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The Four Requisites: What Does a Bhikkhu Need?

The Buddha said that there were four necessities of life — clothing, food, lodging and medicine — and that they have to be treated properly:

"Properly considering the robe, I use it: simply to ward off cold, to ward off heat, to ward off the touch of flies, mosquitoes, simply for the purpose of covering the parts of the body that cause shame.

"Properly considering almsfood, I use it: not playfully, nor for intoxication, nor for putting on weight, nor for beautification; but simply for the survival and continuance of this body, for ending its afflictions, for the support of the chaste life, (thinking) I will destroy old feelings (of hunger) and not create new feelings (from overeating). Thus I will maintain myself, be blameless, and live in comfort.

"Properly considering the lodging, I use it: simply to ward off cold, to ward off heat, to ward off the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun and reptiles; simply for protection from the inclemencies of weather and for the enjoyment of seclusion.

"Properly considering medicinal requisites for curing the sick, I use them: simply to ward off any pains of illness that have arisen and for the maximum freedom from disease." [OP pp.46-47; (Pali: M. I, 10; A. III, 387)]

Clothing, food, shelter and medicine are necessary whether one is a lay person or a bhikkhu. The bhikkhu, however, should take a completely balanced stance towards these fundamentals. Advertising and the latest fashion should not draw him, for he should be solely concerned with simplicity and lack of attachment towards things. It seems that the original requisites were 'basics' that wandering bhikkhus could conveniently carry around, for example, an alms bowl, three robes, a sitting cloth, a needle-case, and a waist band. However, extra allowances were gradually given as the need arose, for instance, a water filter, a razor and its sheath, the stone and strop for sharpening it and then articles such as an umbrella and sandals. Later the commentaries allowed other similar items.

Does a Bhikkhu Beg?

The Buddha made it clear that bhikkhus should avoid begging if possible. (In times of great need a bhikkhu is allowed to ask for his basic requisites, for example, if his robes are stolen he may ask any lay person for one replacement robe.) He gave this story about 'begging':

A bhikkhu came to the Lord Buddha and complained about a great flock of noisy birds that came to roost at night in the forest surrounding his abode. The Buddha suggested that if he wanted them to go away he should go, many times throughout the night, and beg a feather from each bird. The birds, thinking, 'that monk wants a feather, and another, and another...,' left the forest and never returned. The Buddha then explained that begging and hinting were unpleasant even to common animals, how much more so to human beings.

A bhikkhu who is constantly begging for things displays his greedy state of mind. No one likes to see this, and lay supporters may start by criticizing him and then turn to blaming his Community or even the Buddha's Teaching. The Buddha, therefore, set down many rules to guide the bhikkhus about what is proper conduct.

How to Help a Bhikkhu — Invitation

Normally a bhikkhu will not ask for things. Instead, he will wait for something to be offered. This is exemplified in the alms round where the bhikkhu makes no request, does not even look at people, although he may quietly wait to see if an offering is to be made before moving on. One way that lay people enable a bhikkhu to ask them for help is by making an invitation or pavaara.naa. The Buddha allowed a bhikkhu to accept pavaara.naa or 'invitation.' Such an invitation is made when lay people decide to commit themselves to supplying medicines if a particular bhikkhu should ever become ill, or it can be a broader offer of help. (Although a sick monk is allowed to ask anyone for medicine, asking somebody who has already invited him with a pavaara.naa invitation is obviously preferable.) Therefore if lay people meet a bhikkhu who seems worthy of help and support, they may make such an invitation. Quite a number of the rules deal with what and how much may be asked for when a donor makes this formal invitation.

An invitation can therefore be quite specific about what is being offered and how long that invitation will last. (Obviously, if circumstances change or the request is unreasonable, the donor has no obligations — and a conscientious bhikkhu is always sensitive about this.)

A clear invitation will also help prevent misunderstandings. For instance, the bhikkhu will know exactly what has been offered and so will not ask for more than that; and the lay person will not be overwhelmed by extravagant requests.

The original circumstances of the forty-seventh Confession Offence were as follows:

A lay supporter possessed much 'medicinal ghee' so he invited the monks to make use of it during the following four months. Much of the medicine was still left, so he extended his invitation for another four months and then extended it for life. The Buddha allowed this. However, that same lay donor had once criticized the 'group-of-six' monks because of their previous improper conduct so they decided to take their revenge by asking him for an impossibly large amount of medicine (ghee) and then criticized him when he could not immediately produce what he had promised. This rule was set down:

"A bhikkhu who is not ill may accept (make use of) a four- month invitation [pavaara.naa] to ask for requisites. If he should accept (make use of) it for longer than that — unless the invitation is renewed or is permanent — it is [an offence of Confession.]" (Paac. 47; BMC p.393)

When the invitation is more vague — for example, a lay person may just say, "If you need anything, Bhante, let me know" — the bhikkhu should not exceed the spirit of the invitation. In fact some communities consider that an invitation in which the lay person does not mention any time limit is valid only for four months and that taking up the invitation beyond that time is an offence.

