The duties of teacher and pupil

      A teacher should train his pupils in the best discipline; should teach them well what ought to be taught; should teach them all arts and sciences; should introduce them to his friends and associates who should respect them as himself and he should provide for their safety in every quarter, that is, he should give them full support telling people of their ability so that they can survive anywhere by using their knowledge.

      A pupil should reciprocate as follows; he rises from his seat to greet and salute his teacher as soon as he sees him; he waits on him, trusts him and obeys his words; he offers personal service to his teacher, and he studies his instructions thoroughly.

      These rules were laid down on the basis of the ancient educational system. Maybe in those days there was no public education such as nowadays. Young people had to live with their teacher and studied under their guardianship.

      We cannot say that a teacher completes his duty to pupils just by teaching school lessons in the classroom. He should know how the immature feel and appreciate the motives of their actions whether they are good or bad; and above all he must be able to discover their abilities and inclinations so that he can direct them effectively instead of dissipating their time and energy in tasks against their inclination.

      He should teach his pupils the difference between right and wrong or the advantages and disadvantages of an act. He should not dictate, but he should never hesitate to teach them to observe discipline laid down for the performance of their duties towards their nation, family, employers, organization or their neighbours, etc. When he sees his pupils' misbehaviour, he should not neglect his responsibility to correct it. And then he should have enough experience to handle the problem of pupils' discipline, and he must have exemplary morality, discipline and character to gain the respect of his pupils.

      But the relationship between wayward pupils and a teacher might often be difficult, sometimes so difficult that even a conscientious teacher fails, despite his best efforts because bad pupils do not understand their teacher's good intentions. Even though a good teacher teaches or admonishes pupils for their mistakes with loving-kindness and compassion, bad pupils might insult him.

      Indeed parents are primarily responsible for their children's conduct. If they neglect their children or encourage their misbehaviour in their early years instead of curbing the actions of indiscipline, it is difficult for teachers to train them. It is not easy to beautify a draft portrait which is badly sketched.

      Teachers should think of the interest of all pupils, and they should be inspired by sympathy with the immature, that is, they must regard them with affection and treat them with understanding, and without discriminating between good and bad pupils, they should teach them patiently, otherwise bad pupils cannot get any benefit from going to school. As for wayward pupils, teachers cannot avoid punishing them although they may be resentful against the teachers. But when their knowledge is mature in accordance with their age, they will thank the teachers for protecting them from any possible deterioration.

      In the lifetime of the Buddha, there was a bhikkhu who was fiery tempered. No matter how little was said to him, he in fell to a rage, and spoke roughly. When the Buddha heard about him, he sent for him to come to an assembly, and asked him if he was really as irascible as the other bhikkhus said. The bhikkhu admitted he was. Then the Buddha said, "This is not the first time that you have been easily angered. You were just the same before", and he added an old story about one of the bhikkhu's past lives, as follows:

      Once a king called Brahmadatta ruled in Benares, and he had a son named Prince Brahmadatta. The king provided his son with all necessities, and sent him to a far off foreign country to complete his education. By this means he might learn to quell his pride, and to endure heat or cold, and be made acquainted with the ways of the world. After the prince met the teacher he agreed with him to pay a fee, otherwise he must attend on him in return for his lessons.

      One day, the teacher, accompanying the prince, went to the river near the school to bathe. On the way to the river there was an old woman who was strewing white seeds on a big plate in front of her. When the prince saw them, he could not control a desire to eat the seeds, and he picked up a handful, and ate them. The woman thought, "The young fellow must be hungry", and she said nothing. Next day the same thing happened again at the same time. Again the woman said nothing to him. When he did it again on the third day, the woman cried out saying, "The teacher is letting his pupil rob me."

      The teacher turned back, and asked the woman what had happened. The woman said, "Master, I have been drying seeds, and your pupil took a handful, and ate them. This he has done today, and he did it yesterday and the day before. Surely he put me to great inconvenience." The teacher said, "Don't cry, mother. I will see that you are paid." The woman replied, "Oh, I want no payment, master; only teach your pupil not to do it again." The teacher said, "See here, then, mother", and he caused two pupils to take the prince by his two hands, and he beat him three times on the back with a bamboo stick telling him not to do it again. The prince was very angry with the teacher's action, and he determined to murder the teacher but he hid his animosity against the teacher in his heart. When the time came to go away, he said to the teacher affectionately, "Teacher, when I come to the throne, I will send for you. Then come to me; let me do you a service in return."

