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Establishment of the Buddhist Monastic CodeBy Khai Thien
Vinaya texts, the
Buddhist moral code from the Tipitaka
(Sutta, Vinaya,
and Abhidhamma), are always
considered the most important to the system
of any organization or group of sangha
(monks and nuns). Without Vinaya
established as the Buddhist disciplinary
rules—the
foundation for the life of Buddha-dharma—the
house-structure of sangha and even
Buddhism cannot exist. In order to trace the history of
the establishment
of the Buddhist monastic code as well as Buddhist training
rules in general, this paper will explore the status of
the sangha order in the Buddha’s lifetime, including
the early years of the Buddha,
the early Buddhist ordination with three refuges, the establishment of Pratimoksa, the contents of Pratimoksa, the Uposadha
day, and the first Council of Vinaya. I. The Early Years of the
Buddha’s Career According to Pali chronology,
Buddhist moral codes for both monastic and lay people were established
gradually according to various conditions and situations throughout the
Buddha’s life. Upon the Buddha’s achievement of
enlightenment, no sangha (monastic
community) existed. Thus,
the Buddha’s first monastic disciples were the five brothers
of Kondanna, who took refuge
in the Buddha and his dharma
after listening to his first sermon, the Four Noble Truths—Dhammacakkappavattana (turning the wheel of
dharma)—at Deer Park, near
Benares. This special event marked the first time in human history that
Buddhism contained the Buddha, dharma, and sangha—otherwise
known as the Triple Jewels. The next twenty years of the sangha
developed primarily according to dharma, the Buddha’s
teachings. As Pali canons tell us, at that time, the
community of bhikkhunis (nuns) had
not yet been founded within the community of sangha;
only bhikkhus
(male) existed, and they had all achieved high personal attainments
with great
insight and direct knowledge of dharma. They were the noble ones and
Arahants “who had succeeded in
subduing many or all of
the defilements of their minds. They knew his teachings well and
behaved
accordingly.”[1]
As such, there was no need to formulate disciplinary rules for those
who lived
in the sangha directly under the
instruction of the Buddha. The texts tell us that, Thera Sariputta once
requested the Buddha to formulate the monastic rules for the sangha members, but the Buddha replied,
“Wait, Sariputta. The Tathagata will know the right time for
that. The Teacher
does not make known, Sariputta, the course of training for disciplines
or
appoint the Patimokkha until some conditions causing the pollutions
(asava)
appear here in the Sangha.”[2]
The Buddha himself confirmed the status of his monastic system in the
early
period by saying that “In former times, you know, bhikkhus
were fewer in number
but those possessed of supernormal powers.”[3] Ultimately, during this perfect
period of the sangha, Buddha and
dharma
served as the two refuges for the entire community of monastic monks. II. The Early Buddhist Ordination Early in the Buddha’s career, the
procedure to
ordain a person who wanted to become a monk was quite simple. According
to the Vinaya texts,
“those who were convinced
and/or asked to join with him, He allowed them to be bhikkhu
by saying that, ‘Ehi bhikkhu, svakkhato dhammo caro
brahmacariyam samma dukkhassa antakiriyaya’ (Come bhikkhu, well-expounded is
the Dhamma, live the brahmacariya
for the complete ending of dukkha).”[4] This “procedure,” called Ehi-bhikkhu
upasampada
(acceptance by saying “Come
bhikkhu!”) became the official words
of ordination used for those
who wanted to join the sangha
during
the Buddha’s early years. The Mahāvagga, in Vinaya
Pitaka, further informs us that the first Buddhist mission
was sent to various
places to propagate the dharma. The mission included sixty-one monks
from the
sangha (the first sixty-one bhikkhus),
who went forth to preach the dharma to the world following the
encouragement of
the Buddha: Freed am I, O Bhikkhus, from all bonds, whether
divine or human. You,
too, O Bhikkhus, are freed from all bonds, whether divine or human. Go
forth, O
Bhikkhus, for the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out
of
compassion for the world, for the good, benefit, and happiness of gods
and men.
Let not two go by one way: Preach, O Bhikkhus, the Dhamma, excellent in
the
beginning, excellent in the middle, excellent in the end, both in the
spirit
and in the letter. Proclaim the Holy Life, altogether perfect and pure.
There
are beings with little dust in their eyes, who, not hearing the Dhamma,
will
fall away. There will be those who understand the Dhamma.[5] In carrying out this mission, the missionary monks
faced new
difficulties, particularly when new aspirants wanted to become bhikkhu officially as well as join the sangha. At that time, the missionary
monks had to present newcomers to the Buddha for acceptance. Realizing
this
difficulty, the Buddha allowed the savakas
(bhikkhus) themselves to ordain
those
who wanted to join the sangha
without
presenting them to the Buddha. However, the procedure changed in such
situations.
