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Early Schools · Comparative Canon · Comparative Vinaya — Chinese

Lzh Sarv Bi Pm Np 25Asking for Something Else

Pāli / Sanskrit:Aññaviññāpana

📖307 words · ~1 min read
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Interpreted by Inti AI (English)
🪷 AI interpretation

The Aññaviññāpana Discourse (Asking for Other Things)

Background

The Aññaviññāpana discourse is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, in the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha, the rules of confession for nuns. This is one of the subtle regulations concerning daily discipline in the early Buddhist religious community. The discourse appears in the context of interactions among nuns, as well as between nuns and monks, when there are requests for the provision of items or other forms of support beyond what is permitted.

The Vinaya Piṭaka was recorded to maintain stability, purity, and harmony in the monastic community. Each regulation is not for imposition, but to protect the spirit of practice and prevent actions that may cause disturbance. The Aññaviññāpana discourse reflects the Buddha’s awareness of situations that may appear harmless at first glance but in fact may lead to unwanted consequences.

Main Content

The Aññaviññāpana discourse concerns a situation in which a nun asks for some item or service from another nun, or from lay supporters. The main question of the discourse is whether a nun is permitted to ask for something not included in the category of items permitted for use.

The regulation on “asking for other things” (aññaviññāpana) emphasizes that nuns should not request things beyond basic needs or things not permitted in the Pātimokkha rules. This act is regarded as a form of greed (lobha) or disregard for the limits that have been set. When a nun asks for other things, she not only violates personal discipline but may also affect the reputation of and community trust in the religious order.

Through specific cases in the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha taught that steadfastness within these simple limits is an important part of the path of practice. It is not meaningless austerity, but a way to train wisdom (paññā) and restraint of the faculties (indriya samvara).

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Translation source: Interpreted by AILicense: CC0-1.0 (Sujato) · personal-use (Minh Châu) · EN: AI translation from Vietnamese source, awaiting source English

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