Lzh Sarv Bu Vb Np 19Trading With Money
Pāli / Sanskrit:Rūpiyasaṁvohāra
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Sutta on Transactions With Money
Rūpiyasaṁvohāra
Background
This text is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the collection of regulations for bhikkhunīs. These are detailed monastic rules intended to regulate the daily actions of renunciants, especially questions concerning the management of material possessions.
In the early period of Theravāda Buddhism, monastics in the Sangha gradually encountered complex situations involving wealth. At first, Buddhist laypeople asked the Buddha to allow bhikkhus to take part in monetary transactions in order to support monastic life. However, the Blessed One saw that this could lead to ethical and spiritual complications, because dealing in money easily stirs up ambition, calculation of gain, and attachment to material things, all contrary to the spirit of going forth.
Main Content
This text records that the Buddha established a Pārājika, the gravest class of offenses causing a bhikkhu or bhikkhunī to be expelled from the Sangha, in relation to direct participation in monetary transactions (rūpiya). The essential point is that one who has gone forth is not permitted personally to buy, sell, exchange, or trade by means of currency.
This regulation also applies to indirect forms of transaction. If a bhikkhu asks someone else to conduct a monetary transaction in order to increase his own possessions, or if a bhikkhunī receives money from a donor and asks that person to buy what she wants, this is considered a violation. The basic reason is that such an act creates a bond with the world of profit and currency, a sphere that Theravāda Buddhism regards as unsuitable for the yogic life.
Nevertheless, bhikkhus are permitted to receive necessary requisites directly from devotees, such as robes, almsbowls, medicine, or lodging, without passing through the medium of money. This is regarded as an appropriate acceptance within the place of practice.
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