Lzh Dg Bu Vb Sk 31Making Food into a Monument

– DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA

– ŚAIKṢA-DHARMAS

RULE 31

Once, the Buddha was residing at the Anāthapiṇḍika garden, Jeta's Grove, in the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, a lay devotee invited the Saṅgha to come the following morning to receive an offering of fine foods. During the night he made full preparations, and early in the morning he came to invite the monastics to come and receive the meal.

When the time came, the bhikkhus put on their robes, took their bowls, and went to the lay devotee's house, where they sat in their seats. The lay devotee personally served food to the monastics. The group of six bhikkhus received their food by hollowing out the middle of their bowls. The lay devotee, seeing this, expressed his displeasure, saying: "These Śākyan recluses have no sense of shame. They receive food without restraint. Outwardly they claim to know the true Dharma — but what sort of true Dharma is this? They receive food just like oxen, donkeys, camels, pigs, dogs, and ravens — no different at all!"

The bhikkhus heard this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment, who lived the dhūta practices, were fond of training in the precepts, and had a sense of shame. They reproached the group of six bhikkhus: "Why did you hollow out the middle of your bowls to eat?"

The bhikkhus went to where the Blessed One was, paid homage at his feet, sat to one side, and reported this matter to the Buddha in full. The Blessed One used this occasion to convene the assembly of bhikkhus, and rebuked the group of six bhikkhus:

"What you have done is wrong — it is not proper conduct, it is not the way of a recluse, it is not pure practice, it is not befitting behavior, it is doing what ought not to be done. Why, when receiving food, do you hollow out a hole in the middle of your bowls to eat?"

At that time, after the Blessed One had rebuked them with many skillful means, he said to the bhikkhus:

"These foolish men are a field for sowing many seeds of outflow; they are the first to commit this offense. From this day forward, I shall establish a rule for the bhikkhus, based on ten principles, up to and including the principle that the true Dharma may long endure."

The precept to be proclaimed is as follows:

One should not hollow out the middle of the bowl to eat — śaikṣa-dharma.

Bhikkhu: the meaning is as above.

Hollowing out the middle of the bowl to eat: this means leaving the surrounding area and scooping out the center of the bowl down to the bottom.

If a bhikkhu intentionally hollows out the middle of the bowl to eat, he commits a duṣkṛta offense requiring confession. Because it is done intentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta offense of improper conduct. If it is done unintentionally, he commits a duṣkṛta offense.

A bhikkhunī: duṣkṛta. A śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, a śrāmaṇerikā: duṣkṛta. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: if one is afflicted with such an illness; if, fearing the food is too hot, one hollows out the center to let it cool; if it is past midday; or if there is a threat to one's life or a threat to one's pure practice and one must eat quickly and so hollows out the center to eat — in these cases there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits the act for the first time before the rule has been established; one who is mentally deranged; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is afflicted with pain and distress.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka master Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng.

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

Buddhist Studies Editorial Board, 2002.