Whenever a person sincerely wanted to become a Buddhist or adopt the
monastic
life, he had to say the solemn words for taking refuge in the Triple
Jewels
three times: Buddham
Saranam Gacchami – I
take refuge in the Buddha. After saying these verses three times in front of a
preceptor, he would
officially become a Buddhist. Although the procedure initially applied
to new
monastic persons called Pabbajja
(novice monk), it later applied to lay persons as well. This method of
acceptance is called Tisarnagamamupasamda (acceptance
by taking refuge
in the Triple Jewels).
Soon the sangha’s
members increased remarkably. Consequently,
the Buddha wanted to establish a firm foundation for the sangha
in which each group of bhikkhus
was required to have at least four members. This resulted in a new
procedure called
the Nati-catutthakamma-upasampada (bhikkhu assembly). From this point, the
approval of becoming a bhikkhu
required
being conducted in front of four monks in a limited area, called sima. This ordination remains today,
leading to the three procedures of the Buddhist monastic ordination:
Ehi-bhikkhu upasampada,
Tisarnagamamupasamda, and
Nati-catutthakamma-upasampada.
Two kinds of ordination are mentioned in the time of the Buddha: the Pabbajja used for monks under twenty
years old (samanera) and the Upasampada used for bhikkhu,
a man who takes ordination after he has turned twenty. When
a samanera receives ordination, the
Tisarnagamamupasamda
applies. III. The
Establishment of Pratimoksa
According to Caturvarga-Vinaya
(Four Divisions of Vinaya) as
recorded in Vinaya Tipitaka, the
Buddha did not immediately set
up a comprehensive moral
code for either the monastic or laity; rather, he formulated
disciplinary rules
one at a time according to specific occasions and/or in response to the
nature
of each matter. It is possible to say that each rule of Vinaya
had its own story, as evidenced in both the Mahāvagga and Cullavagga.
As discusses, the sangha
developed quickly; consequently, some
entered the sangha with their
karmic
habits, weaknesses, and even felonies, diluting the quality of the
entire family
of sangha compared to its
absolutely
pure realm initially. To address this impurity, Thera Mahakassapa once
said to
the Buddha, “What are the conditions now Lord, what is the
cause that formerly
there were both fewer precepts and more bhikkhus were established in
profound
knowledge (arahantship). What are the conditions and cause that now
there are
more precepts and fewer bhikkhus established in profound
knowledge?” In
addition, some bhikkhus committed
serious mistakes that had never happened in sangha.
For instance, the bhikkhus who
lived
in Sarali forest and practiced asubhasmrti
visualization gradually became disgusted with the existence of their
own impure
bodies and ultimately committed suicide in various ways. Some killed
themselves,
but others requested the Brahmin who lived nearby to kill them with a
knife.
When the Buddha heard of this, he formulated the third Parajika
(prohibiting the killing of a human being, be it oneself
or another). Similarly, the first Parajika
(prohibiting sex with a human, non-human, or anything down to an
animal) arose
from the story of bhikkhu Sudinna,
who
had sexual intercourse with his ex-wife three times in the forest. In
response
to this matter, the Buddha laid down the training rule prohibiting the
monastic
order from having sex. It is crucial to note that, when the Buddha
rebuked Ven.
Sudinna, he said, “Foolish man,
you
are the first doer of many wrong things.”[6] Such words obviously indicated
that the Buddha believed such serious offenses would only increase as
time
passed. After this serious rebuke to Ven. Sudinna’s mistake,
the Buddha
proclaimed: In that case, bhikkhus, I will
formulate a training
rule for the bhikkhus with ten aims in mind: the excellence of the
Community,
the peace of the Community, the curbing of the shameless, the comfort
of
well-behaved bhikkhus, the restraint of effluents related to the
present life,
the prevention of effluents related to the next life, the arousing of
faith in
the faithless, the increase of the faithful, the establishment of the
true
Dhamma, and the fostering of discipline.[7] Following such serious problems among
the bhikkhus, the basic rules of
monastic code was established. In such a way, the Buddha formulated
more than
200 major and minor rules, establishing the Patimokkha,
which was recited twice a month in each community of bhikkhus.
