Losel Chuah
OFFERING FOOD TO THE SAṄGHA, MALAYSIA
4 | The Higher Training in Ethical Conduct
THE FOUR TRUTHS establish the reason and framework for Dharma practice. To attain nirvāṇa we must cultivate the three higher trainings in ethical conduct, concentration, and wisdom (DN 10:1.6). The three higher trainings differ from the three trainings because their goals are higher. The mere three trainings are done to fulfill aims in saṃsāra, such as having a fortunate rebirth, while the three higher trainings are directed toward liberation and full awakening.
Buddhists accept that human life has a deeper purpose and that good rebirths, liberation, and full awakening are valuable aims. Since afflictions prevent us from actualizing our virtuous aims, we try to reduce and eventually eradicate them. The various ethical codes are designed to do this by helping us to subdue our physical, verbal, and mental actions.
According to the Sanskrit tradition, the wisdom realizing selflessness eliminates obscurations from the root. For wisdom to function properly, it must be accompanied by single-pointed concentration. To gain deep concentration, firm mindfulness and introspective awareness (sampajañña, samprajanya) are needed to subdue the subtle internal hindrances. These are initially cultivated through restraining the coarse external hindrances of nonvirtuous physical and verbal actions through practicing ethical conduct.
Ethical conduct means to restrain from doing harm and applies to both monastics and lay followers. Tibetan Buddhism contains three levels of ethical restraints: prātimokṣa (Pāli, pāṭimokkha), bodhisattva, and tantric. The prātimokṣa ethical restraint focuses on abandoning harmful physical and verbal actions. The bodhisattva ethical restraint emphasizes abandoning self-centered thoughts, words, and deeds. The tantric ethical restraint aims to overcome subtle mental obscurations. Because their focus is progressively more subtle, the three sets of ethical restraints are taken gradually and in that order.
Keeping the commitments and precepts we have taken is essential to attain realizations. Some people are brave when taking precepts and commitments but are cowardly when it comes to keeping them. We should be the opposite, thinking well before taking ethical restraints, humbly requesting them from our teachers, and afterward keeping them properly and joyfully.
Whether someone practices principally the Śrāvaka Vehicle or the Bodhisattva Vehicle, ethical conduct is the foundation of the practice. The prātimokṣa precepts help us regulate physical and verbal actions, and in doing so, we must work with the mind that motivates these actions.
Although all Buddhists try to abandon the ten nonvirtues, taking precepts involves special commitment and thus brings special benefit. Living in precepts prevents destructive karma and purifies harmful habits. It also brings rapid and strong accumulation of merit, because every moment we are not breaking a precept, we are actively abandoning that destructive action, thus enriching our mind with merit from acting constructively. Ethical conduct cools the fires of afflictions, prepares the mind to attain higher states of meditative absorption, is the path leading to the awakenings of all three vehicles, and brings about the fulfillment of our wishes. Keeping ethical conduct prevents guilt, remorse, and anxiety. It averts fear and reproach from others and is the basis for self-esteem. Our ethical conduct contributes to world peace, for others trust and feel safe around a person who abandons the wish to harm others. Good ethical conduct cannot be stolen or embezzled; it is the basis for having a fortunate rebirth, which is necessary to continue practicing the Dharma. Living in precepts creates the cause to encounter favorable circumstances and be able to continue practicing in future lives. Because we will already be habituated in our future lives to releasing attachment and practicing the path, we will attain awakening swiftly.
The principal motivation to receive any of the eight types of prātimokṣa ethical restraints is the determination to be free from saṃsāra. Five types of prātimokṣa ethical restraint are for monastics: (1–2) fully ordained monks (bhikkhu, bhikṣu) and fully ordained nuns (bhikkhunī, bhikṣuṇī), (3) training nuns (sikkhamānā, śikṣamāṇā), and (4–5) novice monks (sāmaṇera, śrāmaṇera) and novice nuns (sāmaṇerī, śrāmaṇerikā). Three are for lay followers: (6–7) laymen (upāsaka) and laywomen (upāsikā), and (8) one-day precept holders (upavāsa).
Lay followers take the five lay precepts for the duration of their lives, abandoning killing, stealing, unwise and unkind sexual behavior, lying, and taking intoxicants (alcohol, recreational drugs, and misuse of prescription medicines). When taking the eight one-day precepts, lay followers additionally abandon sexual activity; sitting on high or luxurious seats or beds; singing, dancing, and playing music; wearing perfumes, ornaments, or cosmetics; and eating at improper times (between midday and dawn of the following morning).
People have different abilities and interests, so you can choose the type of prātimokṣa ethical restraint best suited to you. Whichever one you choose, practice the precepts with a good motivation. The wish to escape debts or avoid caring for children or aged parents are not good reasons for taking monastic vows; neither is the wish to have a place to live or free food.
