Lzh Mi Bi Pm Pc 101Entering Monasteries
Pāli / Sanskrit:Ārāmapavisana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Explanation of the Ārāmapavisana Sutta (Entering a Monastery)
Background
The Ārāmapavisana Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Pāli Theravāda tradition, recorded among the monastic rules concerning monastery management and the conduct of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. The context in which this teaching arose is connected with the need for the Buddha and the Sangha to establish clear rules about how to enter, reside in, and act within monasteries (ārāma).
In the early period, as the Sangha grew strongly, many problems arose from the lack of standards. When bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs entered monasteries, some behaved or acted inappropriately, or disturbed lay Buddhists. Therefore, the Buddha gave specific guidelines to protect the dignity of the monastery, maintain the spirit of pure practice, and build a harmonious relationship between the monastic and lay communities.
Main Content
The Ārāmapavisana Sutta stipulates that when a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī enters a monastery, specific principles of conduct must be followed. First, one must ask permission from the head of the monastery or the monastery steward before entering. This expresses respect for the sacred space and for the monastery’s authority of management.
While in the monastery, one must maintain a solemn state of mind and behave in accordance with the training rules of monks and nuns. One should not laugh loudly, engage in useless talk, or do activities that distract others from their practice. One must respect the monastery’s possessions and not use communal property arbitrarily without permission.
In particular, this teaching emphasizes caution in relationships. A male bhikkhu should not remain alone with a bhikkhunī in secluded places. Interactions must always be pure and transparent, avoiding every suspicion or impropriety. In addition, one must respect sacred objects and realities such as the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, through proper speech and action.
The sutta also stipulates that when leaving the monastery, one must depart with a pure mind and not take along any object that has not been permitted.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.