Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 14Leaving Furniture Outside

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

14. SPREADING THE SANGHA'S FURNISHINGS AND NOT PUTTING THEM AWAY

A. ORIGIN

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the park of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, a householder in the city of Śrāvastī wished to invite the Sangha for a meal. While waiting for the mealtime to arrive, the group of seventeen monks took the Sangha's sitting mats and spread them out in the open ground, and then walked back and forth in meditation, waiting for the time to eat. When the hour came, without putting away the Sangha's sitting mats, they went straight to the place where they had been invited to eat; as a result, the Sangha's sitting mats were blown by the wind, covered with dust and dirt, gnawed and damaged by insects and birds, defiled and unclean.

When the monks had finished their meal and returned to the monastery, they saw the Sangha's sitting mats blown by the wind, covered with dust and dirt, gnawed and damaged by insects and birds, soiled and unclean, and they asked:

"Who spread out the Sangha's sitting mats and then left without putting them away, so that they have been blown by the wind, covered with dust and dirt, gnawed and damaged by insects and birds, defiled and unclean in this way?"

The monks said:

"The group of seventeen monks spread them out."

Among the monks who heard this, there were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the austere practices, who delighted in training in the precepts, and who knew shame and remorse; they reproached the group of seventeen monks:

"How could you spread out the Sangha's sitting mats and then leave without putting them away, allowing them to be blown by the wind, covered with dust and dirt, gnawed and damaged by insects and birds, defiled and unclean like this?"

The monks went to the place where the Blessed One was, paid homage at his feet, then sat to one side and reported this matter fully to the Blessed One. The Blessed One thereupon used this occasion to assemble the Sangha of monks and reproached the group of seventeen monks, saying:

"What you have done is wrong; it is not proper conduct, not the practice of a śramaṇa, not pure conduct, not compliant behavior—it is something that should not be done. Why did you take the Sangha's sitting mats, spread them out, and then leave without putting them away, so that they were blown by the wind, covered with dust and dirt, gnawed and damaged by insects and birds, defiled and unclean?"

The Blessed One reproached the group of seventeen monks with countless skillful means, and then said to the monks:

"These are foolish men; they are a field for planting many seeds of the outflows; they are the first offenders of this precept. From this day forward, I shall lay down the precept for the monks, for ten purposes, up to and including the purpose that the true Dharma may long endure."

To proclaim the precept, it should be stated as follows:

Whatever monk takes a rope bed, a wooden bed, a sleeping mat, or a sitting cushion belonging to the Sangha and spreads it in the open ground, or has another spread it, and upon departing neither puts it away himself nor has another put it away—pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE PRECEPT

Monk: as defined above.

Property of the Sangha, set aside for the Sangha, belonging to the Sangha.

—Property of the Sangha: property that has been formally relinquished to the Sangha.

—Property set aside for the Sangha: property made for the Sangha but not yet formally relinquished to the Sangha.

—Property belonging to the Sangha: property that has entered the Sangha's possession, having been relinquished to the Sangha.

Rope bed: there are five types—a lying bed with revolving legs, a lying bed with straight legs, a lying bed with curved legs, a lying bed with mortise-and-tenon joints, and a lying bed without legs.

Wooden bed: likewise.

Sleeping mat: used either for sitting or for lying down.

Cushion: used for sitting.

If a monk spreads out the Sangha's beds, chairs, sleeping mats, or sitting cushions in the open ground, or has another spread them; when departing, if there is a resident monk, a māmaka, or a property steward present, he should say: "I now entrust this to you. Please look after and care for it." If there is no one, he must put them away in a sheltered place and then depart. If there is no sheltered place, but he knows that the spot is not subject to damage and is secure, he should cover the finer items with the coarser ones and then depart.

If he goes and returns immediately, he may depart. If there is sudden rain and he must return quickly, and the sitting mats will not be damaged, he may depart. If the rain is moderate and he can return in time, he may depart.

If the rain is a light drizzle and he goes slowly and can return in time, he may depart. The monk should follow these skillful means in sequence and then depart. If he departs without following these skillful means, at the moment he steps out through the door—pācittiya.

If one foot is inside the door and one foot is outside, and he intends to leave but does not leave and then has regrets, all such cases are duṣkṛta.

If two people are seated together on a bed or chair, the junior-seated one must put it away before departing. If the junior-seated one thinks that the senior one will put it away, but in the end the senior one does not do so, then the junior-seated one incurs a pācittiya and also violates proper conduct, thus incurring an additional duṣkṛta. If the senior-seated one thinks that the junior one will put it away, and the junior one does not do so, then the senior-seated one incurs a pācittiya.

If two people depart at the same time, neither before nor after the other, and neither puts it away, both incur a pācittiya. Furthermore, in the case of rope beds, lying beds, chairs, reclining chairs, bathing chairs, or the inner or outer layers of sleeping mats, floor-spreading cloths, or woolen cords or hemp cords left on the ground without being put away when departing—all such cases incur a duṣkṛta. If the Sangha's sitting mat is spread on the ground and, without putting it away, one enters a room to sit in contemplation, this also incurs a duṣkṛta.

For a bhikkhunī—pācittiya. For a śikṣamāṇā, śrāmaṇera, or śrāmaṇerī—duṣkṛta. This is called an offense.

Non-offense: if one takes the Sangha's rope bed, wooden bed, chair, reclining chair, sleeping mat, or sitting cushion, spreads it on the ground oneself or has another spread it, and upon departing informs the resident monk, māmaka, or property steward to look after and put away this item. If there is no one, one arranges it in a sheltered place and departs. If there is no safe sheltered place, but one knows that no item will be lost or feared to decay at that spot, one covers the fine items with the coarser items and departs.

If one goes and returns immediately, or if there is heavy rain and strong wind, and one goes quickly and returns quickly, or if the rain is moderate and one goes while returning in time, or if the rain is a light drizzle and one walks leisurely and returns in time—if one departs having followed these skillful means in sequence, there is no offense.

Or if one is bound by force, or faces a threat to one's life, or a threat to one's chastity, and is unable to follow these steps in sequence—there is no offense. Or if two people are seated together on a rope bed and the junior-seated one puts it away. Furthermore, for all the various types of beds—wooden beds, rope beds, chairs, reclining chairs, bathing chairs, the inner or outer layers of sleeping mats, floor-spreading cloths, fine woolen cords—if one puts them away from the ground before departing. Or if one spreads the Sangha's sitting mat on the open ground, puts it away, and then enters a room to contemplate—there is no offense.

Those who are not offenders: one who offends for the first time before the precept has been laid down; one who is insane, one whose mind is disturbed, one who is afflicted with pain and overwhelmed.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART VINAYA, PART ONE

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, fascicles 1, 2)

Buddhist Studies Publication Committee, 2002