Post on 27-Jun-2015
The Buddhist Community – Monks and Nuns
Generosity (dāna)
Ethical or Good conduct (śīla)
Meditation (bhāvanā) – but better translated as ‘development’ of mind, body, loving-kindness, wisdom, and meditation
Cultivations of generosity that is not exclusively lay:
The transference of merit
The rejoicing in the merit of others
Begins with śraddhā/saddhā and the sequence of the eightfold path begins with right view
‘Hearing the Dharma’
Also seeing the Buddha, his stūpas, pilgrimage or image can also induce faith
Devotional and ritual practices act as a preliminary meditation practice
an ordinary person – pṛthagjana (P. puthujjana)
Ārya/Ariya – one who has directly seen the 4 Noble Truths
1.“stream-enterer” or “stream-winner” (srotāpanna, P. sotāpanna) – Attains enlightenment within 7 rebirths.
2.“once-returner” (sakṛtāgāmin, P. sakadagami) – Attains enlightenment in his next rebirth.
3.“nonreturner” (anāgāmin, P. anāgāmin) – Will have no additional rebirths; will attain enlightenment after being reborn in one of the higher heavens
4.Arhat “Worthy One” – achieves Awakening through the Dharma of the Buddha
Śraddha – usually translated as ‘Faith’ but with connotations of ‘Trust’ or ‘Commitment’
Faith causes the mind to become settled and inspires it with confidence to continue forward.
The traditional expression of faith is the act of going to the three jewels of the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha for refuge.
Expressions of faith consist of devotion
Types of devotional acts – generosity or donation to members of the Sangha, recitation of verses or texts of the Dharma, ritual acts perform at or directed to the Buddha or his relics, stūpas, or images
The best metaphor for understanding the daily practice of a Buddhist
One seeks not only to avoid the negative, but also to engage in the positive Merit can be destroyed in a single moment of anger Should not be wasted on fleeting happiness Dedicate or transfer it to guard it
Ritual is one of the principle means for such engagement Puja – devotion Recitation Pilgrimage Meditation
1.bhikṣu/bhikku – monks
2.bhikṣuṇī/bhikkunī – nuns Five monks (former ascetics) with Kaundinya at their
head ‘Ehi, bhikku’ (Come, monk) formula
3.upāsaka – laity, male (householders)
4.upāsikā – laity, female Five Precepts (pañcaśīla)
EB 2.1.1 The First Disciples of the
Buddha
Karmic ‘connection’ with the Buddha from previous prediction by a Buddha
Take refuge in the ‘Two’ Jewels since there is no Sangha (community) yet
Laypeople before there are monks (or nuns)
First food offering after Buddha’s enlightenment
First Buddhist monk’s bowl
First words of dharma were given
First relics were given of Gautama
First stupas of the Buddha were created
Hair and nails are considered impure in India
Buddhism reinterprets as a symbol of the body in its impermanence and non-self
Justified by story of Sumati and Dipamkara
Leech:
the body of the Buddha is different than most people so the hair was not ordinary hair either.
The most impure part of a divinity (like hair and nails) were still purer than the purist part of their worshippers (their heads).
Buddha’s plucking of his hair from his head, makes him a monk symbolically and asserted his purity. When becoming a Buddha, the hair was worthy of worship.
Laywomen in Buddhism
EB 2.1.2 The Laywoman Sujātā Notice the genre characteristics of this story
and the previous one about “Long ago, at the time of the past Buddha
Padumuttara… she made a formal resolution aspiring to attain the same status herself.
For 100 thousand eons, she was repeatedly reborm in saṃsāra, in the realms of gods and humans…”
Food offerings very important
Homeless wanderer
Renounces all possessions
Gone forth from the household life
Dresses in robes made from discarded rags
Begs for food
Dwells in the forest, a mountain cave, or the foot of a tree
Five monks with Kaundinya at their head
‘Ehi, bhikku’ formula
More and more monks
Upali – former barber, renowned for knowledge of the monastic code or Vinaya
Ananda – the Buddha’s cousin & personal attendant; revered by nuns
Mahākāśyapa – few desires, obtained robe of the Buddha, preserves it until the coming of the next Buddha, Maitreya
EB 2.1.3 The Conversion of Śāriputra and
Maudgalyāyana
Śāriputra
Renowned for knowledge of his wisdom and Abhidharma Dies before the Buddha His relics become important objects of worship
Maudgalyāyana
Foremost in supernatural powers attained through dhyānas (meditative attainments)
Often used as a surrogate for the Buddha in making magical contests against other religious figures
Devoted to his mother EB 2.1.7 Maudgalyāyana Brings about the Conversion of His Mother Important in East Asian Buddhism
Novice (śrameṇera/sāmaṇera) - ‘Going Forth’ or pravrajyā
7-8 years old Take a monk 10 years senior as one’s preceptor and teacher Goes for refuge in 3 Jewels Takes 10 precepts or Rules of Training (śikṣā-/sikkhā-pada)
Monk or Nun – Ordination or upasampadā
Age 20 5 properly ordained monks of 10 years standing (5 for nuns as
well) Four basic ‘resources’ Four ‘requisites’ Eight ‘requisites’ as personal possession
Based on inscriptional evidence of donations from roughly the beginning of the Common Era up until the 4th or 5th century CE show that approximately the same number of nuns as monks acted as donors
Full ordination for women in Theravādin Buddhism died out in 11th century CE
May have never been fully established in Tibetan tradition
Still exists in East Asian Buddhism
EB 2.1.4 The Acceptance of Women into the Order
The Eight ‘Heavy’ Rules
The Eight ‘Heavy’ Rules
1.A bhikkhuni who has been fully ordained even for more than a century must bow down, rise up from her seat, salute with hands palm-to-palm over her heart, and perform the duties of respect to a bhikkhu even if he has been fully ordained only a day. This rule is to be honored, respected, revered, venerated, never to be transgressed as long as she lives.
