… To finance a complete set of the Buddhist Canon—Suttas, Vinaya, and Abhidhamma—translated into Thai.
C. To ordain 80 monks, 80 novices, 80 upasakas (laymen wearing white and observing the eight precepts), and 80 nuns (laywomen wearing white and observing the eight precepts). If larger numbers of people are ordained, so much the better. Each person is to be ordained for at least …
Three: The Exhortation Chapter
21
Should any bhikkhu, unauthorized, exhort the bhikkhunīs, it is to be confessed.
“Now at that time, elder bhikkhus exhorting the bhikkhunīs became recipients of robes, almsfood, lodgings, and medicines for the sick. (According to the Commentary, if a bhikkhu gave a good exhortation to the bhikkhunīs, they would tell their supporters, who in turn would provide the exhorter with …
… He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal.
“He abstains from damaging seed and plant life.
“He eats only once a day, refraining from the evening meal and from food at the wrong time of day.
“He abstains from dancing …
… Readings
The Stream
§ 318. “Just as the ocean has a gradual shelf, a gradual slope, a gradual inclination, with a sudden drop-off only after a long stretch; in the same way, this Dhamma & Vinaya has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual practice, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch.” — Ud 5:5
§ 319. “Sāriputta, ‘The stream, the stream …
… He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal. This is how cleansing with regard to speech is fourfold.
“And how is cleansing with regard to the mind threefold? There is the case where a certain person is not covetous. He …
… The Vinaya counts as one’s relatives all those related back through seven generations past one’s grandparents—in other words, all those descended from one’s great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.
2. Apparently, “ornaments” for poultry would consist of brilliant plumage. Similarly, “ornaments” for elephants, horses, & cattle might consist of attractive markings.
— AN 10:177
Then Ven. Sariputta, together with …
… In the Vinaya, the new monk is told to regard his teacher with the same affection that he would regard his father, and the teacher is supposed to have the same affection for the new student as he would for a son. In Pāli there is a word, anukampa, that means kindness or sympathy, and it’s used many times in the Canon. It …
… term harm & suffering.”2
Then the Blessed One said to the monks, “What do you think, monks? Is this monk Ariṭṭha Formerly-of-the-Vulture-Killers even warm3 in this Dhamma & Vinaya?”
“How could he be, lord? No, lord.”
When this was said, the monk Ariṭṭha Formerly-of-the-Vulture-Killers sat silent, abashed, his shoulders drooping, his head down, brooding, at a loss …
… However, in Cv V.21—the section of the Vinaya prohibiting the act of stepping on cloth coverings—one of the exemptions (Cv V.21.4) deals precisely with situations where people specifically ask monks to step on cloth coverings for the sake of their good luck: In such a situation, monks may step on the cloth.
So the Buddha’s reasoning with regard …
… Whatever he did, inwardly or outwardly, was right in line with the principles of the Dhamma and Vinaya. There was nothing roundabout or evasive about him. That was why I had made up my mind to stay with him. If he were alive today, I still wouldn’t leave him. I’d have to stay with him, although as a matter of course I …
… Aside from the practice of the Dhamma and Vinaya, there’s nothing else for us to study, talk about, and offer opinions on.
I want each of us to understand that we now have the status of people gone forth, so we should behave in a way that’s fitting for monks and novices. We’ve all passed through the status of lay life …
… He speaks in season, speaks what is factual, what is in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, and the Vinaya. He speaks words worth treasuring, seasonable, reasonable, circumscribed, connected with the goal.
“He abstains from damaging seed and plant life.
“He eats only once a day, refraining from the evening meal and from food at the wrong time of day.
“He abstains from dancing …
… They blame themselves, and not others, (saying,) “We were unfortunate and without merit, in that even though we went forth into such a well-taught Dhamma & Vinaya, we were unable to follow the holy life, complete and perfect, throughout life.” Becoming monastery attendants or lay followers, they undertake and observe the five training rules. In this way, Gotama the contemplative is honored, respected, revered …
… teaching his
contemporaries the path to awakening, and establishing the
Dhamma and Vinaya so that the True Dhamma would last a long
time. To understand the challenges he faced in accomplishing
these tasks, it would be good to pause here for a brief sketch
of what the Pāli Canon has to report about the philosophical
and religious views current at his time.
A survey …
… The word “subduing” (vineyya) is related to the word for “discipline” (vinaya). This suggests that greed and distress are not yet uprooted in this part of the practice. They are simply put aside and kept in check. The tense of the verb—it’s a gerund—can mean either “having subdued” or “subduing.” In other words, the activity is either already accomplished or in …
… he brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud. — Dhp 172–173
§ 211. “It is a cause of growth in the Dhamma & Vinaya of the noble ones when, seeing a transgression as such, one makes amends in accordance with the Dhamma and exercises restraint in the future.” — DN 2
§ 212. “Monks, there are these eight grounds for laziness. Which eight?
“There …
APPENDIX THREE
Vuṭṭhāna-vidhī for Saṅghādisesa Offenses
It would be impossible to give examples for all the various permutations that could conceivably happen when a bhikkhu has committed a saṅghādisesa offense and must negotiate the vuṭṭhāna-vidhī. Here, only some of the more likely permutations are given. Others can be inferred from what is given here. The best way to use this appendix would …
… Having become a human being, acquiring conviction in the Dhamma-&-Vinaya taught by the Tathāgata: This is the devas’ reckoning of the gain that is good to gain. When that conviction is settled within one—rooted, established, & strong, not to be destroyed by any contemplative or brahman; deva, Māra, or Brahmā; or anyone else in the world: This is the devas’ reckoning of becoming …
… Only in the disciplinary rules in the Vinaya does he assume the added authority of a lawgiver. In the suttas, he calls himself a doctor; a trainer; an admirable, experienced friend who has mastered a specific skill: putting an end to suffering. He provides explicit recommendations on how to act, speak, and think to bring about that result; instructions on how to develop qualities …
… But at the same time, I tell you that there is no making an end of suffering & stress without reaching the end of the cosmos.
“These five strings of sensuality are, in the Vinaya of the noble ones, called the cosmos. Which five? Forms cognizable via the eye—agreeable, pleasing, charming, endearing, fostering desire, enticing; sounds cognizable via the ear… aromas cognizable via the …