Lzh Mi Bi Pm Pc 20Eating Successive Meals
Pāli / Sanskrit:Paramparabhojana
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Discourse on Eating Successive Meals (Paramparabhojana)
Explanation from the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Tradition
Background
Paramparabhojana is a rule (Pātimokkha) recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the early Buddhist tradition. This rule belongs to the Pācittiya section, lighter offenses for which a practitioner must confess and make amends. Its content concerns the act of eating meals or food in succession without a proper “interval” in the process of eating by a monastic.
The historical background of this rule arose from occasions when the Buddha and his monastic disciples found that some practitioners did not observe the established rules on eating. These persons exploited gaps in the regulations in order to eat too much or in a way not in keeping with the spirit of austere practice. Therefore, the Buddha established specific rules to preserve discipline in the Sangha and to help monastics cultivate wisdom through restraint in eating.
Main Content
The rule of Paramparabhojana states that after a monastic has finished a main meal, usually in the morning, the only time of day when monastics are permitted to eat solid food, if they wish to eat a second time or on subsequent occasions, there must be a certain “interval.” Specifically, if one eats rice or other food continuously without stopping, without allowing others to share, or without a clear transitional period between occasions of eating, this is considered a violation of the Pātimokkha.
The act of “eating successively” (paramparabhojana) is not only continuing to eat through one long meal, but also includes eating several times in a day without observing the prescribed time. According to the Vinaya Piṭaka, monastics may eat solid food only once in the early morning; apart from that they may take only allowable tonics, not rice. If a practitioner eats rice a second time or subsequently in succession without sufficient time or clearly defined conditions of interruption, this violates the rule and must be confessed.
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