Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Pd 8Asking for Dried Meat

Sutra on Asking for Dried Meat

Background

This text is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Pātimokkha, where Śākyamuni Buddha established prohibitions for monks and nuns. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not merely a set of prohibitions, but an expression of the Buddha’s wisdom and compassion, intended to preserve the purity of the monastics and protect the development of the Sangha.

The matter of asking for dried meat arose from practical situations in the monastic life of practitioners in the Buddha’s time. Monastics needed food to maintain health and the capacity for study and practice, but the Buddha was very careful about whether monastics developed attachment to food or acted in ways unsuited to Dharma conduct. Therefore, he established strict rules about how to ask for, receive, and use food, especially meat or “delicious” foods that could arouse desire.

Main Content

According to the spirit of the Vinaya Piṭaka, asking for dried meat, or similar special foods, is not freely permitted. This has a deeper purpose: first, it prevents greed for tasty foods, conduct contrary to the practice of desireless renunciation (nekkhamma). Second, it reduces distinctions among monastics in the practicing community, where equality is the foundation of the Sangha.

When a monastic wishes to ask for dried meat or special foods, the Buddha prescribed that this must be reported to and permitted by superiors or by the whole Sangha, depending on the situation. If one asks without proper permission, or with greedy intent, that monastic violates one of the prohibitions in the Pātimokkha.

This rule is also connected with the principle of “happiness in giving, difficulty in asking” (dānam mattaññutā anujānāti, sukhaṁ dānassa paṭilābho). Monastics should live simply, without covetous thought, and receive only foods voluntarily offered by lay devotees.