Living in a forest meditation cave (photos)

Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; Majorie Chiew (thestar.com.my, 2011)

Cave-dwelling Theravada Buddhist monastic under crot or hanging mosquito net

(Ajahn Cagino) Photos from the exhibition on the wandering Forest Tradition life

Scaling new heights: Sometimes there are no roads in the forest so climbing the rocks to get over to the other side becomes necessary to continue the journey, explains Ven. Cagino. Once he pulled this stunt and fell off the ledge. Fortunately, his fall was broken by the branches of a tree before he landed by the riverside.

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Venerable Ajahn Cagino, 43, lives in a cave with two snakes and eight bats.

 

The cave is 1.2 miles (2 km) from the nearest village in Mae Hong Son, northern Thailand. Nestled in a deep valley hemmed in by high mountain ranges that border Burma, Mae Hong Son is isolated from the outside world and is covered with mist throughout the year.

 

“I’ve had enough of wandering,” says the Malaysian monk practicing within the Thai Forest Tradition, which is a branch of Theravada Buddhism.

 

For 12 years, Ven. Cagino had been walking through the remotest jungles of Thailand, before settling down in a cave. It was all part of the spiritual training of a forest ascetic.

 

All those years in the forest have brought out the best in him. Ven. Cagino, who is back in Malaysia on a vas (a three-month annual Rains Retreat observed by Theravada practitioners during the Asian rainy season), is out to raise funds to build an orphanage in Thailand.

 

“When I was a forest monk, the villagers gave me food as alms. Now I want to give back to these impoverished tribal people,” says Ven. Cagino who hails from Seremban....

• Dwelling apart -- free and liberated (sutra)

Life in the Wilderness

Floating to the other shore: Meditating on a bamboo raft for spiritual tranquility.

 

[Ven. Cagino was once an award-winning photographer.] “What used to be the best photo was not the best anymore. At the next photo contest, you’ve to improve your skills and get the winning shot,” he says. “Nothing seems to be the ultimate.”

Mr. Cagino was miserable and disillusioned and wondered if there were more to life than its never-ending challenges. At 27, he turned his back on all material pursuits, sold off his worldly belongings, and eventually became a Buddhist monk.

Over the next two years, Mr. Cagino visited forest monasteries in Thailand and New Zealand to learn more about Buddhism.

Ven. Cagino was ordained as a samanera (novice) at 29 and stayed at Ang Hock Si Temple in Perak Road, Penang, for the next year and a half.

He trained as a forest monk under Thai master Ajahn Ganha for five years and was re-ordained at Wat Pah Nanachat (The International Forest Monastery), a Buddhist monastery tailored to foreigners in northeast Thailand, in the Theravada Forest Tradition.

 

The monastery was established by the late Ven. Ajahn Chah to provide English-speaking monastics the opportunity to train and practice in the way Buddha originally taught his disciples in the forests 2,600 years ago.

 

The Thai Forest Tradition stresses meditation and strict adherence to monastic rules (Code of Discipline). Known for its orthodoxy, conservatism, and asceticism, the Thais greatly respect monks who observe this tradition.

 

A photo exhibition offers a rare glimpse of the lives of Theravada Buddhist forest monks. Silence in the streams: A monk practicing sitting meditation by the running waters of a waterfall (courtesy of Ajahn Cagino)

   

“I want to be a forest monk because Buddha himself spent much time dwelling in the forest. It is a strict, disciplined path,” says Ven. Cagino.

 

During the past 12 years, he was in and out of the forest with other monks. But six years ago, he set off alone into the deep wilderness to experience what it was like to be a forest monk. All he had with him were five pieces of cloth, an alms bowl, cup, umbrella, mosquito net, and walking stick.

“The stick is important as we can make some noise to warn snakes and other creatures of our presence when we’re walking through the forest,” says Ven. Cagino.

 

He described his wandering years as a journey of exploration and discovery, not a time of hardship.

 

“I enjoyed those years even though I know not if there was a meal for tomorrow or where I was heading. I just walked on to see the world,” he says.

 

A forest monk leads a nomadic life as he moves from one place to another to find the ideal location to practice meditation. He usually camps by the river for easy access to water supply.

 

“We stay 15 days at the most at one place -- not too long as we’re not supposed to feel attached to a place,” he explains. “If a place has ample food and shelter but is not conducive for meditation, we must leave promptly. If the place is great for meditation, the forest monk will stay a bit longer. It allows us to enhance our wisdom.”

 

Meal for the day: Monks returning with food offerings from their morning alms round.

