What happens to the meaning of Buddhist rituals in military spaces? Do the military confines and the political context alter the meaning of “non-violent” rituals? Can they become “violent” rituals?
During the Sri Lankan civil war, some extremist Buddhist monks espoused an explicitly violent “just war” ideology. While the majority of Sinhala monks did not go that far, they still demonstrated their support indirectly, through e.g. the chanting of pirits before major battles.
]]>Against the background of guidelines on non-killing and developing ideas on the release of captured or domesticated animals, this study focuses on how vinaya (disciplinary) texts deal with dangerous and/or annoying animals, such as snakes, mosquitoes, and flies. Are there any circumstances in which they may be killed, captured, or repelled? Or should they be endured and ignored, or even protected and cherished, at all times? This paper discusses the many guidelines relating to avoiding—and, if necessary, chasing away—dangerous and annoying animals.
]]>All of these proposals call for meticulous care to reduce the risk of harming the creature. In this sense, animals, such as snakes and mosquitoes, seem to be assured a better life in comparison with domesticated or hunted animals. This distinction reflects the somewhat uncomfortable balance that Buddhist monastics must achieve between respecting the life of individual sentient beings, including all animals, and adhering to social conventions in order to safeguard their position in society.
The vinaya canon, some major sutras and the writings of eminent vinaya exegete Daoxuan in China insisted that astrology was not to be practiced by a Buddhist monk or nun. Despite this fact, a tradition of Buddhist astrology nevertheless emerged in China from the eighth century and came to full maturity in the ninth century.
This article examines early Buddhist Vinaya rules on astrology in both India and China. The author shows that, though all varieties of astrology are forbidden in earlier texts, Buddhist monastics in China still developed and practiced it. The analysis delves into the motivations and justifications for this tradition and its significance for the evolution of Buddhism in East Asia.
]]>Monks, these five future dangers, unarisen at present, will arise in the future. Be alert to them and, being alert, work to get rid of them.
The Saṅgha may forsake the simple life and indulge in luxuries.
]]>Someone who formerly lived alone
and then resorts to sex
is like a chariot careening off-track;
The drawbacks of falling away from the celibate life.
]]>One such as that is
like a sewer
brimful with years of filth
for it’s hard to clean one full of grime.
The Buddha encourages the monks to just expell those who are wicked and stubborn.
]]>The emergence of a new type of sūtra emphasizing motherly love seems to reflect a powerful current of filial sentimentality conspicuous in Indian Buddhism
]]>Just as, Kassapa, gold does not disappear so long as counterfeit gold has not arisen in the world, but when counterfeit gold arises then true gold disappears, so the true Dhamma does not disappear so long as a counterfeit of the true Dhamma has not arisen in the world, but when a counterfeit of the true Dhamma arises in the world, then the true Dhamma disappears.
Kassapa asks the Buddha why there are now more rules but fewer awakened mendicants. The Buddha explains the five factors that lead to the decline of the religion.
]]>Monk, can you train in reference to the three trainings: the training in heightened virtue, the training in heightened mind, the training in heightened discernment?
What to do if you’re having trouble remembering all the rules.
]]>I say that this person is like the warrior who is killed and finished off by his foes. Some people are like that.
Some warriors, like some monks, are killed or injured in battle, while others emerge victorious.
]]>… over a hundred and fifty training rules come up for recitation, in which gentlemen who love themselves train.
Even spiritually advanced people can break the minor rules, but striving to keep them is still worthwhile.
]]>… praised in this life by the astute,
they depart to rejoice in heaven.
The Buddha gives encouragement to a brahmin seeking alms for his parents.
]]>And how, bhikkhus, does a bhikkhu, based upon virtue, established upon virtue, develop and cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path?
]]>Then the Venerable Mahamoggllana took that person by the arm, pulled him outside the gate, and bolted it.
]]>Following is a summation of the extraordinary story, as explicated in the Aitken letters, of a Zen master teaching in America for some 35 years, who has been accused of sexual misconduct numerous times and yet was never called to task nor properly investigated.
]]>… disciplinary rules and acts of penalty as behavior rehabilitation therapeutic measures for restraining behavior.
]]>The Anguttara-nikāya does not recognize a form of atonement for pārājika, just as the śikṣādattaka observance does not imply a re-evaluation of the nature of a pārājika offence. Instead, the latter only involves an institutionalization of an option already available earlier, namely to continue to live at a monastery in robes but without all the privileges that come with full ordination.
A clarification of a misunderstanding in Shayne Clarke’s earlier presentation of the śikṣādattaka “repentance.”
See also Bhante’s follow up paper, Pārājika Does Not Necessarily Entail Expulsion, where he clarifies his position and responds to some critiques of this paper.
]]>… the Saṅgha may, if it wishes, turn the bowl upside down for a lay follower on eight grounds.
The Buddha allowed the monks to protest in a peculiar way which has actually been used, for example by the Burmese.
]]>… a detailed analysis of the guidelines on sleeping practices as stipulated in Buddhist monastic disciplinary texts and in Chinese manuals.
]]>The Vinaya has outlasted Hammurabi and Justinian because it is a set of spiritual exercises rather than a legal system.