Generally speaking, the modern monastic code emerged in
response to various matters of reality, developing over time until the
day the
Buddha left the Saha world and
entered the Great Nirvana. IV. Contents of the Pratimoksa According to Dr. W. Pachow, “Pratimoksa is one of the oldest text in Buddhist canon
and the oldest text also in Vinaya-Pitaka…Primarily,
it is a collection
of liturgical formularities governing the conduct of bhikkhus
and bhikkhunis.”[8] Pachow’s research provides
several
important definitions of Pratimoksa:[9] Patimokkha ti adim etam mukham etam
pamukha etam
kusalanan dhammanam tena vuccati patimokkhan ti patimokkham (It is
the beginning, it is the face [mukham],
it is the principle [pamukham]
of good qualities; therefore, it is called Patimokkham). Yo tam patirakkhati tam mokkheti
moceti
apayikadidukkhehi tasma patimokkha ti vuccati (Whosoever
observes [the rules of Patimokkha], him it
releases, delivers from
sufferings such as of the inferior states, and so it is called Patimokkha).—from
an old Tika quoted by Subhuti. Patimokkha ti atimokkha patippamokkham
atisettham
atiuttanam (The
Patimokkha is that which is the
highest, the extraordinary high, the very best and very highest). This discussion will first examine the
meaning and contents
of Pratimoksa (Pali: Patimokkha)
as well as how it has been
defined in Vinaya texts,
particularly
in Pali canon. The content and number of training
rules in Pratimoksa are
particularly
significant in Buddhist chronology according to the Pali canons and
other
sources from various schools. According to Pachow, the Milindapanha
(Nikaya) and Agama
(Chinese translation) provide the exact numbers of Pratimoksa;
the Pali canon gives 150 rules whereas other sutras in Agama
(such as Samyktagama sutras, cf. A.
III.87 Sadhika; A. III. 85-86 Sekha;
and, A. III. 83 Vajjputta) give 205 rules. However, both the numbers
and
documents provide an important connection by stressing that the rules
have been
recited every half month during Uposatha
days. Another source, the Pali Text Society’s translation,
noted precisely 150
rules; the 75 Sekhiyas and 2 Aniyata were subsequently, creating 227
total
rules for bhikkhus’
training.[10]
The basic training rules for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis,
however, are summarized as we see today in Pratimoksa:
227 rules for bhikkhus and 311 for bhikkhunis. The Patimoksa
rules are grouped as follows: 1.
Parajika—rules entailing expulsion
from the sangha (defeat) (4 for bhikkhus, 8 for bhikkhunis)
2.
Sanghadisesai—rules entailing an initial
and
subsequent meeting of the sangha (13 and 17, respectively) 3.
Aniyata—(indefinite) rules (2 and 0,
respectively) 4.
Nissaggiya
pacittiya—rules
entailing forfeiture and
confession (30 each) 5.
Pacittiya—rules entailing confession
(92 and
166, respectively) 6.
Patidesaniya—rules entailing acknowledgement (4
and 8, respectively) 7.
Sekhiya—rules of training (75 each)
8.
Adhikarana
samatha—rules
for settling disputes (7
each)
It is
crucial to note that the rules
of Patimoksa are divided into two
parts:
the major and the minor. Although the Buddha enabled the sangha
to change and/or remove the minor rules over the course of
time, both major and minor rules remain respectfully protected and
unchanged,
except among a few new schools of Buddhism in the current era. In
almost all
schools, the major rules (such as the four Parajika,
the thirteen Samghavasesa, and the
two Aniyata) remain totally the
same.
Pachow completed a very helpful comparative study of the Vinaya
rules, discovering no difference among major rules in Sarvastivadin,
Vinayanidava Sutra, Sarvastivada Vinaya, Sarvastivada Vinaya-vibhasa,
Mulasarvastivadin, Tibetan, Mahavyutpatti, Dharmagupta, Mahisasaka,
Kasyapiya,
etc.[11]
V. The Patimoksa
and the Uposatha
Uposatha
is the special day for sangha
members, both male and female, to come to together to recite
the Patimoksa rules. It is said
that Uposatha falls on the eighth
and fourteenth
(or fifteenth) of every half month. The Buddha allowed monks and nuns
to follow
this sangha meeting after accepting
a
suggestion from King Bimbisara at The custom of Uposatha
existed long before the time of the Buddha as the special
time when Vedic priests offered their sacrifices. However, the Buddha
took this
holy day for a new purpose. As described in Mahāvagga[12], the members of sangha
initially gathered together in the same place to sit down
and meditate in silence. Gradually, their formal meetings became a
silent
assembly of the sangha. King
Ajatasattu
once approached 1,250 bhikkhus
headed
by Lord Buddha and stated, “No
sound
at all, not a sneeze or cough…would that my son Udayibhadda
might enjoy such
calm as this assembly has.”[13] This peaceful way of the Uposatha,
however, could not benefit many other householders. Some
persons complained such silence to be that of “dumb
pigs.” Consequently, the
Buddha allowed bhikkhus to give
dharma
talks during such opportunities on Uposatha
days.