 

Sometimes Ven. Cagino would ask villagers for directions to caves where monks had previously stayed. “There may be a fireplace and an old kettle left behind. Sometimes I will borrow a hammer and nails to make a seat for meditation,” he says.

The life of a forest monk is not without its challenges. There are times when they have to track through muddy paths, cross streams and rivers, or climb down cliffs. One can easily get lost in the jungle, too.

 

The forest monk will usually stay 1-2 miles (2-3 km) from the nearest village so that he can go for alms in the morning. He accepts only food, never money. More

A Photographic Journey of the Dhammafarers is an exhibition of 99 photos by Ajahn Cagino to raise funds for Dhammagiri Foundation to build an orphanage in Thailand. The exhibition took place  at White Box, Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malysia then Citta Mall, Ara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Sept. 8-20; Bandar Utama Buddhist Society, 3, Jalan BU 3/1, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, from Sept. 25-Oct 2; and 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya, Oct. 8-9.

"Little Buddhist monks" - child novices (photos)

Eds., Wisdom Quarterly; Dietmar Temps (dietmartemps.com, DeepBlue66/flickr.com)

Novitiate initiation in Pagan, Burma (Bagan, Myanmar)

Dressed like Prince Rahula

For a boy in Burma it is customary to enter a Buddhist monastery as a novice (samanera, "little ascetic") between the ages of 7-20.
 
One has his head shaven and vows to adhere to ten precepts (rather than the monks' 227 rules) for at least a week.

The renunciation ceremony

Sometimes the boys are even younger, in rare cases only 5 or 6 years old. For Burmese people, the novitiate initiation is a very important ceremony and a big event for the family.

The temporary ordination ceremony is called Shinbyu in Burmese. The practice is not limited to Theravada Buddhists in Southeast Asia but is practiced throughout the Buddhist world except in Sri Lanka where temporary ordination is not done. The first Buddhist novice was the Buddha's son, Prince Rahula, who became a monastic at age 7.

The first novice

Rahula, his father the Buddha, and Ananda

Rāhula (who lived at least 25 centuries ago) was the only son of Prince Siddhartha Gautama (who later became the ascetic Siddhartha and then the Buddha) and his wife Bimba-devi (who is known to the world as Princess Yasodharā then the Buddhist nun Ven. Bhaddakaccānā). He was the first child to become a Buddhist novice (samanera) at his father's behest. One account of his life is given in the Pāli language canon. More

Bang the gong not the tympani, venerable. I'll ring the bell, handle the vajra. You guys chant.

Vajrayana child novices enjoy temporary ordination throughout the Himalayas -- in India (Ladakh, Dharmsala, AP, HP, Sikkim...), Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China (dietmartemps.com)

Dietmar Temps is a world class photographer who travels the globe to bring to light cultures and kids rapidly fading into memory due to Western hegemony and the homogenization of the planet (dietmartemps.com).

"Unlawful Sexual Practices"

Maya, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; "Ask Maya" with commentator Jeffery Kaung

Sex is bad? Don't look at it. Don't think about it. And whatever you do, don't wish for it. That's what our parents teach us, but that's not what the Buddha taught lay Buddhists.

  

According to an abbot in Theravadan Burma, the words "unlawful sexual practice" would be more clear and effective than simply "sexual misconduct" for defining the Pali term kamesu micchacara.

In the Pali discourses expounded by the Buddha, he described altogether 20 types of females [not 10, Jeffery Kaung?] with whom males should avoid having penetrative sexual intercourse.

• See Buddhism's "Sexual Misconduct" Defined for the ten types of females who are off limits, at least from the perspective of ancient Indian society and possibly universally. We are awaiting Kaung's list of 20.
  

What did the Buddha teach any why? (HSUN)

Every male who is engaged in these forms of sexual relations with any of these females was said to be guilty of dire misconduct that results in the worst kinds of karmic consequences.

But for females, not every female from the given group of 20 is similarly guilty. In other words, only 12 women from the group are guilty for engaging in sex, and most of these females have already been married off or become "owned" by a particular male and his family. [It should not come as a surprise to Western readers that women were treated like chattel in European marriage contracts until very recently, and the practice is followed to this day in many places including Asia and India in particular.]

The rest of the females in the classification are not guilty since they are not married or have no contractual "owner" yet. Besides, in some of the Buddha's sutras, he encouraged most lay disciples to practice celibacy. 

Believe it or not, females have sexual agency

[We do not know of a single discourse that encourages lay celibacy except as an occasional practice for uposatha lunar observance days and periods of intensive Buddhist practice, such as meditation retreats, temporary ordination, or as the natural consequence of spiritual attainments such as the blissful absorptions and the permanent liberations beyond stream entry and once returning. Please specify, Kaung. We would be very happy to examine these sutra references.]