Some people think that because monastic precepts restrain physical and verbal misdeeds, purity in vinaya involves only external appearances—acting and speaking in a refined manner. However, to actually subdue our outward behavior requires subduing the mind, because all physical and verbal activities flow from a mental intention.
For those who choose to become monastics, the practice of vinaya helps increase contentment. Because we voluntarily put limits on what we do, we practice being satisfied with what we have and let go of our desirous impulses. A monastic may eat only during certain times and may not demand specific food; whatever he receives, he must accept. Buddhist monastics are not required to be vegetarian, although Chinese monastics who hold the bodhisattva ethical restraint are. Monastics are limited to having one set of robes that we consider our own. Monastics cannot wear expensive robes and are limited to having a small number of personal items. Anything else should be considered as property of the monastic community or as property shared with other monastics. This reduces the dissatisfied mind seeking “more and better.”
Monastics limit relations with family in order to avoid emotional dependency and involvement in activities that take us away from Dharma practice. Using our ordination name signifies leaving behind our old identity as others’ relative or friend and adopting the life of a monastic.
The practice of vinaya develops mindfulness and introspective awareness. If we are about to do certain actions, we train to immediately think, “I am a monastic and have chosen not to do this.” By cultivating such mindfulness and checking if our behavior is proper when we are awake, our mindfulness becomes stronger and will also arise in our dreams.
The practice of vinaya also helps to develop fortitude (khanti, kṣānti). The Prātimokṣa Sūtra says:
Fortitude is the first and foremost path.
The Buddha declared it as the supreme way to attain nirvāṇa.
One who has left the home life yet harms or injures others is not called a renunciate.
To refine their virtue, the Buddha instructed monastics to practice fortitude in four situations: (1) If others are angry with you, do not react with anger but with fortitude. (2) If others hit you, do not retaliate. (3) If others criticize you, do not criticize them in return. (4) And if others embarrass or insult you, do not respond by embarrassing or insulting them. These are real ascetic practices that will increase your fortitude, bring harmony to your relationships and to society in general, and lead to awakening.
Some people think of precepts as nonnegotiable rules propounded by an absolute authority. Naturally, this makes them uncomfortable. But the prātimokṣa precepts are not like this. They are helpful trainings that lead to good results. For example, if we want to be healthy, we voluntarily adopt new eating habits and avoid activities that weaken our bodies. Similarly, when we want to abandon ignorance, anger, and attachment, we voluntarily curtail actions motivated by them and avoid objects that trigger them. Thus precepts are not forced on us by an external authority; they are trainings we voluntarily uphold because we want to fulfill our spiritual aims.
For the first twelve years, the saṅgha did not have any precepts. But when some monks misbehaved, it was reported to the Buddha, who established a precept to abandon that action. Later, when different conditions were present, he made exceptions or gave other guidelines. Thus precepts are not absolute rules.
Some precepts concern etiquette. Since etiquette differs from one culture to another, we must adapt our behavior to whatever is suitable in a particular place.
Losel Chuah
OFFERING FOOD TO THE SAṄGHA, MALAYSIA
Prātimokṣa ethical restraints are common to practitioners of all three vehicles. Those engaging in bodhisattva or tantric practice cannot ignore or belittle their prātimokṣa precepts. In fact, being negligent with respect to prātimokṣa precepts is explicitly forbidden in the bodhisattva and tantric ethical codes, and doing so is a serious downfall. We must try to maintain all our precepts as best as we can.
Since modern society extols sexual pleasure, some people wonder why monastics have a precept of celibacy. This has to do with our spiritual aims.
On the first level of Buddhist practice, we work within human nature, which comes from having this saṃsāric body. Here subduing the coarse level of afflictions and avoiding the ten nonvirtues are emphasized. People are encouraged to subdue extreme sexual lust and abandon unwise or unkind sexual behavior that creates pain and confusion for themselves or others. However, proper use of sexuality is fine for lay practitioners. Thich Nhat Hanh, a renowned Vietnamese monk, considers sexual activity without love and commitment to be unwise sexual behavior. Although this is not mentioned in the scriptures, I think it is true. Love for one’s partner and a sense of responsibility are important for the stability and longevity of a relationship.
On the second level of practice, we no longer seek saṃsāric pleasures but want to go beyond saṃsāra. Since craving is one of the principal causes of saṃsāra, freeing ourselves from attachment to objects of the five senses is important to attain liberation. Of all forms of attachment, sexual desire is the most intense and complex because it involves all five senses plus the mind. Thus the Buddha advised that those seeking freedom from craving refrain from sexual desire.
