key=precepts precepts (kairitsu 戒律,kai 戒)

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key=precepts
precepts (kairitsu 戒律,kai 戒)
Rules of moral behavior that are binding on individual Buddhists and define their status
in the institutional hierarchy. The precepts used by Chinese Buddhists in the Song,
Yuan, and Ming dynasties were the ones most influential on Japanese Zen. They were
based on the Four Part Vinaya (Shibunritsu, C. Sifenlü 四分律), a fifth century Chinese
translation of the Vinaya of the Indian Dharmaguptaka school, and were prescribed in
the Rules of Purity for Zen Monasteries (Zen'en shingi, C. Chanyuan qinggui 禪苑清
規), compiled in 1103. The major sets of precepts found in those sources are: the ten
precepts (jikkai 十戒) binding on novice monks (shami 沙彌) who have entered the
Buddhist order by "going forth from home" (shukke 出家); the full precepts (gusokukai
具足戒) undertaken by full-fledged monks and nuns (daisō 大僧); the five precepts
(gokai 五戒) for Buddhist lay people; and the bodhisattva precepts (bosatsu kai 菩薩
戒), which both monks and lay people can receive to affirm their commitment to the
ideals of the Mahayana. The novice precepts are crucial, for they mark the divide
between householders and monastics who "leave home." As explained in the Four Part
Vinaya novice monks undertake the following ten vows: (1) not to take life, (2) not to
steal, (3) not to engage in sexual activity, (4) not to speak falsely, (5) not to drink
alcohol, (6) not to adorn the body with flowers, headdresses, or perfumes, (7) not to
sing, dance, or perform as an entertainer, and not to go to see or hear such things, (8) not
to sit on high, magnificent couches, (9) not to eat at improper times, and (10) not to
handle gold and silver, money, or valuables. The five precepts for the Buddhist laity are
the same as the first five of the ten novice precepts, with the exception that only
improper sexual activity (as opposed to all sexual activity) is proscribed. The full
precepts comprise 250 rules for individual monks which are grouped according to the
seriousness of the offenses and the means of expiating them. For example, the four most
serious transgressions (sexual intercourse, theft, killing a human being, and falsely
claiming superhuman faculties) are classed as offenses requiring expulsion from the
sangha. The next most serious class of transgressions are offenses requiring probation
and temporary exclusion from the sangha. The least serious offenses are ones that can
be atoned by simply confessing them and transgressions of minor etiquette for which
there are no explicit sanctions. See →"bodhisattva precepts" for a list of the precepts,
the role they played in the history of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, and a discussion
of the precepts now used in Soto Zen.
householder (zaike 在家)
Literally "residing" (zai 在) in the "home" or "family" (ke 家). A Buddhist lay person.
→ "going forth from household life."
ordination (tokudo 得度)