However, the Buddha said that if one fails to be completely celibate, because s/he is already married, then one should always refrain from "unlawful sexual practices" in his/her everyday life -- as a person with clean feet [avoids a puddle of urine on the road].

Besides, the Buddha also described four (4) features that lead a sexual relationship between a male and a female to be "unlawful conduct." In fact, the Buddha had already mentioned in his discourses how it was "noble" [enlightened] for one [with noble attainments] to stay celibate. However, he said that if one could not practice celibacy because he/she was already married...

[Kaung, if you cite these sutras, we can respond and clarify. Maybe the Buddha wants everyone to be happy, and maybe celibacy is the supreme (brahma-acharya) vehicle/teaching toward that, but it's not something he said lay Buddhists should do or had to do.  Living beings are reborn into this Kama Loka, Sensual Sphere, because of their sensual cravings. Denying them or forcing celibacy on people is not the way to transcend craving. To be reborn into the more blissful Fine Material Sphere, the Immaterial Sphere, or the supremely blissful attainment of ending rebirth (enlightenment and nirvana) requires seeing things as they really are, seeing sensuality as it really is, penetrating the disappointment (dukkha) articulated in the Four Ennobling Truths. We want living beings to be happy, the Buddha wanted people to be happy, and you probably want people to be happy. Truth is the way to that, not oppression and imposing rules on how people have to live. If we are wrong, please show us. We can show how open minded the Buddha was, how the Dharma is a path that avoid extremes, and leads beyond sensual craving to supersensual bliss and then insight and liberation from the bondage of craving, aversion, and delusion. We arrive there step by step, not by behaving like ascetic renunciants. There is a much easier way to let go than brute force and self-denial -- and it is "calm and insight," blissfully happy absorptions and systematically contemplating the 12 links of Dependent Origination. "There is no path to happiness; happiness is the path!"]

 

Males, Females, and Sex

Dhr. Seven and Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

The Buddha, Battambang, Cambodia, S.E. Asia (Kim Seng/captainkino.com/flickr)

 

We have already been responding to Jeffery Kaung's letter in brackets. But let us go more deeply.

Kaung, everybody should always avoid "unlawful sexual practices." One need not avoid sex; yet, one need always avoid misconduct in regard to satisfying one's sexual desires. And that is easy to do... except in a repressive society that denies one sexual access. Our societies, East and West, now deny us, or try to deny us, legitimate avenues of sexual expression outside of marriage. That may make sense in conservative parts of Asia, as in rural or small communities, but it does not make a lot of sense in urbanized city environments which emphasize the individual to the detriment of extended familial affiliations.

This has to apply to females just as much as males even if India was already a patriarchal and sexist society that assumed sexual agency only for males. Females have the same agency and, therefore, are liable to get in the same sort of karmic trouble as males. Who can believe that when, for example, a man has sex with a married woman, only she is guilty of cheating on her husband? From a literal and closed minded reading of Buddhist texts (i.e., AN X.206), only he would be guilty. She would be said to have seduced him into a great deal of karmic trouble, but no mention is made of her infidelity to her husband, presumably because she has no agency and therefore no ability to make an intentional choice to cheat, which of course is ridiculous.

And with regard to child molestation, which is a severe form of "sexual misconduct" or "unlawful sexual practices," a female can certainly molest just as a male can. Would anyone in this day and age think, "Oh, she's a female, she has no sexual agency, so she can't possibly be guilty of intentional sexual conduct, how much less misconduct"? It's preposterous. Wisdom Quarterly speculates that it was the sexism influencing the Dharma, and not the Dharma itself, which left us with this one-sided set of rules for males only. We hear precious little about the nuns, Buddhist females at the time of the Buddha, or Buddhist girls and women today. 

That is our era's sexism continuing to diminish women aided and abetted by the sexism of the past, and the male Monastic Order, the Bhikkhu Sangha, has much to answer for keeping this unequal state of affairs in place. The status quo, which the Buddha did so much to overturn, was quickly set back up and given legitimacy as if the Buddha had participated in oppressing females when he was the first world-teacher to elevate them to equal status. 

If one says that the Buddha didn't go quite that far, but instead subordinated them to the Monastic Order, then one has not read the Bhikkhuni Vinaya (The Nuns' Code of Discipline with its origin stories explaining each rule), which enumerates ahistorical garudhammas or "additional nuns' rules" that could NOT have come from the Buddha (see the scholarship of Ayya Tathaaloka). 