A bhikkhu is always allowed to ask for requisites from his relatives without having formal invitation first. (Whether they actually supply anything is, of course, up to them.) 'Relatives' are considered to be those with whom the bhikkhu has common ancestors back through seven generations, on both the mother's and father's side. Here 'in-laws' are not counted as relatives.

"Thus all descendants of one's great-great-great-great-great- great-great-grandfather are counted as one's relatives... [although] a bhikkhu at present would be well-advised to regard as his relatives only those blood-relations with whom ties of kinship are actually felt." (BMC p.183)

What does a Bhikkhu Possess?

The ideal possessions of the bhikkhu are just his basic requisites: three main robes (described in the following section); alms bowl; waistband; needle and thread; razor and water filter.

The alms bowl can be made from clay or iron but must be properly fired to harden it (if clay) and rustproof it (if iron). Three bowl-sizes are mentioned: small, medium and large. There are also several rules about begging for a new bowl before one's old one is worn out, which entails forfeiture of the wrongly acquired bowl. (Nis. Paac. 22; 23)

The waistband became necessary when a monk's 'skirt-robe' fell down while he was in a village. The needle and thread are needed for patching and repairing the robes — and many teachers instruct that it is a wrong-doing for a monk not to repair them the same day. While the razor became necessary when:

"At one time, bhikkhus' hair was long. The Buddha asked the bhikkhus:"'Bhikkhus, are the bhikkhus able to cut one another's hair?'" When they answered in the affirmative, he allowed a razor, whetstone, razor-case, felt wrapping and barbers' equipment... "Lay people criticized the group of six bhikkhus for wearing long hair. The Buddha made this a Wrong-doing, allowing only two finger-breadths in length or two months growth, whichever came first... Hair and beards should not be styled, combed or smoothed, or gray hairs plucked out — all considered to be 'like pleasure-enjoying householders.'"(HS ch.12)

The water filter is needed to avoid killing small creatures in drinking water. (See also Killing.)

However, most bhikkhus will have more than this — ranging from everyday items like soap and toothpaste, candles and matches, pen and books, a watch or clock, a flashlight or torch, to more sophisticated things appropriate to their environment. The principle is that such things should not be luxurious or expensive. Anything that is given to him (that is allowable) is his to keep, and he is allowed to give his things away if it is done in the right way and does not cause the donor's faith to decline. Disposal or appropriation of anything owned by the Community, or belonging to the monastery, is strictly controlled and is covered by the rules that follow in the next section.

After a bhikkhu dies, his possessions will normally revert to the Sangha:

"Articles belonging to bhikkhus and novices who have died have the Sangha [Community] as owner, that is they are the inheritance of the Sangha." (EV,II,p.151)

Wrongly Receiving Gifts

When a bhikkhu receives a general (i.e., non-personal) gift, there are two rules to guard against his misdirecting it. (When a bhikkhu actually steals something it is an offence of Defeat. See Stealing.)

The first of these rules arose when a guild was preparing to make an offering of a meal and some cloth to the whole Community whereupon the 'group-of-six' bhikkhus arrived and pressured the donors into giving the cloth to them instead:

"Should any bhikkhu knowingly divert to himself gains that had been intended for a Community, it is [an offence of Confession with Forfeiture.]" (Nis. Paac. 30; BMC p.256)

"'Gains' here refers to robes, alms food, abodes and medicines... and other allowable things. [They are] gifts dedicated as offerings to the Sangha but not yet offered. A bhikkhu diverts such gifts to himself by asking directly for them or by roundabout speech so that the donor will give them to him."(Nis. Paac. 30; Paat. 1969 Ed.; p159)

In the above rule the wrongly obtained 'gift' must be forfeited to another bhikkhu(s). (However, money is a special case. See Valuables and Money.) The following rule complements the one above but is an offence of Confession:

"Persuading a donor to give to another individual a gift that he or she had planned to give to a Community — when one knows that it was intended for the Community — is [an offence of Confession.]" (Paac. 82; BMC p.461)

What can be Offered?

As has been mentioned above, the Buddha said that there were four necessities for life — Clothing, Food or 'edibles,' Shelter or lodging and Medicine — so we will use those divisions in the following sections.

º There is also a Sutta where it is mentioned that bhikkhus do not accept gifts of gardens, paddy-fields and other sorts of land, or draught animals, and other sorts of animals, etc. (EV,II, p.150)

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Редакция перевода от 18.12.2018 15:26