Xct Mu Bi Pm Ss 4Receiving Food With Lust
Pāli / Sanskrit:Avassutā avassutassa
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Exposition of the Avassutā Avassutassa Sutta
Receiving Food with a Greedy Mind
Background
The Avassutā Avassutassa Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of Theravāda Buddhism and is one of the important guidelines on the discipline of the Sangha in the Theravāda tradition. This scripture is recorded in the Pāli Canon, expressing the Buddha's instruction on how monks and nuns should receive food in a proper and ethical way.
The words "Avassutā" in the feminine form and "Avassutassa" in the masculine form carry the meaning of "inattentive," "negligent," or more specifically, "with a disturbed mind, lacking mindfulness." This discourse focuses on situations in which monks and nuns receive food without maintaining mindfulness, allowing the mind to be governed by greed (lobha) or craving (taṇhā).
Main Content
The Avassutā Avassutassa Sutta concerns a basic disciplinary rule: when monks and nuns receive food, they must maintain complete mindfulness. This is not merely about eating and drinking, but about developing concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā) through every daily action.
When a monk or nun receives food with an unmindful mind, allowing desire and craving to govern them, this is regarded as a violation of the Patimokkha Vinaya, the basic code of discipline. Specifically, this act may fall under the rules related to the Sekhiya, the training rules, subtle rules intended to cultivate ethical conduct.
The discourse makes clear that the act of receiving food is an opportunity to practice mindfulness. Each time one drinks water or eats rice, it should be done with clear awareness: food is received to nourish the body so that one may continue the path of practice, not to satisfy taste or desire. This is the Vinaya, discipline, reminding us that the monastery is not a place for satisfying craving, but a place for cultivating wisdom.
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.