THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM 69to store food overnight. However, eating meat is not forbidden, as long as the
monk does not know or suspect that the animal was killed specifically to feed
him. Drinking liquor-even as much as the tip of a blade of grass-is an of-
fense to be confessed.
A monk who tells a lay person of his actual spiritual attainments commits
an offense requiring confession, as does one who informs an unordained per-
son of a fellow monk's grave offense. Nevertheless, every monk is duty-bound
to inform the assembly of any serious transgression committed by a fellow
monk because an unconfessed sin is considered an affliction that grows aggra-
vated the longer it goes unabsolved; therefore, the informer is doing the ac-
cused a kindness. However, the code treats false accusation as a serious offense
and forbids harrying another with insinuations that he is transgressing. These
rules taken together demand that the Sangha keep its own counsel, shun both
the adulation and reproach of outsiders, and compel honesty, conformity, and
goodwill from its members.
Rules of deportment-75 in the Pali, 67 in the Mahasanghika recension-
regulate the conduct of the monk while going on his begging rounds among
the homes of the laity, receiving alms, eating, and excreting. He must at all
times be properly clothed, keep his eyes downcast, not sway his limbs or body,
refrain from loud laughter and noise, and observe good table manners: neither
stuffing his mouth, smacking his lips, nor talking with his mouth full. He must
not excrete while standing up, onto cultivated plants, or into potable water.
This set also includes rules forbidding the monk to preach Dharma to a lis-
tener whose deportment is disrespectful, for example, carrying a parasol, staff,
sword, or weapon in the hand; wearing slippers or sandals; wearing a turban
or other head-covering; occupying a higher seat than the monk; sitting while
the monk is standing; or walking on a path in front of him.
The overall purpose of the rules of deportment is to render the monk wor-
thy of reverence and offerings. The monk must himself maintain impeccable
conduct and allow the laity to choose their response. If they revile him, he
suffers it with gentle dignity (Strong EB, sec. 2.4.2). If they behave as swine,
he withholds the pearls of the Dharma. The good monk is indifferent to
worldly success and failure, gain and loss. He sticks to his principles even when
so doing places his life in danger. Monks and nuns have starved; died of dis-
ease; been killed by robbers, tyrants, and ferocious beasts; been sexually as-
saulted; and been mocked and humiliated by hostile unbelievers. But wherever
the Vinaya has been observed in spirit and in letter, the Sangha as a whole has
earned respect and prevailed.
In themselves, some of the rules of deportment seem trivial and quaint.
The Sangha, it must be remembered, accepts recruits from all backgrounds. It
has to refine vulgar ordinands and civilize uncouth barbarians. Etiquette alone
does not suffice, of course, but it is a necessary part of the complete discipline
that shapes character and attracts outsiders to the Dharma. A noteworthy fea-
ture of the Vinaya rules is that they are utterly free from taboos of the sort so
common in the Brahmanical and Near Eastern law books. There is no idea