6. Vinaya Rules: Life style of Buddhist monks

In order to understand the nature of the life style of monks in Thailand, it is necessary to have some knowledge of Vinaya rules, especially of the rules that concern with male monks. For the first twenty years of the life of the Buddha, after his enlightenment at the Bodhi tree, no Vinaya rule was laid down.^[1] Every tonight, on the full moon day and foonless day, the Buddha gave the admonition that is said to be given all the previous Buddhas^[2]. This admonition stood as the guidance-rule for the disciple monks, both male and female. The admonition was called “Ovadapatimokkha”.

Ovadapatimokka consists of three admonitions:

1. Sabbapapassa akaranam, (not to do any evils,)
2. Kusalasupasampada, (To do all good, and)
3. Sacittapariyodapanam (To purify the mind,)
4. Etam Buddhanasasanam. (This is the dispensation of the Buddhas.)^[3]

This much admonition was quite enough for the monks who had entered into the dispensation of the Buddha out of their devotion to the Triple Gems. They behave well, did nothing blamable, and were well respected by the laypeople.

The Sangha Organization was well formed and had a great reputation. The number of the members increased and lots of donations were given to Sangha. Later, after twenty years since it was formed, the organization became defiled with those who joined the order only for having convenient and easy life. They showed no devotion, and did wrong and blameworthy things. Their actions somehow represented the entire organization and, for this reason, the Buddha had to lay down the Vinaya rules^[4]. However, all the rules were not laid down at one time. The Buddha laid down every rule, one after another, on particular occasion. For instance, when a monk has sexual intercourse with a woman, thinking that is was not wrong to do so, the Buddha pointed out the flaws and disadvantages of having sesual intercourse and laid down the first Parajikasikkhapada.

Venerable Sudinna^[5] was a monk who left the householder life of considerable wealth to join the order of the monks. His ordination was out of devotion. But he was unable to see, for very long years, any trace of enlightenment that he was aimed at. While he was feeling a little discourage, his ex-wife approached to him and pleaded that she wanted to have a child with him. Being disturb by a woman for many times, Venerable Sudinna decided that it would be a good if he did as she requested so that she would not need him anymore and he would not be disturbed again. So he had sex with her. As he thought he was not disturbed by woman anymore, but he was blamed by fellow monks and the news reached to the Buddha. The Buddha pointed out his fault and said, “If a monk has sexual intercourse with a woman, he was no longer a monk. As the life of a man is ended if his head is cut off, the lifea s a monk is ended.”^[6]

This was how the Buddha laid down the Vinaya rules. Venerable Sudinna, of course, made a big mistake; yet he did not do it with evil intention. He had a reason that he mistakenly thought was good. But there was another monk who did not have sex with the woman, but with a female monkey.^[7] He committed sexual intercourse with lustful mind. He thought that the rule only concerned with womem, not animals. So he thought he could have sex with animals. His lust covered the wisdom eyes and he was unable to see what was wright. The Buddha had to add a new rule into the first one so that it could cover all the points. In forty-five years, during the life time of the Buddha, he laid down 227 Vinaya rules for male monks. They include four Parajikasikkhapada, thirteen Samghadisesasikkhapada, two Aniyatasikkhapada, thirty Nissaggiyasikkhapada, ninty-two Suddhapacittiyasikkhapada, four Patidesaniya, seventy-five Sekhiyasikhapada, and seven Adhikaranasamatha.^[8]

A. Parajika

“When a monk, without having announced to end the monkhood, commits sexual intercourse, at least with a female animal, he is no longer a monk. He does not have the right to have equal association with other monks.”^[9]

Here, to end the monkhood is termed as “sikkham apaccekkhaya (lit. without having renounce the sikkha or morality).^[10] Sikkha or morality in this case refers to Patimokkhasmvarasila of male monks. Morality or sila is of two kinds-sila and adhisila.^[11]

Five precepts, eight precepts,etc. that are observed by people even during the time when a Buddha is not present in the world are called Sila or ordinary sila. Patimokkhasila that is available only when a Buddha is present in the world is called adhisila that are the Vinaya rules laid down by the Buddha for his disciple monks-both male and female. In this paper, we are only concern with Bhikkhupatimokkha, the rules for male monks.

As one receive the ordination in the Bhikku order, he is nound to abide by the Vinaya rules (Bhikkhupatimokkha). Bhikkhupatimokkha consists of two kinds of Sila-Carittasila and Varittasila.^[12] The former is the set of practices that a monk should abstain from. There are certain rules that suggest monks to perform certain actions such as attending to the teacher, keeping the place clean, etc. These rules are Carittasila. There are also certain rules that forbid monks to commit certain things such as having sex or telling lies, etc. These rules are Varittasila.

For laypeople, who are observing eight precepts, there is no proper producer with which they withdraw their observance of precepts. When the period they intended to observe precepts is over, their observance of precepts is over too. Or, if they break one of the precepts they are observing, they end the observance.^[13] For Samanera (novice), if he takes off the robe with the intention of leaving the order, he is not longer a Samanera. On the other hand, for monks, their observance of Patimokkha continues unless they purposely withdraw their membership of monkhood or they breaks one of the Parajika rules. There is a formal procedure that monks have to go through if they want to leave the order of monks, they may say, “I have no faith in the Buddha”, “I have no faith in the Dhamma”, “I have no faith in the Sangha”, “Consider me as a layperson”, “Consider me as a novice”, or “I have now faith in another teacher, not the Buddha”, etc.

