Lzh Mg Bi Pm Pc 129Getting Trainees to Massage
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sikkhamānā-ummaddāpana
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Commentary on the Sikkhamānā-ummaddāpana
Background
This text is recorded in the Vinaya-piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha (the rules of training for bhikkhunīs). These are detailed regulations governing the practice life of female monastics, particularly the female trainees (sikkhamānās) within the Theravāda Buddhist community.
Sikkhamānā is the distinctive status held by adult women preparing to take full ordination as bhikkhunīs. They are required to observe a code of training rules consisting of sixty rules, and this status is regarded as an important preparatory stage between that of a laywoman and a fully ordained female monastic.
The Sikkhamānā-ummaddāpana addresses matters relating to whether these female trainees are permitted to perform bodily-care services, in particular massage (ummaddana). These are practical regulations intended to maintain discipline and to prevent conduct that might constitute a violation of the training rules or give rise to complicated situations within the community of monastics.
Main Content
In the Vinaya-piṭaka, matters relating to massage and the care of the body are clearly regulated because they directly concern the rules governing physical contact between men and women, as well as the proper regard for oneself and for others. Female trainees are permitted to perform such services, but only under certain conditions, in order to ensure purity of mind and adherence to the principles of the holy training rules.
Specifically, this text stipulates that sikkhamānās may be assigned duties involving massage in the context of health care within the monastic community, particularly in assisting other monastics or those who are ill. However, this must be performed with right intention (sammā-cetanā)—that is, with a mind of genuine helpfulness, and not on account of unwholesome motives.
Restrictions are set forth to ensure that these activities do not become occasions for conduct that violates the training rules.
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