      He arrived in his country, and showed proof of what he had learnt to his parents. His father was pleased with his ability, and he made his son the king of Benares. When the prince enjoyed the splendour of royalty, he remembered his teacher, and anger rose within him. He thought, "I must take revenge on that fellow", and he sent off a messenger to fetch his teacher. The teacher thought, "I shall never be able to appease the king while he is young." So he did not go to the king. But when the king's time of rule was half over, he thought that he could bring home the benefit from his punishment to the king, and he went to the latter. The king was glad, and caused him to be led into his presence. As soon as he saw the teacher, his blood was up, his eyes grew bloodshot, and he said, "The place which you beat still hurts me; you gave me a heavy punishment for a trifle; I still feel ashamed; I must take revenge on you for that; your life must end today."

      The teacher replied, "Great king, understand this; this is not a sufficient reason for anger. Indeed, if you had not been taught this lesson by me, you would have gone on taking cakes and sweets, fruit and the like without permission until you became covetous through these acts of theft. Then by degrees you would have been lured on to house-breaking, highway robbery, and murder; then you would have been arrested, and given various punishments including the death sentence. Consequently, you could not have got all this prosperity which you now enjoy. It is through me that you have attained to such magnificence, isn't it?" When the king's men heard the teacher's words, they said, "Of course, my lord, all your magnificence really belongs to your teacher; you should be grateful to him." The king recognised the goodness of his teacher, and he apologised to him for all the inconvenience he had caused, and on top of that he said, "I bestow on you all my power; teacher, please receive my kingdom." But the teacher refused saying, "No, my lord; I have no wish for the kingdom." The king asked the teacher to continue to regard him as a pupil, and to teach him throughout the whole of his life, and he gave a promise to obey his words. (Ja. No. 252)

The duties of religious leaders and their followers

      Religious leaders must restrain people from doing evil; encourage them to do good; treat them with loving-kindness; teach them what they have not heard; clarify what they have already heard and tell them the path to heavenly planes.

      The followers should minister to good religious teachers as to the Zenith; by kindly deeds, words and thoughts; by keeping doors open for them; by supplying their needs.

      In the Pali text the ones who should be regarded as the Zenith are Samanas and Brahmins. They taught people religious ways in the lifetime of the Buddha. That is why I translate these words as "religious leaders" although most Buddhists would not agree to the use of the term religion for Buddhism. Religion means belief in the existence of a supernatural ruling power, the creator and controller of the universe, who has given to man a spiritual nature which continues to exist after the death of the body. Actually, the meaning is not relevant to Buddhism. Maybe we can accept that Buddhism is one of the various systems of faith.

      A Samana or bhikkhu is one who has already extinguished mental defilements or one who is trying to get rid of mental defilements. For so long as a person remains in the Holy Order, at least he is expected to observe monastic rules, to learn the scriptures, to teach the laymen, and to meditate deeply on spiritual matters.

      Once the Buddha told his disciples as follows: "Bhikkhus, people regard you as bhikkhus or monks, and you also acknowledge having the status of monk yourselves. Accordingly you should train your selves to follow the practices which are fitting for monks so that, such being your designations are true, and such being your vocations are real. Moreover, you should have good conduct to merit all the gifts of these things you make use of: robes, food, lodging and medicines, and to give the donors great benefit from their offerings, and to further ensure that your aim in becoming monks is not in vain.