• The Extra Rules for Nuns Ven. Tataaloka (Ayya Tathaaloka) on the eight "Principles to be Respected" by nuns (garudhammas) and the formation of the female Buddhist Order (bhikkhuni-sangha). The additional monastic rules for women are a "definite historical impossibility." (See also The Buddhist Nuns of California)

But we are all taught that he offered eight or more additional rules to his stepmother, Maha Pajapati, the world's first Buddhist nun, who gladly accepted them to wear like a beautifying head dress or hair piece. Someone, likely sexist male monastics, inserted those to ensure the supremacy of the male Monastic Order. The abbot from Burma you quote without naming is neither likely to realize that nor admit it if he does.

Thai Buddhism going GAY Catholic? (video)

Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly; The Woody TalkShow

The Monastic Disciplinary Code says pandakas (transsexual or transgender, often gay, individuals) may NOT fully ordain but might be novices as a school interprets its Vinaya.

(The Woody Show interview, April 2014 , Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, English subtitles)
 

Openly gay Thai novice says it should be okay for gays to be monks

Gays are found worldwide but are rarely "out"

According to Theravada Buddhist texts -- from the explanatory stories found in the "Monastic Disciplinary Code" (Vinaya), as translated by Leonard Zwilling (published in Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender, edited by Jose Ignacio Cabezon) -- homosexuality would NOT in keeping with the monastic code. Theravada is the Buddhist tradition followed by 95% of Thailand.

Just friends, Burma* (JLH)

Certainly homosexuals are loved and accepted in the lay Buddhist community. And many gays feel very welcome in traditional Asian Buddhist cultures, not the least of which is Thailand's very welcoming one with its third-gender kathoeys ("lady-boys").

But that acceptance does not extend to official full monastic ordination. Many gays certainly seem to be "monks" (bhikkhus), but they are actually novices (samaneras or "trainees," "probationers," "new recruits").

• PHOTO: *Just friends? A curious thing about Asia, which many closeted gays must find comforting, is that males hold hands and touch one another the way females do in Western society, and no one thinks of it as "gay" or odd or at all sexual. The two novices or monks shown here at Burma's Shwedagon Pagoda  may hold on to one another, and no one in that society would think this was indicative of homosexuality or even an effeminate thing. But as Western tourists we can hardly think it indicates anything else. Females in Asia are not as demonstrably touchy-feely as in the West, but there is some innocent sisterly affection.

Novices are generally young males under 20 who take temporary ordination in fulfillment of their Southeast Asian (Thai, Burmese, Cambodian, Laotian) Theravada religio-cultural obligations.
 
Genrally, ALL Thai males (gay or not) are expected to ordain temporarily in the capacity of a samanera (female samaneri) for at least a week. [Everything said of gay males here would equally apply to females seeking FULL ordination (whether heteroflexible, bisexual, ambisexual, pansexual, lesbian, or experimental), which is distinct from the Ten Precept status (Thai Mae Chee) most females were traditionally restricted to in Theravada countries. Female can now be fully ordained thanks to newer generations of nuns who successfully reinstituted the tradition.]
 

Gender is socially constructed yet very real

Some might do it for a shorter duration, others for a summer vacation (or a traditional three-month "Rains Retreat" period). Of these, it is expected that only a tiny fraction would choose the lifelong celibate, ascetic, formal monastic lifestyle. But few people would be able to tell a novice from a monk (bhikkhu). Usually, age is the giveaway. Most novices are from 7-20 years of age (taking into consideration that in Asia one is born a 1-year-old, the novitiate state is mostly for teens); however, one may temporarily take robes at any age as a novice with the cooperation of a temple and its abbot.

• Buddhism and Sexual Orientation 
• What the Buddha Never Taught: A "Behind the Robes" Account of Life in a Thai Forest Monastery (20th Anniversary Edition) is a funny and enlightening behind-the-scenes account of life in a Thai forest monastery by Tim Ward. 
• What the Buddha Never Taught is a wonderful true-life story by a journalist who wanted to see what it was like to live at Wat Pah Nanachat, the International Forest Monastery open to Westerners in Northeast Thailand. We visited it, asked around, and found it to be just as Ward described even years later. He did not find a nest of homosexuality, but some novices are gay and forced to temporarily ordain as if they were Catholic boys in Rome. Ward tries to explain Thai culture, which as Westerners we are forced to think is so sexual and "anything goes." But apart from the Bangkok Red Light District strip clubs (like Pat Pong) and misleading massage parlors (which actually do massage and are not fronts for prostitution since prostitution can be found everywhere else).

