Collecting EBT material in favor of what-seems-to-us-today-asceticism, I can refer to a pericope that originated in the AN and was transfered to the MN, appearing in AN 4.114, AN 4.157, AN 4.165, AN 5.140, AN 6.58, AN 10.71, MN 2, MN 119, MN 125, Snp 1.3:
Take a mendicant who, reflecting properly, endures cold, heat, hunger, and thirst. They endure the touch of flies, mosquitoes, wind, sun, and reptiles. They endure rude and unwelcome criticism. And they put up with physical pain—sharp, severe, acute, unpleasant, disagreeable, and life-threatening.
Is it essential of course that monastics don’t inflict these things on themselves, and in fact use clothing and lodgings wisely to avoid them, as the Suttas say. And yet, there seems to be a certain value in the ability to patiently endure these discomforts and pains. I think we agree that most people nowadays (at least in the middle-class) would consider these to be unbeneficial hardships and excessive asceticism. The ability to endure pain also leads to the simile of the saw…
I think sub-optimal practice was present during the time of the Buddha : SuttaCentral
The ‘warrior spirit’ was always encouraged, not the ‘pea under 7 mattresses’ level of sensitiveness:
"Monks, I have known two qualities through experience: discontent with regard to skillful qualities and unrelenting exertion. Relentlessly I exerted myself, ‘Gladly would I let the flesh & blood in my body dry up, leaving just the skin, tendons, & bones, but if I have not attained what can be reached through human firmness, human persistence, human striving, there will be no relaxing my persistence.’ From this heedfulness of mine was attained Awakening. From this heedfulness of mine was attained the unexcelled freedom from bondage. A.2.5
Isn’t the Theravāda’s tradition of interpreting vinaya though also influenced by the locality of the Theravāda sect in it’s infancy as a “sect” so-to-speak?
For instance, are these reasonable reasons as to why it could have been considerably harsher at the time, perhaps, to spend the vassa period under or inside trees in Sri Lanka? Perhaps central and more northerly India was suited for spending long times, such as including the vassa period, under or inside trees?
Sometimes we may never know. Perhaps during the formation of these interpretations and rulings the earth was undergoing a small warming period, a particularly powerful el niño maybe even, and weather became significantly more adverse, perhaps even significantly more adverse for the island particularly. There has been study of the history of weather, but, the precise and exact dates of these rulings and decisions is unknown at a precise level, and I am certain that no one has tried to extensively map meteorological history onto Buddhist history with regards to this. There are so many factors and variables that could have gone into these decisions.
Not to take the discussion too afar field from the question of dwellings, but as long as the conversation includes consideration of asceticism, here is an interesting essay in The New York Times about the relationship between artistic creation and asceticism. One of the more interesting quotes: “Work consumes what the artist forgoes.”
Renunciation (nekkhamma) or the intention to (or seeing what is positive about simplifying, sparsenses and the downside of sensual indulgence) is mentioned under Right intention; and that informs the rest of the path factors. There’s the understanding of the peril of repetitive rebirth that provides the motivation for such intense practice. This comes under Right view. It’s fairly advanced and good for short durations to start with and longer later IMO.
DN 8, SN 42.12 and AN 10.94, even if they start with the same premise (“I don’t condemn all tapas”) end up quite differently.
In DN 8, SN 42.12 if one reads on actually all tapas does get criticized. The introduction is neutral, but all following examples of tapas are rendered useless and harmful.
Whereas AN 10.94 is truly neutral and allows tapas that makes kusalā dhammā arise.
The EBT are indeed a mixed bag when it comes to tapas, but the majority of instances is critical of it. We find a few positive mentions though (SN 1.58, SN 1.76, SN 2.17, SN 7.11, AN 6.43, MN 98, DN 14, Dhp 14, Snp 1.4, Snp 3.9).
The negative ones are in the majority because of the associations with jains and also brahmins (as in a sceptical pericope found in SN 24.8, SN 35.241, AN 5.206, AN 7.50, AN 9.72, AN 10.14, MN 16, MN 57, MN 76, DN 2, DN 33): "By this sila or vata or tapa or brahmacariya, may I become one of the gods!’
I understand this pericope to be concerned with sīlabbataparāmāsa, in which case the fault would lie in the parāmāsa, not in the sīla, vata, tapa or brahmacariyā (unless these four entailed something intrinsically useless like ox-duty asceticism).