      "The bad mental qualities such as covetousness, malevolence, wrath, grudging, hypocrisy, spite, jealousy, stinginess, treachery, craftiness, evil desire and wrong view drag monks towards Hell. They stain a monk's morality, and degrade a monk's status or dignity. When a monk is preoccupied by these elements, if he does not try to get rid of them, one cannot say that he follows the practice fitting for monks. Purification of all these evil, unskilled states does not depend on appearance such as wearing robes, going naked, ceremonial bathing, fasting, reciting some verses and so on. Only the one who gets rid of mental defilements by following the practice fitting for monks is purified. When a monk beholds the self purified of all these evil elements, delight is born in his mind; rapture is born from delight; when he is in rapture, the body is impassable and the mind is concentrated. And then, when he suffuses the whole world everywhere with a mind of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, he attains inward calm. I say it is by inward calm that he is following the practice fitting for monks. I do not say that the simple wearing of robes makes a bhikkhu." (M. i. 281ff)

      As mentioned above, bhikkhus need to possess charisma to be regarded as mentors by their followers. After they have studied the teachings of the Buddha they should train themselves first, so that their followers can trust in them, otherwise the followers will not obey what they say, and their preaching will not be conducive to the happiness of mankind. Even if a bhikkhu possesses good morality and conduct, he cannot hope that all his followers will keep his words in their hearts because people have different temperaments. Some people are docile. They like truth and have sense enough to accept one's good guidance and alter their character. Some people have an obstinate character. Even if a person teaches them or corrects their mistakes or warns them about their misbehaviour or explains their misunderstanding in the hope that they may benefit, they flout him and his teachings. They even tend to turn against that person let alone change their attitude. Some people like being flattered. They do not like being criticized but they love people who praise whatever they do. Therefore, bhikkhus have to be careful when they carry out their duties to prevent people from evil. In order to avoid affronting people, the Buddha told his disciples of five kinds of talk which will be ill-received by various types of listener; by those lacking faith, talk concerning faith will be ill-received; by the immoral, talk of morality will be ill-received; by the ignorant, talk of knowledge will be ill- received; by the stupid, talk of insight knowledge will be ill-received; by mean people, talk of generosity will be ill-received. The reason is that when people hear talk which is not in conformity with their temperament, they are irritated, angered, upset, made obstinate; they show temper, ill-will and sulkiness. Because they perceive the absence of these qualities in themselves, and they get no joy and gladness from the talks. (A. iii. 178)

How should bhikkhus talk?

      The Buddha told bhikkhus to take precautions when they talk with people as follows: "A person should know condemnation and flattery, and knowing them, he should neither condemn nor flatter anyone's behaviour - he should teach just the truth; he should not go behind a person's back, and face to face with a person should not blame him." The Buddha gave further explanations to bhikkhus as follows; if a person says that those who enjoy happiness in association with sensual pleasure or practise self-mortification in order to purify their mind, are wrong, and they have anguish, annoyance, trouble and fret, then he disapproves of those people. If a person says that those who reject happiness in association with sensual pleasure or reject self-mortification, are right and they have no anguish, annoyance, trouble and fret; they are right, then he flatters their behaviour.

      What is neither approval nor disapproval, but just the teaching of the truth?

      A person should say, without mentioning personalities, that enjoying happiness in association with sensual pleasure, and practising self-mortification, cause anguish, annoyance, trouble and fret. A person should never say a word behind anyone's back which is neither factual nor effectual; he should train himself not to say behind anyone's back anything which is factual but which will cause trouble; he may occasionally say a word which is factual behind someone's back if he knows his words will be beneficial to that person.

      A person should never criticize anyone face to face if he knows his criticism is neither factual nor effective; he should train himself not to criticize anyone face to face if he knows his criticism is factual but will cause trouble; he may occasionally criticize a person face to face if he knows his criticism is factual and will be beneficial to that person. (M. iii. 230ff)

      When a bhikkhu finds his follower making mistakes, he should tell the truth carefully without putting blame on him or criticizing him for his mistakes. If for the sake of his own benefit he ignores the wrong-doer or encourages that person's misbehaviour, then there is no advantage for that person to regard the bhikkhu as a teacher. Lay people should also listen to bhikkhus who point out their mistakes, and they should have the good sense to conclude, from the words, whether they are reasonable, and then they should change their behaviour, otherwise, even if bhikkhus' words are excellent, they cannot help them.

How should a bhikkhu exhort people?

