… We think of the Forest Tradition as being rough and ready and
non-scholarly—and it is very much anti-scholarly in a lot of ways—but
that doesn’t mean that the forest ajaans were not well read in the
Dhamma or the Vinaya. They knew their Dhamma really well; they knew
their Vinaya really well. It’s just that they realized that …
… The Vinaya-mukha, noting that the prohibition against using a mirror comes in the context of rules against beautifying the face, argues that looking at one’s reflection for other purposes—for example, as an aid in shaving the head or the beard—should be allowed. Alternatively, it might be argued that the use of a mirror while shaving would lessen the danger of …
… also denotes any of his arahant disciples.
Upādāna: The act of clinging to something to take sustenance from it. The activities that, when clung to, constitute suffering are the five khandhas. The clinging itself takes four forms: to sensuality, to habits & practices, to views, and to theories about the self.
Vinaya: The monastic discipline, whose rules and traditions comprise six volumes in printed text.
… He said to follow the Vinaya; they follow the Vinaya. He said to develop right concentration, which means jhana. Okay, they do that. Then they look at what they’re doing to see how it helps in bringing suffering to an end.
What this means in practice is that you learn how to question your efforts in terms of the four noble truths until …
… In fact, the Vinaya-mukha states that if he does not pick up the valuable and put it in safe-keeping, he incurs a dukkaṭa. None of the other texts mention this point, although it is probably justified on the grounds that the bhikkhu is neglecting his duty in not following the “proper course” here.
The Vibhaṅga advises that if a bhikkhu has picked …
… This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’ His statement is neither to be approved nor scorned. Without approval or scorn, take careful note of his words and make them stand against the suttas and tally them against the Vinaya. If, on making them stand against the suttas and tallying them against the Vinaya, you find that they …
… who has attained the highest religious goal. In Buddhism, it usually denotes the Buddha, although occasionally it also denotes any of his arahant disciples.
Upādāna: Clinging; the act of taking sustenance.
Vinaya: The monastic discipline, whose rules and traditions comprise six volumes in printed text.
Vipassanā: Insight.
Yakkha: Spirit; a lower level of deva—sometimes friendly to human beings, sometimes not—often dwelling in …
… The Buddha’s own name for the religion he founded was, ‘this Dhamma-Vinaya’ – this Doctrine and Discipline.
Vipassanūpakkilesa: Corruption of insight; intense experiences that can happen in the course of meditation and can lead one to believe that one has completed the path. The standard list includes ten: light, psychic knowledge, rapture, serenity, pleasure, extreme conviction, excessive effort, obsession, indifference, contentment.
* * *
If these …
… the Vinaya for the monks, which is not just for the monks,
as Ajaan Suwat once pointed out. When lay people live around monks who
are observing the Vinaya, they get more sensitive, too. The whole
purpose of the rules is to detect where there’s some slight greed,
some slight anger, some slight lust. As you keep careful watch over
your behavior, you …
… After all, the Buddha
himself used medicine, and the Vinaya, the collection of the monks’
rules, is full of information on different medicines for treating
different illnesses. In fact, it was through the Vinaya that a lot of
Indian ways of doing medicine spread throughout Asia.
As he said, there are some illnesses that respond to medicine, others
that will go away whether you …
… Again, the Buddha doesn’t
use this term but there are lots of examples in the Canon, especially
in the Vinaya, of the Buddha’s humor. And it’s interesting that
they’re in the Vinaya. Because, after all, part of presenting the
rules is to make you want to follow them. And if you can laugh at the
behavior of the person who …
… sensuality, to habits & practices, to views, and to theories about the self.
Uposatha: Observance day, coinciding with the full moon, new moon, and half moons. Lay Buddhists often observe the eight precepts on this day. Monks recite the Pāṭimokkha, the monastic code, on the full moon and new moon uposathas.
Vinaya: The monastic discipline, whose rules and traditions comprise six volumes in printed text.
… He speaks out of season, speaks what isn’t factual, what isn’t in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya, words that are not worth treasuring. This is how one is made impure in four ways by verbal action.
Unskillful Mental Action
“And how is one made impure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person …
… Which five? There is the case where a monk is a listener, a destroyer, a protector, an endurer, and a goer.
“And how is a monk a listener? There is the case where, when the Dhamma & Vinaya declared by the Tathāgata is being taught, a monk pays attention, applies his whole mind, and lends ear to the Dhamma. This is how a monk is …
… The Sub-commentary to the Vinaya defines rancid urine as any sort of urine at all, citing as a parallel the Pali expression pūti-kāya, decomposing body, which refers to any human body, living or dead, “even one with golden skin.” However, it does not say whether rancid urine medicine is the rancid urine itself or, as suggested by the example from the commentaries …
… We don’t think of the Pali
Canon as a humorous document, but that’s because most of us don’t read
the Vinaya. The Vinaya has lots of good stories about monks and nuns
behaving in really silly ways, foolish ways, and they’re often very
funny. And you can see why they have stories like that in the
Vinaya—they’re trying …
… The Vinaya-mukha argues that this rule should take precedence in cases where a particular lie would entail only a dukkaṭa under any of the other rules—as in the last example—but this contradicts the Vibhaṅga.
Non-offenses
A bhikkhu who misrepresents the truth unintentionally commits no offense under this rule. The Vibhaṅga gives two examples: speaking quickly and saying one thing while …
… We see this often in the Vinaya, the rules that the monks have to follow. The severity of the punishment for breaking a rule, in many cases, is measured by how you perceive the object you’re involved with at the moment you’re involved with it. For instance, if, with lustful intent, a monk touches a woman while perceiving her to be a …
When you study the rules in the Vinaya, you see the huge role that
perception plays in determining offenses. Say you see a little black
spot on the sidewalk, you think it’s just a little black spot, and you
step on it. You perceive it as just a black spot. If it turns out it
was a bug, the fact that you didn …
… Complaining that the Community acted out of favoritism is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 81)
When the Community is dealing formally with an issue, the full Community must be present, as must all the individuals involved in the issue; the proceedings must follow the patterns set out in the Dhamma and Vinaya. (As 1)
If the Community unanimously believes that a bhikkhu is innocent of …
Personal Grooming | The Buddhist Monastic Code, Volumes I & II
… The Vinaya-mukha, noting that the prohibition against using a mirror comes in the context of rules against beautifying the face, argues that looking at one’s reflection for other purposes—for example, as an aid in shaving the head or the beard—should be allowed. Alternatively, it might be argued that the use of a mirror while shaving would lessen the danger of …
DN 16 Mahā Parinibbāna Sutta | The Great Total Unbinding Discourse
… This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’ His statement is neither to be approved nor scorned. Without approval or scorn, take careful note of his words and make them stand against the suttas and tally them against the Vinaya. If, on making them stand against the suttas and tallying them against the Vinaya, you find that they …