No doubt homosexuality exists in the Thai Sanghas, both in the larger more lax Mahanikaya and the more extreme royal Dhammayut schools. The latter has grown famous for its restoration of the ancient Forest Tradition, but some criticize it as illegitimate because it was founded by a Thai king who wanted to ordain, and kings have no business and no authority to found Buddhist schools. They, however, do have the money and authority to fund them. So while Dhammayut is only one-tenth the size of the Mahanikaya, it enjoys prestige, reverence, fame, and financial influence far beyond its size. Most renowned Western monks who studied in Thailand did so in the Forest Tradition, which is often associated with the famous Thai teacher Ajahn Chah.

The most famous is the comedic British monk in Australia, Ajahn Brahm. Others include Jack Kornfield (author of Living Buddhist Masters, who brought attention to Ajahn Chah and other Buddhist saints in the jungles of South and Southeast Asia to the West, reissued as Living Dharma: Teachings of Twelve Buddhist Masters), Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Ajahn Sumedho and other former abbots of WPN, and so on.

 

In spite of what casual visitors may conclude, Thailand may be liberal and tolerant, but as a Buddhist society with 90-95% adherence to Theravada Buddhism, it is very conservative.

Buddhism, Sexuality, and Gender explores historical, textual, and social questions relating to the position and experience of women and gay people in the Buddhist world from India and Tibet to Sri Lanka, China, and Japan. It focuses on four key areas: Buddhist history, contemporary culture, Buddhist symbols, and homosexuality (including traditional Japanese pederasty or shudo akin to Roman and Greek practices presumably followed to this day by the closeted Catholic priesthood in the old Mithra temple complex now called the Vatican), and it covers Buddhism’s entire history, from its origins to the present day. The result of original and innovative research, the contributors offer new perspectives on the history of the attitudes toward, and of the self-perception of, women in both ancient and modern Buddhist societies. They explore key social issues such as abortion, examine the use of rhetoric and symbols in Buddhist texts and cultures, and discuss the neglected subject of Buddhism and homosexuality.
 

What leaders do -- be it Obama, Netanyahu, or the Pope -- followers will follow, regardless of the motives of the leaders doing it. Hugs are homeplate, and exemplars are on first base.

 

The question becomes a Roman Catholic one: Are non-practicing homosexuals acceptable for full ordination? That is a question that for all practical purposes has to be left to the abbots who would train and be responsible for them. This is where money enters the picture because Western homosexuals can, due to their affluence, find acceptance in poorer temples with few questions asked. Formally, one would be asked during the ordination process. But what will the abbot or the quorum of monks hear if they do not want to know?

Thai New Year (arztsamui)

"Are you a pandaka [pervert, transsexual, flamboyant homosexual, gender-bending transvestite, eunuch, lascivious person incapable of containing your tendency toward sex, self-soothing, masturbation, or sexual misconduct]?" Honestly speaking, one would probably have to say "probably not in the long run." But practically speaking, who would admit to not having self-control. Surely at the time of ordination, one would feel an imperative to rein it in, conceal from oneself, or conceal it from the gatekeepers to live in the close company of unmarried men. 

What's the big deal? - It is a big deal! (TM)

Karmically, this would be a horrible thing to do, but few people believe in the godlike abilities of karma (intentions with the power to bring forth mental and physical results in the future) or even give much consideration to their actions. How long have gay and bisexual men escaped the hetero-normative world into what they perceive to be the welcoming arms of a cloistered all-male community? Men are comfortable and comforting, and would anyone even know? They would know, and laypeople are unlikely to ask for if they know or figure it out, they would still be kowtowed by religious fears of so much as entertaining the question. Why do young novices and boys in the community end up being molested by some fraction of those who enter and remain in the Sangha as frauds?*

• [*NOTE: This is not to suggest that homosexuality leads one to molest boys, but only to say an almost equally controversial thing: All males who molest boys are engaging in homosexuality, even if one maintains that they are straight or doing it for nonsexual reasons. A terrible thing that happens with molestation, incest, and sexual abuse is that no one talks about it, creating a perfect environment for it to fester and perpetuate itself. Let gays be gays and bis be bis, but let's never let children be molested or victimized because we have too many hang ups to deal with the stark reality of our own issues.]

Good thing this is only for a week (D_C)

Isn't it because gatekeepers are lax or condoning? They can hardly keep pleading ignorance to the practices and inclinations of someone under their 24 care and oversight. Much the same might be said for parents, but a monastic upbringing is much more structured and controlled than any but the most repressive households, and it is this way by design. Homosexuality in and of itself would not, in our opinion, be "sexual misconduct" (kamesu micchacara), but many Southeast Asian as well as Western societies surely see it that way.