      A bhikkhu should urge people to give charity, to observe five or eight precepts, to practise righteousness and so on. He should explain to them about the four noble truths and the way leading to them. When people are sick, he should go to them, and should comfort them by giving sermons or by teaching them how to concentrate on the attributes of the three gems; Buddha, his teachings and his noble bhikkhus. When visiting bhikkhus come to him, he should urge his followers to offer food to them or to listen to their teachings. When people give him food, whether or not it is to his liking, he should eat it himself that is, he should not waste food deliberately. (A. iii. 262)

      Only in this manner can a bhikkhu gratefully requite people's help for his necessity because he is not allowed to be involved in social affairs by the Vinaya rules. People might say, "Why did the Buddha forbid bhikkhus to partake in social affairs? If bhikkhus have loving-kindness and compassion, they should help people anyhow. Is it blameworthy for them to participate in social affairs?"

      That is right. Superficially, it is not blameworthy for bhikkhus to be involved in social affairs in the eye's of people. They will welcome wholeheartedly the bhikkhus who participate in social activities. But no one needs to ordain in the Buddha's Order for the purpose of doing social activities.

      The sole purpose of becoming a bhikkhu is to learn the Dhamma, to try to purify himself by practising meditation and keeping morality, and to teach people the Dhamma. If a bhikkhu partakes in social activities, people will certainly favour him, and they will be ready to provide him with what he needs. As for bhikkhus who do not become involved in social activities, they will be discriminated against. People will become less interested in the moral bhikkhus and their teachings, and they will gradually keep away from them. The difference between bhikkhus who do social work and moral bhikkhus' life style will become greater and greater. When nearly all bhikkhus try to get people's favour by doing social activities instead of learning and practising the teachings of the Buddha, then the Dhamma will fade away, and the bhikkhus' standard of behaviour will fall.

      Foreseeing this fact, the Buddha restricted his noble bhikkhus from participating in social activities. It does not mean that they must neglect people who are in trouble. But, when they help people, they should be very careful because intention is very important. They should help people out of compassion, not to get any benefit for themselves. Then it is not improper.

      The source of oral and bodily manners is mind. A person does not trouble any living beings if his mind is enriched with loving kindness and compassion. So, a bhikkhu should try to cultivate loving kindness, and he should not say anything which causes discord among people. If there is disagreement among people on the grounds of his words, we cannot say he is endowed with loving-kindness. In order to make people happy and to see harmony among people, a bhikkhu should speak words which neither torment himself nor cause harm to others, and he should speak kindly words, and words that are graceful to the ear, and are based on truth, benefit and reasoning or logic. He should not speak of others' faults. In this way, a bhikkhu can treat people with loving-kindness. Moreover, when noble bhikkhus come to him, he should invite them to meet his followers, and should urge them to offer to the bhikkhus. These deeds will benefit both him and his followers. For the bhikkhu's part, the deeds have already automatically liberated him from the defilement of miserliness.

Five kinds of avarice of bhikkhus

      There are five kinds of avarice - for lodging, followers, consumer goods, qualifications and learning. When, without good enough reason, a bhikkhu begrudges a good bhikkhu lodging in a monastery belonging to the community, he is defiled with avarice for a lodging. Bhikkhus have to depend on lay people. They might have individual friendly followers. If a bhikkhu forbids his followers from associating with other good bhikkhus, or if he tells about other bhikkhus' faults with the intention of separating them from his followers, he is defiled with avarice for followers. When a bhikkhu knows his followers offer something to other bhikkhus or other bhikkhus get more requisites than he gets, he feels jealous and then he tries to destroy others' fortune in any way, he is defiled with avarice for consumer goods. If a bhikkhu does not want to hear of the good reputation of other bhikkhus, and tries to degrade their reputation by gossiping, he is defiled with avarice for qualifications. If a bhikkhu does not wish to share his knowledge with other bhikkhus because he is afraid the others are superior to him, or if even though he knows about something, when other bhikkhus come and ask about it, he pretends not to know it, he is defiled with avarice for know ledge.

