Key Points A monk may only ask for his needs if he receives pavāraṇā (invitation). Clear invitations—especially phrases like “any time” or “ever”—create ongoing permission. Invitations are not binding; they simply allow the monk to ask. Renewing the invitation often helps the monk feel comfortable and avoids misunderstandings. Introduction In the Theravāda Vinaya tradition for monks who do not use money, many lay supporters are not familiar with how invitations work1. Several Vinaya rules prevent a monk from asking for his needs unless he is given pavāraṇā (invitation).

Pabbajja Ordination in Pa Auk (8th April 2014) The short answer is: If you are looking for vinaya (places that don’t touch money), and you believe in the commentaries and Abhidhamma and want to meditate, you have two choices, Pa-Auk and Na-Uyana. If you don’t believe in the commentaries and Abhidhamma, you are best off at a Thai Forest Monastery like Ajahn Chah (Mahanikaya) or Ajahn Maha Boowa (Dhammayut) monasteries. There are other places that I might recommend too. I will mention them later.

The Pali Text Society has made its Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma books available for non-commercial use since 2013. The Sutta books have been extracted from the Buddhadust Website which is still considered as “work in progress.” However, the work was good enough to reformat as eBooks in its current state. Stephen Torrence and myself did most of the work to reformat the web pages into eBook versions. There were thousands of webpages which required many scripts to remove the web content. We used the open source project called Sigil.

Downloads: Download PDF Listen to Audiobook Going For Broke: Travelogs On Becoming a Buddhist Monk is a compilation of travel stories. It is an anonymously written book about a lay person who quit his job in order to travel the world and then become a Buddhist Monk. Most people either love it and read it in a few days or never finish it. Here is the back cover: “Going for Broke” consists of travel stories written by a young American man who gave up his lucrative job to travel the world and decide if he would fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a Buddhist monk. As he traveled, he sent accounts of his adventures as a backpacker in Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, India, and Nepal and then about his life as monk in Thailand and Myanmar"

Free Book: Abhidhamma Lessons PDF Abhidhamma Lessons Here is a book I wrote long ago that relates the Abhidhamma to Computer Science. As a programmer from the nineties, I “clicked” with the abhidhamma after reading just a small amount. When I learned that the mind does only one thing at a time, it instantly clicked with a graduate class I had taken on digital circuits. It gave me the faith in the Abhidhamma early on which is very rare among Western Monks and Western Theravada Buddhist lay people. Most of the Western scholars are outspoken against the Abhidhamma. I am no scholar by any right, but I hope this can create an interest and restore some faith.

NOTE: This is a very brief version of the 25 page PDF on the subject. The free 25 page pdf download on the third precept is here. Theravada Buddhism and Sex (extended) Summary: The third precept is defined as not having sex without the protector’s permission. It is that simple! However, the protector can be the parents, husband, guardian, brother, government, religious order, etc. You need the protector’s permission and often that is the parents in most cases. The woman’s age does not matter. The government would play a role in age, genetic proximity issues, and other illegal activities such as blackmail or rape.

Download Free A4 format PDF Download Free A5 format PDF Tutorial on How to Sit Many times I have given advice to yogis on how to sit properly and I have received raving success. In fact, I asked one fellow student to model for the pictures you will see in this article and he was absolutely amazed at how comfortable he was as soon as he sat down. He spoke loudly with joy and excitement as soon as he was seated in the Samādhi-Sausage, which prompted other people to peek inside the room to see what all of the commotion was about. This document is long. The short answer is to roll up a blanket and curve it around your body as shown below. However, the rest of the document gives a full explanation on how it works so you are able to make the perfect seat, sit in it properly, and modify it for your own needs. (Note: The shirt was raised up and tied to reveal his posture and it is not normal for him to be like that!)