Vinaya : "The Four Disrobing Offences"

Vinaya : "The Four Disrobing Offences"by Ajahn BrahmavamsoThe core of the monastic discipline is a list of rules called the Patimokkha. In the bhikkhu-patimokkha (for the monks) there are 227 rules, while in the bhikkhuni-patimokkha (for the nuns) there are 311 rules. The first four rules in the patimokkha, for both monks and nuns, are the four Parajika. The word parajika (in the ancient Indian language called Pali) is usually translated as 'making the doer defeated'. In effect it means that the offender MUST DISROBE. No ceremony or trial is required. From the instant the transgression is completed, the perpetrator automatically loses his or her status as a Buddhist monk or nun. Obviously these four rules were considered by the Buddha to be extreme violations of the spiritual ethic and a major obstacle in the path to enlightenment. They considered such gross behaviour on the part of a monk or nun that the penalty of disrobal was for life! Such a one could not simply re-ordain after a period of grace.- Read the full article here ... www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut019.htmby Ajahn Brahmavamso(Buddhist Society of Western Australia, Newsletter, April-June 1996)- Picture : The Higher Ordination of Bhikkhu Cirapunyo.- Picture source : Vihara Buddha Gotama.This article has been published on TBCM's Facebook here ... www.facebook.com/tbcm.org.my/photos/pb.348962045182458.-2207520000.1429778857./761871357224856/?type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-kul.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-xpa1%2Fv%2Ft1.0-9%2F10430878_761871357224856_5119503068656601075_n.jpg%3Foh%3D35236deb2067d7e71ec5691b82706e0b%26oe%3D55D28FAC&size=700%2C465&fbid=761871357224856- Posted by CFFong