Literally, to be "enabled" (toku 得) to "cross over" or "be saved" (do 度). Ordination
rites always involve receiving precepts (jukai 受戒), which "enable" one to successfully
follow the Buddhist path.
monk (sō 僧, biku 比丘)
In China and most other countries where Buddhism has flourished, a Buddhist monk is
a man who has (at least) shaved his head, donned monastic robes, and been ordained
with the ten novice precepts (shami jikkai 沙彌十戒) established in the Indian Vinaya,
which makes him a novice (shami 沙彌). A bhikṣu (biku 比丘) or full-fledged monk
(daisō 大僧) is one who has, in addition, been ordained with the full precepts
(gusokukai 具足戒) of the complete Prātimokσa. In Japan, however, from the Heian
period (794-1185) on some men who shaved their heads and joined monastic orders
began to be ordained using only bodhisattva precepts. In present day Soto Zen, monks
are men who have undergone the ceremony of taking precepts (tokudo shiki sahō 得度
式作法); the rite entails shaving the head, donning monastic robes, and receiving the
bodhisattva precepts. In present day Rinzai Zen, monks are men who have taken the
traditional ten novice precepts. Technically, therefore, there are no Japanese Zen
bhikṣus (biku 比丘), but in certain ritual contexts that term is used for Zen monks
(zensō 禪僧) nevertheless. Throughout most of the history the Zen schools of Buddhism
in Japan, celibacy was the norm for Zen monks. However, in 1873 the new Meiji
government reversed state policies concerning the Buddhist sangha that had in been in
force during the preceding Edo period (1600-1868), and since that time monks
belonging to the Zen schools have been allowed to marry. Most Zen monks today are
the sons of Zen temple priests, an occupation that has become largely hereditary. In
Japanese Zen today, monks comprise more than 99% of the total ordained clergy, which
numbers about 25,000. →"sangha," "precepts," "nun."
monk in training (unsui 雲水, unnō 雲衲)
1. In Song and Yuan dynasty China, monks who wandered about seeking teachers and
novel experiences were likened to "fleeting clouds and floating water (kōun ryūsui 行雲
流水) in their lack of any fixed abode and thus came to be known as "clouds and water
monks" (unsui sō 雲水僧). They wore the "patched robes" (nō 衲) of a wandering monk
(unsui 雲水), and so came to be called "cloud robes" (unnō 雲衲) as well. 2. In Edo
period Japan (1600-1868), the designations unsui and unnō came to apply to young
monks who had not yet become resident priests (jūshoku 住職) - the abbots of ordinary
temples - but were still in a training monastery (sōdō 僧堂) or "wandering on foot"
(angya 行脚) between training monasteries to learn from different Zen masters. That
nomenclature is somewhat incongruous because most monks called unsui today are in
fact registered (kata 掛搭) as residents of a monastery and thus are not wandering
monks in the original sense of the term.
kesa (kesa 袈裟)

A rectangular ceremonial vestment that is worn draped over the left shoulder by
Buddhist monks in East Asia and is emblematic of the robes originally worn by
Buddhist monks in India. All kesas are pieced robes (kassetsue 割截衣), made with
five, seven, nine, or more panels of cloth that are sewn together. The panels themselves
comprise both long and short pieces of cloth. The word kesa originated as a Chinese
transliteration of the Sanskrit kāṣāya or "ochre," an earthy pigment containing ferric
oxide that varies from light yellow to brown or red. Buddhist monks in India were
originally supposed to wear robes made from discarded cloth that was ritually polluted
or literally filthy. The procedure was to cut out usable pieces of cloth, wash them, sew
them together, and dye the resulting garment with ochre. From that uniform color,
Buddhist patchwork robes in general came to be called kāṣāya. As the monastic
institution evolved, new cloth for robes came to be provided by lay donors, but the
practice of cutting the cloth into small pieces and sewing those together to make robes
was retained. Buddhist monks in India were allowed three types of kāṣāya: (1) an
antarvāsa or "under robe," (2) an uttarāsangha or "upper robe," and (3) a saghāi or
"full dress robe." In the colder climates of Central Asia and China, however, the Indian
mode of dress was often insufficient, so monks from those regions wore their native
clothing and draped the Indian upper robe or full dress robe on top of that. In China, the
word kāṣāya was transliterated as jiasha 袈裟, which is pronounced kesa in Japanese.
Worn over a Chinese-style full-length sleeved robe that was tied at the waist with a belt
or sash, the jiasha (kesa) lost its function as a practical piece of clothing to cover and
protect the body but retained its meaning as an emblem of membership in the monastic
order. As vestments used only when formally dressed for solemn Buddhist observances,
there was a tendency for jiasha to evolve into finery, crafted from pieces of colorful
brocaded silk. Soto monks today receive three kesas upon their ordination. →"robes,"
"three robes," "long robe," "rakusu."
enter the path (nyūdō 入道)
1. To leave lay life and become a Buddhist monk or nun. 2. To begin practicing
Buddhism.

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https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/library/glossary/individual.html?

precepts (kairitsu 戒律,kai 戒)

householder (zaike 在家)

ordination (tokudo 得度)

monk (sō 僧, biku 比丘)

monk in training (unsui 雲水, unnō 雲衲)

kesa (kesa 袈裟)

enter the path (nyūdō 入道)

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