At this point of the path, we must confront and go against tendencies that may even normally be considered human nature and part of our biological makeup, including sexual desire. Our aim now is liberation, and attachment to sexual relations prevents this. Although sexual desire arises naturally in our body, we can control it. Thus monastic ordination is taken with the determination to be free from saṃsāra and includes a precept of strict celibacy.
Skilled athletes with high goals eagerly abandon activities that impede their training or ability to attain their goals. They willingly refrain from certain foods and a grand social life and spend their time in consistent training. Their restraint is not unhealthy suppression but is necessary and conducive to realize their desired goals. Similarly, monastics willingly give up sexual relations and immersion in sensual pleasures because these hinder attaining their spiritual goals.
Many factors are at work in choosing how to or whether to use one’s sexuality, and these need to be carefully considered by each individual. The Buddha did not say that everyone must give up sexual activity. It is one’s own choice. However, if someone becomes a monastic, he or she must be celibate. There is no such thing as “a monastic with a spouse”!
All vinaya schools are included in the Śrāvakayāna. There is no such thing as a Mahāyāna vinaya monastic ordination, although many people who practice the Bodhisattva Vehicle become monastics and practice vinaya. The three extant vinaya lineages stem from the original eighteen schools of early Buddhism:
• The Theravāda (T. gnas brtan pa, C. shangzuo-bu) vinaya is in Pāli and is practiced predominantly in South and Southeast Asia. It comes from the vinaya lineage brought to Sri Lanka by Aśoka’s daughter and son in the third century B.C.E.
• The Dharmaguptaka (T. chos sbas pa, C. fazang-bu) vinaya was translated into Chinese in 410–12 by Buddhayaśas, and in 709 the emperor Zhongzong decreed it was to be the only vinaya used in China. It is followed principally in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam.
• The Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya (T. gzhi thams cad yod par smra ba, C. genben shuoyiqieyou-bu) was brought to Tibet by the Nālandā master Śāntarakṣita and is followed in Tibet, Mongolia, and the Himalayan regions.
The literature of these vinaya schools was passed down orally for many centuries before being written down, and the geographical distance between them is considerable. Thus the remarkable similarity in their presentation of monastic life is striking. They all follow essentially the same precepts and perform the same saṅgha transactions (saṅghakamma, saṅghakarma).
The Theravāda vinaya is divided into three sections:
1. The Suttavibhaṅga contains the pāṭimokkha precepts. Each precept is explained in four parts: the background story that caused the Buddha to establish it, the precept itself, the word-by-word explanation of the precept from the Padabhājaniya, the old commentary, and more stories to show exceptional situations pertaining to this precept and how to deal with them.
2. The Khandhaka consists of two volumes:
The Mahāvagga deals with topics such as ordination, fortnightly confession and restoration of precepts (uposatha, poṣadha), rains retreat (vassa, varṣā), invitation for feedback (pavāraṇā, pravāraṇa), footwear, medicine, kaṭhina robe offering, garments, formal acts, and schism.
The Cullavagga describes disciplinary transactions; penance, probation, and their imposition; settling issues; lodgings; schism; protocols; cancelling the pāṭimokkha; bhikkhunīs; and the first two councils.
3. The Parivāra is an appendix of nineteen chapters covering material from the Suttavibhaṅga and the Khandhakas. It seems to be a later addition, written or compiled by a Sri Lankan elder.
Buddhaghosa wrote an authoritative commentary, Samantapāsādikā, on the pāṭimokkha in the fifth century, and Dhammapāla wrote one a century later. Both Buddhaghosa and Dhammapāla relied heavily on very old commentaries written at the Mahāvihāra Monastery in Sri Lanka. Several more vinaya commentaries were written after these.
The Dharmaguptaka vinaya is also called the Four-Part Vinaya because it consists of sixty volumes placed in four sections. It is also divided into three categories:
1. The Sūtravibhaṅga contains the bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī prātimokṣas.
2. The Skandha explains various practices the monastic community should perform and consists of twenty vastus, or “bases.” Its contents are similar to the Khandhakas.
3. The Parivāra is an appendix compiled around the third century B.C.E. It supplements the Sūtravibhaṅga and the Skandha and discusses the compilation of the vinaya and the first and second councils. It clarifies doubts, delineates extraordinary circumstances pertaining to the precepts, and deals with other pertinent topics.
The Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, with four vinaya-āgama sections, was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan.
1. The Vinayavastu corresponds to the Khandhaka and consists of seventeen bases (vastu) of ethical training: ordination, fortnightly confession and restoration of precepts, invitation for feedback, rains retreat, hides and skins, medicine, garments, kaṭhina, the dispute at Kausambi, formal acts, disciplinary measures, persons, changing locations, exclusion, house and bed, disputes, and schism.
2. The Vinayavibhaṅga gives the origin stories for the bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī precepts, a detailed explanation of each precept, and exceptions. It corresponds to the Pāli Suttavibhaṅga.
