Subhūti has three meanings: “empty-born,” “well-manifest,” and “good luck.” In Subhūti’s household there were one hundred eight storehouses filled with the Seven Precious Gems: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls, and carnelian. When Subhūti was born, it was found that the storehouses were entirely empty. One after another the vaulted doors were opened to reveal absolutely nothing within. “Who has stolen my jewels?” cried Subhūti’s distraught father. “We had such wealth and now are penniless. What is the meaning of this son?” He went to a diviner who calculated that the disappearance of the jewels and the birth of the child had been simultaneous, and so his father called the infant “empty born.” Analyzing the child’s birth-chart, the diviner declared it very lucky, whereupon the child was further named “good luck.” Seven days after Subhūti’s birth, all of the family wealth reappeared in the one hundred eight storerooms. That moved the father to rename his son “well-manifest.” Subhūti grew up while Śākyamuni Buddha was in the world teaching and transforming living beings, and he left home under the Buddha.

After Śākyamuni Buddha had put away his robe and bowl, washed his face, arranged his seat and sat down, an Elder named Subhūti stood up in the assembly. There are Three Kinds of Elders: the elder in years, the dharma-nature elder, and the elder in blessings and virtue.

1. The elder in years must be old and have held the precepts for a long time, as had Mahākāśyapa, the oldest and longest precepted of those in Śākyamuni Buddha’s dharma assembly. There are three grades of elders in years:

a) Low rank, those who have held precepts for at least ten years;

b) Middle rank, those who have held precepts for more than twenty years; and

c) High rank, those who have held precepts for more than thirty years.

2. The dharma-nature elder may be young, but he must possess great wisdom and be able to lecture sutras and speak dharma with sufficient power to teach and transform living beings. His stature comes from his deep understanding of dharma, his penetration of wonderful principle, and his unobstructed eloquence. For example, the Buddha’s disciple Śāriputra mastered the entire Buddhadharma in just seven days and became an elder at the age of eight. At that time he mounted the high seat and spoke dharma, totally confounding the best debaters from the five parts of India. All they could do was prostrate themselves before the eight-year-old child and confess themselves defeated. Of all Śākyamuni Buddha’s disciples, Śāriputra was foremost in wisdom and had unobstructed eloquence.

There are Four Kinds of Unobstructed Eloquence: of phrasing, principle, dharma and delight in speech.

a) Unobstructed eloquence of phrasing enables one to answer any question, however difficult, without perplexity.

b) Unobstructed eloquence of principle is a necessary complement to that of phrasing, because along with having limitless powers of debate, one must always speak in accordance with principle.

c) Unobstructed eloquence of dharma means that no matter what is said, one can counter with a higher principle. There is a saying, “Everything is the Way. Left and right meet the source.”

d) Unobstructed eloquence of delight in speaking enables one to obtain the Delight in Speech Samadhi. Then, even if the audience is unwilling to listen, one’s words flow like water and no one can resist the current.

3. The elder in blessings and virtue must have the reward from having planted blessings and acted with virtuous conduct.

Elder is a term of respect and definitely not a title one assigns oneself saying, “I am an elder. Everyone should call me ‘Elder.”

Subhūti, the elder in the Vajra Prajña Dharma Assembly, was an elder in years, a dharma-nature elder, and an elder in blessings and virtue.

At that time, at mealtime, the World Honored One put on his robe, took up his bowl, and entered the great city of Sravasti to beg for food. After he had finished his sequential begging within the city, he returned, ate the food, put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat, and sat down.

At that time has five meanings:

1.  It was the time when the Buddha wanted to speak, began to speak, and was speaking.
2. It was the time which breaks up the views of outside ways. Some outside ways deny the existence of past, present, and future, “At that time” means the explanation has occurred in the past, is occurring in the present, and will occur in the future. These words therefore separate the Buddhadharma from the dharma of outside ways.
3. It was the time of planting seeds. Seeds that are planted and nourished will grow. Uncultivated seeds will perish. If one has developed good causes in past lives, but does not cultivate that fruit further in this life, he will have roots that wither and die. If these good roots are continually cared for, they will bear further fruit. So if you have roots that are sufficiently good to allow you to hear sutra lectures, do not just come occasionally; come as often as possible. The more you come, the deeper your roots will grow.
4. It was the time to listen to sutras. That does not mean just listening once or twice. It means listening regularly, for the more you hear the more you understand. In listening to sutras three conditions must be fulfilled: a) a true teacher, b) a true teaching, and c) true study. With only one or two of these conditions fulfilled, study is useless. For instance, if you have a true teaching and truly study, but lack a true teacher, then you cannot understand that teaching. All three conditions must be met for cultivation to succeed.
5. It was the time when the Buddha wanted to speak the dharma and beings wanted to listen. The Buddha wished to speak in the way living beings wanted to hear. The Buddha and living beings are not two, one high and the other low. They are equal.