According
to the Vinaya the Buddha asked Ananda to sow the pieces of cloth making up monk’s
robes in the pattern of ‘the fields of Magadha’ (Magadhaketta, Vin.I,287). While in India in December I saw this
scene as I looked out of the window of
the vehicle I was travelling in, the identical pattern of the robe I was
wearing.
No wonder Chinese Buddhist call the monk's robe as " Fu tian yi" (福田衣）, mean the robe of blessing field.
ReplyDeleteBut - as interesting as this view is, there are other types of fields. So why not wear a different robe that looks like a T-shirt? Because someone said so? I rarely see monks whose robes are really made of the clothes of diseased and sick people. Most get their robes in a shop. In Thailand anyone can buy them in the supermarket.
ReplyDeleteNamaste Venerable Dhammika I am Cybele Chiodi, surely you don't remember me anymore but I converted to Buddhism in Nilambe many years ago and you were my 'tutor'. I tried to contact you many times and failed.
ReplyDeleteI am still a buddhist and practice Vipassana Meditation. I lived for a long time in India but now I am back to Italy (I am brazilian woman living abroad for the last 30 years in different countries). I would like to be in touch with you. My emqail address is cybelechiodi@yahoo.com Please could you write me. Lots of Metta Cybele
Dear Dooyen, if you read my post again you will notice that I am not actually expressing a view but pointing out (what I thought was an interesting) fact – that the lay-out of fields in north eastern India today does not seem to have changed since the Buddha mentioned that a monk’s robes should be patterned like the fields of Magadha (i.e. north eastern India) 2500 years ago. Whether there are other types of fields, whether monks MUST or SHOULD follow this rule, whether they should use clothes of sick or diseased people or buy robes in supermarkets, were not issues that I addressed. And I’m a bit puzzled as to why you raised them. But thanks for your comment anyway.
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