3. The Vinayakṣudrakavastu discusses minor points of the bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī prātimokṣas.
4. The Vinayottaragrantha clarifies the profound and difficult points of the above three.
Tibetans follow the vinaya commentaries of the Indian masters Guṇaprabha and Śākyaprabha. Guṇaprabha was an Indian scholar well versed in the sūtras, vinaya, and commentaries. His commentaries, the Vinaya Sūtra and Ekottarakarmaśataka, are used to study the monastic code.
NUMBER OF PRECEPTS IN EACH TRADITION
Vinaya |
Bhikṣu precepts |
Bhikṣuṇī precepts |
Theravāda |
227 |
311 |
Dharmaguptaka |
250 |
348 |
Mūlasarvāstivāda |
253 |
364 |
NUMBER OF BHIKṢU PRECEPTS BY CATEGORY
Category of precepts |
Theravāda |
Dharmaguptaka |
Mūlasarvāstivāda |
defeats (pārājika), the most serious infractions |
4 |
4 |
4 |
remainders (saṅghādisesa, saṅghāvaśeṣa), offenses entailing a meeting of the saṅgha |
13 |
13 |
13 |
undetermined rules (aniyata, aniyata) |
2 |
2 |
2 |
lapses with forfeiture (nissaggiya-pācittiya, naiḥsargika-pāyattika) |
30 |
30 |
30 |
lapses expiable by confession (pācittiya, śuddha-pāyattika) |
92 |
90 |
90 |
acknowledgment confessions (pāṭidesanīya, pratideśanīya) |
4 |
4 |
4 |
training rules (sekhiya, śaikṣa) |
75 |
100 |
112 |
rules for settling disputes (adhikaraṇasamatha, adhikaraṇaśamatha) |
7 |
7 |
7 |
The number and meaning of the precepts in the three vinayas are very similar, and the differences are minor. For example, seven precepts concerning how to wear the lower garment in the Mūlasarvāstivāda are subsumed into one precept in the Theravāda.
In the Sanskrit tradition, the Saṅgha Jewel we take refuge in is any person, monastic or lay, who has directly realized emptiness. Saṅgha also refers to a monastic community of at least four fully ordained monastics. The monastic saṅgha represents the Saṅgha Jewel, although not everyone who is a monastic has directly realized emptiness. To be a fully functioning saṅgha, they must do the three main monastic practices—fortnightly confession, rains retreat, and invitation for feedback. The Buddha also spoke of the “fourfold assembly” (catuparisā, caturparṣadāh)—the broad community of his followers that consists of fully ordained monks and nuns and of laymen and laywomen who have taken refuge and the five precepts. Calling a group of lay followers at a Dharma center “saṅgha” is confusing, especially if people mistakenly think that this group is the Saṅgha Jewel that is an object of refuge. For this reason, using the word saṅgha in the traditional sense to refer to the monastic community is clearer and avoids misunderstanding.
The reason the saṅgha has been important, respected, and valued throughout history is that its members practice the higher training in ethical conduct through taking and observing the bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī precepts. Because saṅgha members live a simple lifestyle and are free from family concerns and the necessity to work to provide for a family, they have more time for Dharma study and practice. Thus the saṅgha has been chiefly responsible for preserving the Buddha’s teachings throughout the millennia by memorizing, studying, contemplating, and meditating on them, and by teaching them to others. Lay practitioners are fully capable of doing this too; however, the home of a lay family serves a different function than a monastery. Monasteries act as physical locations for the full-time practice and preservation of the teachings. When people think of monastics living together for the purpose of studying and practicing the Dharma, they feel inspired. They have a sense of optimism and hope and look forward to going to the monastery, temple, or Dharma center to practice together with the saṅgha.
Upholding the doctrine so that it exists for future generations is important. The transmitted doctrine is upheld when people study and explain the Buddhadharma. The realized doctrine is upheld when people practice and actualize the meaning of those teachings in their own minds. In this connection, the saṅgha is important, for they extensively practice and realize the higher training of ethical conduct, which is the foundation for cultivating concentration and wisdom.
According to scripture, whether the Buddhist doctrine flourishes in a place is determined by the presence of the fourfold assembly, which makes a place a “central land.” The existence of the monastic community practicing the vinaya—specifically by performing the three main monastic practices—is crucial for making Buddhism a living tradition in a society. Although an individual may practice well and be highly realized, this does not constitute the flourishing of the doctrine in a place.
