Since we're talking about bhikkhus here, I thought I should say something. :-)

Are we allowed to beg?

If I were to stand in a public place with a bowl in hand, and ask for food, e.g., "Can you please give me some chapati or cucuk-kodok or tao-fu-fah (some Malaysian food)," that's begging, right?

But if I were to stand quietly in a public place with a bowl in hand, and people put food into it without me actually *begging* for it, that should be allowable, shouldn't it?

So, what's the "ethical issues problems"?

kb

At 09:54 AM 07-06-05, Piya Tan wrote:

>Yong Peng,
>
>The Pali word for "beggar" is yaacaka, and monks & nuns are now allowed to beg is not
>allowed according to the Vinaya.
>
>So we have semantic as well as ethical issues problems.
>
>I have personally communicated this to Michael.
>
>Or perhaps we can forget about Pali at least for this moment and humour ourselves.
>
>Sukhi
>
>Piya