[Buddha-l] Re: Rational or mythological Buddhism andWesternBuddhist lay practice

[jkirk]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard P. Hayes" <rhayes at unm.edu>
To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Monday, March 28, 2005 8:37 AM
Subject: [Buddha-l] Re: Rational or mythological Buddhism andWesternBuddhist
lay practice


> > With all due respect, I don't see why merely having wives, mistresses or
> > pets would, in and of themselses, would impede begging. Beggars
throughout
> > history have had wives and children, whom they often inveigled into
begging
> > as well.
>
> Religious mendicants in Magadha at the time of the Buddha were expected
> to be celibate. If you read the commentaries to the vinaya rules you
> find it said again and again that Buddhist monks were expected to follow
> various rules, lest the village people talk. Apparently one of the
> things that caused villagers to talk was religious beggars who had
> families to support. Moreverover, the Buddha seems to have been mindful
> of taking precautions against his community being any kind of burden on
> the supporting community. That is the reason for celibacy stated in the
> vinaya.
>
> > No, the reasons for requiring celibacy were otherwise, most importantly
> > perhaps that married men with children could not be expected to submit
to
> > the routines nor the discipline of monastic communitarian living.
>
> That reason is not the one given in the vinaya. Of course, the vinaya
> may have been lying.
>
> > I daresay the women would not have put up with monasticism, either!
>
> Why not? Don't you think some women would prefer a well-behaved husband
> to a gambler, drinker and womanizer?
>
> --
> Richard Hayes
> Department of Philosophy
> University of New Mexico
>
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