Stable interest in becoming a monastic develops naturally from deep reflection on the basic Buddhist teachings. As a result of contemplating compassion and dependent arising, one becomes interested in the nature of the mind, which leads to an appreciation of emptiness, rebirth, and karma. This leads to understanding the possibility of attaining liberation. When one is convinced of this possibility, one will naturally be drawn to living a life according to ethical precepts, which could lead to taking monastic ordination. The Buddha explained the proper motivation to ordain (MN 29:2):
Here some clansman goes forth out of faith from the home life into homelessness considering, “I am a victim of birth, aging, and death, of sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair. I am a victim of dukkha, a prey to dukkha. Surely an ending of this whole mass of dukkha can be known.”
The Buddha established the monastic community for a purpose. To overcome afflictions, we need correct wisdom, and to maintain such a view, single-pointedness of mind is essential. To concentrate, mindfulness and introspective awareness are required, and these are cultivated through training in ethical conduct. The ethical conduct of monastics is stricter than that of lay followers and thus is more effective in subduing the mind. Whereas the life of a householder may be more colorful, monastic life is more stable. Although it is difficult and requires giving up sexual relations and so on, there are benefits even in this lifetime. The monastic way of life is praised because it has direct relevance in developing the three higher trainings.
This latter point is important, lest people think that the monastic life is outdated or irrelevant in modern times. Our Teacher Buddha Śākyamuni was a monk. The Buddha lived as a monk from the time he left the palace until his passing away—over fifty years. His ethical restraint and monastic lifestyle were natural expressions of the purity of his mind. So many great Buddhist masters also lived this way, and the examples of their lives convey to us the importance and benefit of monastic life.
However, monastic life is not suitable for everyone. People must choose the lifestyle most appropriate for themselves and have confidence in their ability to practice. A lay practitioner who practices diligently can attain high realizations. Marpa and his disciple Milarepa were highly realized lay practitioners, yogis, and teachers.
The Buddha describes how one lives as a monastic (DN 2:42):
Having gone forth [from the householder life to the homeless life of a monastic], he dwells restrained by the restraint of the precepts, persisting in right behavior, seeing danger in the slightest faults, observing the commitments he has taken regarding body, deed, and word, devoted to the skilled and purified life, perfected in ethical conduct, with the sense doors guarded, skilled in mindful awareness, and content.
To receive monastic precepts, a person must be motivated by renunciation—the aspiration to be free from saṃsāra and attain liberation. Nevertheless, some people ordain with more worldly motivations. As a result some monastics are genuine practitioners while others are not. It is better if those who misbehave return to lay life and be good lay practitioners. I believe more emphasis on the quality rather than the quantity of monastics is necessary. One step would be to screen candidates more carefully and ensure they receive proper training and guidance from wise elder monastics after they ordain.
Don Farber
NURSE WHO IS A BUDDHIST NUN COMFORTS A PATIENT AT TZU CHI HOSPITAL IN HUALIEN, TAIWAN
Wearing robes and shaving your head are not sufficient to be a monastic. One must keep the precepts well. Accepting offerings but not keeping the precepts well creates destructive karma that will ripen in an unfortunate rebirth. The commentary to the Numerical Discourses explains four ways of enjoying or using requisites (food, clothing, shelter, and medicine). Enjoyment with theft is when a monastic transgresses precepts, has poor conduct, yet uses requisites offered with faith. This is likened to stealing because the requisites were offered to those who practice well. Enjoyment with debt is when a monastic with correct conduct enjoys offerings without reflecting on the kindness, generosity, and merit of the donor and without dedicating for the donor’s welfare. This person consumes the requisites but has not fulfilled his or her commitment to the donor. Enjoyment like an inheritance is when training ariyas enjoy offerings. Since they are on their way to become arahants, it is as if they are using the inheritance that will later become theirs. Enjoyment as an owner is arahants’ use of requisites. Since they have eradicated all pollutants and fulfilled the aim of the path, the offerings are theirs to use.
As the Buddha pointed out (MN 29:2), some people may begin their life as a monastic with a sincere motivation but later be sabotaged by the eight worldly concerns. They become attached to offerings and respect, which leads them to praise themselves and disparage others. Intoxicated with their material gain and renown, they grow complacent and negligent, living in suffering now and creating the causes for future suffering.
Other people practice ethical conduct well but are arrogant, praising themselves for upholding the precepts and disparaging others for being sloppy. Such arrogance makes them become self-satisfied and negligent in developing further virtues. Similarly, monastics may attain serenity or experience temporary liberation in deep concentration. Lacking introspective awareness, they become attached to and conceited about their attainment and thus lose energy, become complacent, and do not fulfill their spiritual goals. Thus it is important always to remain humble and focused on the ultimate attainments of liberation and full awakening.
Monastics must constantly strengthen their motivation to renounce the eight worldly concerns and duḥkha and to attain liberation. As monastics, our task is to learn, think, and meditate on the vast and profound teachings as much as possible. Having done that, we should teach, translate, write, and lead others in practice so that the Dharma will long exist in our world.
