..续本文上一页 repair, inspect and maintain our dwellings or monasteries so that they will qualify as senasana-sappaya — comfortable, amenable places for contemplatives to stay.
Meditating monks by and large tend to have fixed notions about this area, believing that to sponsor or do construction work for the sake of Buddhists at large is to devote oneself to merely material concerns, and that such work thus shouldn”t be done. Some even believe that work of this sort closes off the paths and fruitions leading to nibbana. Nevertheless, these people have not gone beyond the material benefits they criticize. For this reason, we should examine the area of building and development to see whether or not it is appropriate and accords with the Vinaya.
I would like to pide the duties in this area into two sorts, in line with the two major duties of those who are ordained —
A. The duty of study (gantha-dhura): Those monks who are gamavasi, or village dwellers, are responsible for improving, repairing, and developing the places in which they live, for the sake of the common good of Buddhists at large. When building, they should have a sense of scale, order, and beauty so that their buildings will fit in with their physical surroundings. For example, monks” quarters, restrooms, meeting halls, and ordination halls should be arranged, in so far as possible, in an orderly way, in keeping with their functions. Once built, they should be kept clean and in repair so as to contribute to the beauty of their surroundings. If anything is lacking, and one is in a position to search for it by proper means, then obtain and maintain it in a righteous manner for the sake of one”s own convenience and that of the group. All of these activities form a part of the duty of study: improving and developing the place in which we live.
B. The duty of meditation (vipassana-dhura): This refers to those monks termed araññavasi, or forest dwellers, who search for secluded areas appropriate for meditation, such as those mentioned in the Pali: under the shade of a tree; in a secluded dwelling; under a lean-to, far from settled areas; in a quiet tower; under an over-hanging rock; in a cave; in a forest; in a cemetery; or in a deserted building. One should learn how to select such a place and how to keep it clean and neat for the sake of one”s convenience as a meditator while living there. This is "building and development" in the forest: Observing one”s duties in caring for one”s dwelling, improving and maintaining order in one”s surroundings, and improving oneself while living there. This is building and development on the external level, one sign of a person who knows how to maintain himself in physical seclusion.
As for internal building and development, one should build a shelter for the mind: vihara-dhamma, a home for the heart. One should foster magga, the path to one”s home; and phala, the goodness that arises in the heart as a result. The shelter along the way is Right Concentration: the four levels of jhana. This is the true shelter for those who are ordained.
Once we have been ordained as contemplatives, we should realize that we come under this particular department and so should perform our duties properly. But by and large we don”t understand the true aims of the various departments and so grope around in external matters, without building or developing any internal qualities that can give the heart shelter. When the heart has no internal quality as its shelter, it will go living outside, building and helping only other people. If the heart is entangled with external matters, then after death it will be reborn attached to physical objects and possessions. Those who are attached to their monasteries will be reborn there as guardian spirits. Those who are a…
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