Toh 1-14Chapter 14: On Suspending the Restoration Rites
Pāli / Sanskrit:Poṣadhasthāpanavastu
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Explanation of the Sutra: On Temporarily Suspending the Rite for the Restoration of Discipline
Context
This passage belongs to the Northern Canon in the Kangyur and is part of the teachings related to the Vinaya in the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition. The original Sanskrit title Poṣadhasthāpanavastu refers to the regulations concerning the Poṣadha rite, that is, the observance or periodic gathering for recitation among bodhisattvas.
In the context of Mahāyāna monasteries, especially Tibetan and ancient Chinese monasteries, the Poṣadha rite is an important monthly or fortnightly event. This rite helps monks and nuns gather their minds, confess faults, and recommit themselves to maintaining the precepts. However, there are special circumstances in which this rite needs to be temporarily suspended, postponed, or modified in its manner of practice. Chapter 14 presents these flexible principles.
The deeper background of the Poṣadha rite comes from the ancient practices of Buddhist sanghas, when bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs would gather monthly to purify faults according to the Dharma and Vinaya. In the Tibetan tradition, this rite became an expression of collective purity and the practice of the bodhisattva path.
Main Content
The sutra teaches that there are specific situations in which the community temporarily cannot, or should not, perform the rite for the restoration of discipline according to the normal rule. These circumstances include the spread of disease in the monastery, natural disasters that obstruct assembly, a lack of necessary material conditions, or difficulties regarding the number of qualified monks and nuns required to conduct the rite.
However, the sutra emphasizes that temporary suspension does not mean abandoning the spirit of maintaining the precepts. Instead, monks and nuns must maintain mindfulness and right concentration in daily life. They may perform abbreviated, individual, or small-scale forms of restoring discipline, so that the spirit of the rite is still preserved. The crucial point is sincerity and a mind directed toward purity, not merely compliance with external form.
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