Monastics are not perfect, and we may see a monastic behaving in an inappropriate manner. At this time, we should do our best to help this person correct his behavior. But we must not let the bad behavior of one individual cause us to lose faith in the entire saṅgha. We should avoid criticizing all monastics based on the poor behavior of one.
In Tibet, two communities of practitioners evolved, the “white” and the “saffron/maroon.” The white refers to lay practitioners, because they wear white clothing common to lay Buddhists. While they do not observe the external forms of ordained life, such as shaving the head, they follow the five lay precepts as well as the bodhisattva and tantric ethical restraints. The saffron are celibate and follow the monastic ethical restraint. Externally, they wear the saffron monastic robes.
In Tibet, both communities practiced with clarity and direction. However, today we find people who are neither in one camp nor the other. We find monastics who put on lay clothes and lay practitioners who wear clothes that look like monastic robes. The public is confused and question, “This person looks like a monk but has a wife and wears jewelry. How is that?” Even I am confused when I see these people!
This is a problem in the international Buddhist community as well. Many people become confused when they cannot clearly determine someone’s status: is this person a monastic, a lay teacher, a priest? What can I expect of these different practitioners if I cannot differentiate among them?
Names are one point of confusion. Since prātimokṣa ordination does not exist in Japan, Japanese clergy are usually married. I recommend that married teachers from all Buddhist traditions are called priests. I heard that the World Fellowship of Buddhists refers to those with vinaya ordination as “venerable” and those who are married priests as “reverend.” This is very helpful.
In terms of dress it is better if monastics, priests, and lay practitioners wear their own distinctive clothing. On many occasions I have asked lay teachers in the Tibetan tradition to wear either Tibetan or Western lay clothes or a lower white robe and an upper shawl that is white with a few maroon stripes. In this way, people will know that they are not monastics and will be able to relate to them accordingly. However, many of these people continue to wear clothing that looks like monastic robes. There is nothing I can do about this.
Monastics should wear their robes, unless there is some danger in doing so—for example, if they are doing manual work.
Some monastics in the Theravāda, Dharmaguptaka, and Mūlasarvāstivāda traditions do not eat after noon, and many Theravāda monastics go on almsround and do not handle money. This is wonderful. Due to the large percentage of the Tibetan population that is ordained, practical constraints prevent everyone from strictly following some of these practices.
Prior to 1959, approximately one quarter of the male population in Tibet was monks. In Tibet and now in India, some monasteries have thousands of monks and are the size of small towns. These large monasteries are also schools with a full study program that lasts about twenty years and includes teachings, memorization, debate, vinaya ceremonies, personal study, and group ceremonies. Many young boys join the monasteries, and with so many children and young adults who are memorizing and studying, these monasteries are filled with activity. Older monks go to remote places to meditate without disturbance.
The tradition of debate originated in ancient India. The Buddha himself debated philosophical principles with the śramaṇas and brahmans of his time. In later centuries, large Indian monastic universities used debate as a learning tool and to establish the validity of the Buddha’s teachings when challenged by non-Buddhist scholars. Tibetan Buddhism has continued this tradition.
A key element in debate is having a large number of monastics who share their diverse ideas. Given the large population at these major monasteries, local villagers cannot afford to give alms on a daily basis, and the streets would be jammed with thousands of monastics on almsround! While lay people donate food to the monasteries, it is difficult to cook for thousands, so many monks prepare meals in their group houses within the monastery. This necessitates buying and cooking their own food, which requires handling money.
Nevertheless, in Tibet and in the early years of our exile in India, some monks continued their studies and practice with their belly only half full on a regular basis. I know some excellent monks who are now Dharma teachers who lived like this.
The situation for Western monastics in the Tibetan tradition is especially difficult because few monasteries are established in the West, and living in India brings difficulties with visas, health, and language. Some teachers do not adequately screen and prepare Western candidates before ordination or provide proper training for them afterward, and some Western monastics face financial difficulties. During a conference with Western Buddhist teachers in 1993, some Western monastics told me of the difficulties they face, and I couldn’t help but weep.
We must think how to remedy this situation and then act to do so. The best solution is for Western monastics to establish monasteries and develop their own training programs. We Tibetans will help from our side.
I appreciate the gradual approach in many monasteries where candidates pass through many stages before receiving full precepts. This gives them time to think about monastic life and evaluate whether it is suitable for them. Similarly, the monastic community has the opportunity to assess the suitability of candidates. I encourage Westerners considering monastic ordination to live in a monastery as lay practitioners for some time so they can experience living and practicing in this way. If it agrees with them, they can slowly take the progressive levels of precepts and be able to adjust to each level before deepening their commitment.
