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-, and confess it.’ * Kshamaya, ie. ‘ask pardon,’ is meant here. N go A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XVi-XVII. means ‘satisfying, and it again conveys the sense of ‘pointing out another’s offence according to his wish.” CHAPTER XVI. ABOUT SPOONS AND CHOP-STICKS. As to the mode of eating in the West, they use only the right hand, but if one has had an illness or has some other reason, one is permitted to keep a spoon for use. We never hear of chop-sticks in the five parts of India ; they are not mentioned in the Vinaya of the Four Schools (Nikayas), and it is only China that has them. Laymen naturally follow the old custom (of using sticks), and priests may or may not use them according to their inclination, Chop-sticks were never allowed ner were they prohibited, thus the matter should be treated according to the ‘ abridged teaching,’ for when the sticks are used, people do not discuss or murmur. In China they may be used, for if we obstinately reject their use, people may laugh or complain. They must not be used in India. Such is the idea of the ‘abridged teaching’ (Samkshipta-vinaya). CHAPTER XVII. PROPER OCCASION FOR SALUTATION. . THE manner of salutation should be in accordance with the rules, otherwise it is just as much as falling down on the flat ground. The Buddha, therefore, says: ‘ There are two kinds of impurity with which one should not receive salutation nor salute another, If it be against the teaching, every bow one makes involves the guilt of negligence. Now what are the two kinds of impurity ? Firstly, the impurity contracted through eating and drinking. Through the eating of anything or even the swallowing of a dose of medicine one is unfit for salutation before one rinses one’s mouth and washes one’s hands. Even when one has drunk syrup, water, tea, or honey-water, or had ghee or moist sugar, one is equally unfit before one duly purifies oneself. . Secondly, the impurity contracted by having been to the lavatory. CONCERNING EVACUATION, gr Having been to the lavatory one becomies impure, and a purification of one’s body, hands, and mouth is necessary. So too when one’s body or garments have become impure, stained by anything such as saliva, mucus. The impurity by not using tooth-woods in the morning is included in this. -— At the meeting of the priests or on the fast-day, one should only join one’s hands while impure. Joining one’s hands is paying honour, and therefore one need not do the complete salutation. If one does, one is acting against the teaching. Salutation must not be done in a busy spot or impure place, or on the way. These points are described in the Vinaya texts. Several practices are hindered by a wrong traditional custom or by a different climate, though one wishes strictly to obey the teaching. As long as there are some who practise as ourselves, and whom we could look at as guilty companions, none of us will take warning against a small offence?! CHAPTER XVIII. CONCERNING EVACUATION. I SHALL now describe shortly the rules concerning evacuation. One should put on a bathing-skirt for the lower part of the body, a Sankakshika* robe for the upper part. One should then fill up a jar (lit. ‘ touched jar’) with water for cleansing purposes, go to the lavatory with that jar, and shut the door in order to hide oneself. Fourteen balls of earth are provided and placed on a brick plate, or sometimes on a small board, outside the lavatory (Varéas-kuti). The size of the, brick or board is one cubit long and half a cubit wide. The earth-balls uO are to be ground into powder and made into two rows, the powder of . * This is very difficult to translate. A better rendering may be sought out, but I think I have hit the sense of the passage. ? The Sankakshika is a side-covering robe or cloth, which is worn under all - other robes. For this word, see MahAvyutpatti, § 240, and Julien, Hiuen Thsany, vol. ii, liv. i, p. 33, and p. 55, 7 above. N2 92 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. XVIII. each ball being placed separately. There must be an additional ball placed there. One should take three other balls in the lavatory, and. put them aside. Of these three, one is to be used in rubbing the body, another in washing the body. The manner of washing the body is as follows : one should wash the body with the left hand, and again purify with water and with the earth. There is still one ball left, with which one should roughly wash the left hand once. If there be a piece of card (or peg) it is well to bring it in, but when it has been used one should throw it away outside the lavatory. But if an old paper be used, it must be thrown away in the urinal. After the purification has been done, one should put down (i.e. adjust) the clothes, put the water-jar > ‘on one side, open the door with the right