Talk:Mūlasarvāstivāda

Mulasrvastavadin Pratimokhsa Lineage:

Condensed text by Je Tsongkhapa

 * The Essence of the Vinaya Ocean
 * By Je Tsong Khapa


 * OM. May it be well.
 * Homage to the Omniscient One.


 * The means dependent on which one goes
 * With ease to liberation’s city,
 * The Sugata’s doctrine’s supreme essence,
 * Which is known as pratimoksha,


 * I shall explain in six parts: nature,
 * Divisions, the recognition of each,
 * Bases in which it is produced,
 * Causes of loss, and benefits.


 * a) Nature
 * It is, with thought of renunciation
 * Acting as cause, to turn away
 * From harm to others and its base.


 * Our higher and lower schools have two
 * Modes of assertion: that it has form,
 * Being karma of body and speech;
 * Or that it is the constantly coming
 * Will to abandon, with its seed.


 * b) Divisions
 * Pratimoksha is of eight types:
 * Fasting, layman and laywoman,
 * Male and female novices,
 * Nun probationer, full nun, full monk.


 * The first three are householders’vows,
 * The last five, vows of those gone forth.


 * c) The Recognition of Each
 * c1) Fasting (Upavasa) Vows
 * Fasting vows are to abandon
 * Eight things - four roots and four branches.


 * Incontinence, to take the ungiven,
 * Killing and false speech are four roots.
 * Great or high beds, drinking liquor,
 * Dance, song, garlands and so forth,
 * And afternoon eating are four branches.


 * c2) Lay-Followers’ (Upasaka & Upasika) Vows
 * Vows of lay-followers are to abandon
 * Killing, theft, lies, sexuall misconduct, and intoxicating drink.


 * Six lay-followers: those who practise
 * One, some, most rules, or completely,
 * The continent, and those of refuge.


 * They are lay-followers who, in order,
 * Abandon one, two, three of the four roots,
 * Sexuall misconduct, and incontinence;
 * Or just of refuge, we assert.


 * c3) Novices’ (Sramanera & Sramanerika) Vows
 * Novice vows are to abandon
 * Ten things - four roots and six branches.


 * Amusements and adornments, as two;
 * Three; and accepting gold and silver -
 * This division makes six branches.


 * Adding three kinds of falling away -
 * From making request to one’s preceptor -
 * Leaving aside householder’s marks,
 * And wearing the marks of one gone forth -
 * Thirteen things are to be abandoned.


 * c4) Probationer Nun’s (Siksamana) Vows
 * The discipline of a probationer nun
 * Is, after taking novice vows,
 * Vow of avoidance - six root rules
 * And six secondary rules.


 * Not to go on the road alone,
 * Not to swim across a river,
 * Not to touch a male person,
 * Not to sit with a male alone,
 * Not to act as go-between,
 * And not to conceal non-virtue
 * Are the six root rules of avoidance.


 * Not to pick up golden treasure,
 * Not to shave one’s pubic hair,
 * Not to eat food not received,
 * Not to eat what has been hoarded,
 * Not to excrete on green herbage,
 * Not to dig the soil - these six
 * Abandonments are the secondary rules.


 * c5) Full Nun’s (Bhikshuni) Vows
 * Eight defeats, twenty suspensions,
 * Thirty-three lapses with forfeiture,
 * A hundred and eighty simple lapses,
 * Eleven offences to be confessed
 * And the hundred and twelve misdeeds
 * Make three hundred and sixty-four
 * Things the bhikshuni abandons.


 * c6) Full Monk’s (Bhikshu) Vows
 * Four defeats, thirteen suspensions,
 * Thirty lapses with forfeiture,
 * Ninety simple lapses, then
 * Four offences to be confessed
 * And the hundred and twelve misdeeds -
 * Added together, two hundred and
 * Fifty-three things the bhikshu avoids.


 * Bases in which it is Produced
 * These eight types of pratimoksha are produced in the bases of men and women of three continents, except Kuru, but not such as eunuchs, hermaphrodites and neuters.


 * Causes of Loss
 * Causes of losing vows are two.


 * Common Causes
 * Giving back the training, death, two sexes appearing, changing thrice, and cutting one’s roots of virtue are common.


 * Special Causes
 * Learning one was not yet twenty, agreeing to serve, and the day’s elapsing are special to, respectively, bhikshus, probationer nuns, and fasters.
 * Some assert the vows are lost if one commits a root offence or if the holy Dharma vanishes. Vaibhashikas of Kashmir assert one with vows with a root offence is like a rich man with a debt.


 * Benefits
 * From keeping these vows, one will gain the temporal fruit, divine or human birth, and the ultimate fruit, the three awakenings. Since this is taught, the energetic always keep the pratimoksha, devotedly striving.


 * Dedication
 * By this virtue, may embodied beings throughout their rebirths live in pure conduct.

see also Pratimoksha --Kt66 10:35, 31 August 2006 (UTC)