      If a person grudges other people their success and fame, whenever he sees those who are superior to him, he will suffer unhappiness and adversity not only in this very life but also after death. The following story is very remarkable.

      In the lifetime of the Buddha, there was a bhikkhu named Losaka Tissa. His past kamma was too bad for him to get enough food throughout his life. No matter how lavish the charity, he got only a little food - just enough to keep himself alive. Whenever he went to collect food, even though his alms-bowl was empty, it always seemed full of food so that people thought that there was no place to put food into his bowl. He won Arahantship by meditating on his sorrow and transitoriness. But even this Arahantship could not help him to get enough food. On the day when he would pass away, Venerable Sariputta, the chief disciple of the Buddha thought to himself, "Losaka Tissa is passing away today. I want to see that he gets enough food to eat before he attain parinibbana." And then he accompanied Losaka Tissa to Savatthi for alms round. But no one offered them any food because of Losaka Tissa's bad kamma. Therefore, Venerable Sariputta asked him to go hack to the monastery, and he collected food, and asked some of his followers to give it to the latter. Even though the followers arrived at the monastery, they could not find Losaka Tissa, and they ate the food themselves. When Venerable Sariputta arrived back at the monastery, he knew that Losaka Tissa had not eaten anything yet. But noon was already passed. It was impossible for Losaka Tissa to eat food which is only allowed to be eaten before noon. Therefore, Venerable Sariputta went to King Kosala to ask for food which is mixed with four kinds of things; sugar, honey, butter and sesame oil. Bhikkhus are allowed to eat this food as a medicine at any time. After he got the food, he returned to Losaka Tissa, and offered it to the latter by holding the bowl so that the food in it would not vanish away. Losaka Tissa ate as much as he wanted, and was satisfied, and that selfsame day he passed away by the death whereby his existence ceased for ever.

      Bhikkhus asked the Buddha the cause of Losaka Tissa's getting so little food, and the latter told them about Losaka Tissa's misdeed in one of his previous lives as follows:

      In the lifetime of Kassapa Buddha, a certain layman founded a residence for a certain bhikkhu in his village, and supplied him with the four requisites. The bhikkhu took his meals regularly in the layman's house. One day a bhikkhu who was freed from mental defilement, making his round for alms, stopped at the door of the layman's house. When the man saw the bhikkhu, pleased with his deportment, he invited him into his house, and reverently served him with delicious food. After he had listened to a short discourse by the bhikkhu, he invited him to stay in his monastery for as long as he would live. The bhikkhu went to the monastery, and was welcomed by the resident bhikkhu with all friendliness.

      They went to the layman's house next morning for their meals. When the resident bhikkhu saw the attentions bestowed on the visiting bhikkhu by the layman, he thought, "I am losing my supporter", and then he decided to drive the visiting bhikkhu away from his monastery. The visiting bhikkhu could read the other's thoughts therefore he made a decision to leave the monastery early the next morning.

      Next day, when it was time for him to set out on his round for alms, the resident bhikkhu, thinking to himself, "The visiting bhikkhu is undoubtedly asleep now, and I will awaken him with the sound of the bell", knocked on the bell with the outer surface of his finger nail.

      Having done so, he entered the village. After preparing food, the layman was waiting for the two bhikkhus to come to him together.

      Noticing the absence of the visiting bhikkhu, he asked, "Reverend Sir, where is the visiting bhikkhu?" The resident bhikkhu replied, "I don't know what happened to the visiting bhikkhu. Though I knocked on the bell and tapped at his door, I could not wake him. So, I left alone."