Do I need a penis? (Buddhist Monastic Code)

Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Abbot Thanissaro (Metta)

Young novices in Tergar home to 150 from Tibet, Nepal, AP and UP India (Groobo/flickr)

 
Self-mutilation

Buddhist Monastic Code II

A male monastic (bhikkhu) who cuts off his own genitalia [is in violation of the Disciplinary Code and] incurs a thullaccaya ["grave offense"].

Now at that time a certain monastic, tormented by dissatisfaction, cut off his own penis. The others reported this matter to the Blessed One (who said), “When one thing should have been cut off, that foolish man cut off something else.”

The “thing that should have been cut off,” the Sub-commentary notes, was the obsession for [sensual] passion. The Commentary adds that cutting off any other part of one’s body -- such as an ear, nose, or finger -- out of spite [is also a violation and] entails a dukkata ["misconduct" or "wrongdoing").

However, one is allowed to cut or cut off any part of one’s body for a medical purpose (as in an amputation); or to let blood, for example, when bitten by a snake or an insect, or to treat a disease that calls for blood-letting (see Chapter 5; Mv.VI.14.4).

Disciplinary Code
Wisdom Quarterly (COMMENTARY)

Older translations exist (i.e., Rhys Davids)

While Wisdom Quarterly is pro-sex, we are also pro-monasticism, which entails submitting oneself temporarily to celibacy of mind and body. Why would that ever be a good idea?

One can make excellent progress on the path to enlightenment in a very short time living as the Buddha prescribed the "high life," the "holy life," the "supreme life" (brahmacharya) -- or teaching that leads to the "supreme" attainment -- IF one enters into it with the right view and motivation rather than because of delusion, guilt, debt, aversion, with an aim to win fame and gain, or to be in the constant company of men or women (if gay), and so on.

High morals and even higher ideals have a strong tendency to lead to hypocrisy. The Buddha set out a path that works and that has worked for thousands of years. One must find it, rediscover it, and practice it to get ahead. Most Vinayas are corrupted and misinterpreted in practice, but the books remain. Enter with eyes wide open.

Does one need a penis?

Bush, okay, but who really needs Dick?

That is, Does a male intending to become a Buddhist monk need a penis? Absolutely, yes. One will not be allowed in without one, which may be due to the banning of pandakas [a term we have attempted to explain in many posts], a difficult term that has long been mistranslated as "eunuch." Another explanation is that what one needs to overcome is not the physical member but the mental motivation behind it, and to do that a penis is necessary.

Monastic Life
The Buddhist monastic life, at least in the older and stricter Theravada school (and particularly the revivalist super strict Thai forest Thammayut sect Ven. Thanissaro is a part of), is circumscribed on all sides.

The Buddha laid out a Disciplinary Code (Vinaya), a Path-to-Moksha or Liberation (Patimokkha), with explanations for each rule. 

The hundreds of self-imposed guidelines for fully ordained monastics -- 227 for monks, 311 for nuns -- living supported by the generosity of donors are divided into sections based on their seriousness.

• Why "extra rules" (garu-dhammas) for nuns?

The largest body of guidelines, which are in addition to these rules, concern etiquette and make for the relative peace of communal living in a monastic setting for monks and nuns, who dwell separately.

In contrast the smallest, most serious, and most important group of rules are called defeat-offenses (parajikas). They are strict prohibitions on killing, stealing, sexual contact, and falsely claiming attainments (such as the stages of enlightenment or magical powers).

Sexual indiscretion is perhaps the most common problem faced in a celibate order of ascetics trying to live as a community in a monastery, caves, or a forest hermitage (aranya). It is easy to control if one does not come into contact with temptations, but the Buddha ensured that one would constantly be in contact with the lay community, who visit to provide food and hear the Dharma.

Why did the Buddha have to make rules?

People often lose sight of the three reasons for a formal Disciplinary Code:

1. to provide a speedy vehicle to enlightenment, a direct path, a prati-moksha (path-to-supreme-liberation),
2. to encourage new meditators and comfort those who have already attained (enlightenment stages, absorptions, etc.),
3. to preserve the Dharma as a living tradition with "saints" (arhats) for many generations.