There are also certain criteria that are necessary in this procedure. A monk who say such words must really mean what he says. He must use the language he had the listener understand. He must use present tense; he should not use future intention or imagination. He has to utter the words; writing or body gesture are not applicable. He must not be out of his mind; he must be fully conscious of what he is saying. The listener must understand what he says right away.^[14] If the producer does not meet these criteria, his withdrawal from monkhood is not successful. It means that he is still a monk. There is a danger in this case. If a monk does not withdraw his monkhood properly and thinks that he is not longer a monk. And he may have sex with a woman. Then he is considered to have broken Parajikasikkhapada. If he has gone through the procedure thoroughly and has sex later, he is allowed to receive the ordination again. Otherwise, in case of breaking Parajikasikkhapada, he will never receive the monk’s ordination.

There are four Parajikasikkhapada: concerning with sexual intercourse, stealing, killing a human being, and making an intertional false claim about the supernatural attainments. Monks must not steal. If he steals certain amount of money or something that worth that amount, he is no more a monk. At the time of the Buddha, kings punished a thief if he steals a quarter of one coin.^[15] The Buddha also laid down the rule that if a monk steals the same amount, he is considered to have broken the Parajikasikkhapada. How much exactly the amount of money is not very clear now since the value of money is different now. However, monks are very careful when they touch or handle someone else’s property. It is because, unlike the ordinary case, if a monk moves someone else’s property, just for a little, with the intention of stealing, he breaks the rule. Even if he changes his mind a d put it back at the same place, recovery is not possible.^[16] Therefore, teachers remind the pupils to be very careful when they handle someone else’s property.

Killing a human being is another major offence foe monks. Killing includes, giving orders to kill, setting up a trap to kill or evening involving in abrortion.

B. Sanghadisesa

Monks have to control their mind mindfully so that sexual lust should not arise in it. Feeling pleasure with the thoughts of sex and if a monk masturbate, he has broken one of the second major rules.^[17] He is still a monk, but he has to go through difficult penances that require a number of other monks. For this reason, i.e. at least twenty monks are necessary to help the monk who wishes to go through the penances, this kind of Sikkhapada is called Sanghadisesa.

Another Sanghadisesasikkhapada is that monks must not touch a woman, young or old, with lust.^[18] In order to avoid breaking of this rule, monks usually keep a distance with woman. The scope of this rule covers all women alive, even a female infant. Monks must not touch, with lust, a dead body of a woman or a woman’s clothes. If he does, although it is not Sanghadisesa, he is still breaking some of the Vinaya rules.

Monks must not say any words related to sex or sex organs to a woman, of course, with lustful mind. They must not ask for sex, even though they do not really intend to have sex. Monks must not act as go between or matchmaker. He must not even tell a prostitute to go with a man.^[19]

All those rules mentioned above concern with sex. The Buddha wanted his disciple monks to be away from sex. He did not even want them to think about it. He reminded his disciples to purify their mind-clear of the thoughts of sexual pleasure.

C. Pacittiya

There are two kinds of Pacittiyasikkhapada that monks must abide by: Nisasggiyapacittiya and Suddhapacittiya. The former is a kind of Sikkhapada (Rules) that suggest monks to have only things that are appropriate for their practice. For example, if a monk receives money donations, he has to give it away, i.e. he has broken the rules and he has to give the money away.

Monk can posses four requisites: robe, bowl, monastery and medicine.^[20] Vinaya suggests that monks should wear Civara (robes) with certain size. The length of the upper robe must be about 80 inches and the width 54 inches. The size of the lower robe is a little shorter. They have to be very careful with using the robes. At the time of the Buddha, male monks were not allowed to ask female monks to wash their robes. If he did, he was not allowed to wear that robe again. However, a bhikkhu could ask bhikkhuni who was not one of his close relatives. A monk could not also accept the robe donation from a bhikkhuni who was not one of his close relatives. However, since bhikkhuni generation has extict, as considered by Theravadin monks, a monk in Thailand and Myanmar no longer concerns with those rules.

A monk could not ask someone who is not one of his relatives to donate him a robe. However, if he has nothing to wear, he can ask for a robe from anyone. And he is not allowed to accept more than a pair of robe, i.e. one upper robe and one lower robe, even if someone offers him many pairs of robe.

Another requisite of monks is the bowl (patta) that they use when they go alms round and when they eat. Monks should use the bowl in the size as prescribe in Vinaya rules. The bowl can be big enough for a meal for one person.^[21] The monk’s bowl must be iron or earthen. However, monks are also allowed to use other kinds of containers such as plates to eat. But such containers are not considered to be Patta, one of the requisites of monks. The colour must be dark brown. If the colour is not dark enough, it is not considered as Patta. Monks have to clean the bowl thoroughly after using it. They should not keep it in the sun for a long time. They should not wash their hands in the bowl. They should not push or pull a door while they are holding a bowl in the other hand^[22]. All these rules suggest that monks should use their requisites respectfully and carefully.