      The layman reverently served him with food, and washed his howl carefully, and after he filled it with food, he asked him to take the food for the visiting bhikkhu. The resident bhikkhu took the bowl, and thought to himself, "If the visiting bhikkhu always gets such good food as this, he will never leave the monastery", and then he threw that food on his way to the monastery. When he arrived back at the monastery, he did not find the visiting bhikkhu, and he thought to himself, "He must be an Arahant, and he left my monastery because he must have already known of my jealousy." He repented of what he had done. Whenever the thought of his sin came into his mind, he felt unhappiness, and he was reborn in Hell after death. Throughout the period from the lifetime of Kassapa Buddha to Gotama Buddha, he had to suffer misfortunes in his various lives. (Ja. No. 41)

      If a bhikkhu invites noble visiting bhikkhus to meet his followers, the families can get good advantage of their benevolence in five ways. When they see the noble bhikkhus, their hearts are calm, and they are happy therefore they have stepped a step along the way to the heavenly abode. When the noble bhikkhus approach, they stand up, salute and offer seats. That leads them to birth in higher rank in the life to come. When they treat noble bhikkhus kindly, their mind is free from all stain of meanness. It leads them to great power. Offering as many things as they can leads them to great wealth, and asking whatever they want to know, and listening to teachings leads them to great wisdom. (A. iii. 243)

How to propagate the Dhamma

      The last three duties of a bhikkhu are concerned with teaching people. The Buddha suggested to bhikkhus that when two bhikkhus go somewhere to teach people, they should not take the same route, so that they can propagate his teachings effectively. He sacrificed his wealthy and comfortable life with the intention of teaching people peaceful ways to live happily and harmoniously. Therefore, bhikkhus should carry out their duties without suppressing and hurting people's feelings. Even if bhikkhus are insulted, they should put up with it. The following story should be exemplary for bhikkhus.

      In the life time of the Buddha, there was a bhikkhu named Punna who wanted to go to a certain place to teach people. Before he set out on his journey, he went to the Buddha to ask for a meditation method. The Buddha gave him a suitable meditation method, and asked where he was going. Punna replied, "There is a district called Sunaparanta. I will live there, and teach people."

      The Buddha said, "Punna, the people of Sunaparanta are not civilized enough to listen to you. If they revile and abuse you, how will it be for you there?" "If they behave in such a manner, I will think, 'Goodly indeed are these people, indeed very goodly are these people in that they do not yet strike me a blow with their hands' Punna said.

      The Buddha asked him again how it would be if the people of Sunaparanta struck him a blow with their hands. Punna said, "If they strike me a blow with their hands, I will think, 'Goodly indeed are they, indeed very goodly are they in that they do not yet strike me a blow with clods of earth'."

      The Buddha asked him again how it would be if the people of Sunaparanta struck him a blow with clods of earth. Punna said, "If they strike me a blow with clods of earth, I will think, 'Goodly indeed are they, indeed very goodly are they in that they do not yet strike me a blow with a stick'."

      The Buddha asked him again how it would be if the people of Sunaparanta struck him a blow with a stick. Punna replied, "If they strike me a blow with stick, I will think, 'Goodly indeed are they, indeed very goodly are they in that they do not yet strike me a blow with a knife'."

      The Buddha asked him again how it would be if the people of Sunaparanta struck him a blow with a knife. Punna replied, "If they strike me a blow with a knife, I will think, 'Goodly indeed are they, indeed very goodly are they in that they do not yet deprive me of life with a sharp knife'."

      The Buddha asked him again how it would be if the people of Sunaparanta deprived him of life with a sharp knife. Punna replied, "If they deprive me of life with a sharp knife, I will think, 'There are some bhikkhus who are disgusted with the body and are bored with their life, and look about for a knife with which to kill themselves. I have come upon this very knife without having looked about for it'."

      The Buddha said, "It is good, Punna, it is good. You will be able to live in the district among the people of Sunaparanta possessed as you are of this patience and moderation. You, Punna, now do that for which you deem the time is right." (M. iii. 267ff)

The intention of preaching the Dhamma

      There are various purposes for giving religious teachings. No matter that the purposes are varied, we can summarize them as follows; some religious teachers intend to exploit their own religion, and then they amuse their followers' emotions concerning their own religion, and prejudice their followers against other religions or other people's rights, but some religious teachers give religious lessons to help people, and to ease people's physical and mental hardships. We can infer that if a person hurts himself or others on the grounds of any religious teachings, he and his teachings are not good.

