Introduction Quite a few people believe that there is a special purification process that happens during the Pātimokkha recitation meeting done on the full and new moon days. They believe there’s some magical purification going on. While it is true that after the meeting the monks are considered pure, there is nothing magical. Why the Mystery? During the Pātimokkha, the recitation of the 227 rules, lay people are often kept out of the uposatha hall (or sīmā).