SuttaCentral
Hi all,
Some website claim that according to Buddhist scripture the Arahant Anuruddha’ fall asleep in front of the in the middle of a dhamma talk in the Jetavana and admonished by The Buddha for falling asleep.
Which sutta, sutta or other Buddhist Scriptures support this claim???
It will take a little bit of scanning through, but folks should always remember we have a decent search feature on the main site: https://suttacentral.net/search?query=Anuruddha
And of course this forum has a search feature as well.
Not sure if you tried that, but I always like to use these threads as a PSA for search.
And also a reminder that when it comes to stories like this, the commentarial literature has far more biographical information than the suttas. So there is a better than average chance that stories like this are commentarial.
Thag 16.9
For the last fifty-five years
I have not lain down to sleep.
Twenty-five years have passed
since I eradicated drowsiness.”
I trusted more of this Sutta first than any commentarial.
I don’t recall reading that scenario in the suttas. I do recall Venerable Moggallana nodding off and the Buddha coming to correct him in AN 7.61. And I recall Venerable Anuruddha having conceit for his psychic powers and Venerable Sariputta coming to correct him in AN 3.130. Maybe the scenario you presented drew inspiration from those sources.
As Master Hsuan Hua tells this story in his commentary to the Shurangama Sutra, I would guess it’s from either the Āgamas, the Mahayana sutras or perhaps a Chinese-preserved Avadāna text. It isn’t in any Pali source that I know of.
I found that folklore in the internet. They also did not give the reference. They only sayaccording to Buddhist Scriptures. Looks like another scam to me 
Anyway thanks for your great effort to answer my curiosity 
Definitely, for days I tried to find in the suttacentral, cannot found anything.
Today, I ask, I hope someone could help.
I think that it doesn’t exclude that Anuruddha had problems with drowsiness while still a trainee. I found this text on a website from Indonesia:
One time when Anuruddha and other monks had gathered at the temple Jetavana listen to the sermon of the Buddha, he felt very drowsy and fell asleep. He awoke when Buddha called his name and greeted him with a few words. After the sermon finished, with shame Anuruddha expressed his regrets to Buddha and was determined to fall asleep no more while listening to the sermon of Buddha. Since then Anuruddha never close his eyes even at night.
There are Buddhist scriptures other than the Pali and Agamas. It’s just not necessarily an EBT.
The Chinese Wikipedia entry for Aniruddha (the Sanskrit form of his name) gives the Ekottarāgama as the source of the story:
《增壹阿含經》卷第三十一記載：阿律樓陀曾在講堂上聽課睡著而遭佛陀斥責，阿律樓陀因此立誓不睡終致失明。
而由於失明之故，阿律樓陀無法自行穿針縫補衣服。有次阿律樓陀在自己的房間喊著：「有誰要修福報啊？來幫我穿針吧！」正巧路過的佛陀便聞聲前來。阿律樓陀認出佛陀的聲音後便惶恐又疑惑的問佛陀：「您的福份已經那麼深厚了，哪裡還會缺福報呢？」佛陀說：「福報哪有人會嫌多的呢？」也在此次的言談中，佛陀傳授阿律樓陀「樂見照明金剛三昧」之法，因此練就天眼神通。
Google:
The Ekottara Āgama, Volume 31, records that Anuruddha once fell asleep during a lecture and was reprimanded by the Buddha. Anuruddha vowed never to sleep again, which eventually led to his blindness.
Because of his blindness, Anuruddha could not thread a needle or mend his clothes. One day, Anuruddha called out in his room, “Who wants to accumulate merit? Come and help me thread this needle!” The Buddha, who happened to be passing by, heard his voice and came to investigate. Recognizing the Buddha’s voice, Anuruddha asked with fear and doubt, “Your merit is already so abundant, how could you lack merit?” The Buddha replied, “Who would complain about having too much merit?” During this conversation, the Buddha taught Anuruddha the method of “the Vajra Samadhi of Joyful Vision and Illumination,” thus enabling him to develop the supernatural power of divine vision.
There are a lot websites made such story and I believe it is just a copy-paste with no valid reference.
Thank you let me check
The story of Moggallana nodding off is told in AN7.61; there, the Buddha comes and gives him a teaching on what to do about drowsiness. But this doesn’t happen in the midst of the Sangha, but when he meditates in retreat.
However in Thag 2.40 there is another monk, Kappaṭakura, who did apparently nod off in the midst of the Sangha.
Perhaps the two stories have somehow been mixed together.
Oh! Only now I realize that the question was not about Moggallana, but about Anuruddha! So the connection is even slimmer …
I think this account in conflict with Vinaya story.
Ven Anuruddha right away gain clairvoyance at the same rainy season (could be in Kapilavastu area).
Clayvoyance usually means samadhi (assuming having right view) . Aka at least non returner.
Not possible for a blind person then has a divine eye ability. You need a good eyesight first, before divine eye.
During that very rainy season Venerable Bhaddiya realized the three insights, Venerable Anuruddha obtained clairvoyance, Venerable Ānanda realized stream-entry, whereas Devadatta obtained supernormal powers, but no stage of awakening.
You’re right; I didn’t quote a source material. The oldest text I have access to for now is the Maha Buddhavamsa—The Great Chronicle of Buddhas, a very dense literary work. It’s not an EBT or Commentarial, and much of its content is considered mythological, but it cites many suttas and commentaries.