      The Buddha differentiated the two aspects of giving religious lessons as follows; "It is impure and improper for a bhikkhu to teach people with such a mind; 'People will be satisfied with my teaching, and they will obey me, and they will make an offering of their support'. It is pure and proper for a bhikkhu to teach people with such a mind; 'After people have listened to my teaching, if they have a sense of the capacity to discriminate between false and true, and then if they follow righteousness only, it will be good.' (S. ii. 199)

      After the Buddha had passed away, the duties of teaching people about religion shifted entirely onto the shoulders of bhikkhus. People also rely on them concerning learning and listening to the teaching of the Buddha. Therefore, they go to monasteries to offer alms, to observe precepts, to listen to teachings, and to meditate. When they are invited or when people are sick, occasionally bhikkhus go to their followers' houses.

      The Buddha told his disciples how to keep their dispositions on those occasions as follows: a bhikkhu, who expects that people will give him only excellent things in abundance and respectfully, is unworthy to go to families because if it does not happen to him accordingly, he will blame the families for the lack of offering, and he will feel unhappy.

      A bhikkhu, who has such a mind; 'It does not matter for me whether people offer something to me or not', is worthy to go to families because even though he does not get anything, he does not blame the families for the lack of offering, and he can live calmly.

      And when a bhikkhu goes among families, he should be unattached as the moon moves in her course without any obstruction. He should have such a mind; 'May those people, who desire gains, gain! May those people, who want merit, get merit!' And then he should be happy to see other people who get what they desire. (S. ii. 201)'

How should followers behave towards bhikkhus?

      The duty is fulfilled in the actions such as going to monasteries to invite bhikkhus to religious occasions, doing bhikkhus a service by offering to do what they need, telling people to give alms when bhikkhus come to them and listening to them respectfully when they give religious lessons.

      A person should avoid personal devotion to an individual bhikkhu so that he can carry out the above mentioned duties whenever he meets any bhikkhus, otherwise, he might neglect other bhikkhus, and what is more, he might give offence to them.

      The Buddha gave an explanation of the disadvantages of devotion to one bhikkhu as follows: "When a person becomes very devoted to a bhikkhu, and he falls into an offence such that the Order should punish him, then he will think; 'The Order has punished the bhikkhu who is dear and loved by me.' And he will be no more full of devotion for the bhikkhus, and from being without that devotion he will not follow other bhikkhus, and from not following other bhikkhus he will not hear the teachings of the Buddha, and from not hearing the teachings he will fall away from the Dhamma. In the same way, when the bhikkhu who is dear and loved by him moves to a certain place or disrobes or is dead, perhaps the person will fail to listen to other bhikkhus, and from the lack of hearing the teachings of the Buddha he will fall away from the Dhamma. These are the disadvantages of devotion to one bhikkhu." (A. iii. 269)

      On the other hand, when a person becomes very devoted to a bhikkhuhe will listen just to him without having a standard to judge his morality and words, and he will provide him with what he needs. Therefore, he might be misled by him and he will offer alms just to that bhikkhu. If his individual bhikkhu is a noble person, it is good. If not, his offering does not produce much good result. To avoid this uncertainty, the Buddha always encouraged his disciples to make offerings of alms dedicated to the Order even if a person offers alms to an individual bhikkhu. For example, when the Buddha's maternal aunt, Mahapajapati Gotami offered him a pair of the best new robes, he told her three times, "Give it to the Order Gotami, if you give it to the Order I will be honoured and the Order too. In the distant future there will be many who are just bhikkhus in name wearing the yellow robes around their neck. If a person offers even to them, dedicating the offering to the Order, the result of his offering will be too great to measure. (M. iii. 256)

Studying and listening to religious teachings

      Everybody should study about all kinds of religions in order to gain these advantages: to learn something new, to improve one's understanding of religious teachings, to dispel any doubts about religion, to strengthen one's views on religion, to be able to choose and practise correctly, and to live happily and calmly.

      But even though a person studies or listen to good teachings, he cannot be worthy of those advantages if he thinks any the less of preachers of other religions and their teachings or if he studies the teachings frivolously or if he is already prejudiced against them, or if be studies religious teachings to find flaws or to tear the preachers' reputation to shreds.