Living with other monastics—be they our teachers, peers, or students—is valuable. Although monasteries are rare in the West at present, hopefully more will be established in the future. Monastics who do not live in a community should cultivate friendships with spiritual friends with similar precepts, views, and aspirations and keep in contact with monastics who live in other places. They can then discuss the Dharma and challenges they face with these Dharma companions.
Over the years I have spoken many times about bhikṣuṇī ordination and expressed my wish and hope that this ordination will be given in our Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya tradition. When Śāntarakṣita brought the bhikṣu ordination lineage to Tibet in the eighth century, he unfortunately did not bring bhikṣuṇīs too, and thus the bhikṣuṇī ordination never took root in Tibet. However, our Teacher, the Buddha himself, established the bhikṣuṇī order during his lifetime, and at the same time he affirmed women’s ability to attain both liberation and full awakening. He also expressed his wish for the fourfold assembly to exist and said that these four groups harmoniously practicing the Buddhadharma will make his teachings last a long time in this world. For all these reasons, it is important that bhikṣuṇīs exist in our Tibetan community. This is especially true now, when the quality of the nuns’ education has vastly improved. We now see many nuns becoming good scholars; some nuns are now receiving their geshema degrees, signifying their mastery of Buddhist philosophy.
Wherever I go in the world, I see multitudes of women devotees; in many places they outnumber the men. Therefore it is only right that women have access to the responsibilities and privileges that full ordination brings. As one individual, I do not have the authority to institute bhikṣuṇī ordination in the Tibetan community. This is an issue that the saṅgha as a group must decide. For many years now I have suggested there be an international meeting of the saṅgha to decide this issue. In preparation for that, it would be good if Tibetan bhikṣus could agree on a way to give the Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikṣuṇī ordination. I am pleased to see the support for this from many heads of Tibetan lineages. I have also shared some vinaya material with Laotian and Burmese Buddhist leaders. We will have a serious discussion, and I am quite sure some agreement will be achieved eventually.
We Tibetans were very fortunate that after persecution by King Langdarma in the ninth century we were able to restore the bhikṣu lineage, which was on the verge of extinction in Tibet. As a result, so many men have been able to listen, reflect, and meditate on the Dharma as fully ordained monks, and this has benefited Tibetan society as well as the world. Therefore, let us do our best to research this issue and find a way to establish the bhikṣuṇī saṅgha as well. In countries that currently have bhikṣuṇī ordination, such as Taiwan, Korea, and Vietnam, bhikṣuṇīs benefit the Dharma and society in many ways. Recently Theravāda bhikkhunī ordination has been restored in Sri Lanka—there are nearly one thousand bhikkhunīs as of 2014—and there are now even some bhikkhunīs in Thailand.
Equal opportunity regarding ordination is important. Citing passages in the vinaya, some Tibetan vinaya masters suggest that under special circumstances, a bhikṣuṇī ordination performed by the bhikṣu saṅgha alone is valid. These special circumstances include a place where bhikṣuṇīs are not available to give the ordination because no bhikṣuṇīs reside in that area or because it is too dangerous for bhikṣuṇīs to travel to that place. Previous and contemporary vinaya masters in the Chinese community agree with this.
In the meantime, several women who practice Tibetan Buddhism have received bhikṣuṇī ordination in the Dharmaguptaka vinaya from Chinese, Vietnamese, or Korean saṅghas. We recognize them as bhikṣuṇīs. I encourage them to do the three main saṅgha activities together.
In addition to introducing bhikṣuṇī ordination, bhikṣuṇīs must also become objects of reverence. Therefore, we must examine passages in Buddhist texts as well as attitudes and practices in our communities that are biased against women. The Buddha wanted his saṅgha to conform with many of the cultural attitudes of the time. As the saṅgha, we must do this in the twenty-first century as well. Since modern societies, as well as the United Nations, stress the importance of gender equality and respect for women, we Buddhists must do so as well.
I would now like to address those of you who are monastics. Since we have obtained a precious human life with all conditions conducive for practicing the Dharma, now is the time to stop the suffering of saṃsāra. Having the time and opportunity for Dharma practice that monastic life provides, we must do our best to abandon unnecessary activities and cultivate contentment. As a monastic, our foremost practice is to abandon afflictions.
Monastic life is more than abiding in precepts. To keep the precepts, we must examine our minds and confront and avert the afflictions. To do this the Buddha recommends living in seclusion. Seclusion does not mean simply living alone in a remote place. The deeper meaning of seclusion is being separated from afflictions, destructive actions, and the eight worldly concerns. Seclusion from self-centeredness and ignorance are the best. Such seclusion entails developing mindfulness and introspective awareness and training our minds patiently and diligently over time.