The
next phase of the Uposatha is said
to
have developed when the Buddha decided to allow bhikkhus
to recite the Pratimoksa
rules on the Uposatha days after a thought arose in
his mind: “What now if I were to
allow those rules of
training, laid down by me for bhikkhus, (to form) a
recital of Patimoksa
for them? It would be an act of observance (uposathakamma)
for them”.
The tradition of reciting Patimoksa
was started by the Buddha’s statement “I
allow you, O bhikkhus, to recite the Patimoksa.”
Thus,
during this period in the Buddha’s life, certain training
rules had been set
out as the official Patimoksa.
Furthermore, the Cullavagga
(IX) indicates that the
Buddha himself joined the sangha to
recite
the Ovada Patimoksa. It is
extremely
important to note that the purity of the sangha
became a particularly essential element in performing the Uposatha ceremony. During one occasion
when the Buddha was staying
at Savatthi in the
VI. The
First Council of Vinaya
The
Vinaya rules were transmitted orally
from time to time, including at
the first council held by the sangha
after the Buddha’s Great Nirvana. The real status of the Vinaya rules at the time of the Buddha is
said to have been
“memorized by those of his followers who specialized in the
subject of
discipline, but nothing is known for sure of what format they used to
organize
this body of knowledge during his lifetime.”[15]
After the Buddha’s Great
Nirvana,
the sangha, led by Thera
Mahakassapa,
made an effort to recite all the rules of Vinaya
and dharma and established the contents of dharma-vinaya in Pali canon.
Consequently, the Vinaya of today
was
organized into two main parts: 1) the Sutta
Vibhanga, the “Exposition of the Text,”
containing Vinaya texts dealing
with the Buddhist monastic rules, and 2) the Khandhakas
(Groupings), containing
material organized by subject matter. The Khandhakas
are divided into two parts: the Mahāvagga
(Greater Chapter) and Cullavagga
(Lesser
Chapter). Bhikkhu Thanissaro noted
in
his Vinaya translation that
“Historians estimate that the Vibhanga
and Khandhakas reached their present form no later
than the 2nd century
B.C.E., and that the Parivara, or
Addenda—a summary and study guide—was
added a few centuries later, closing the Vinaya Pitaka,
the part of the
Canon dealing with discipline.”[16] Conclusion Examining the subjects from the early years of the Buddha—the early Buddhist ordination with three refuges, the establishment of Pratimoksa, the contents of Pratimoksa, the Uposatha days, and the first Council of Vinaya—provides a brief overview of the establishment of the Buddhist monastic code. A more intensive study of Vinaya Tipitaka would require delving deeper into the nature and various situations of each single rule. Clearly such a task would be extremely interesting for those interested in the Buddhist monastic code and Buddhist morality. [1] Thanissaro
Bhikkhu, trans.
and ed., The Buddhist Monastic Code: The Patimokkha training
rules translated
and explained (Valley Center, CA: Metta Forest Monastery,
1998) 10. [2] Phra Sasana Sobhana, “Introduction to the Patimokkha”; see Nanamoli Thera, trans., Patimokkha: The rule for Buddhist monks (Bangkok: King Maha Makuta’s Academy, 1969) 3. [3] Sangarava Sutta, in Anguttara Nikaya;
see Thera 7. [4] H.R.H.
Prince Vajirananavarorasa, The Entrance to
the Vinaya (Bangkok: King Maha
Makuta’s Academy, 1969) 2. [5] Mahāvagga, Vinaya Pitaka,
Ch. II. [6] Sobhana; see Thera 11. [7] Bhikkhu 13. [8] W.
Pachow, A Comparative
Study of The Pratimoksa: On the basic of its Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit
and
Pali versions ( [9] Ibid. 4. [10] Sobhana; see Thera 13. [11] Pachow
11. [12] This includes several texts and stories of great disciples who joined the sangha as well as the rules for ordination, the reciting of the Patimokkha during Uposatha days, and various procedures that monks are to perform during formal gatherings of the community. See Bhikkhu. [13] Sobhana; see Thera 4. [14] Sobhana; see Thera 9. [15] Bhikkhu
13-14. [16] Ibid. 14.
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