… It also shows how the later
accomplishments of his life—teaching the Dhamma to others and
establishing the Dhamma & Vinaya so that the True Dhamma would
last a long time—were directly related to the first.
Past Lives
The suttas list “jātakas,”
or stories of previous births, as one of the
genres that the Buddha used in teaching. The Vinaya and the
four nikāyas …
… We have to be excellent in our practice and conduct, in line with such principles of the Dhamma and Vinaya as the ascetic practices. If we’re solid in the ascetic practices, we’ll gradually become excellent people in line with the principles of our practice and ultimately in line with the principles of nature—excellent not just in name, but through the nature …
… This point is reflected in the Vinaya, where the monks are instructed to keep watch over one another’s behavior. As we will see in Chapter Seven, if they suspect that a fellow monk has broken a rule, they are to approach him about the matter. If dissatisfied with his response, they have to meet as a full community and pass judgment on whether …
… what might be skillful, seeking the unexcelled state of sublime peace, I went to Āḷāra Kālāma and, on arrival, said to him, ‘Friend Kālāma, I want to practice in this Dhamma & Vinaya.’
“When this was said, he replied to me, ‘You may stay here, my friend. This doctrine is such that a wise person can soon enter & dwell in his own teacher’s knowledge …
APPENDIX FOUR
Disciplinary Transactions
The transaction statements the Canon gives for these disciplinary transactions follow closely the details of the origin stories leading up to the first allowance for each transaction. As the Commentary points out, these statements do not fit all the cases where a particular disciplinary transaction can be applied. Thus, it recommends— when imposing one of these transactions on an individual …
… You may categorically hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’” – AN 8:53
The first thing to notice about these values is that, even though they are closely interrelated, they can be divided into three sorts: those touching on the goal of the practice (dispassion, being unfettered), those touching on internal virtues needed to reach that …
… Thus it is that many evil, unskillful qualities/events—born of greed, caused by greed, originated through greed, conditioned by greed—come into play.
[Similarly with aversion and delusion.]
“And a person like this is called one who speaks at the wrong time, speaks what is unfactual, speaks what is irrelevant, speaks contrary to the Dhamma, speaks contrary to the Vinaya. Why…? Because of …
… This sutta also differs from the preceding one in that it contains no material from the Vinaya, and there are proportionally fewer lists that do not appear in other suttas.
As is the case with the preceding sutta, this sutta is hard to date. However, unlike that sutta—whose open-ended organization would have allowed succeeding generations to keep adding material to expand it …
CHAPTER THREE
Alms Bowls & Other Accessories
Alms bowls
The alms bowl is another requisite that a candidate for ordination must have before he can be accepted into the Community as a bhikkhu (Mv.I.70.1). Bowls made either of clay or iron are allowed, while bowls made of or with the following materials are prohibited: gold, silver, gems, lapis lazuli, crystal, bronze, glass …
… In the same way that he saw strict enforcement of the rules of the Vinaya as an expression of compassion, he saw the rigorous uprooting of wrong view in his opponents as an act both of kindness and respect.
6) The questions of self cross-examination test the frame of right view in action—to see if it really does aid in eliminating stress …
… As for the assertion that a person in jhāna cannot hear sounds, this point is clearly disproven by an incident in the Vinita-vatthu, or Precedents, listed in the discussion of Pārājika 4 in the Vinaya. There, Ven. Moggallāna states that he can hear sounds when entering the formless attainments. A group of monks object to his statement, convinced that he is making a …
… Actually, they’re looking in the wrong place, because the humor is primarily in the Vinaya, which deals with monks’ rules. For every rule, there’s a story, and the story, many times, will be humorous. And it’s interesting that it has this function. For one thing, if you can laugh at the behavior that led the Buddha to formulate the rule, it …
… He speaks out of season, speaks what isn’t factual, what isn’t in accordance with the goal, the Dhamma, & the Vinaya, words that are not worth treasuring. This is how one is made impure in four ways by verbal action.
Unskillful Mental Action
“And how is one made impure in three ways by mental action? There is the case where a certain person …
… Which five? There is the case where a monk is a listener, a destroyer, a protector, an endurer, and a goer.
“And how is a monk a listener? There is the case where, when the Dhamma & Vinaya declared by the Tathāgata is being taught, a monk pays attention, applies his whole mind, and lends ear to the Dhamma. This is how a monk is …
… There are medicines allowed in the Vinaya that do have an antibiotic effect. As for parasites in the body that are large enough to see, there are medicines that allow them to come out of the body without killing the parasite. Basically, they make the parasite faint. When it faints, it lets go and comes out of the body.
Q: The next question is …
… For it is a cause of growth in the Dhamma & Vinaya of the noble ones when, seeing a transgression as such, one makes amends in accordance with the Dhamma and exercises restraint in the future.”
Then, when the night had passed, the woman, with her own hand, served & satisfied Ven. Anuruddha with excellent staple and non-staple food. When Ven. Anuruddha had eaten & removed …
… 1) Of all the various sources of the Buddha’s teachings, the Pāli suttas—together with the Pāli Vinaya, or monastic rules—seem by far to be the closest record we have of the Buddha’s teachings.
2) This is the Buddhist religion with which I am most familiar and in which I was trained.
3) Of all the Buddhist religions, the Theravāda contains …
… compassion, seeking the other’s benefit, sympathy, removal of offenses, and esteem for the Vinaya (Cv.IX.5.5-6). The first four of these qualities mean that he is not to speak out of malice or the simple desire to shame the accused; the fourth and fifth mean that if he feels an offense has been committed, he is not to back off …
… Yet I’ve heard that in this Dhamma & Vinaya the hearts of the very young monks leap up at renunciation, grow confident, steadfast, & firm, seeing it as peace. So right here is where this Dhamma & Vinaya is contrary to the great mass of people: i.e., [this issue of] renunciation.’”
“So it is, Ānanda. So it is. Even I myself—before my self-awakening …
… Two examples, one from the Vinaya and one from a sutta, are particularly relevant.
In Mv.II.3.4, the phrase, “we pay attention,” in the instructions for how to listen to the Pāṭimokkha, is defined as: “We listen with an ek’agga mind, an unscattered mind, an undistracted mind.” Even if ek’agga were translated as “one-pointed” here, the “point” is obviously …
The Awakening | Noble Warrior : A Life of the Buddha
… It also shows how the later accomplishments of his life—teaching the Dhamma to others and establishing the Dhamma & Vinaya so that the True Dhamma would last a long time—were directly related to the first. Past Lives The suttas list “jātakas,” or stories of previous births, as one of the genres that the Buddha used in teaching. The Vinaya and the four nikāyas …
Introduction | Udāna
… You may categorically hold, ‘This is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’” – AN 8:53 The first thing to notice about these values is that, even though they are closely interrelated, they can be divided into three sorts: those touching on the goal of the practice (dispassion, being unfettered), those touching on internal virtues needed to reach that …