We take precepts because we are imperfect beings who are trying to subdue our minds. It is natural that we make mistakes, but doing so should not be treated lightly. When we transgress a precept, we must reveal it and use the methods taught in the vinaya to purify both the destructive karma and the infraction of the precepts. Transgressing the root precepts results in losing the ordination, so we must be especially conscientious to avoid that.
While it is up to each person to decide whether to become a monastic, once we are ordained, we must practice sincerely. If we wear the robes of a monastic but our behavior is not good, the lay community will lose respect for the saṅgha. That would be very sad. Monastics must practice well and make themselves objects worthy of respect.
Monastics help each other to grow in the Dharma by giving and receiving admonishment. When a monastic misbehaves but does not acknowledge his error, with a compassionate motivation we should admonish him so that he can correct his ways. When we receive admonishment, we must listen respectfully and contemplate what those who are senior in ordination or wiser in the precepts advise. Being obstinate and insolent regarding either the Buddha’s advice or the admonition of the saṅgha creates many hindrances for our practice, whereas receiving admonition with humility and appreciation enables us to grow in the Dharma.
Whether or not we are ordained, it is important to appreciate the simplicity of a monastic life lived with precepts. Appreciating the monastic way of life will leave latencies so we can be ordained in future lives.
To express in a brief way my respect for monastic discipline, I would like to share with you some verses I wrote in 1973, “The Joy of Prātimokṣa Discipline.”
We fortunate ones who follow
our supreme teacher, the Impeccable One:
it is becoming for us to engage with pure faith
in uncompromised ethical conduct.
Externally pure, internally pure,
beneficial and joyful, both here and beyond,
medicine for both self and others,
marvelous! We have met the Buddha’s Way!
Though difficult, we have encountered it this once;
those who seize it are even fewer.
With firm determination in our hearts,
observe pure conduct by all means possible.
Beyond doubt, this discipline subdues
the extremely coarse afflictions;
even the duḥkha natural to householders’ lives—
what need to mention that this discipline eases that, too?
The supreme mind of bodhicitta—
the lifeline of the bodhisattva path—
concentrations such as the union of serenity and insight, and so forth:
what escapes being produced by this discipline?
profound path of tantra,
the method to realize selflessness with the subtlest level of mind:
that, too, is founded on this discipline.
The state of a buddha,
the inseparable union of compassion and emptiness,
emaho! the swiftest path leading to it.
That, too, relies on this discipline for its cause.
Therefore, O intelligent friends,
do not disparage or treat as trivial
the prātimokṣa ethical discipline,
which originates in the śrāvaka’s scriptures.
Know that the discipline is praised
as the basis and root of the doctrine.
Strive to follow it well, supported by study and analysis,
with mindfulness, introspective awareness, and conscientiousness.
Guard well with utmost striving,
with personal integrity and due respect;
do not give in to indifference and indolence,
lest you should squander the very root of steadfast well-being.
Those practicing the Bodhisattva Vehicle take the bodhisattva ethical restraints with the wish to attain full awakening to benefit all sentient beings. The bodhisattva precepts focus on subduing self-centeredness, the main obstacle to generating bodhicitta and engaging in the bodhisattvas’ practice. Different versions of the bodhisattva ethical restraints are found in Tibetan, Chinese, and Japanese Buddhism.
The tantric ethical restraint is undertaken with a more intense bodhicitta motivation, wishing to attain full awakening quickly to be capable of benefiting sentient beings sooner. It consists of fourteen root precepts, eight heavy infractions, and other precepts as well. Their main purpose is to help diminish dualistic view, but they also strengthen all forms of ethical conduct by prohibiting contentious criticism of the prātimokṣa and bodhisattva precepts, scorning the Dharma teachings, and relinquishing love and bodhicitta.
Unlike the prātimokṣa precepts that focus on physical and verbal actions, bodhisattva and tantric precepts emphasize ethical conduct on the mental level. Here motivation is foremost. This means that if our motivation is pure, we can transform all actions into the Dharma. However, this does not give us license to rationalize selfish and nonvirtuous actions by saying “My motivation was compassion.”
Vinaya practice emphasizes decreasing attachment, so monastics are not allowed to touch gold or precious things. The bodhisattva precepts, which presuppose having some control over attachment and emphasize the welfare of others, specify that if the donor would be hurt by our refusing her monetary gift, we should accept it and then use it to benefit others. Although these actions superficially seem contradictory, they are both ethical precepts that apply to one person at different times in her training.
Practitioners who observe the tantric restraints and commitments should also observe vinaya precepts, which are easier to keep and are good preparation for taking the bodhisattva and tantric precepts. Practicing tantra should not be used as an excuse to neglect the vinaya. Quite the opposite, we should be more strict in practicing vinaya because if we aren’t, how can we expect to observe the tantric restraints, which are more difficult to follow?