Kuru Dhamma & Garu Dhamma

The full moon of Virgo (Karma weather)

Kuru Dhamma & Garu Dhamma

Kurudhamma story

For the Benefits of many. Genuine quotes and stories of Lord Buddha from the Buddhist scriptures (Tripitak)

“Knowing your faith,” etc.-This. story the Master told while living in Jetavana monastery, about a Monk that killed a wild goose. –

-Two Brothers, great friends, who came from Shravasti city, and had embraced the religious(hermit) life, after taking the higher holy order of disciples,he used generally to go about together. One day they came to Aciravati river. After a bath, they stood on the sand, basking in the sunlight and talking pleasantly together.-

– At this moment two wild geese flew over their heads. One of the young fellows picked up a stone. –

-“I’m going to hit that goose bird in the eye!” says he. –

-“You can’t,” says the other. .-

-“That I can,” says the first, “and not only that–I can hit either this eye or that eye, as I please.”-

– “Not you!” says the other.-

– “Look here, then!” says the first; and picking up a three-cornered stone, throw it after the bird. The bird turned its head on hearing the pebble whizz through the air. Then the other, seizing a round pebble, throw it so that it hit the near eye and came out of the other. The goose with a loud cry turned over and over and fell at their very feet. The Monks who were standing about saw what had occurred, and ran up, rebuking him. “What a shame,” said they, “that you, who have embraced such a teaching as ours, should take the life of a living creature!” –

-They made him go before the Tathagata(Buddha) with them. “Is what they say true?” asked the Master. “Have you really taken the life of a living creature?” “Yes, Sir,” replied the Monk. “Monk,” said he, “how is it that you have done this thing, after embracing so great path of salvation (nirvana)? –

-Wise men of old, before the Buddha appeared, though they lived in the world, and the worldly life is impure, felt remorse about mere low ones (sins); but you, who have embraced this great teaching, have no doubts. A Monk should hold himself in control in deed, word, and thought.” Then he told a story. –

welcome be. “This elephant to you for gift I bring: It is a king’s portion, worthy of a king! Take him, with all his ornamental dresses, golden chain, Driver and all, and go your ways again.” Thus spoke the great Being, mounted upon his elephant’s back; then, dismounting, he said to them-“If there is a spot on him undecorated, I will adorn it and then give him to you.” Thrice he went about the creature, turning towards the right, and examined him; but he found no spot on him without adornment. Then he put the trunk into the brahmins’ hands; he sprinkled him with scented water from a fine golden vase, and made him over to them. The brahmins accepted the elephant with his belongings, and seating themselves upon his back rode to Dantapura, and handed him over to their king. But although the elephant was come, no rain fell yet.

bless me now,” said he; “but the royal driver carefully practises it. Go and ask him.” –

-So they found the royal driver, and asked him. Now the driver one day was measuring a field. Tying a cord to a stick, he gave one end to the owner of the field to hold, and took the other himself. The stick tied to the end of the cord which he held came to a crab’s lurk-hole. Thought he, “If I put the stick in the hole, the crab in the hole will be hurt: if I put it on the other side, the king’s property will lose; and if I put it on this side, the farmer will lose. What’s to be done?” Then he thought again–“The crab should be in his hole; but if he were, he would show himself;” so he put the stick in the hole. The crab made a click! inside. Then he thought, “The stick must have struck upon the crab, and it must have killed him! I observe the Kuru righteousness, and now here’s a flaw in it!” So he told them this, and added, “So now I have my doubts about it, and I cannot give it to you.”

youth, he gave her a thousand pieces, saying, “I will come in due course of time.” Then he returned to heaven, and did not visit her for three years. And she, for honour’s sake, for three years took not so much as a piece of betel from another man. By degrees she got poor; and then she thought–“The man who gave me a thousand pieces has not come these three years; and now I have grown poor. I cannot keep body and soul together. Now I must go tell the Chief Justices, and get my wage as before.” So to the court she came, and said, “There was a man three years ago gave me a thousand pieces, and never came back; whether he be dead I know not. I cannot keep body and soul together; what am I to do, my lord’?” Said he, “If he does not come for three years, what can you do? Earn your wage as before.” As soon as she left the court, after this award, there came a man who offered her a thousand. As she held out her hands to take it, Sakka(Indra) showed himself.

