… The fact that this Dhamma & Vinaya has a gradual training, a gradual performance, a gradual practice, with a penetration to gnosis only after a long stretch: This is the first amazing & astounding quality of this Dhamma & Vinaya because of which, as they see it again & again, the monks take great joy in this Dhamma & Vinaya.” — Ud 5:5
§ 50. Then Unnabha the brahman went …
… One of the monks told Luang Pu of his feelings: “I’ve searched out many teachers, and although they all teach well, they generally teach just about the Vinaya, or the practicing of wandering and following the ascetic practices, or else the bliss and stillness that come from practicing concentration. But as for you, you teach the straight route to the top: not-self …
… Luang Pu advised him,
“In the area of the Vinaya, you should study the texts until you correctly understand each and every rule to the point where you can put them into practice without error. As for the Dhamma, if you read a lot you’ll speculate a lot, so you don’t have to read that at all. Be intent solely on the …
… Great Standard for deciding what is and is not in line with the Dhamma and Vinaya. See BMC1, Chapter 1.
Nāga: a special kind of serpent, classed as a common animal but having magical powers, including the ability to assume human appearance. Nāgas have long been regarded as protectors of the Buddha’s teachings.
Pabbajjā: Going-forth—ordination as a sāmaṇera or sāmaṇerī.
Pācittiya …
… Historical-critical Reading
Vinaya as Case Law?
The Status of Origin Stories
The Argument
The Buddha’s Legislative Principles : The Status of the Garudhammas
The Buddha’s Legislative Principles : Two Old Rules Not Rescinded
The Speed Limit Simile
Are the Garudhammas Anomalous?
The Article : Part Two
The Buddha’s Attitudes toward Bhikkhunīs
The Buddha on the Revival of the Bhikkhunī Saṅgha
Disrespect for the …
… In some places, Ajaan Mun attributed the fact that he was able to
survive to the fact that he’d followed the Vinaya carefully. Sometimes
the devas of the spot would appear to him and tell him that previous
monks had been there and had been very sloppy in their Vinaya. The
devas didn’t like that, so they felt no qualms about making …
… The first pattern follows the form, “I renounce x,” where x may be replaced with the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, the training, the discipline (vinaya), the Pāṭimokkha, the celibate life, one’s preceptor, one’s teacher, one’s fellow bhikkhus, or any equivalent terms. Variants on this pattern include such statements as, “I am tired of x,” “What is x to me?” “X …
… The Buddha’s own term for the religion he taught was, “This Dhamma-Vinaya.”
Yakkha: Spirit. A lower level of deva—sometimes friendly to human beings, sometimes not—often dwelling in trees or other wild places.
… The Buddha’s term for his teaching was, “this Dhamma-Vinaya.”
Vipassanā: Insight.
Wat: Monastery; temple.
Yakkha: A fierce spirit, usually associated with trees, mountains, or caves.
… If the Community is ready, I would ask so-and-so about the Vinaya.
The motion to authorize another person to ask questions about the Vinaya is:
Suṇātu me bhante saṅgho. Yadi saṅghassa pattakallaṁ Itthannāmo Itthannāmaṁ vinayaṁ puccheyya.
Venerable sirs, may the Community listen to me. If the Community is ready, so-and-so would ask so-and-so about the Vinaya.
The motion …
… He who,
in this Dhamma & Vinaya,
stays heedful,
abandoning birth,
the wandering-on,
will put an end
to suffering & stress.’
“Then—having struck terror in Brahmā, Brahmā’s retinue, & Brahmā’s assembly—Sikhī the Blessed One, worthy & fully self-awakened, & the monk Abhibhū—just as a strong man might extend his flexed arm or flex his extended arm—disappeared from that Brahmā world and …
… But any monk or nun in whom the crookedness, faults, & flaws of bodily action are abandoned; the crookedness, faults, & flaws of verbal action are abandoned; the crookedness, faults, & flaws of mental action are abandoned stands firm in this Dhamma & Vinaya, just like the wheel that took six months minus six days to finish.
“Thus you should train yourselves: ‘We will abandon crookedness, faults, & flaws …
… In the area of the Vinaya, watch their example, the example set by the ajaan. Don’t deviate in any way from what he does. In the area of the Dhamma, keep watch right at your own mind. Practice right at the mind. When you understand your own mind, that, in and of itself, will make you understand everything else.”
… Interpreting the Vinaya
A few points to keep in mind when considering this discussion are:
1) In formulating the rules in the Vinaya, the pattern is that the Buddha would first make a statement of the rule. Then, if any reason arose to make a major change in the rule, he would make a new statement. Finally, as the Buddha and the monks worked …
[ Mahāvagga Contents ]
IV pavāraṇākkhandhako
The Invitation Khandhaka
120 aphāsukavihāro: Staying Uncomfortably
121 pavāraṇābhedā: Analysis of the Invitation
122 pavāraṇādānānujānanā: The Allowance of Giving the Invitation
123 ñātakādiggahaṇakathā: The Discussion of Seizure by Relatives
124 saṅghapavāraṇādippabhedā: Analysis of the Saṅgha-invitation, etc.
125 āpattipaṭikammavidhi: The Method for Making Amends for an Offense
126 āpattiāvikaraṇavidhi: The Method for Admitting an Offense (During the Invitation)
127 sabhāgāpattipaṭikammavidhi …
Addendum
A factor analysis for the Pāṭimokkha rules whose explanations were not framed in that format:
Sg 12:
1) Effort: a) One makes oneself unadmonishable
b) even when rebuked three times in a properly performed Community transaction.
Sg 13:
1) Effort: a) One criticizes a valid act of banishment imposed on oneself or one criticizes those who imposed it
b) even when rebuked three …
… It’s useful to look at it from the point of view as a type of karma
because the Buddha provides lots of different ways of analyzing karma
both in the Dhamma and in the Vinaya. They can provide useful
checklists for when the meditation is not going right. You can ask
yourself: What’s missing? What aspect is going wrong?
The Vinaya has …
[ Mahāvagga Contents ]
VI bhesajjakkhandhako
The Medicine Khandhaka
160 pañcabhesajjakathā: Discussion of the Five Tonics
161 mūlādibhesajjakathā: Discussion of Root-medicine, etc.
162 pilindavacchavatthu: The Story of Ven. Pilindavaccha
163 guḷādianujānanā: The Allowance for sugar-lumps, etc.
164 antovuṭṭhādipaṭikkhepakathā: The Discussion of the Prohibition Against Storing Indoors, etc.
165 uggahitapaṭiggahaṇā: Accepting What One has Picked Up
166 paṭiggahitādianujānanā: The Allowance of What has been Accepted …
… It’s “this Dhamma and Vinaya.” The verb that
goes along with Vinaya, vinati, means to subdue. You’ve got to come
down hard sometimes on your complacency, on your pride, on your greed,
your delusion, your anger.
This is why discipline is such an important part of the path. It’s a
part we don’t like to talk about. Look at how …
… going for alms, eating your meal, sitting in meditation, doing walking meditation, cleaning the monastery grounds, being strict in observing the Vinaya. That’s enough right there. As for construction work, that depends on the lay supporters. Whether or not they do it is up to them.”