..续本文上一页 let him know." [14] I would say, "Hey, do you think I”m dead or something

　　 Just because one calls alcohol perfume doesn”t make it become perfume, you know. But you people, when you want to drink alcohol you call it perfume, then go ahead and drink. You must be crazy!"

　　The Vinaya, then, can be difficult. You have to be content with little, aloof. You must see, and see right. Once, when I was traveling through Saraburi, my group went to stay in a village temple for a while. The Abbot there had about the same seniority as myself. In the morning, we would all go on almsround together, then come back to the monastery and put down our bowls. Presently the laypeople would bring dishes of food into the hall and set them down. Then the monks would go and pick them up, open them and lay them in a line to be formally offered. One monk would put his hand on the dish at the other end. And that was it! With that the monks would bring them over and distribute them to be eaten.

　　About five monks were traveling with me at the time, but not one of us would touch that food. On almsround all we received was plain rice, so we sat with them and ate plain rice, none of us would dare eat the food from those dishes.

　　This went on for quite a few days, until I began to sense that the Abbot was disturbed by our behavior. One of his monks had probably gone to him and said, "Those visiting monks won”t eat any of the food. I don”t know what they”re up to."

　　I had to stay there for a few days more, so I went to the Abbot to explain.

　　I said, "Venerable Sir, may I have a moment please

　　 At this time I have some business which means I must call on your hospitality for some days, but in doing so I”m afraid there may be one or two things which you and your fellow monks find puzzling: namely, concerning our not eating the food which has been offered by the laypeople. I”d like to clarify this with you, sir. It”s really nothing, it”s just that I”ve learned to practice like this... that is, the receiving of the offerings, sir. When the lay people lay the food down and then the monks go and open the dishes, sort them out and then have them formally offered... this is wrong. It”s a dukkata offense. Specifically, to handle or touch food which hasn”t yet been formally offered into a monk”s hands, "ruins" that food. According to the Vinaya, any monk who eats that food incurs an offense.

　　"It”s simply this one point, sir. It”s not that I”m criticizing anybody, or that I”m trying to force you or your monks to stop practicing like this... not at all. I just wanted to let you know of my good intentions, because it will be necessary for me to stay here for a few more days.

　　He lifted his hands in anjali, [15] "Sadhu! Excellent! I”ve never yet seen a monk who keeps the minor rules in Saraburi. there aren”t any to be found these days. If there still are such monks they must live outside of Saraburi. May I commend you. I have no objections at all, that”s very good."

　　The next morning when we came back from almsround not one of the monks would go near those dishes. The laypeople themselves sorted them out and offered them, because they were afraid the monks wouldn”t eat. From that day onwards the monks and novices there seemed really on edge, so I tried to explain things to them, to put their minds at rest. I think they were afraid of us, they just went into their rooms and closed themselves in in silence.

　　For two or three days I tried to make them feel at ease because they were so ashamed, I really had nothing against them. I didn”t say things like "There”s not enough food," or "bring ”this” or ”that” food." Why not

　　 Because I had fasted before, sometimes for seven or eight days. Here I had plain ri…

《Understanding Vinaya》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…