Lzh Sarv Bu Pm Sk 92Low Seats
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nīcāsana
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DISCOURSE ON LOW SEATS (NĪCĀSANA)
Context
The discourse on low seats (Nīcāsana) is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, in the Pāli Canon. This is the Buddha's instruction for bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs concerning restrictions on dwelling places and the use of places of practice.
This discourse arises from the context of the Buddha and his disciples living in the Sangha community. With the rapid growth of the Sangha, detailed rules for daily life became necessary. Nīcāsana, a Pāli term meaning "low seat," refers to regulations on the use of objects, especially chairs, beds, mattresses, and daily implements in the life of practice.
Main Content
In this section of the Vinaya Pitaka, the Buddha established specific rules to limit the use of low seats (nīcāsana) and bedding. The main purpose was so that monastics would not cultivate attachment to comfort, which would bring about clinging to material things.
According to the Pāli tradition, these rules include the following: bhikkhus are not to use beds or chairs that are too high, nor mattresses or cushions that are too thick. Beds higher than a certain height were prohibited, because the Buddha saw that attachment to such refined things easily stimulates unwholesome mental states such as greed (lobha) and conceit (māna).
These restrictions are not because such objects are evil in themselves, but because they are signs of not yet having renounced, of not yet having cut off the relationship with passions of self-indulgence. The Buddha taught that a true monastic needs to live simply, frugally, and with reduced dependence on comfortable objects.
Practical Meaning
The discourse on low seats is not only a set of formal rules, but also reflects a profound principle in Buddhism: liberation from craving (taṇhā).
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