      Therefore, when a person intends to study about religions, first he should remove religious prejudice from his heart, and then he should use his own discretion about what to accept or reject, otherwise, he cannot avail himself of advantages from studying about good religious teachings. After he studied religions, he should put into practice the teachings preached in the spirit of loving-kindness, compassion and the service of humanity in order to subdue evil, cruel and lustful thoughts and to gain peace and happiness.

Keeping doors open for bhikkhus

      One of duties of a lay follower is to keep doors open for bhikkhus, that is, a lay follower should provide moral bhikkhus with food, robes, lodging and medicaments as far as he can in order to enable them to survive without worries or desires and to concentrate on their sole purpose of working towards spiritual liberation. Even though bhikkhus are always in and out of his house, if he does not offer anything to them, that is not different from shutting the doors for them.

      The Buddha said, "it is improper for bhikkhus to visit a family of sevenfold conduct. What seven? When they go to a family, they do not rise pleasantly, do not salute pleasantly, do not offer a seat pleasantly, they say they have nothing for fear that they will have to offer something, they give poor quality things even if they have good things, they give little even if they have a lot, and they give it without respect. (A. iv. 8)

      Bhikkhus are entirely dependent on the support of lay followers because they are not allowed to occupy any kind of job to earn money. The Buddha did not prescribe the mode of living or life-style for bhikkhus in order to drive them to living in idleness. The purpose is to make them humble. No one likes to depend on others because a dependent is always in an inferior position. Moreover, being free from occupation, they can fully spend their time on practising and propagating the teachings of the Buddha. if bhikkhus are provided with what they need, and if they train themselves to be contented with what they have, they will never break the rules of monastic life.

      Therefore, by offering alms, lay followers can help them to purify their morality. But they should not offer alms to bhikkhus in the hope of getting something back, and they should not place restrictions on the freedom of bhikkhus as a condition of their support because they might feel disappointment and resentment when things happen contrary to their expectations and then after giving requisites, they should not despise bhikkhus thinking that we are donors and they are recipients.

      It is difficult for some bhikkhus to tell even their lay followers to give what they need even though they are invited to ask for whatever they want. Because they know that asking and being asked can cause unhappiness if their expectations are not fulfilled. in one of the lives of our Bodhisatta, he hesitated to ask for a pair of sandals for twelve years for fear of distressing himself and his lay follower. The following story is also relevant to the subject.

      Once when Brahmadatta was ruling in Benares, our Bodhisatta was born in a brahmin family in a certain village, and they called him young Atthisena. When he grew up, he studied at university (Takkasila), and afterwards, seeing the misery of desires he took to the religious life, and he lived long in the Himalayas. There he practised meditation very well. One day, when he went to the city of Benares to get some salt and vinegar, the king saw him, and then, being pleased with his manner, he sent for him, and offered him good food and his royal garden. The king went to wait on the Bodhisatta two or three times each day.

      One day, being pleased with his preaching of the Dhamma, the king told the Bodhisatta to ask for whatever he desired including even his throne. But, the Bodhisatta did not say, "Give me so and so." The king thought, "Other hermits ask me to give them something; but as for noble Atthisena, ever since I promised to give him even my throne, he asks for nothing. I should ask the reason for that." So, one day, after the early meal he sat on one side, and asked the Bodhisatta the cause of other hermit's making requests and his making none. The Bodhisatta replied, "O king, I do not ask you to give something so that we do not upset each other because no one likes the person who demands something from them, and likewise no one likes his request to be rejected." The king said, "Hermits should tell their lay followers what they need, otherwise, they will be always in need, and their followers will also lose an opportunity to do merit. That is why, if you ask even for my throne, I will not hesitate to give it you." The Bodhisatta said, "O king, the wise lay followers know what they ought to offer to hermits at the right time even though wise hermits never ask for anything." The king said, "Sir, if so, I give you a thousand pairs of oxen and cows." The Bodhisatta replied, "Great king, I took the religious life to be free from secular affairs; I have no need of oxen and cows." The king kept the teachings of the Bodhisatta, giving alms and doing other good deeds throughout his life, and the Bodhisatta did not fall away from his meditation. (Ja. No. 403)