BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 122. Should any bhikkhu with an alms bowl having fewer than fivemends ask for another new bowl, it is to be forfeited and confessed.The bowl is to be forfeited by the bhikkhu to the company of bhikkhus.That company of bhikkhus' final bowl should be presented to thebhikkhu, (saying,) "This, bhikkhu, is your bowl. It is to be kept untilbroken." This is the proper course here."Now at that time a certain potter had invited the bhikkhus, saying, 'If any of themasters needs a bowl, I will supply him with a bowl.' So the bhikkhus, knowing nomoderation, asked for many bowls. Those with small bowls asked for large ones.Those with large ones asked for small ones. The potter, making many bowls for thebhikkhus, could not make other goods for sale. (As a result,) he could not supporthimself, and his wife and children suffered."According to the Commentary, the phrase, a bowl "having fewer than five mends"refers to one that is not beyond repair, as explained under the preceding rule. Thusthis rule allows a bhikkhu whose bowl is beyond repair to ask for a new one.A bhikkhu whose bowl is not beyond repair incurs a dukkaṭa in asking for a newbowl, and a nissaggiya pācittiya in receiving it.Forfeiture, confession, & bowl exchange. Once a bhikkhu has received a bowl inviolation of this rule, he must forfeit it in the midst of the Community and confessthe offense. (See Appendix VI for the Pali formulae used in forfeiture andconfession.) He then receives the Community's "final bowl" to use in place of thenew one he has forfeited.The Community's final bowl is selected in the following way: Each bhikkhu comingto the meeting to witness the offender's forfeiture and confession must bring thebowl he has determined for his own use. If a bhikkhu has an inferior bowl in hispossession — either extra or placed under shared ownership — he is not todetermine that bowl and take it to the meeting in hopes of getting a more valuableone in the exchange about to take place. To do so entails a dukkaṭa.Once the bhikkhus have assembled, the offender forfeits his bowl and confessesthe offense. The Community, following the pattern of one motion and oneannouncement (ñatti-dutiya-kamma) given in Appendix VI, then chooses one of itsmembers as bowl exchanger. As with all Community officials, the bowl exchangermust be free of the four types of bias: based on desire, based on aversion, basedon delusion, based on fear. He must also know when a bowl is properly exchangedand when it's not. His duty, once authorized, is to take the forfeited bowl and showit to the most senior bhikkhu, who is to choose whichever of the two bowls pleaseshim more — his own or the new one. If the new bowl is preferable to his own andyet he does not take it out of sympathy for the offender, he incurs a dukkaṭa. TheK/Commentary and Sub-commentary add that if he does not prefer the new bowl,there is no offense in not taking it. The Commentary states that if he does prefer the208