Why I take it as a skeptical and not overly critical pericope is because it works with insinuation rather than overt criticism. There are just the very few positive contexts in which tapas is mentioned, and only one neutral context (AN 10.94).
By proximity and association tapas is mostly bundled with useless or harmul activities, up to ones that lead to hell.
We get a clear image of what is un-wholesome about tapas (the many specific practices of Jains and wanderers) and get only vague ideas what could be positive about it. Here is the only definition of positive tapas I found, in Dhp 14 & DN 14:
Patient endurance is the highest austerity. (Or: Patience is the highest austere endurance / Khantī paramaṃ tapo titikkhā)
The other positive examples put tapas in a positive light, but don’t define an actual practice. Also it’s interesting that many of the positive contexts are in verse, not in prose.
So coming back to the OP, it might well be that there were more positive depictions of tapas in the oldest material and that they were not reinforced, repeated and taught. That historically it became more important to emphasize the different ascetic profile against the Jains and wanderers than to point out their similarities.
I’m not saying that tapas is great, what do I know. But as I see it there was a competition of ideas of how to represent Early Buddhism, and tapas as an element was not deleted but still muted and neglected over time.
1435“Struck by a wind ailment,
While staying in a forest grove;
You’ve gone into a tough place for gathering alms:
How will you get by, monk?”
2436“Pervading my body
With lots of rapture and happiness,
Putting up with what’s tough,
I’ll dwell in the forest.
3437Developing the seven factors of awakening,
The faculties and the powers,
Endowed with subtle jhānas ,
I’ll dwell without defilements. SuttaCentral
This shows how jhana helped in difficult situations- revisiting jhana helped the Buddha soon after he practiced the austerities. By the way austerities are of the kind mentioned here:
‘Suppose I were to take only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup.’ So I took only a little food at a time, only a handful at a time of bean soup, lentil soup, vetch soup, or pea soup. My body became extremely emaciated. Simply from my eating so little, my limbs became like the jointed segments of vine stems or bamboo stems… My backside became like a camel’s hoof… My spine stood out like a string of beads… My ribs jutted out like the jutting rafters of an old, run-down barn… The gleam of my eyes appeared to be sunk deep in my eye sockets like the gleam of water deep in a well… My scalp shriveled & withered like a green bitter gourd, shriveled & withered in the heat & the wind… The skin of my belly became so stuck to my spine that when I thought of touching my belly, I grabbed hold of my spine as well; and when I thought of touching my spine, I grabbed hold of the skin of my belly as well… If I urinated or defecated, I fell over on my face right there… Simply from my eating so little, if I tried to ease my body by rubbing my limbs with my hands, the hair — rotted at its roots — fell from my body as I rubbed, simply from eating so little. MN36
Thanks for the translations from the Vinayas in Chinese. It would be great to have much more of this. Have you considered doing full translations, that perhaps could be hosted on SuttaCentral?
Where have you read such claims of exclusive authenticity by Theravada Buddhism?
Is there a central authority with such power?
As far as I am concern the existing issues in terms of Vinaya have more to do with the fact that only in Theravada some still do care about trying to live up to the standards and model of livelihood found in the Pali literature they inherited. And they did so with much sacrifice and despite so many discontinuities and historical challenges.
As far as I am concerned across all other traditions historically related and effectively custodians of the Chinese and Tibetan Vinaya texts people just don’t seem to care about living up to the standards and models found in such texts. And note they had a much easier task in terms of having their source texts preserved across time.
I am still puzzled with your apparently critical tone against Theravada as if it had anything to do with a so called marginalising or making unlegitimate of the Vinaya texts and model of conduct they endorse. While at the same time the Vinaya texts of these other schools have long been abandoned in preference for what we now know as Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions by the very people blessed with the presence and availability of such texts!
Would you then advise me, who daily wears ragged and torn shorts, to wear these to a friend’s wedding?
There is currying of favor in some actions.
There is also simple respect in similar-looking actions.
Please explain “decision to compromise”? The examples given allow multiple interpretations but I did not see a decision to curry favor. I saw a decision to respect cultural norms. I myself would hesitate a bit to give alms to someone with a skull. I would hesitate because such a person might be a satanist who had killed someone to obtain a skull.