Wouldn't it be so much better for me, as a monastic, not to tell you what to do and not do -- and, conversely, have you not tell me what to do and not to do? No, no, no. One can live on one's own with that kind of attitude. The Buddha set up a system dependent on lay people, dependent on others, dependent on the Doctrine-and-Disciples (Dhamma-Vinaya)

Being a recluse (bhikkhu/bhikkhuni) or wandering ascetic (samana) usually means mental rather than physical seclusion. There is plenty of good company in kalyana-mittas ("noble friends"), but one withdraws to contemplate and meditate successfully -- progressing through the stages of absorption and insight that make Buddhist monasticism a delight with many fruits. (See "The Fruits of Recluseship Discourse," Samanaphala Sutta where the Buddha outlines the advantages of monasticism over living an ordinary household life).

Buddhist Monastic Code I

Wisdom Quarterly is in no way fond of Ven. Thanissaro (Geoffrey DeGraff)'s eccentric and misleading translations, interpretations, grammar, style, or general deportment as a person and monk pushed out of Thailand. But he has done a great service to the English-speaking world in at least one way: He long ago translated the Vinaya (Buddhist Monastic Code I and II), which most lay Buddhists are completely unfamiliar with, and he has freely provided his strained and oddly interpreted version of the Dhamma through many translations from Thai and Pali available through accesstoinsight.org. We speak from years of knowing him personally and his few American disciples not from merely trying to read his free works.

Destructive behavior

The Vibhanga to Pr 2 states that a monastic who breaks, scatters, burns, or otherwise renders unusable the property of another person incurs a dukkata. Cv.V.32.1 adds that a monastic is not allowed to burn underbrush. However, if a brush fire is burning, a counter-fire may be lit and protection (paritta) made. This last phrase apparently means reciting a protective charm [mantra-like chanting of Buddhist sutras], such as...

Why become a Buddhist ascetic? (King Milinda)

Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly, "The Questions of King Milinda" [Menander] (Miln), Milindapañha (as.miami.edu/phi/bio/Buddha/Milinda)

Indo-Greco art from Mes Aynak ("Copper Well"), Afghanistan (irtiqa-blog.com)

 

Lay Life vs. Monasticism

Greek King Milinda (Menander 1) coin

King Milinda (Greek, Menander) asked the Buddhist sage: "Venerable Nagasena, the Blessed One has said:
 
"‘Right spiritual progress is praiseworthy for householders and wandering ascetics alike. Both householders and wandering ascetics, when progressing rightly, can accomplish, because of their right progress, the right method, the Dharma, which is wholesome.’ 

"If, Nagasena, a householder, dressed in white, enjoying the pleasures of the senses, inhabiting a house overcrowded with spouse and family, using fragrant sandalwood of Benares, as well as garlands, perfumes, and creams, owning gold and silver, wearing a turban ornamented with gold and jewels, can, if s/he progresses rightly, accomplish the right method, the Dharma, the wholesome, and if a wandering ascetic, bald-headed, clad in saffron robe, dependent on alms offerings for a livelihood, careful to fulfil correctly the four sections of monastic virtue, submitting to the 150 path-to-liberation (pratimoksa) rules, and observing all 13 Sane Ascetic Practices (dhutanga), without omitting any, can also, if progressing rightly, accomplish the right method, the Dharma, the wholesome -- then, venerable sir, What is the difference between the householder and the wandering ascetic? 

 

"Fruitless is your austerity, useless is the homeless (wandering ascetic) life, barren is the observation of the monastic rules, in vain do you observe the sane ascetic practices! What is the use of inflicting pain upon yourself if you can gain nirvana while remaining at ease?"

UCLA: Save Buddhist-Afghan site (WQ)

Nagasena replied: "You have quoted the Blessed One's words correctly, your majesty. To make right progress is indeed the most excellent thing of all.

"And if the wandering ascetic, in the consciousness of being a wandering ascetic, should fail to progress rightly, then one would be far from the state of an ascetic, far from a supreme life. Still more so would that apply to a householder dressed in white.

"But both the householder and the wandering ascetic are alike in that, when they progress rightly, they accomplish the right method, the Dharma, the wholesome.

Wish-fulfilling gem

"Nevertheless, your majesty, it is the wandering ascetic who is the master of the pure life. To be a wandering ascetic has many and numerous, even infinite, virtues (benefits). To measure the virtues of being a wandering ascetic is not at all possible. It is like a [chintamani] jewel that fulfills all one's wishes; one cannot measure its value in terms of money and say that it is worth so much.

 

Like the waves in the great ocean, one cannot measure and say that there are so many. All that the wandering ascetic still has to do, one succeeds in doing rapidly and without taking a long time over it. And why is that? It is because the wandering ascetic, your majesty, is content with little, easily pleased, secluded from the world, not addicted to society, energetic, independent, solitary, perfect in conduct, austere in practice, skilled in all that concerns inner purification and spiritual progress.