2.A bhikkhuni must not spend the rains in a residence where there is no bhikkhu.
The Eight ‘Heavy’ Rules
3.Every half-month a bhikkhuni should request two things from the Bhikkhu Sangha: she should ask for the date of the uposatha day and come for an exhortation.
4.At the end of the Rains-residence, a bhikkhuni should invite (criticism both from) the Bhikkhu Sangha and the Bhikkhuni Sangha on any of three grounds: what they have seen, what they have heard, what they have suspected.
5.A bhikkhuni who has broken any of the vows of respect must undergo penance for half a month under both Sanghas.
The Eight ‘Heavy’ Rules
6.At the end of the Rains-residence, a bhikkhuni Only after a probationer has trained in the six precepts for two years should she request ordination from both Sanghas.
7.A bhikkhu must not in any way be insulted or reviled by a bhikkhuni.
8.From this day forward, the admonition of a bhikkhu by a bhikkhuni is forbidden, but the admonition of a bhikkhuni by a bhikkhu is not forbidden. This rule, too, is to be honored, respected, revered, venerated, never to be transgressed as long as she lives.
EB 2.1.5 The Conversion of Paṭācārā
Lost husband, two sons, family
Neither sons, nor parents, nor kinfolks are a refuge.
Relatives offer no shelter for one seized by Death (Mara)
Knowing this situation, the wise, exercising moral restraints,
can quickly clear the way that leads to nirvāṇa.
Becomes stream-winner, then ordains as a nun
Become arhat and becomes master of the monastic code (Vinaya)
Foremost of knowing the Vinaya
Fear of the Buddha and the Sangha
Conversion through magic
Householders (brahmins) & heretics (unknown)
Buddha (Gautama) with 1200 disciples like a hailstorm that destroys crops b/c take sons
Householders decide to confront Buddha with weapons
Old man sets fire to village
The Buddha extinguishes the fire through supernatural powers
Faith arises in the householders
Mother ‘not’ his mother…new incarnation
But his aggregates fostered by her
Evidence monks & nuns continued to care for parents, spiritually and materially
Buddha teaches gratitude towards parents
Maudgalyāyana wonder where his mother is and brings the Buddha there through his magical power
Buddha preaches and his mother becomes a stream-winner
EB 2.2.1 Passage Denied: The Nāga Who Tried to Become a
MonkE
B 2.2. Passage Achieved: Joining the Order
EB 2.2.1 Passage Denied: The Nāga Who Tried to Become a Monk Limits to ordination List in intro to 2.2.1, but debtors, runaway slaves,
army deserters, criminals Needed sponsors within monastic community
(preceptor & teacher) Had to be human Supernatural creatures are accepted as
commonplace
EB 2.2. Passage Achieved: Joining the Order Description by Chinese monk in India of
ordination during the late 7th century
Sūtra
Vinaya
Abhidharma
1.The unity and cohesion of the Saṅgha
2.The spiritual life
3.The dependence of the Saṅgha upon the wider community
4.The appearance of the Saṅgha in the eyes of the community
Gethin 91-94
Development from list of @ 250 rules (pratimokṣa) that was recited semi-monthly in public gatherings
To six canonical Vinayas that survive from later period
Corporate institution Endowments of land Monks >100 at large monasteries
Prātimokṣa (Pāṭimokkha)
Bi-monthly ceremony of its recitation, Uposatha
Public confession of faults
4 Cases Involving Explusion
Extra rules for nuns
Not guide for a life of quiet, individualized contemplation
“monastic” from Greek monazein, ‘to live alone’
Vinaya provided narrative authority for a collective enterprise between laypeople and monastics
Strong social life for monastics
Multiple types of interaction with laypeople
Four “resources” – food (begging), robes (dustheap) lodging (under tree), medicine (cow urine)
Settled down into monasteries
1) The homeless life is characterized lodging at the foot of trees. This you should try to respect for the rest of your life. In addition, these are allowed: monasteries, lean-tos, palaces, rooftops, caves.