Said she, “Here is the man who gave me a thousand pieces three years ago: I must not take your money;” and she brought back her hand. Then Sakka(Indra) caused his own proper shape to be seen, and hovered in the air, shining like the sun fresh risen, and gathered all the city together. Sakka(Indra), in the midst of the crowd, said, “To test her goodness I gave her a thousand pieces three years ago. Be like her, and like her keep your honour;” and with this advice, he filled her living with jewels of seven kinds, and saying, “From now on be vigilant,” he comforted her, and went away to heaven.

So for this cause she refused, saying, “Because before I had earned one wage I held out my hand for another, therefore my virtue is not perfect, and so I cannot give it to you.” To this the messengers replied,

“Merely to hold out the hand is not a breach of virtue: that virtue of yours is the highest perfection!” And from her, as from the rest, they received the rules of virtue, and wrote them on their golden plate.

They took it with them to Dantapura, and told the king how they had fared. Then their king practised the Kuru rules, and fulfilled the Five Virtues. And then in all the realm of Kalinga the rain fell; the three fears were relieved; the land became prosperous and fertile.

The Bodhisattva all his life long gave alms and did good, and then with his subjects went to fill the heavens.

When the Buddha had ended this discourse, he explained the truths, and explained the Birth-tale. At the conclusion of the Truths, some entered the First Path(Trance), some the Second, some entered the Third, and some became saints.

And the Birth-tale is thus explained:-

“Uppalavanna was the royal dancer & pleasure girl, Punna the porter, and the driver was Kuccana; Kolita, the measurer; The rich man, Sariputra; he who drove The chariot, Anuruddha; and the priest Was Kashyapa the Elder Monk; he that was The Viceroy, now is Nandapandita; Rahul’s mother (wife of Buddha) the queen-wife, The Queen-mother was Maya (deceased birth mother of Buddha); and the King Was Bodhisattva–Thus the Birth is clear.”

8 Garudhammas

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The eight Garudhammas (heavy rules added to the bhikkhuni rules):

The eight heavy rules were said to have been added to allow more acceptance of a monastic Order for women, during the Buddha's time. They are controversial because they clearly put women in an inferior position and also because many Buddhists, especially those from the Modern Theravada view, have found evidence that the eight Garudhammas are not really from the teachings of Buddha.

1. A nun who has been ordained even for a hundred years must greet respectfully, rise up from her seat, salute with joined palms, do proper homage to a monk ordained but that day.

clarification: The Vinaya recounts the story of six monks who lifted up their robes to show their thighs to the nuns. When the Buddha learned about this, he made an exception to that rule and told the nuns not to pay respect to these monks. A nun, then, does not have to bow to every monk, but only to a monk who is worthy of respect.

Pajapati's later request: "I would ask one thing of the Blessed One, Ananda. It would be good if the Blessed One would allow making salutations, standing up in the presence of another, paying reverence and the proper performance of duties, to take place equally between both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis according to seniority."

2. A nun must not spend the rains in a residence where there are no monks. [See Bhikkhuni Pac.56: Vin.IV. 313 ]

3. Every half month a nun should desire two things from the Order of Monks : the asking as to the date of the Observance [ uposatha ] day, and the coming for the exhortation (bhikkhunovada). (See Bhikkhuni Pac.59: Vin.IV. 315)

4. After the rains a nun must 'invite' [ pavarana ] before both Orders in respect of three matters, namely what was seen, what was heard, what was suspected. (See Bhikkhuni Pac. 57: Vin. IV.314)

amended: However, practical considerations soon necessitated amendments to these and we see in the revised version of these conditions the sanction given to the Bhikkhunis to perform these acts, in the first instance, by themselves.