Another requisite is medicine. Butter, oil, honey, and jiggery are prescribed for monks. However, they are not allowed to keep them more than seven day. Monks can also use other medicines that are present today. But monks should not have butter or honey unless they are sick. They should not have them just to remove the hunger. Although monks should not eat solid food after noon, medicines are allowed at any time.

They have to be very respectful to the Dhamma. They are not to say a discourse in Pali with a layperson together. When they teach a layperson the Dhamma, they have to make the layperson repeat after them. They should not sleep with a man, a novice, or an animal under the same roof more than three days.

Sleeping with a woman under the same roof is not allowed even for one night. When they teach the Dhamma to a woman, there must be a man near them. A monk should not be alone with a woman.^[23] monks should avoid doing it. If a monk knows that a certain monk has broken one of the major rules, he should not tell it to a layperson or novice.

Monks are not supposed to dig the ground.^[24] They can’t even ask a layman to dig the ground. If they want a layman to dig the ground, they have to say it in appropriate way which is permitted by the Vinaya rules. For example, instead of saying, “Dig this place”, they have to say, ‘I want to make a well here’. It sounds the same thing but monks have to know Vinaya rules and also know how to do thins without breaking the rules. Cutting the trees or digging the ground is prohibited in the Vinaya rules only because, with the influence of Jainism, people during the time of the Buddha believed that trees and ground have Jiva (a form of life) and cutting trees or digging ground means destruction of Jiva. In order to avoid unnecessary complaints from people, the Buddha wanted his disciples to avoid certain rules.

There are many rules that are laid down for monks and some of them concern with behaviours: how to eat, who to wear robes, how to walk, etc. if a monk breaks one of such rules, they have to confess Dukkhata-apatti.

Monks have to wear the robe neatly. The lower garment must cover the area between the navel and the knees. The lower edge of the lower robe must cover about six to eight inches below the knees. The upper robe must also be worn neathy. The lower edge of the upper robe must be about four inches higher than the lower edge of the lower robe.

The rules are strict for monks who enter into towns and villages. They should not move their hands or legs too much.

While eating, monks should not think other things. They have to keep their mind only in eating. They should not put too much food in the bowl. They should start eating the food from the other sides. They should not hide curry under the rice with the intention of not being noticed by other monks. They should not ask a layperson to give them food. They should not look at others’ food with negative intention. If a monk have some extra food and he wants to share it with another monk who does not have enough food, it is okay to look at others’ food^[25]. These are the Sekkhiyasikkhapada that means that monks have to be have in a way in order not to be blamed by people. Monks have to respect the custom of the area in which they live. If certain behavior is considered to be rude or uncivilized, monks should avoid doing it.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Parajikandatthakatha Vol. I, Department of Religious Affairs, Yangon, 2007, p.159; Ashin Janakabhivamsa, Parajikanda Bathatika, Vol.II, p. 144.

[2]:

Parajikandatthakatha Vol. I, Vinayapannattayacanakathavannana, P. 154.

[3]:

Parajikandatthakatha Vol. I, Department of Religious Affairs, Yangon,2007, p.154-155.

[4]:

Parajikandatthakatha Vol. I, Department of Religious Affairs, p. 144.

[5]:

Parajikandapali, Department of Religious Affairs, pp. 19-29.

[6]:

Vinayapitaka Myanmar Translation, Vol. III, Department of Religious Affairs, p. 135.

[7]:

Parajikandapali, Department of Religious Affairs, p. 25.

[8]:

U.Ko Lay, Guide to Pitaka, p. 15.

[9]:

Parajikandapali, Department of Religious Affairs, pp. 13-50.

[10]:

U Kovinda, Varajin Vinaya Questions and Answers, Vol.II, p.88.

[11]:

Parajikandapali, Department of Religious Affairs, pp. 15-50.

[12]:

Cariyapitakatthakatha, p.301.

[13]:

Cariyapitakatthakatha, p.301., Jatakttthakatha, Vol.III.181.

[14]:

Vissajana Varajin Kyan, Vol. II, p. 107.

[15]:

Ashin Janakabhivamsa, Patimok Bhathatika, p. 46.

[16]:

Ibid, p. 46.

[17]:

Ashin Janakabhivamsa, Kankha Bhathatika, Vol. I, p. 170.

[18]:

Parajikandapali-Samghadisesakanda, Department of Religious Affairs, p.174.

[19]:

Vininge Laysaung Pali, Sancarittasikkhapada, Vol. I, pp. 235-242.

[20]:

Mahavaggapali Myanmar Translation, Mahakhandhaka,p. 134.

[21]:

Parajikandpali, p. 353., Pacityadipali, p.318.

[22]:

Kankhavitarani Atthakatha, p. 281.

[23]:

Ashin Janakabhivamsa, Pacittiya Bhattatika, pp.13-20.

[24]:

Pacityadipali, Department of Religious Affair, pp.49-50.

[25]:

Bhikkhupatimokkhapali-Khambhakatavagga, p.50.