hand, and come out holding the jar in the right hand. Again embracing the jar with éhe left arm but closing the left hand, one should shut the door behind him with the right hand, and leave the urinal. One should now come to the place where the earth-balls are kept, and squat down on one side; if one use a mat, ‘one should place it according as the occasion demands, The jar should be placed on the left knee (?), and be pressed down by the left arm. First the seven earth-balls which are near one’s body should be used one by one in order to wash the left hand, and then the other seven one by one to wash both hands. The surface of the brick and wood (board) should be cleanly washed. There is still another ball with which the jar, arms, abdomen, and feet (soles of feet) are to be washed; when all are pure and clean, one may go away according to one’s own desire. The water in the jar is not fit to be put in the mouth and to the lips. One should come back to one’s room and wash the mouth with water contained in a clean jar. When one has touched the jar after having been to the lavatory, one should again wash the hands and rinse the mouth, and then one is fit to touch any other utensils. Such are the rules concerning the voiding of the bowels. To save trouble a priest always washes himself; but he who has a page can let the latter wash him. After having been to the lavatory one should in any case wash one’s © hands with one or two earth-balls, for purity is the foundation of paying honour. True, there are some who consider these points a very small matter, but there are strict prohibitions in the Vinaya. : CONCERNING EVACUA TION. 93 Before purification one should not ‘sit on a chair belonging to the, Sangha, or salute the Three Jewels (Triratna). Such is the way in which Shén-tze (Kayaputra) subdued a heretic ". The Buddha therefore laid down the rules for the Bhikshus, If you practise (his precepts), the merit that comes from following the Vinaya rules will attead you. If not, the guilt that is incurred by disobeying his teaching will come upon you. Such rules as above were never introduced into China. Even if they were taught, people would.-dislike them, and say, ‘in the universal void taught by the Mahayana, what is pure and what is impure? Your inside is ever full; what is the use, then, of the outward Purification?’ But they do not know that they are, by so thinking, neglecting the teaching of the Buddha, and doing wrong to his noble mind? - Guilt is incurred in doing honour to, or receiving it from, each other, Gods (devas) and spirits get disgusted with our ways of wearing gar- ments and eating food. If one does not wash and purify oneself, the people of the five divisions of India will laugh at one ; and such a man will be spoken ill of wherever he goes. The men on whom the propagation of religion rests should hand down the teaching (of the Buddha). Since we have gone forth from worldly troubles, rejected our homes and become homeless, we are bound to obey strictly every word of the Sakya, the Father. How could we cast a displeased glance at the contents of the Vinaya ? Even if you do not believe these points, you had better try what has been directed. After five or six days you may know the faults of not washing yourselves. In winter you May use warm water; in the other three seasons you may use what you like. But the use of the small vessel (to keep water in) and the cloth (to wipe one’s body) is not in accordance with the Vinaya texts. Some keep water in their mouth and go out of the lavatory ; this practice is also against the rules of purification. The dwelling-place of the priests must have its lavatories kept clean. If one cannot do so oneself, persuade others to do so. A shelter ig - thus offered to priests who come from all quarters, common and exalted alike. It is important that the expense should be small. had) chee, aR ara 4 A RECORD OF BUDDHIST PRACTICES. | XVUI. Such. is the act of purification, and it is not a vain thing. . Prepare a large vessel which can hold a Shih or two, fill it with earth, and put it near the lavatory. For the purpose of keeping water, a priest is allowed to use a basin of earthenware in case he has no watet-jar prepared in his own private rooms. The basin full of water is to be brought in and placed at one corner of the lavatory, and the body is cleansed with his right hand. In the watery region (Kiang and Hwai in China) the ground is low, and a (china) pot is often used for the privy. One cannot wash at the same place; and a washing-place should be made separately, with water always flowing out. The temple Fa-fuh in Fen-chou; the Ling-yen? on the mount Tai; the Yii-hsén in the city Hsing; the Pa-ta in Yang-chou; in all these temples in China the lavatories were arranged according to the proper . rules, except that of the preparation of water and earth.