BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

The Food Chapter Chapter 8.431. A bhikkhu who is not ill may eat one meal at a public almscenter. Should he eat more than that, it is to be confessed."Now at that time a certain guild had prepared food at a public alms center not farfrom Sāvatthī. Some group-of-six bhikkhus, dressing early in the morning, takingtheir bowls and (outer) robes, entered Sāvatthī for alms but, after not getting anyalmsfood, went to the public alms center. The people there said, 'At long last yourreverences have come,' and respectfully waited on them. Then on the second day ...the third day, the group-of-six bhikkhus ... entered Sāvatthī for alms but, after notgetting any almsfood went to the public alms center and ate. The thought occurredto them, 'What's the use of our going back to the monastery? (§) Tomorrow we'llhave to come right back here.'"So staying on and on right there, they ate the food of the public alms center. Themembers of other religions fled the place. People criticized and complained andspread it about: 'How can these Sakyan-son monks stay on and on, eating the foodof the public alms center? The food at the public alms center isn't prepared just forthem; it's prepared for absolutely everybody.'"A public alms center is a place — in a building, under the shade of a tree, or in theopen air — where all comers are offered as much food as they want, free of charge.Soup kitchens and shelters for the homeless, if run in this way, would fit under thisrule. A meal is defined as one that includes any of the five staple foods. Not ill inthis rule is defined as being able to leave the alms center.The origin story seems to indicate that this rule is directed against staying on andeating day after day in the alms center. The Commentary, though, maintains that itforbids eating in the center two days running, without making any mention ofwhether the bhikkhu stays on at the center or not. To eat one day in a centerbelonging to one family (or group) and the next day in a center belonging to anothergroup, it says, entails no penalty.Perception as to whether one is actually ill is not a mitigating factor here (see Pc 4.)Non-offenses. According to the Vibhaṅga, there is no offense in taking a meal onthe second day —if it does not include any of the five staple foods;if one is invited by the proprietors;if one is ill;if the food is specifically intended for bhikkhus (§); orif the center determines the amount of food the recipients may take, ratherthan allowing them to take as much as they want (§). The reason for this lastallowance is that if the owners of the center were unhappy with having abhikkhu eat there, they could give him very little or nothing at all.307