Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Postscript on the common error in regard to the comparative prevalence of Buddhism in the world
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Rules for Pronunciation
- Pronunciation of Buddha, etc. Addenda and Corrigenda
- LECTURE I INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS
- LECTURE II THE BUDDHA AS A PERSONAL TEACHER
- LECTURE III THE DHARMA OR LAW AND SCRIPTURES OF BUDDHISM
- LECTURE IV THE SAṄGHA OR BUDDHIST ORDER OF MONKS
- LECTURE V THE PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES OF BUDDHISM
- LECTURE VI THE MORALITY OF BUDDHISM AND ITS CHIEF AIM—ARHATSHIP OR NIRVĀṆA
- LECTURE VII CHANGES IN BUDDHISM AND ITS DISAPPEARANCE FROM INDIA
- LECTURE VIII RISE OF THEISTIC AND POLYTHEISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE IX THEISTIC AND POLYTHEISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE X MYSTRICAL BUDDHISM IN ITS CONNEXION WITH THE YOGA PHILOSOPHY
- LECTURE XI HIERARCHICAL BUDDHISM, ESPECIALLY AS DEVELOPED IN TIRET AND MONGOLIA
- LECTURE XII CEREMONIAL AND RITUALISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE XIII FESTIVALS, DOMESTIC RITES, AND FORMULARIES OF PRAYERS
- LECTURE XIV SACRED PLACES
- LECTURE XV MONASTERIES AND TEMPLES
- LECTURE XVI IMAGES AND IDOLS
- LECTURE XVII SACRED OBJECTS
- SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE CONNEXION OF BUDDHISM WITH JAINISM
- LECTURE XVIII BUDDHISM CONTRASTED WITH CHRISTIANITY
- OBSERVE
- Plate section
LECTURE XV - MONASTERIES AND TEMPLES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Preface
- Postscript on the common error in regard to the comparative prevalence of Buddhism in the world
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Rules for Pronunciation
- Pronunciation of Buddha, etc. Addenda and Corrigenda
- LECTURE I INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS
- LECTURE II THE BUDDHA AS A PERSONAL TEACHER
- LECTURE III THE DHARMA OR LAW AND SCRIPTURES OF BUDDHISM
- LECTURE IV THE SAṄGHA OR BUDDHIST ORDER OF MONKS
- LECTURE V THE PHILOSOPHICAL DOCTRINES OF BUDDHISM
- LECTURE VI THE MORALITY OF BUDDHISM AND ITS CHIEF AIM—ARHATSHIP OR NIRVĀṆA
- LECTURE VII CHANGES IN BUDDHISM AND ITS DISAPPEARANCE FROM INDIA
- LECTURE VIII RISE OF THEISTIC AND POLYTHEISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE IX THEISTIC AND POLYTHEISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE X MYSTRICAL BUDDHISM IN ITS CONNEXION WITH THE YOGA PHILOSOPHY
- LECTURE XI HIERARCHICAL BUDDHISM, ESPECIALLY AS DEVELOPED IN TIRET AND MONGOLIA
- LECTURE XII CEREMONIAL AND RITUALISTIC BUDDHISM
- LECTURE XIII FESTIVALS, DOMESTIC RITES, AND FORMULARIES OF PRAYERS
- LECTURE XIV SACRED PLACES
- LECTURE XV MONASTERIES AND TEMPLES
- LECTURE XVI IMAGES AND IDOLS
- LECTURE XVII SACRED OBJECTS
- SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE CONNEXION OF BUDDHISM WITH JAINISM
- LECTURE XVIII BUDDHISM CONTRASTED WITH CHRISTIANITY
- OBSERVE
- Plate section
Summary
Buddhist monasteries deserve a fuller notice than the incidental allusions we have made to them in previous Lectures.
The duty of dwelling under trees, and not in houses, according to the example set by all the Buddhas (see p. 136), and especially by Gautama Buddha himself, during his long course of meditation (see p. 31), was in theory supposed to be binding on all true monks. ‘The root of a tree for an abode’ was one of ‘the four Resources,’ of which every monk was allowed to avail himself, and the enumeration of which formed part of the admission-ceremonies (see p. 80).
At the same time certain dispensations or indulgences were specially granted at those ceremonies, one of which was permission to live in covered residences, when not itinerating. The five kinds of dwellings permissible under varying circumstances are described in Ćulla-vagga (VI. 1, 2). They are Vihāras (monasteries), Aḍḍhayogas (i. e. houses of a peculiar shape), storied dwellings (prāsāda), mansions (harmya), and caves (see note, p. 81 of this volume).
It is clear that any painful exposure of the body to the violent storms of India was incompatible with one of the principles of Buddhism, which, though it taught self-denial and self-sacrifice of a particular kind, deprecated all personal self-inflicted pain and austerity.
Yet it appears (from Mahā-vagga, III. 15) that at the time of his first residence at Rāja-gṛiha (see p. 29 of these Lectures), the Buddha had not yet instituted ‘the Retreat’ during the rains (Vassa).
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- BuddhismIn its Connexion with Brahmanism and Hinduism and in its Contrast with Christianity, pp. 426 - 464Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1889