Buddhist Scriptures

by Donald Lopez

  Those who were modest monks… spread it about, saying: ‘How can these ignorant, inexperienced monks ordain, thinking: “We are of ten years’ standing, we are of ten years’ standing?” [So that] there are to be found… intelligent [monks] who share their cells.’ Then these monks told this matter to the Lord. He said:

  ‘Is it true, as is said, monks, that ignorant, inexperienced monks ordained, thinking:… there are to be found… intelligent [monks] who share their cells?’

  ‘It is true, Lord.’

  Then the awakened one, the Lord, rebuked them, saying:

  ‘How, monks, can these foolish men, ignorant, inexperienced, ordain, thinking: “We are of ten years’ standing, we are of ten years’ standing”?… intelligent [monks] who share their cells. It is not, monks, for pleasing those who are not [yet] pleased…’ And having rebuked them, having given reasoned talk, he addressed the monks, saying:

  ‘Monks, one who is ignorant, inexperienced should not ordain. Whoever [such] should ordain, there is an offence of wrong-doing. I allow you, monks, to ordain through an experienced, competent monk who is of ten years’ standing or more than ten years’ standing.’

  From The Book of Discipline (Vinaya-Piṭaka), vol. 4 (Mahāvagga), trans. I. B. Horner (Oxford: The Pali Text Society, 1996), pp. 73–8.

  26

  MAKING MEN INTO MONKS

  The procedures for the ordination of monks evolved over time. At the beginning of the process, it was the Buddha’s simple instruction, ‘Come, monk’, that made a man a monk. This developed into a number of more formal procedures (described in the previous chapter), which were abandoned after certain problems arose. At the end of the process, there developed the ordination ceremony set forth here. The various sects of Indian Buddhism differed less on matters of doctrine than on matters of discipline, and a number of ordination ceremonies developed in India, to spread throughout Asia. But they are in the main quite similar, and the ceremony presented here, coming from the Mūlasarvāstivādin sect, may be regarded as typical. Given the historical centrality of ordination to the vitality of Buddhism, the ceremony is presented in its entirety, rather than in excerpt. It is a rich and fascinating ritual, and only a few of its salient features can be noted here.

  The candidate must undergo an elaborate interview, first with an official called the Monk-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private, who, as his title suggests, asks the candidate a series of questions out of the hearing of the assembly. These questions fall into three general categories. The first focuses especially on issues of gender, seeking to determine, in some detail, whether the candidate is a fully endowed human male. This fixation on masculine identity is notable in a ceremony that will shortly require a vow of lifelong celibacy. The second set of questions focuses on the social standing of the monk, seeking to determine whether he has the permission of his parents, whether he is in debt, whether he is in the army, whether he has been expelled from the saṅgha in the past, and so on. Following the dictum that the monastic rules were formulated only in response to a specific problem, this list of questions provides some possible insight into the types of candidates who sought to join the saṅgha. The third set of questions deals with matters of health, with the candidate required to testify that he is free from a list of diseases that constitutes a veritable pathology of ancient India.

  After the monk has successfully passed this interview, in public and in private, he is then asked whether he is willing to subsist on the four supports or requisites of the monastic life: rags for robes, alms for food, the root of a tree for a bed, and herbs for medicine. After he has agreed to accept each of these, a long list of exceptions (called ‘supernumeraries’ here) is provided, suggesting that the number of monks who indeed dressed in rags, lived exclusively on alms, slept in the root of a tree and used only herbs for medicine may have been relatively small.

  The ceremony turns next to the four deeds that cause ‘downfall’, that is, expulsion from the saṅgha. The violation of the vow of celibacy is discussed first, followed by the violation of the vow not to steal, then the violation of the vow not to kill humans and ending with the vow not to lie. One should note, however, that the kind of lie that entails expulsion is of a special variety: a monk may not claim to have superhuman qualities (translated here as ‘higher human characteristics’) such as the ability to see supernatural beings or to have attained various stages on the path to enlightenment. These attainments, which the monk must vow not to claim, are described at some length, providing the only sustained discussion in the ceremony of the goals of Buddhist practice. Despite the fact that this particular monastic code includes 253 vows for a fully ordained monk, only these four are listed here; the candidate is instructed that he will learn of the others later.

  Special attention is also given to setting the precise date and time of the ordination, for seniority in the saṅgha was set not by the time from birth, but from the time of ordination. The ceremony concludes with an exhortation to the candidate to study some of the basic categories of Buddhist doctrine, and to behave honourably in the august community of which he has now become a member.

  Then if the candidate is a full twenty years old the Preceptor (upādhyāya) should send for his bowl and religious robes. The Monk-Who-Performs-the-Ritual must be requested. The Monk-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private must be requested. Those monks who will enter the prepared site for the ritual must also be requested.

