Lzh Mu Bi Pm Ss 4Receiving Food With Lust
Pāli / Sanskrit:Avassutā avassutassa
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An Explanation of the Sutta “Receiving Food With Lust” (Avassutā Avassutassa)
Background
This sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, one of the three main divisions of the Pāli Canon. The Vinaya Piṭaka records the precepts and stories related to the practice of bhikkhus, bhikkhunīs, and close associates within the Sangha organization in the time of the Buddha. The sutta “Avassutā avassutassa” (Receiving Food With Lust) appears in the context of guidance on practicing ethics in daily eating.
In Theravāda Buddhism, eating and drinking are not merely physiological acts to sustain life, but important places of practice. Each meal is an opportunity for a monastic to examine the mind, nurture mindfulness (sati), and not allow unwholesome mental states such as desire (lobha) to stir up the mind. This sutta centers on the problem: when do we put food into the mouth with passion, with enjoyment and craving, rather than with a superior and alert spirit?
Main Content
The original title “Avassutā avassutassa” may be translated as “one unrestrained receiving food from one unrestrained” or “receiving food with a distracted mind.” The sutta clearly describes the situation when a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī puts food into the mouth without mindfulness, without observing the state of the mind. At that time, unwholesome states related to sensual craving (kāma-taṇhā) or craving for becoming (bhava-taṇhā) can easily enter.
The sutta teaches that the proper way, when receiving food, is for the practitioner always to remember that food is only for maintaining the health of the body, so that one has the strength to practice the Dharma and develop wholesome qualities (kusala). The mind must be held steady in right view (sammā-diṭṭhi), not carried away by good taste, fragrance, or pleasant feeling from the food.
The sutta emphasizes the difference between a mindful practitioner and an unmindful person. One who has mindfulness, when eating, has a clear mind and does not allow desire to arise.
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