Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 81Not Spit at Base of Stupa

Not Spitting at the Base of a Stupa

Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 81 — Chinese Comparative Vinaya

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Source Status

This item belongs to the Comparative Vinaya — Chinese collection, classified within the tradition of Sectarian Scriptures · Comparative Texts. At present, the full source text of the rule numbered Lzh Dg Bi Vb Sk 81 has not been directly compared against an available text. Therefore, this commentary is not a translation of the original scripture, but an explanation of context, terminology, and direction for study and practice built entirely on the provided descriptive information.

Researchers wishing to consult it precisely should compare it directly with the corresponding Chinese text in the Vinaya of the relevant school.

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Background

The Comparative Vinaya — Chinese is a collection of materials with a comparative scholarly character, recording and comparing disciplinary rules among different Buddhist schools through Chinese textual sources. In the history of Indian and Central Asian Buddhism, as Buddhism divided into many schools, each school formed its own Vinaya system. These bodies of discipline share many basic similarities but differ in details, number of rules, and methods of classification.

The position of this rule in the Vinaya structure, bearing the designation Bi Vb Sk, indicates that it is a rule related to bhikkhunīs (Bi, that is, Bhikkhunī), in the Vinaya Bhāṣya or an equivalent section, belonging to the Sekhiya (Sk) group. Sekhiya rules are regulations concerning proper conduct in daily life. They are not grave rules such as Pārājika or Saṅghādisesa, but are training rules in deportment, courtesy, and reverence expressed through concrete action.

Rule number 81 in this group bears the title “Not Spitting at the Base of a Stupa”, a rule of deportment directly related to the attitude of reverence toward stupas honoring the Buddha and sacred objects.

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Content Determinable From the Descriptive Information

Based on the title in three languages, Vietnamese, English, and the technical title, all of which are consistent, the core content of this rule is the regulation forbidding a monastic from spitting at the base of a stupa or in the foundation area of reliquary stupas honoring the Buddha.

In Buddhist culture and the traditions of the schools, a stūpa is a structure symbolizing the presence of the Buddha, enshrining relics or objects connected with the Buddha and the noble ones. A stupa is regarded as a sacred Dharma body, worthy of worship, circumambulation, and reverence. The act of spitting, a contemptuous and unclean gesture, if performed at the base of a stupa, would be regarded as a violation of reverence toward the Three Jewels.

This belongs to the Sekhiya group (training rules), showing that this is an offense within the sphere of deportment, regulated in order to train the mind of reverence and the purity of bodily conduct of those gone forth. In most Vinaya systems of the schools, Sekhiya rules do not lead to heavy disciplinary penalties, but repeated violation shows a mind lacking mindfulness and reverence, something that a practitioner must take seriously.

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Meaning for Study and Practice

This small rule, although outwardly simple, contains an important depth of instruction in the life of study and practice:

First, bodily action is an expression of the mind. In Buddhism, there is no absolute separation between outward action and inner state. A small action such as spitting in a sacred place reflects the degree of mindfulness, wakefulness, and reverence of the practitioner. A practitioner does not only keep the mind pure in meditation, but must also express respect through every gesture and every step in all circumstances.

Second, reverence for a Dharma symbol is reverence for the Buddha. A stupa, whether made of stone or brick, symbolically represents the presence of the Buddha and the Dharma. When practitioners revere a stupa, they nurture the mind that takes refuge in the Three Jewels. This is the foundation of spiritual life in Buddhism.

Third, Sekhiya is the set of training rules for wakefulness in ordinary life. Rules in this group remind the practitioner that discipline is not only great prohibitions, but also includes attention in every action of daily life: how to sit, how to walk, how to eat, how to behave at sacred places. That continuous wakefulness is the bridge between discipline and concentration, between daily life and the path of liberation.

Fourth, this rule reminds one of equality in reverence. Whether bhikkhu or bhikkhunī, and in whatever circumstance, the attitude of reverence toward sacred Dharma symbols must be maintained consistently, without distinction between convenient and inconvenient situations.

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Comparative Note

Because this is material belonging to the Comparative Vinaya system, the nature of this collection is to gather and compare corresponding rules from many different schools transmitted through Chinese. Since the full source text has not been directly compared within the scope of the provided descriptive information, all specific details concerning the formula for reciting the rule, the conditions of offense, and the disciplinary judgment need to be consulted in the corresponding original Chinese text. This AI commentary has only initial orienting value and cannot replace direct study of the original Vinaya text.