DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45392#0219
The Order
We can now examine in greater detail the special Rule
which was adopted in the Order founded by Gautama,
and organized under his immediate guidance. We have
already mentioned the Ten Commandments, or rather,
Prohibitions, which must be observed by every member
of the Order. The Brethren are also required to wear a
monastic costume of yellow or orange cloth, made of
torn pieces, sewn together so as to have no commercial
value: to seek their daily food as alms; to abstain from
food between meals at the appointed hours : and generally,
to maintain a decorous behaviour. But they are not re-
quired to take any vow of life-long adhesion—on the
contrary, those who find they have no true vocation are
encouraged to return to the world, where, if they cannot
attain Arahatta in this life, they may yet aspire to a favour-
able rebirth. Nor are the Brethren required to take any
vow of obedience to superiors: all are equal, with due allow-
ance for seniority, and degree of spiritual advancement:
even in large monasteries, the head is merely primus
inter pares. The Order constitutes thus a self-contained
democracy, analogous to a guild or occupational caste.
Discipline is maintained formally by the Order as a whole,
acting upon the confession or proved fault of the erring
Brother, and appointing, in bi-monthly convocation, a
suitable penance; the heaviest punishment, appointed for
infringement of either of the Four Cardinal Sins (breach
of the vow of chastity, theft, killing, and laying claim to
miraculous powers), is expulsion from the Order; mention
is also made in Asoka’s edicts of expulsion or unfrocking
of heretics or schismatics. An external check is also
provided by public opinion, which neither in the days of
Gautama, nor in modern Burma or Ceylon, would tolerate
the mere pretence of a holy life. Thus, says Mr Fielding
153
We can now examine in greater detail the special Rule
which was adopted in the Order founded by Gautama,
and organized under his immediate guidance. We have
already mentioned the Ten Commandments, or rather,
Prohibitions, which must be observed by every member
of the Order. The Brethren are also required to wear a
monastic costume of yellow or orange cloth, made of
torn pieces, sewn together so as to have no commercial
value: to seek their daily food as alms; to abstain from
food between meals at the appointed hours : and generally,
to maintain a decorous behaviour. But they are not re-
quired to take any vow of life-long adhesion—on the
contrary, those who find they have no true vocation are
encouraged to return to the world, where, if they cannot
attain Arahatta in this life, they may yet aspire to a favour-
able rebirth. Nor are the Brethren required to take any
vow of obedience to superiors: all are equal, with due allow-
ance for seniority, and degree of spiritual advancement:
even in large monasteries, the head is merely primus
inter pares. The Order constitutes thus a self-contained
democracy, analogous to a guild or occupational caste.
Discipline is maintained formally by the Order as a whole,
acting upon the confession or proved fault of the erring
Brother, and appointing, in bi-monthly convocation, a
suitable penance; the heaviest punishment, appointed for
infringement of either of the Four Cardinal Sins (breach
of the vow of chastity, theft, killing, and laying claim to
miraculous powers), is expulsion from the Order; mention
is also made in Asoka’s edicts of expulsion or unfrocking
of heretics or schismatics. An external check is also
provided by public opinion, which neither in the days of
Gautama, nor in modern Burma or Ceylon, would tolerate
the mere pretence of a holy life. Thus, says Mr Fielding
153