṭṭagāmaṇī when that king’s ministers wished to leave him. Later, the ministers appointed him to look after all the monasteries built by them. Mhv.xxxiii.76, 89 ff; MT. 619, 622.

12. Mahātissa Thera.– Incumbent of Kupikkala-vihāra. When Vaṭṭagāmaṇī was in hiding in the forest of Vessagiri, the elder once provided him with a meal, and the king, out of gratitude, made him a grant of land (Mhv.xxxiii.49). Later, the ministers wanted to revolt against the king on account of his cruelty to Tanasīva, but the elder and his colleague Mahātissa from Kambugallaka, prevented them from doing so (Mhv.xxxiii.76). When Vaṭṭagāmaṇī built the Abhayagiri-vihāra, he gave it into the charge of Mahātissa. Mhv.xxxiii.83.

13. Mahātissa Thera.– An incumbent of the Mahāvihāra. He was expelled by reason of his association with families. His pupil Bahalamassutissa thereupon seceded from the Mahāvihāra and established a new sect in Abhayagiri. Mhv.xxxiii.95 ff.

14. Mahātissa Thera.– Incumbent of Anurārāma. Vohārīka Tissa was so pleased with him that he ordered alms to be regularly given to him in the Mucelapaṭṭana. Mhv.xxxvi.30.

15. Mahātissa Thera.– Even when sixty years old he did not realise that he was a worldling (puthujjana). Then, one day, his pupil Dhammadinna of Talaṅgara came to him, asking for his company in a journey to Tissa-Mahāvihāra, where he had been asked to teach. Mahātissa greeted him, and in the course of conversation, Dhammadinna discovered that his teacher was under the false impression that he was an Arahant. Wishing to show him his error, he persuaded Mahātissa, by his psychic power, to create a pond, and in the pond a lotus, which a young girl was picking. At the sight of the girl, Mahātissa was possessed by lust, and realised that he was no Arahant. Dhammadinna withdrew, and that same day Mahātissa put forth effort and attained Arahantship. AA.i.25.

16. Mahātissa.– An incumbent of Cittalapabbata. He was troubled by lustful thoughts and consulted his teacher. The Thera asked him to prepare a cell for him, which he did with great care. The Thera then asked him to occupy it for one night, since he had taken so much trouble over it. That night Mahātissa put forth effort and became an Arahant. AA.i.26.