]]>If the frustrated zombie turns back on the instigator and kills him, the monk incurs a heavy fault. I do not know whether there are any other cases of posthumous penalties in the monastic codes, but here we have at least one.
]]>Bhikkhus, there are these three authorities. What three? Oneself as one’s authority, the world as one’s authority, and the Dhamma as one’s authority.
]]>A spiritual community is nothing if it cannot take care of its most vulnerable.
A spirited defense of the anitiya rules of the Bhikkhu Pātimokkha which require monks to take allegations of sexual impropriety seriously: a responsibility many Buddhist monks and leaders today have failed to live up to.
]]>… the relevant Pāli data about [ten technical] terms occurring in the Vinaya, [its commentaries] and in secondary literature
Contents:
The brahmins would indeed take umbrage at being closely associated with the officiant, because the very fact of his being there as an officiant means that he is doing a paid job and so lowers his status below theirs. [The brahmins, in contrast,] have no duties; they are gracing the occasion.
On (one of) the differences between a priest and a Buddhist monk.
]]>… all the Vinayas have four pārājika precepts considered to be peculiar to nuns
]]>… the saṃgha is a collective body of people who wish to live doing only what they love to do—that is, Buddhist practices.
]]>Paying money to this teacher I came to an understanding of the values of “This World.”
]]>… the Buddhists’ approach appears to have been much bolder than that of most of their contemporaries.
]]>Ajahn Geoff eventually picked up the project and took it in his own direction (resulting in the now-famous BMC), but these original notes remain a solid resource for practical vinaya, alongside Bhante Suddhaso’s more recent translation of the Vibhaṅga.
]]>Vinaya narration like the Sudinna tale does not function in a way comparable to a record of case law precedents in modern judicial proceedings. Instead, the stories need to be understood in terms of their teaching function
]]>Including a number of ridiculous restrictions on the Bhikkhuni Sangha, such as their inability to own toilets!
]]>… the owners of the monastery are the worldwide and “timewide” community of monks and nuns
]]>This paper introduces a new distinction between the ‘formal’ and the ‘practical’ canon[…] in medieval Sri Lanka. I show that few monks encountered the [Vinaya] in anything close to its full form.
[Rather,] Monastic leaders considered the Anumāna, Dasadhamma and (Karaniya)metta Suttas to be [the important sources] for monastic education.
In ancient times, Monastic students would memorize their texts while in modern times the trend is for students to more lightly engage with a larger corpus.
]]>Beware though! This translation is known to have many mistakes! For a partial list, see Tiradhammo (JPTS v19)
Ajahn Brahmali’s excellent, new translation is much preferred. It can be found online at SuttaCentral.net
]]>The present compilation brings together in English translation the most important Pali Vinaya texts dealing with the first rule in the Sanghādisesa section of the Bhikkhu Pātimokkha: the training rule on intentional emission of semen — one of the disciplinary rules most fundamental to [a bhikkhu’s] training.
]]>Psychopaths are more likely to be attracted to singing, dancing, love, light, miracles, and channeling. Usually psychopaths have a great deal of trouble sitting quiet and still. I appreciate the boring facade of Buddhism, as it is a great protection.
A new age mystic gives his advice on how to identify psychopaths on the spiritual journey.
Despite Bill’s many painful experiences, he never lost his faith in the transformative, human potential to awaken. His lifetime of spiritual stumbling is a rich source of warnings and advice, especially for Westerners still struggling to get a foothold in a tradition.
That said, however, the book’s interpretation of “enlightenment” should be taken cautiously, as his understanding seems to come from ecumenical assumptions that the various “contemplative traditions” (never defined) all describe the same goal. A bit of a black sheep even within the heterodox, secular “Insight” community, Bill Hamilton is best read with his own warning in mind, that “monks and nuns make safer teachers than laypeople, especially if they are actively associated with their tradition.”
]]>… whatever the various reactions to a Buddhist monk people might have, fear is highly unlikely to count amongst them. People see a Buddhist monk and they know that he is not dangerous
]]>What are the qualities that make one a contemplative?
The Buddha gives an overview of the path from the perspective of ethics, from the establishment of shame all the way to the realization of the highest good: Nibbāna.
]]>A dispute about livelihood or about the Pātimokkha would be trifling, Ānanda. But should a dispute arise in the Sangha about the path or the way, such a dispute would be for the harm and unhappiness of many
Hearing of the death of the Jain leader, Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta, and their subsequent disputes, the Buddha encourages the Saṅgha to swiftly resolve their own disputes. He lays down a series of seven methods for doing so, which form the foundation for the monastic code.
]]>The mind of equanimity, poised beyond the play of worldly opposites, is the highest safety and security, but to gain this equanimity we stand in need of guidance. The guidance available cannot protect us from objective adversity. It can only safeguard us from the dangers of a negative response—from anxiety, sorrow, frustration, and despair. This is the only protection possible, and because it grants us this essential protection such guidance can be considered a genuine refuge.
In this important treatise, Bhikkhu Bodhi gives context and rigorous definition to the refuges and precepts based on the traditional commentaries. If you want to know exactly what makes someone “a Buddhist,” this is the book for you.
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