  When the monks who are to enter the prepared site for the ritual are assembled there, then any offence committed in the past half month that should be restrained, confessed, and requires the community’s [the saṅgha’s] intervention should be individually examined and, being once again healed through restraint, confession and the community’s intervention in regard to those offences that are known, they should sit down.

  Then when either the entire community is seated and settled, or those in the ritual space – either, in the Middle Country, a group of ten or more monks, or, in border regions when there are no others, a vinaya master and a group of five or more – the candidate will pay reverence to the Teacher [the Buddha]. After that he will do reverence to each of the monks three times. Reverence is twofold: reverencing with the five limbs and embracing around the knee – whichever is done in that place. That is what is to be done first.

  Then the Preceptor must be entreated. He must be entreated in this way: having paid reverence to the Preceptor, having squatted in front of him with both heels firmly planted on a tile spread with grass and having cupped his hands, then, if he is a preceptor, he must say ‘O Preceptor’, if he is a teacher he must say ‘O Teacher’, if he is a reverend he must say, as is suitable, ‘O Reverend’. When he has addressed him thus these words must be said: ‘Might the Reverend please take note! Since I named so-and-so am entreating the Reverend as Preceptor, might the Reverend act as my Preceptor? Reverend, by the Preceptor I will be fully ordained.’ Thus for a second and a third time is this said. On the third repetition he must use the word ‘Preceptor’. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The candidate, now a co-residential pupil, must say: ‘It is good.’ That is the entreating of the Preceptor.

  Then the Preceptor must himself there take formal possession of the three religious robes. If the robes are cut and sewn, that is good, and they must be taken into formal possession in this way: having folded the three robes individually and put them on the co-residential pupil’s left shoulder, both stand, and, having taken the waist-cloth of the robe with his hand, these words must be said: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This part of the religious robe which is fully finished, suitable and worthy of use, I named so-and-so take into formal possession as the waist-cloth of a religious robe.’ Thus for a second and third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’

  Then, having taken the upper garment of the religious robe, he must say these words: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This part of
the religious robe which is fully finished, suitable and worthy of use, I named so-and-so take into formal possession as the upper garment of a religious robe.’ Thus for a second and a third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’

  Then, having taken the lower garment of the religious robe, he must say these words: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This part of the religious robe which is fully finished, suitable and worthy of use, I named so-and-so take into formal possession as the lower garment of a religious robe.’ Thus for a second and a third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’

  Then those religious robes must be put on, and he too, when he himself has the waist-cloth on, must do reverence to the community that has assembled for the full ordination.

  That is the taking into formal possession of the three religious robes when they are already cut and sewn.

  If there are no religious robes cut and sewn, material must be taken into formal possession. It must be taken into formal possession in this way: Having folded individually the material for the three religious robes and put it on the co-residential pupil’s left shoulder, both stand, and, having taken the material for the waist-cloth of the religious robe with his hand, these words must be said: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This cloth I named so-and-so take into formal possession for a waist-cloth. Since it is the understanding, I will make it into nine or more small segments. I will make it into two and a half or more strips. If no impediment arises, I will wash it, stretch it, cut it, bond it, join it, sew it, dye it, or put a patch on it – as is needed, so I will do. This cloth is suitable and worthy of use. Thus for a second and a third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’

  Then, having taken the material for the upper garment of the religious robe he must say these words: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This cloth I named so-and-so take into formal possession for an upper garment. Since it is the understanding, I will make it into seven small sections, and I will make it into two and a half strips. If no impediment arises, I will wash it, stretch it, cut it, bond it, join it, sew it, dye it, or put a patch on it – as is needed, so I will do. This cloth is suitable and worthy of use.’ Thus for a second and a third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’

  Then, having taken the material for the lower garment of the religious robe, he must say these words: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! This cloth I named so-and-so take into formal possession for a lower garment. Since it is the understanding, I will make it into five small sections, and I will make it into one and a half strips. If no impediment arises…’ [exactly as before, up to]… The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’ That is the taking into formal possession of uncut and unsewn cloth.

  Then his bowl must be shown. It must be shown in this way: When one monk has put the bowl in his left hand and covered it with his right hand, he – starting from the seniors’ end – must stand in front of each monk and must say these words with a bow: ‘Might the Reverend, or the Venerable, please take note! Venerable, this bowl of the one named so-and-so is not insufficient, nor excessive, nor whitish.’ All the monks, moreover, when the bowl is indeed not of those sorts must each say, ‘the bowl is good’. If those words are said, it is well. If they are not said, that monk comes to be guilty of an offence. That is the showing of the bowl.

  Then the Preceptor must himself there take formal possession of the bowl. It must be taken into formal possession in this way: Both stand, and when the candidate has put the bowl in his left hand and covered it with his right hand, he must say these words: ‘Might the Preceptor please take note! I, named so-and-so, take into formal possession this bowl, which is suitable for food and the vessel of a ṛṣi, as a begging bowl.’ Thus for a second and a third time it is said. The Preceptor must say: ‘It is proper.’ The co-residential pupil must say: ‘It is good.’ That is the taking into formal possession of the bowl.