Having learnt the technique of meditation from Venerable Sāriputta, the Venerable Anuruddha took leave of the Buddha and left for Ceti country and in the bamboo grove which lay east of where the Buddha was residing, he started practising meditation. He began practising in a walking posture for fifteen successive days (without lying down). The strain was so severe that he became tired and weak. He could not help sitting down under a bamboo grove where he continued his meditation, contemplating on the eight thoughts of a great being (mahāpurisa-vitakka ). (Vide 10-Anuruddha Mahāvitakka Sutta, 3-Gahapati vagga, Atthaka nipata, Anguttara Nikāya). Having acquired seven of them, he became exhausted through strain at the eighth stage. When the Buddha knew of his distress, He came personally to the bamboo grove and helped him to complete the eighth stage, by expounding the Mahapurisa Vitakka Sutta together with the Four Ariyavamsa discourse. Foreseeing that the very same forest would serve as a sufficing condition (upanissayapaccaya ) for attainment of arahatship, the Buddha instructed him: “Anuruddha, carry on with your work during the next vassa also at this place.”
Although I do not give the commentaries the same importance as the suttas, I consider them usually correct, and when they are not, at least containing some truth
I see no strong reason to doubt that Anuruddha had problems with drowsiness before developing his powers. It also seems that monks with supernatural powers, like Moggallāna, usually have to overcome drowsiness before becoming established in their powers
My greatest difficulty in this matter concerns monks having negligible sleep needs. The Buddha is reported to rest “mindfully aware” for only a few hours during the second watch of the night, more a meditative state than proper sleep. Perhaps this indicates that people proficient in meditation have a reduced need for sleep, or that our current scientific understanding of sleep should be reconsidered.
This passage doesn’t exclude an initial struggle before the end of rainy season.
Clairvoyance usually refers to dibbacakkhu (the divine eye or supernatural vision). It’s not equivalent to samādhi, although samādhi is a condition for it. A related term, ñāṇa-dassana (translated as “knowledge and vision”), and its expanded form, yathābhūta-ñāṇa-dassana (“knowledge and vision of things as they actually are”), are more closely associated with path-attainment — likely stream-entry, but not necessarily arahantship. There’s a previous discussion about it here: What is knowledge and vision?
I’m not sure that’s the case. There are examples of blind arahants who lack the divine eye, but this fact alone doesn’t prove that good eyesight is mandatory. What I mean is that a person who has developed the divine eye while they still had sight might be able to maintain that ability even after losing their vision. Vision may be a condition for acquiring the divine eye, but not necessarily for maintaining it once acquired. Moreover, I also think the description of Anuruddha as physically blind can be questioned.
Here’s a link to the exact Sutra on CBETA. Here on SuttaCentral, we call it EA 38.5
Unfortunely it seems @cdpatton hasn’t gotten around to EA chapter 38 at all yet, but if we ask him nicely, maybe he’d be willing to translate it for us? 
So, that’s why Anuruddha was blind according to Chinese Buddhism.
“ … 爾時，世尊與無央數百千萬眾而為說 法。爾時，阿那律在彼坐上。是時，阿那律在 眾中睡眠。… “
Thank you, Bhante. It is very helpful.
And here is VOW
“ … 是時，尊者阿那律即從座起，偏露 右肩，長跪叉手，白世尊言：「自今已後形融體 爛，終不在如來前坐睡。」… “
What an interesting story. I’ve noticed that the Ekottarika Agama contains quite a few of these avadana-type stories about various disciples scattered throughout. They seem to be background stories about why they were said to be famous for one virtue or quality or another in the early section listing out the prominent monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen. That section is parallel to a similar section in AN, but I don’t believe that AN includes back stories in the form of sutras.
As far as the details of these stories in EA differing significantly from Pali sources, it’s one of the indications that EA descends from a Buddhist tradition that branched off from the Pali tradition at a very early time. Some parallels in EA are strikingly similar to Pali equivalents, and some are quite different.
What this line says is that he vowed to never fall asleep in the presence of the Tathāgata (終不在如來前坐睡) again. There’s an pretty interesting exchange that takes place after that in which the Buddha says that “all dharmas rely on food to survive” and relates that to the senses “feeding on” their sense objects. But the Buddha says that the eye “feeds on sleep” and tell Aniruddha he can go to bed, and it’ll help his eyes after Jiva(?) says that a nap would help his vision. Aniruddha, however, couldn’t sleep after waking up (the way I read the story).
Later, he has trouble mending his robes because his vision is still blurry. When he can’t thread his needle, he thinks, “Let a realized arhat thread this needle of mine.” The Buddha overhears this thought and goes to him and says, “Bring your needle. I’ll thread it for you.” Aniruddha humorously says, “Worldly people all pursue merits, but I just want to thread my needle.” The Buddha tells him that no worldly person pursuing merit could surpass him (the Buddha) because he has perfected six things: Generosity, instruction, patience, teaching Dharma and its meaning, leading sentient beings, and pursuing the way to unsurpassed awakening. Which sounds somewhat like a set of paramitas, but they are called dharmas here.
Aniruddha’s response is to say, the Tathagata’s body is a body of Dharma. Why would he pursue any of these things (dharmas)? After crossing the ocean of birth and death and being freed from craving and attachments, why would he pursue a path of merit?
The Buddha responds that while that is true, he also knows about these six qualities. If sentient beings knew that doing evil with body, speech, and mind, they would never again fall into the three unpleasant destinies. It’s because they don’t know this that they do.
The sutra is summed up by the Buddha with a verse:
“Of all the powers possessed by worldly beings
Who travel among humans and gods,
Merit is the highest of them all,
For the path to becoming a buddha comes from merit.”
The Buddha then instructs Aniruddha to train in the six qualities that the Buddha had mentioned earlier.