Understanding the Vinaya

AMY PARIS LANGENBERG on the history, evolution, and modern manifestations of the training rules followed by Buddhist monastics.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GASTÃO FIANDEIRO

ACCORDING TO A CERTAIN Pali sutta, there was a monk (or bhikkhu) called Bhaddāli, a disciple of the Buddha who failed to follow his teacher’s rule about eating only one meal a day. After he realized his mistake, he spoke with his teacher about the deleterious effects of ignoring the training rules laid down for monks. The Buddha explained that, in neglecting the training rules, even a monk who spends time in a retreat hut in a secluded wilderness location will fail to “realize any superhuman distinction in knowledge or vision worthy of the noble ones.” A monk who does follow the training rules laid down by the teacher, on the other hand, will accomplish all four of the meditative absorptions (jhana), recollect his own past lives, understand the cycles…

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Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2024

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