  Then he who is to be fully ordained, having gone out of the range of hearing, but within the range of sight, having cupped his hands, must stand facing the group.

  Then the Monk-Who-Performs-the-Ritual must ask the Monk-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private: ‘Who is the one who was requested to be the One-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private for so-and-so, with so-and-so as Preceptor?’

  He who is the One-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private must say: ‘I named so-and-so am.’

  Then the Monk-Who-Performs-the-Ritual must say to the Monk-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private: ‘Are you able to instruct in private the candidate so-and-so, with so-and-so as Preceptor?’

  He then must say: ‘I am able.’

  That is the determination that the One-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private must be able.

  Then the Monk-Who-Performs-the-Ritual must institute an action that requires only a motion so that the One-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private can ask about obstacles to ordination. It must be done in this way: To those who are seated these words must be said: ‘May the community, the reverends, please hear! Since this monk named so-and-so is able to instruct in private the candidate so-and-so, with so-and-so as Preceptor, if for the community the proper time has come and they would allow it, the community must authorize it! And this monk named so-and-so is going to instruct in private the candidate so-and-so, with so-and-so as Preceptor. This is the motion.’ That is the action for the motion for instructing the candidate in private.

  Then the Monk-Who-Instructs-the-Candidate-in-Private goes outside the ritual space and, having himself paid reverence, having squatted in front of him and cupped his hands, he must say these words to the one who is to be fully ordained: ‘You, Venerable, must hear this! This for you is a time for truth, this is a time for what is so. I am going to ask you some things. You must not be ashamed! In regard to what is, you must say “It is so.” In regard to what is not so, you must deny it saying “It is not so.”

  ‘Are you a man?’ – He must say ‘I am a man.’

  ‘Do you have a male organ?’ – He must say ‘I have.’

  ‘Have you passed twenty years?’ – He must say ‘I have passed.’

  ‘Are your three robes and bowl complete?’ – He must say ‘They are complete.’

  ‘Are your father and mother living?’ If he says ‘They are living’, he must be asked: ‘Are you authorized by your father and mother?’ – He must say ‘I am authorized.’

  If he says ‘They are dead’, he must be asked: ‘Are you not a slave by birth? Not one acquired by raid? Not one given as a surety? Not one acquired by sale? Are you not a royal officer? Not one who has committed an offence in regard to the king? Nor one who does injury to the king? Are you not one who has done injury to the king or instigated others to do so? Nor a famous thief? Not a eunuch? Not a hermaphrodite? Not a despoiler of nuns? Not one who resides with a community for the sake of material benefits? Not one who resides with a community who has been forced to live apart? Not one who has been denied the right of living with a community? Not a member of another religious group? Not one who has gone over to another religious group? Not one who has murdered his father? Not one who has murdered his mother? Not one who has murdered an arhat? Not one who has caused a split in the community? Not one who with an evil intent in regard to the Tathāgata has caused his blood to flow? Not a magically created phantom? Not an animal?’

  The candidate must in each case say: ‘I am not.’

  ‘Do you not have some debt, however large or small, a bond to someone?’ If he says ‘I am bound by debt’, he must be asked: ‘Are you able to repay it after you have been fully ordained?’ If he says ‘I am unable’, it must be said: ‘Then you must leave!’ If he says ‘I am able to repay it after I am fully ordained’, he must be asked: ‘Have you not previously ent
ered into the religious life?’ If he says ‘I have’, he must be asked: ‘Have you not committed one or another of the four offences which require expulsion? In falling had you given up the training?’ If he says ‘such an offence was committed’, it must be said: ‘Then you must leave!’ If he says ‘No such offence was committed’, he must be asked: ‘As of now are you not one who has entered into the religious life?’ If he says ‘I am one who has entered into the religious life’, he must be asked: ‘Have you fully practised the practice of chastity?’ The candidate must say ‘I have fully practised it.’

  ‘What is your name, what is your Preceptor’s name?’ He must say: ‘My name is so-and-so and, although I say his name only for this purpose, my Preceptor is named so-and-so.’

  ‘Venerable, you must hear! These various sorts of bodily illness arise in the body of men, namely leprosy, goitre, boils, exanthema, blotch, scabs, itch, carbuncle, psoriasis, consumption, pulmonary consumption, epilepsy, prader-willy syndrome, jaundice, elephantiasis, scrotal hernia, fever, virulent fever, one-day fever, two-, three- and four-day fevers, multiple disorder, daily fever, chronic fever, lethargy arising from fever, cutaneous eruption, spasmodic cholera, wheezing, cough, asthma, bloody abscess, rheumatism, swelling of the glands, blood disease, liver disease, haemorrhoids, vomiting, retention of the urine, fatigue, elevated body heat, burning in the chest and bone disease – do you not have some of these sorts of illness or others like them?’ He must say: ‘I do not.’