Lzh Mi Bi Pm Sk 88Low Seats
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nīcāsana
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Nīcāsana Sutta (Low Seats)
Background
The Nīcāsana Sutta is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, as part of the regulations concerning the activities and way of life of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs within the Sangha community. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not a collection of abstract moral judgments, but a body of concrete rules issued by the Buddha to maintain discipline, harmony, and the spirit of practice within the Sangha.
Nīcāsana literally means "low seats" or "low chairs" (nīca = low, āsana = seat). This sutta concerns the use of dwelling places, especially seats in towers, monasteries, or communal places. These may seem like minor details, but in fact they reflect profound principles of humility, respect, and the capacity to regulate one’s own actions.
Main Content
The Nīcāsana Sutta stipulates that bhikkhus should not use high chairs or overly elevated seats in monastic buildings. Instead, they should choose lower seats, suitable to ordinary stature. This rule was established not to humiliate anyone, but to cultivate a humble mind.
High chairs are regarded as a form of "luxurious pleasure" (ābhoga), contrary to the spirit of practice of one gone forth, who has renounced excessive bodily needs. In addition, in the social context of ancient India, high seats often symbolized power and high status, things that a practitioner should not desire. This rule also helps bhikkhus avoid actions that could cause misunderstanding or loss of trust among the lay community.
The sutta also contains a practical element: low seats are safer, avoiding the danger of falling, and are more suited to the simplicity of monastic settings. All these rules arise from the heart of the Buddha: to build a strong and harmonious community of practice, in which each member willingly observes discipline.
🌏 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.