Below is a chart comparing special allowances by tradition which is useful for making a decision on where to ordain. If you need an explanation, read further.

There are some allowances and differences among traditions. I have included four traditions to the best of my knowledge about certain “allowances” that are allowed in some places and not allowed in other places. Who is right? I believe that the two monasteries on the right (especially Wat Khao Sanamachai) are correct, while other monks will believe that the monasteries on the left are correct. You can read it and decide. Na-Uyana Monastery in Sri Lanka is not included but is similar to Pa-Auk. I explain a few differences for Na-Uyana within the explanation text.

The main book to learn the Buddhist monk rules is the Buddhist Monastic Code (BMC I), available here. This book, however, is written by a Thai-ordained American monk and is based on the Thai Forest Tradition’s interpretation of the Vinaya, called The Vinaya Mokh. The BMC often says, “Some traditions do not follow this allowance,” and this post is a rare place where other traditions get a voice.

While this document explains another viewpoint that disagrees with the BMC in these areas, all of these traditions have some good points to mention. The main thing is that money is not used and the majority of the Vinaya is followed in the monasteries that practice it. Not all satellite monasteries live up to their “reputed” traditions. This is also true for Pa-Auk, which has let at least two monasteries “go astray.” Wat Pah Pong has a certification process for its monasteries and has kept a decent standard, yet it is the standard based on the BMC allowances. Wat Khao Sanamachai is a single monastery that represents 12 monasteries that are loosely strung together. “They know each other” is pretty much as connected as they get. However, they do have regular Vinaya conferences and visit with one another. Dhammayut used to have a great reputation, but such monasteries that live up to that reputation are now rare.

Cigarettes and Betel

The Dhammayut tradition allows cigarettes and betel nut as medicines. Both Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Chah smoked cigarettes while they were famous teachers, although Ajahn Chah quit smoking after someone requested him to stop. After he quit smoking and betel nut was outlawed throughout his Wat Pah Pong franchise. Nevertheless, the Thai Forest Tradition believes that enlightened beings who have removed greed, hatred, and delusion are able to maintain a cigarette habit.

Smoking and betel nut are addictive substances and the idea that they are “medicines” means that they cure the addictive need to have a cigarette or betel nut. Methadone is a medicine too—and that is where the logic comes. There is mention in the Vinaya texts and the BMC Vol. 2 about a single inhalation tube and a double inhalation tube as justification to allow cigarettes. However, few monks will argue that the inhalation tubes—especially the double one—are to inhale smoke of herbs through the nose. I have seen one monk in Myanmar use smoke from an herb to help his eyes. This seems proper, and snorting herbal smoke for a medical reason seems proper too. But is it proper for a monk to smoke cigarettes through the mouth? That is for you to decide.

Food “Allowances”

Food is not allowed after high noon for monks, and sometimes monks are hungry and want to eat things. That is where we get an allowance discrepancy. A big issue is whether hunger counts as a “sickness.” While BMC quotes commentary in relation to hunger, this is not in proper context. Even in the case of sickness, a monk should not eat foodstuff after noon. It is very clear in the Vinaya commentaries what a monk can and cannot do in the case of hunger. One may drink water with sugar dissolved in it for hunger, but he may not bite sugar for hunger. One must have a valid sickness to bite sugar (called jaggery in Asia). If one bites sugar without being authentically ill, one incurs an act of wrongdoing—not a full offense of “eating” after noon, but an offense nonetheless. The two traditions on the right do not allow any of these “allowances” and follow all the rules as written and intended.

Cheese

There are real ancient allowances for fresh fruit drinks, sugar and water, honey, butter, etc. There is no debate or controversy over these mentioned items. However, according to a book called The Vinaya Mokh, cheese was said to not be invented during the time of the Buddha, and since it can be stored without spoiling for seven days without refrigeration, they say it should be allowed for seven days, just like butter.

