Alara Kalama

Āḷāra Kālāma (Pāḷi & Sanskrit ), was a hermit and a teacher of meditation. He was a śramaṇa born in a Brahmin-family and, according to Buddhist scriptures, the first teacher of Gautama Buddha.

History Various recensions of the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta and other texts give an account of the Buddha being approached by a minister to the Mallas named Putkasa (Pali: Pukkusa) who told him about his teacher Āḷāra Kālāma's skill in meditation. One day, while deep in meditation, Āḷāra did not hear the sound of a caravan of five hundred wagons that passed by him. The Buddha shared a similar experience; while in the village of Ādumā, a rainstorm had frightened four cowherds and two workmen to death, while the Buddha remained calm due to his prowess in meditation.

Āḷāra Kālāma taught a kind of early meditation at Vaiśālī. Āḷāra taught Gotama meditation, especially a jhāna state called the "sphere of nothingness" . Gotama eventually found himself on par with Āḷāra , who could not teach him more, saying, "It is a gain for us, my friend, a great gain for us, that we have such a companion in the holy life ... As I am, so are you; as you are, so am I. Come friend, let us now lead this community together." Gotama was not interested in staying, as Āḷāra's dharma did not lead to freedom from samsara. After leaving, Siddhartha found a new teacher, Udraka Rāmaputra.

After attaining Enlightenment, the Buddha went to search for Āḷāra Kālāma to teach him the Dhamma, only to find that he had died seven days prior.