Kathina Ceremony
Mingkok General
Sources
2011-08-13
When Buddhism was first established in
ancient India, there were few monks and nuns. These monks
normally did not stay in fixed places or temples but rather spent
most of their time moving from one place to another as it was their
mission to spread the teachings of the Buddha for the happiness and
welfare of all people and living beings.
In those days, there were no paved roads,
so during the rainy season when the country experienced heavy and
frequent rainfall, their travels were often impeded and
interrupted. In this season, the farmers also cultivated
their land and planted new crops. Because travel was inconvenient,
The Buddha allowed his disciples to stop wandering and take up
temporary abodes during the rainy season. In Pali, this season
is called vassa, meaning the “Rains Retreat” and it extends
for three lunar months. It begins on the 15th day of the
waxing moon of the 8th Lunar Month, and ends on the 15th day of the
waxing moon of the 11th Lunar Month. This corresponds approximately from early
July through late of October in the Gregorian calendar.
Historical
Background
About four or five years after attaining
Enlightenment, the Buddha was dwelling at Jetavana Mahã Vihãra near
Sãvatthi City, the capital of the Kosala kingdom ruled by King
Pasenadi. A group of thirty monks who had been ordained by the
Buddha himself came from Sãket city east of Sãvathi just after the
three months Rains Retreat Observance to visit the Buddha. The
Buddha greeted them, asked them about their retreat and journey,
and noticed their wet and torn robes. The lady disciple of the
Buddha, Visakha Mahã Upãsikã was also there visiting and listening
to the Buddha expounds the Dhamma. When she saw the monks in
tattered and worn robes, she asked permission of the Buddha to
offer new robes to the monks, and the Buddha granted her request.
Since then the Buddha granted the monks the opportunity to search
for robes in various places and even to accept robes offered by
donors during the period of one month from the middle of the
Eleventh Lunar Month to the middle of the Twelfth Lunar Month. This
period is called Kathina.
As there were no sewing machines or textile
factories in those days, the preparation of robes for monks
required a lot of manpower and coordination. It could not be done
in a single day. The Buddha realized this problem and allowed
his lay disciples to prepare and make robes for any monks who
needed them. The process required searching for appropriate cloth,
washing it, cutting it, sewing the pieces together into robes,
coloring the robes, and drying them. After that, the robes were
distributed to the monks who needed them with the consent of the
Sangha, the community of the Monks.
Present:
Nowadays, lay followers prepared robes for
the monks but not in the same way as it was done in the time of the
Buddha. They are two ways in which monks may obtain robes, namely:
(1). by searching for them in various places like cemeteries,
cities, and towns, or (2) by accepting offerings of robes from the
people.
The Kathina ceremony takes place during the
month immediately following the full moon day of October (from the
beginning of waning moon of the Eleventh Lunar Month to the
beginning of waxing moon of the Twelfth Lunar Month). According to
Vinaya Pitaka, the Theravada Book of Discipline, during the three
month period from mid-July to mid-October, monks are required to
take up a settled residence and are allowed to leave their
encampments only under special conditions.
In this environment, the wandering
mendicant nature of the Buddhist monk began to change. In
particular, a number of customs and practices of a collective life,
including the recitation of rules and the distribution of robes,
became incorporated into the annual cycle of monastic life.
These ceremonies have continued through the ages and have
evolved from culture to culture. The traditions of Theravada
Buddhism spread throughout Southeast Asia as Buddhism won the favor
of ruling monarchs in Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.
Theravada Buddhism expanded greatly in Thailand under the patronage
of King Ramkhamhaeng.
Today in Thailand, the Kathina ceremony
provides one of the most popular occasions for merit-making. The
Buddhist people celebrate this robe- offering ceremony with
profound respect and devotion to the monks, who have just spent
three months in the monastery observing the Vassã (Khao Pansã in
the Thai, Lao, and Cambodian languages) –the Rains Retreat. In
rural Thailand, everybody in a village will participate in the
Kathina ceremony as a community activity which may last anywhere
from one day to as many as three days.
All Buddhist
monks and fully ordained nuns in all parts of the world observe the
Rains Retreat during this period, though in certain countries the
custom has been modified. Buddhist monks in Thailand, Lao,
Cambodia, Burma, and Sri Lanka however continue to observe the
Rains Retreat in the traditional Theravada way.
Benefits of Kathina
Offering
Monks, who
receive the offerings and the members of the Sangha, can go from
places to place for their Dhamma works and meditation practice
without needing to inform any monk in the monastery.
Monks do not need to carry a complete
set of robes when they go anywhere to carry out their religious
duties. Monks can have their
breakfast and lunch in different places offered by different donors
without breaking their monastic rules (Vinaya). They can keep other robes according to their wishes
for more than ten days without breaking monastic rules.
The robes offered to them by donors are
suitable and good for them, so they can extend their time to search
for another set of robes for four months through out fall and
winter.
The Buddhist
followers support and help the monks to maintain the Buddhist
teachings and tradition for world peace. Those who support the Monks and the Sangha are
always happy, joyful, and wealthy. The Monks have no worry about searching for cloth
to make their robes, and in this way they have more time to
concentrate on their Dhamma study and meditation practice, and can
serve more people in their communities.
The donors
cultivate generosity, perform charity, and exhibit
selflessness. The donors follow
the noble way of life and maintain a humane society on this planet.
They are the source of peace and happiness for the
world.