5. A nun, offending against an important rule, must undergo manatta discipline for half a month before both Orders.

another translation: "(5) A bhikkhuni who has broken any of the vows of respect must undergo penance for half a month under both Sanghas... (by Thanissaro Bhikkhu)

6. When, as a probationer, she has trained in the six rules (cha dhamma) for two years, she should seek higher ordination from both Orders.

note contradiction: One of the gurudhamma mentions sikkhamanas, probationary nuns who train for two years in preparation to become bhikkhunis. It says that after a probationary nun has trained with a bhikkhuni for two years, that bhikkhuni preceptor has the responsibility to fully ordain her. However, when the Buddha ordained Mahapajapati, there were no probationary nuns. He ordained her directly as a bhikkhuni. So how do we explain that within the eight important rules, one of them states that before becoming a bhikkhuni, a woman must be a probationary nun?

7. A Monk must not be abused or reviled in any way by a nun.

8. From today, admonition of monks by nuns is forbidden. (Book of the Discipline, V.354-55)

note Buddhist Laywomen can: This is in contrast to the rules for Buddhist Laywomen who can single handedly accuse a bad monk; which would make no sense since the Ordained, monastic bhikkhunis (nuns) are clearly meant to have more respect than lay people.

Origin of the 8 Garudhammas

There are 227 precepts that bhikkhus (monks) take and 311 for bhikkhunis (nuns). There were more rules for nuns than the rules for monks, but they primarily dealt with the protection of the nuns. For example, a nun was raped when walking through a forest by herself. The Buddha followed this incident with a rule that no nun could walk through the forest by herself.

Ayya Khema was a German born fully ordained nun who wrote many bestselling books and was a master of the Dhamma and the Jhanas. She opened many monasteries and temples in Asia and Europe. Ven. Dr. Dhammananda (C. Kabilsingh) and Ven. Dr. Kusuma are fully ordained bhikkhunis, both with a Ph.D. and are continuing in Sri Lanka and Thailand where Ayya Khema left off and have written on the subject of women’s status. They state that the 8 heavy rules cannot be taken seriously. There are verses in the suttas where the Buddha pointed out some bad monks to some nuns. The Buddha told the nuns not to respect these bad monks. The first nuns did not have nuns present to ordain them. The first nuns did not have senior nuns to seek full ordination to after a probationary period (no. 6 of the 8 heavy rules). Also, there are suttas where the Buddha deliberately remains silent while nuns are giving a Dhamma talk. After the Dhamma talk, the Buddha exclaims that he could not have said it any better (such as in Majjhima Nikaya, Sutta 44 where the Buddha praises the enlightened nun, Ven. Dhammadinna). All of these facts run contrary to the 8 heavy rules and provide evidence that the 8 heavy rules were added later.

The Buddha regularly adapted and changed his code of conduct for monks and nuns as the situation required it (Vinaya). In the Buddhist Vinaya there is a rule that monks and nuns cannot receive full ordination until the age of 20, prior to that time they are novice monks and nuns. But the Buddhist scriptures clearly show that at least one monk, such as Sopaka, received full ordination at the age of 7 (Khuddaka Nikaya, Theragatha 486). This is because he was quite advanced and attained enlightenment, but more importantly shows that many of the Vinaya rules were developed later, as the time and context called for the changes to the rules. In one passage the Buddha specifically mentions that he only creates a rule for the Vinaya when the time is right and the time calls for it (Vinaya, Suttavibhanga 3.9)

In the Maha-parinibbana sutta, of the Digha Nikaya (sutta 16), the Buddha states that the monks and nuns may abolish the minor rules as they see fit: “After I am gone, the Sangha, if it wants, may abolish the lesser and minor training rules.” Once again, the Buddha in his wisdom recognizes that there will most likely be a need for revisions in certain rules as society is more ready for egalitarian type conditions. Considering the historical and logical problems already shown in the eight heavy rules, these are the first that must be let go. In addition, any other rules that might suggest inequality should be let go and those women who have fully ordained should be fully accepted by all Buddhists as there have been ordinations with monks and nuns present and they need not all be from one tradition at the start of the reinstatement. This is keeping in line with the Buddha’s intentions for an Order of monks and an Order of nuns.

Thus, there are two possibilities in regard to the 8 garudhammas: 1) that they were never spoken by the Buddha or 2) that they were spoken by the Buddha to appease the societal norms of the time. In today's modern, egalitarian times, they are not necessary and as the Buddha allowed for, these rules can be now changed.