Bu Np 2121. Keeping an extra almsbowl beyond ten days

Patta — On Keeping an Extra Almsbowl Beyond Ten Days

Background

In the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition, the management of a monk's personal possessions is regulated in detail in order to protect purity and freedom from material entanglements. The almsbowl (patta) is one of the most essential requisites of a monk, necessary for daily almsrounds. However, the possession of additional almsbowls beyond actual need can give rise to attachment and the desire to accumulate property, which runs contrary to the spirit of renunciation.

The Patta rule was established on the basis of specific circumstances in the early Buddhist Saṅgha. The Buddha recognized that monks who kept multiple almsbowls in reserve for the future, or out of fear of going without, were in effect violating the spirit of the going-forth. He therefore laid down this training rule in order to maintain the purity and internal discipline of the Saṅgha.

Main Content

According to the regulations of the Pātimokkha, a monk is permitted to keep one almsbowl for daily use. If another person gives him a spare almsbowl, he may keep it for a period of ten days in order to find its original owner or to arrange for it to be passed on. However, if ten days pass and the monk still retains this extra almsbowl without a legitimate reason, he has committed an offense against the training rules (Nissaggiya Pācittiya — an offense requiring forfeiture and confession).

Remedying this offense requires two steps: first, the monk must relinquish the extra almsbowl by handing it over to the Saṅgha or to a suitable person; second, the monk must publicly confess his transgression before his fellow practitioners at the monthly recitation of the Pātimokkha or at another appropriate occasion.

This regulation does not serve a punitive purpose, but is intended to educate monks concerning non-ownership (anattā) and to train the mind to be free from acquisitiveness.