 

Beautiful Buddhist jewelry recovered from the Mes Aynak monastic complex/town archeological site, Afghanistan, suggesting that beauty, baubles, and sensual delights were quite popular. Treasure dated from 500 AD to 700 AD (Kadir/Salam Viking).

 

Such a person is like your javelin, your majesty -- smooth, even, well polished, straight, clean, and shining. When it is well thrown, it will fly exactly as you want it to. In the same way, whatever the wandering ascetic still has to do, one succeeds in doing it all rapidly and without taking a long time over it."

 

"Well spoken, Nagasena. So it is, and so I accept it."

Nagasena continued: "In any case, your majesty, all those who as householders, living in a home and in the enjoyment of sensual pleasures, realize the peace of nirvana, the highest good, they have all been trained in former lives in the 13 Sane Ascetic Practices peculiar to [Buddhist monastic] disciples, and through them they have laid the foundations for their present realization and attainment. It is because they had purified their conduct and behavior by means of them then that now even as householders, living in a home and in the enjoyment of sense pleasures, they can realize the peace of nirvana, the highest good.

Child plays with novice monk, Leh, Ladakh, Buddhist India (Vincenzo Rossi/flickr.com)

 

House or Monastery? 

Bad dog! Check your motives.

"But whoever enters the Monastic Order bad motives -- from covetousness, deceitfully, out of greed and gluttony, desirous of gain, fame, or reputation, unsuitably, unqualified, unfit, unworthy, unseemly -- that person shall incur a twofold comeuppance, which will prove ruinous to all one's good qualities.

In this very life, one shall be scorned, derided, reproached, ridiculed, and mocked. One shall be shunned, expelled, ejected, removed, and banished. 

What could account for Sam winning the "Ugliest Dog in the World" contest? (EIT)

  

Aw, poor baby! (ugliest dog in the world)

In the next life, like foam which is tossed about, up and down and across, one shall cook for many hundreds of thousands of aeons (kalpas, which also be interpreted as meaning "ordinary lifespans") in the great Waveless Deep (Avici) hell, which is a hundred leagues big, and all ablaze with hot, scorching, fierce, and fiery flames. 

"And when one has been released thence, one's entire body will become emaciated, rough, and black, one's head swollen, bloated and full of holes. 

As hungry as a ghost or preta (WP)

Hungry and thirsty, disagreeable and dreadful to look at, one's ears all torn, eyes constantly blinking, entire body one putrid mass of sores, dense with maggots, bowels afire and blazing like a mass of fire fanned by a breeze, helpless and unprotected, weeping, crying, wailing, and lamenting, consumed by unsatisfied longings -- that person who once was a religious wanderer shall then as a large hungry ghost roam about on the earth bewailing that fate.
 

"But if, on the other hand, a person enters the Monastic Order (Sangha) suitably, qualified, fit, worthy and seemly, content with little, easily pleased, secluded (withdrawing and protecting the senses) from the worldly, not addicted to society, energetic and resolute, without fraud or deceit, not gluttonous, not desirous of gain, fame, or reputation, devout and with confidence (saddha, faith), out of a desire to free oneself from old age and death and to uphold the Buddha's dispensation (sasana), then one deserves to be honored in two ways, by both devas and humans.

 

The devas find one dear (wallpaper.365greetings.com)

  

Beauty pageant

"One is dear and pleasing to them. They love and seek after one. One is to them as fine jasmine flowers are to a person bathed and anointed with oil, or good food to the hungry, or a cool, clear, and fragrant drink to the thirsty, or an effective medicine [antidote] to those who are poisoned, or a superb chariot drawn by thoroughbreds to those who want to travel quickly, or a wish-fulfilling jewel to those who want to enrich themselves, or a brilliantly white parasol, the [spaceship-like] emblem of royalty, to those who would like to be rulers, or as the supreme attainment of the fruit of enlightenment (arhatship) to those who wish for Dharma.

The 37 Requisites of Enlightenment

 "In that person

• The Four Foundations (Posts or Pillars) of Mindfulness reach their full development, as do
• The Four Right Efforts,
• The Four Roads to [Psychic] Success,
• The Five Faculties,
• The Five Powers,
• The Seven Factors of Enlightenment, and
• The Noble Eightfold Path.

"One attains to calm and insight, and one's progressive attainments continue to mature, and one becomes a repository of the Four Fruits of the Spiritual Life (Samana Phala), of the Four Analytical Knowledges, the Threefold Knowledge, and the Six Super Knowledges, in short, of the whole Dharma of the spiritual life, and one is consecrated with the brilliantly white parasol of emancipation." More