Lzh Mu Bi Vb Np 22Out-of-Season Robe Cloth
Pāli / Sanskrit:Akālacīvara
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Sutta on Out-of-Season Robe Cloth (Akālacīvara)
Background
The Akālacīvara text, Out-of-Season Robe Cloth, belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Buddhist tradition, in the Nissaggiya Pācittiya section, the rules concerning actions for which an object must be relinquished because of a violation. The content of this text arose from specific situations in the monastic community of the Buddha, when disciples had not yet fully understood the principles for using robe-cloth (cīvara) in accordance with the discipline of the Saṅgha.
According to the Early Buddhist tradition, robe-cloth is one of the four basic requisites (cattāro nissaya) of one who has gone forth: clothing, food, lodging, and medicine. However, possessing or receiving robe-cloth is also subject to strict provisions intended to protect the spirit of renunciation and non-greed.
Main Content
The Akālacīvara text prescribes that a monk or nun may not receive robe-cloth outside the prescribed periods. In the monastic Vinaya, there are certain times in the year when receiving robe-cloth is permitted, usually at the end of the rains retreat (vassa) or on festival occasions. If a monk or nun receives robe-cloth at other times, called "out of season" (akāla), this act constitutes a Nissaggiya Pācittiya offense.
The meaning of this regulation is to teach practitioners restraint and the non-nourishing of greed. Robe-cloth is used to cover the body and protect health, not to satisfy private desires or to possess many things. By limiting the time for receiving clothing, the Buddha helps those gone forth train in contentment with little (appicchatā) and freedom from thirst for possessions (taṇhā).
When a monk or nun commits this offense, that person must relinquish the robe-cloth received and confess according to the ritual (pācittiya). These are not grave offenses such as Pārājika or Saṅghādisesa, but they are still actions that must be corrected in order to maintain the purity of realization and practice.
Practical Meaning
Although the rule concerning the time for receiving robe-cloth may seem like a small detail in Vinaya practice, it carries a profound lesson for those who practice today.
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