BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1to on account of its height being a dais (āsandī) — a square platform, large enoughto lie on, and very high. Bhikkhus are not allowed even to sit on such a thing, evenin a lay person's house.Intention. There is a dukkaṭa in making a bed or bench with extra long legs — orhaving it made — for the sake of another person.Non-offenses. There is no offense in making a bed or bench — or having one made— if the legs are eight sugata fingerbreadths or less; or in receiving a bed or benchwith overly long legs made by another if one cuts the legs down to regulation sizebefore using it. The Commentary notes that if one buries the legs in the ground sothat no more than eight fingerbreadths separate the ground from the lower frame,that is also allowable.Summary: Acquiring a bed or bench with legs longer than eight sugatafingerbreadths after making it — or having it made — for one's own use is apācittiya offense requiring that one cut the legs down before confessing the offense.88. Should any bhikkhu have a bed or bench upholstered withcotton down, it (the upholstery) is to be torn off and confessed.Upholstery & cushions. Cotton down was apparently the most luxurious materialknown in the Buddha's time for stuffing furniture, cushions, and mattresses,inasmuch as bhikkhus are forbidden by this rule from making beds and benchesupholstered with cotton-down. Cv.VI.8 forbids them from sitting on cushions orother articles of furnishing upholstered or stuffed with cotton down (this wouldinclude meditation cushions), even in the homes of lay people. The only article offurnishing stuffed with cotton down allowed to bhikkhus is a pillow (§), although thepillow should be made no larger than the size of the head (Cv.VI.2.6).The Commentary's explanations of this point show that the pillow used in thosedays was an oblong cushion, looking like a rectangle when viewed from above anda triangle when viewed from either the right or left side (like the old style of pillowstill in use in Thailand). Such pillows, the Commentary says, should be no morethan two cubits (1 meter) long, and one span plus four fingerbreadths (32 cm.) fromcorner to corner on the sides (although this seems considerably larger than a pillow"the size of the head"). A bhikkhu who is not ill may use such a pillow for his headand feet; an ill bhikkhu may line up a series of pillows, cover them with a cloth, andlie down on them with no offense. According to Cv.VI.14, if bhikkhus are presentedwith cushions stuffed with cotton down, they may use them only after tearing themup and making them into pillows.Human hair was another forbidden form of stuffing. Mattresses and cushionsstuffed with other materials, though, are allowed even for use in the monastery.Cv.VI.2.7 mentions five kinds of allowable stuffing: wool, cloth, bark, grass, andleaves. (According to the Commentary, wool here includes all kinds of animal furand bird feathers. Goose down would thus be allowable. Synthetic fibers and420