Xct Mu Bu Pm Np 1The Robe-Making Season
Pāli / Sanskrit:Kathina
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Explanation of Kathina: The Robe-Making Season
Background
Kathina is one of the most important ceremonies of the Sangha in the Early tradition. The word Kathina (कठिन) means "hard" or "difficult," but in the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka it refers to a frame used to stretch cloth for making robes. The name, however, is used to refer to the entire ceremony of offering and establishing merit.
According to the explanation in the Vinaya Piṭaka, Kathina was established by the Buddha after the bhikkhus completed the rains retreat (vassa), which lasted three months. Throughout the rains, bhikkhus were required to remain in one place for deep practice, established as an important element of monastic discipline. When the rains ended, it was a time for the Sangha to organize communal activities and for devotees to have the opportunity to serve the Sangha.
Main Content
The Kathina ceremony takes place at the beginning of the cold season, ten days after the completion of vassa. New Buddhist devotees and families prepare rough cloth to make a robe. This cloth is brought to the monastery, where the Sangha together carries out a solemn process: from cutting the cloth and sewing it to formally announcing that the robe has been completed and offered.
The distinctive feature of this ceremony is its "step-by-step" nature - no step is skipped. The bhikkhus must carry out the work within the same day or over consecutive days, from receiving the cloth to completing the sewing. The one who establishes the Kathina (usually an appointed or voluntary bhikkhu) is the person who offers the robe to the Sangha, and when the robe is completed, that person proclaims that the benefits of Kathina have been established.
The establishment of Kathina brings special benefits. For five months after the ceremony (until the next Kathina or until the end of the Buddhist year), bhikkhus are exempt from certain restraints in the Pātimokkha (the table of disciplinary rules). For example, they are permitted to keep silk and velvet cloth, things normally not allowed.
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