I researched this and found that paneer cheese is mentioned in the Vedic texts, which predates the Buddha and was familiar to him.¹ Have you ever watched how butter and cheese are made on YouTube? The process looks exactly the same: you stir the milk up, get solids, and pour off the excess liquid. However, the contents of the solids and liquids are different. Butter is classed as a fat, while cheese is classed as a food just like milk or yogurt, which are not allowed after noon. The chemical differences are very clear to any chef or nutritionist—and you should ask one if you have doubt.

Dark Chocolate

In Vinaya, we are allowed sugar and butter as seven-day medicines. Salt is considered a “lifetime medicine,” which means it may be kept as long as it lasts. While cocoa is also considered a lifetime medicine, it really is not the best choice for that purpose.

If you really want to get the antioxidant benefit of chocolate, you should try raw cacao or raw cocoa powder.² Another question is, “Are antioxidants a medical reason to take outside of the mealtime?”

If I wanted to take a multivitamin—which is a lifetime medicine—I would take it with my meal. The idea of medicines is that you need a medical reason to take them, and hunger does not count as one.

In any case, if you took all of these medicinal ingredients of dark chocolate and cooked them together, you would have dark chocolate—tasty, but only one-seventh the medicinal value.³

Like biting sugar without being legitimately ill, it is not a full offense for eating after noon, but a small offense nonetheless. We can draw the line when a doctor believes it is best for you to cure a sickness and that it should be eaten after noon and not with other foods. Eating or chewing chocolate without being sick, no matter how you slice it, is an offense. A hot chocolate drink made from the same ingredients (excluding milk and using butter instead) might be allowable. Are you ready to dissolve your chocolate in hot water to cure an illness? Sure you would do that—but if you were not sick, you might opt to eat the chocolate before noon as a food supplement. This is one way we can know what is right and what is wrong.

Juice Drinks

Juice drinks are allowed for monks in the afternoon and evening. They need to be prepared by a non-monk (a novice monk is OK) and cannot be heated by any method other than the sun. Otherwise, it is considered “food” and not consumable after noon according to the texts.

This basically rules out most bottled juices which use heat in the extracting and bottling process. Because of this, one can only have bottled juice before noon. If the juice were cold-pressed, it would say so because it is less efficient and more expensive.

According to the Thai Forest Tradition, the Buddha mentioned a rule against “heating” juice but never mentioned “boiled juices,” and somehow that is considered a completely different substance. The Vinaya Mokh claims that boiled juice magically turns into sugar and is therefore allowed for seven days. Wat Khao Sanamachai and Pa-Auk disagree with this. At best, it might be easy to say bottled juice is juice and allow it in the evening—but seven days for bottled juice is up to you to decide.

Soy Milk

Soy milk is said to be allowable because the Buddha allowed bean water. What is meant by “bean water”? The Buddha was probably thinking of rejuvelac—the remainder water poured off during sprouting lentils. It could also be aquafaba, the leftover water used to cook beans.

Often something not eaten as food can be considered a medicine. For instance, lemon peels or grapefruit seed extract are not eaten as food by normal people. So that is why it is considered not a food substance.

The rule of thumb is that one should have a reason and that it is not considered food (like chocolate or soy milk). Once you allow soy milk, you can allow soy ice cream, soy yogurt, and soy cheese as well. Soy milk is made by grinding up and pulverizing the soybeans with water so that the bean solids become dissolved into the water. One is actually eating/drinking the beans—and the chemical makeup is quite different from bean wastewater like rejuvelac or aquafaba.

Coffee and Tea

Coffee and tea are controversial, and I will just say that the monasteries on the right don’t allow them in the afternoon. Na-Uyana allows these items.

The idea of coffee creamer is also controversial. There are many ingredients in non-dairy creamer, and while most are allowable, there are still some that are not. Non-dairy creamer actually does have dairy products in it. Again, these need to be considered medicines in order to be allowable. I have never heard of any doctor prescribing non-dairy creamer. In contrast, there are many doctors and health professionals who recommend against taking such substances.

