Dear Yong Peng,
Yes, I know about the tradition which you mentioned before, in another post.
I understand. People may misunderstand the Vinaya when they only read
details which cause them to have akusala cittas.
I shall just add some personal notes.
Some people only read about aberrations, but I think people should not just
read part of the Vinaya but the whole of the Vinaya.
The Buddha thought of people's defilements, also the monk's and that is why
many details are mentioned. But there is more. He had such great compassion
that he also thought of cases that people were mad or did not know what they
were doing, or had no intention to perform a bad act. So, there are many
amendments to the rules.
I repost what I posted yesterday to someone who asked me the difference
between layman and monk.
<Nina: We read in the Gradual Sayings, Book of the Tens, Ch IV, § 1 (X,31)
that Upali asked the Buddha what the aim was of the Patimokkha:

<It was done with ten objects in view, Upali. What ten?
For the excellence of the Order, for the wellbeing of the Order; for the
controll of ill-conditioned monks and the comfort of well-behaved monks; for
the restraint of the cankers in the same visible state; for protection
against the cankers in a future life; to give confidence to those of little
faith; for the betterment of the faithful; to establish true dhamma, and to
support the discipline.>

We cannot compare the status of monk and that of a layman. You see from the
text how important the Sangha is: to preserve the teachings up to this day,
to help laypeople to have more confidence in dhamma. The monk's life should
be like the life of an arahat. The goal of monkhood is reaching arahatship.
That is why he went forth, abandoning pleasures of the senses. He sees
danger in the slightest faults, he strives after perfection. >

The rules of the Vinaya should not be separated from satipatthana,
mindfulness of realities. All these rules help the monks, and laypeople can
apply them in their own situation.
The monks have to confess their faults and to forgive one another. Also
laypeople can learn to forgive, to take a humble attitude with kusala citta.
We read in the Parivaara (P.T.S. edition part 6) that the monk should be
humble, be like a dustrag. This reminds us of the sutta where we read that
Sariputta was like a dustrag, he could forgive anybody.
The monks have to sweep and clean their dwellings, they have to wash and
mend their robes, they have to go on alsmround, walking in the villages with
all the distractions.
Now we have to remember the satipatthanasutta on the postures and clear
comprehension. We read under Mindfulness of the Body that the monk should be
mindful no matter he is walking, standing, etc., no matter he is eating,
speaking, etc. Thus, satipatthana is always implied in all the rules.
Laypeople also have to clean their houses, do the washing, and all these
actions can be done with mindfulness. Mindfulness is not to be limited to
specific situations or objects. We can learn at any time, at any place that
life is only a moment of experiencing one object through one of the six
doors and then gone.
The monk should look ahead only the length of a plough, and this reminds us
not to be involved in the details of things, but be mindful of nama and
rupa.
There are rules about good behaviour when eating, such as not putting all
the food in your cheek, not spitting, etc. This teaches us something: when
doing this, is there not forgetfulness? When there is mindfulness one will
also think of others and omit unpleasant behaviour.
So there are many details, but they all are meaningful. They can remind
laypeople of their defilements.
I think the beginning of Patimokkha is most impressive: patience is the
greatest ascetism.
I have the greatest admiration and deepest respect for the Vinaya, and since
it is part of the Tipitaka also laypeople should study this. It helps us to
see the unity of the Tipitaka, this contains the Buddha's words.
Nina.
P.S. I go away Saturday for a week and cannot continue this thread.

op 05-05-2005 02:55 schreef Ong Yong Peng op yongpeng.ong@...:

> I have long regarded the Vinaya as house rules
> to an exclusive group of people, i.e. the monks and nuns. So,
> laypeople do not have the rights to judge about the internal affairs
> of the monastic community. At the same time, monks and nuns cannot
> apply their "house rules" to laypeople, since it is, afterall,
> for "internal use only".