Lzh Mi Bi Vb Ss 8Receiving Food With Lust
Pāli / Sanskrit:Avassutā avassutassa
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Exposition of the Sutta "Receiving Food With Lust"
Background
This sutta appears in the Vinaya Piṭaka, especially in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, reflecting disputes that arose in the early community of Buddhist nuns. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not a set of isolated rigid rules, but teachings on discipline combined with illustrative stories and commentary that help bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs understand the spirit behind each rule.
The background of the sutta concerns the practice of receiving prepared food, food cooked by fire. Nuns needed training not only in outward actions but also in intention and mental attitude when receiving offerings. The phrase "avassutā avassutassa" may be rendered as "one who is heedless with one who is heedless" or "receiving inattentively," implying that the manner of receiving food reflects the entire state of concentration and intention of the practitioner.
Main Content
The sutta teaches the distinction between receiving food with a mind in accordance with the Dharma (yoniso manasikāra) and receiving it with lust or carelessness. When a bhikkhunī receives food, this act is not merely a means of sustaining the body. It is an opportunity to practice mindfulness (sati) and clear comprehension (sampajañña), the clear knowing of the true purpose of eating.
In accordance with the Dharma, food is received to sustain life, support practice, and avoid the excessive discomfort of hunger and cold, not to satisfy desire for flavor, beauty, or sensory pleasure. When the mind receives food with lust (lobha) or inattention (avassuta), the practitioner falls into mental heedlessness and loses the opportunity for practice at that moment.
The sutta emphasizes that both giver and receiver need to be "careful," that is, possessed of wakefulness and mindfulness. Receiving food becomes a profound form of practice, a way to examine the quality of the mental formation and intention of the monastic.
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