Eyebrows and Robe Color

The Thai tradition and some parts of Sri Lanka shave their eyebrows. This has nothing to do with the Vinaya. It is a tradition from a king’s order for an unrelated purpose. All monks in Thailand follow this tradition except Wat Khao Sanamachai. The other traditions do not follow this practice, although it may be found in Cambodia, Laos, and Sri Lanka since there are Thai roots there.

Traditionally, Thai monks wear orange or tan/brown robes, and Myanmar wears burgundy or red robes. Sri Lanka has both colors depending on whether the monks are part of a Myanmar or Thai-rooted tradition. A pure Sri Lankan tradition is actually extinct and was brought back by Thailand and Myanmar.

All the aforementioned colors are allowable in the texts, and Wat Khao Sanamachai allows the colors that are allowed in the texts. I have even seen some WKS monks wear upper and lower robes that do not match tones or even colors—this is taboo in Myanmar and Thailand.

Checks

It is obvious that monks are not allowed money, but what about checks? According to the technical logistics, it is an IOU on paper—a note to the bank telling them to give such-and-such money to the person who has a signed check.

The Buddhist texts say that anything used as currency or business to get goods is considered money. Even shells would count as money if they are used that way. So most people would consider checks money once signed because an unsigned check is not valuable.

Then there is the idea of a non-endorsed check—meaning that the check is not signed by the receiver either. This is where the controversy comes and where it is allowed. Common sense says that checks are considered money. You should also look at a U.S. dollar bill carefully and you will see “Bank Note” written on it—it is nothing more than a note from the U.S. Treasury (Bank). Some say the U.S. Dollar is not worth anything either.

The other issue is with co-signing checks. It is common for monasteries to have checks that need two signatures—one by the abbot if the amount exceeds a certain prescribed amount. The idea here is that the abbot’s signature is not the final signature that makes it a valid check since two are needed. The two traditions on the right do not believe this is allowable.

However, if the money in the bank was allowably obtained, then only the monk who signs the checks is breaking the rule. The other monks are free from offenses by using whatever was obtained through such actions. This is officially called “Allowably obtained requisites with unallowable speech.” Only the monk who signs such checks is affected, so it is not a major issue for others.

Pātimokkha

The Pātimokkha is a bimonthly meeting that takes place in Vinaya-compliant monasteries. In Thailand and Sri Lanka, there is often a practice of excluding monks from other sects. These sects often believe that their own ordinations are the only perfect ordinations and that outside monks are not validly ordained.

The whole idea of who has a valid ordained lineage is impossible to prove. However, there are ways to catch invalid ordinations and disprove those that follow. It has happened to Na-Uyana’s mother organization—250+ monks were forced to re-ordain, losing all of their seniority.

If there is an ounce of doubt, one can do a five-minute ceremony to give that person dalhikamma. This makes a monk in doubt a real monk and honors their old ordination and seniority. The two traditions on the right do this practice if requested by the monk.

Wat Khao Sanamachai allows all monks to attend who follow the rules and checks for this if they do not come from a reputable place. If there is doubt about the ordination, they will perform dalhikamma and allow them into the meeting.

Abhidhamma and Commentaries

The Buddhist texts consist of three sections, traditionally called the Three Baskets: Vinaya (rules), Sutta (discourses), and Abhidhamma (detailed components of ultimate realities).

The last of the three baskets is disputed by the two traditions on the left and followed closely by the two on the right. The commentaries for the discourses, which are compatible with the Abhidhamma, are usually disputed as “academic” by the Thai Forest Tradition.

According to a monk from the Ajahn Chah tradition, “Many of the commentaries are followed. However, if they are scholarly, they are rejected.” What “scholarly” means is up for debate. Lastly, because of this lack of detail, those who follow the book written on Ajahn Mun’s life believe that the Buddha lives in Nibbāna. Since it was written by a Dhammayut monk, it is accepted. Interpretations vary in the Wat Pah Pong, but seem to side that the author was wrong. The two traditions on the right simply laugh at such claims that the Buddha lives in Nibbāna.

Chocolate picture cc-attrib found at picserver.org
This text is copyright Bhante Subhuti – CC-BY Attribution (please link back to this website).

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