Ananda was born the same day Prince Siddhartha was enlightened and became the Buddha. One day, when the Buddha was seeking a personal attendant, he said to his disciples, "I'm getting old now, and I need someone with me as my attendant at all times. So do you have any suggestion? He has to remember every word I say, for he needs to pass on my messages."

Ajnata-kaundinya, one of the first five disciples of the Buddha, stood up, folded his hands together and said,"Venerable One, would I be permitted to serve you? I can remember your every word."

"Ajnata, you are also very old," the Buddha said to him kindly."You should have someone else looking after you. I appreciate your thoughtfulness anyway."

Ajnata then prostrated himself before the Buddha, stood up and returned to his seat. Other disciples stood up together and said to the Buddha,"Venerable, we are willing to serve you for the rest of our lives." However, the Buddha also kindly rejected their offers with the same reason he had given to Ajnata.

Maudgalyayana then entered into meditation to search for someone who was suitable for this job. He found one: Ananda. It seemed that the Buddha had already had Ananda in mind, so Maudgalyayana stood up and addressed the other monks in a loud voice. "Venerable Ones, Ananda is the best choice for the Buddha's attendant, because he is young, considerate and smart. He can also memorize the Buddha's every word. He treats everyone equally and kindly. So why don't we go see him and ask his opinion?" All the monks agreed, and after they prostrated themselves before the Buddha, they got up and went to Ananda's room. When they saw Ananda, they folded their hands together and made a half bow, the greeting among Buddhist monks, and then they sat down in his room. Maudgalyayana said to Ananda,"Ananda, do you know that the Buddha would like to have you as his personal attendant? You are young and intelligent, so you can memorize what the Buddha says. It would be wonderful if you could accept this responsibility and become the Buddha's personal attendant."

Ananda replied humbly,"I would be extremely honored to be the Buddha's attendant, but I don't think I'm qualified for it, because it's our beloved Buddha that we're talking about here."

Maudgalyayana again addressed Ananda sincerely. "Ananda, the Buddha is like the udumbara flower that only flowers once every three thousand years. It is extremely rare that anyone has the chance to even meet him. So you must grasp the chance right now to be his attendant."

"If the Buddha agrees to three conditions, then I will take on the responsibility," Ananda replied."First, I will not wear any of his robes, whether new or used. Second, if any devotee wants to invite him to a feast, I will not go along. Third, when it is not the time to visit him, I will not visit him."

Maudgalyayana bade farewell to Ananda and went back to the Buddha's residence with all the other monks. Maudgalyayana reported their conversation with Ananda to the Buddha, who then praised Ananda."Ananda is a person of virtue and high character. He made these three conditions first, because he doesn't want other people to think that he wants to be my attendant only because he desires my robes or good food. I totally agree with his requests."

Ananda was nineteen when he was chosen to be the Buddha's attendant, and he followed the Buddha for twenty-seven years. He was highly respected by everyone in the assembly because he was polite and humble. He never boasted about his merits, nor did he talk about other people's shortcomings. He always did his best to help other people. When he disculssed the Buddha's teachings with other religiou groups, he never criticized the doctrines of their belief. Instead, he only stated the good points of the Buddha's teachings.

Three days after the Buddha passed away, Ananda left for the city of Sravasti, where the compilation of the Buddha's teachings was to take place. Kasyapa, another close disciple of the Buddha, was chosen as the chairperson of the group. He rejected Ananda because Ananda had not yet attained enlightenment.