Lzh Dg Bu Vb Sk 11Squatting

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– ŚIKṢĀKARAṆĪYA

RULE 11

Once, the Buddha was staying in the garden of Anāthapiṇḍika, in the Jeta Grove, in the country of Śrāvastī. At that time, a householder invited the Saṅgha of monks to come to his home the following morning to receive a meal. That night the householder prepared an abundance of fine and nourishing food. Early the next morning he came to announce that the time had arrived.

At that time the monks put on their robes, took up their bowls, and went to the householder's home, where they took their seats. The group of six monks squatted in the householder's home. A monk sitting nearby touched one of them with his hand, and the group of six monks fell over backward, exposing their bodies. The householders who saw this were contemptuous and said: "These Śākyan monastics have no sense of shame. They receive without knowing satisfaction. Outwardly they claim, 'I know the true Dharma.' What true Dharma is there in this? Squatting in someone's home like a naked brahmin."

The monks heard of this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the ascetic disciplines, who delighted in the training rules, and who had a sense of shame. They reproached the group of six monks: "Why did you squat in the householder's home?"

The monks went to where the Blessed One was, paid homage at his feet, and sat to one side. They reported this matter to the Blessed One in full detail. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened the assembly of monks and rebuked the group of six monks:

"What you have done is wrong. It is not proper conduct, not the practice of a monastic, not pure conduct, not fitting behavior—it is something that should not be done. Why did you squat in the householder's home?"

Having rebuked them with many expedient means, the Buddha then said to the monks:

"These foolish men are a field for planting many seeds of the tainted, and they are the first to transgress this precept. From now on, I shall establish a rule for the monks, encompassing ten points of meaning, up to and including the perpetuation of the true Dharma for a long time."

The rule should be stated as follows:

One should not squat in a householder's home—śikṣākaraṇīya.

Monk: as explained above.

Householder's home: as explained above.

Squatting: being on the ground or on a bed with the buttocks not touching the surface.

A monk who intentionally squats in a householder's home commits a duṣkṛta that requires confession. Because it is done intentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta of improper conduct. If it is not done intentionally, he commits only a duṣkṛta.

A bhikṣuṇī: duṣkṛta. A śikṣāmāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, a śrāmaṇerī: duṣkṛta. These are called transgressions.

Non-offense: if there is such an illness; or if there is a sore on the buttocks; or if one is offering something, paying homage, performing confession, or receiving instruction in the precepts—in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who do not transgress: one who transgresses for the first time before the rule has been established; one who is mentally deranged, whose mind is disturbed, or who is afflicted and overcome by suffering.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikṣu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Studies Publication Committee, 2002