THE DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY INDIAN BUDDHISM 79birth in a heaven. Those desiring to enhance their practice of virtue were en-
couraged to observe the eight precepts-formulated in such a way as to cover
the same ground as the novice monk and nun's first nine precepts (see Section
3.4.1 )-either on a constant basis or on the lay Po~adha: the days of the full
moon, new moon, and two half moons. Those who followed this practice
would dress in white, to distinguish themselves from the monks and nuns in
their ochre robes, and would spend the Po~adha learning about the Dharma
and practicing meditation.
Although lay people were taught the rudiments of meditation (Strong EB,
sec. 2.5.2), some early texts reveal that they were not usually given instruction
on the more advanced aspects of mind training. Abhidharma scholasticism and
the more abstruse Sutras were reserved for the monks and nuns. This is, in
part, not the case in modern Buddhist countries, where lay Dharma-study and
meditation groups function as important institutions, but it was definitely the
norm in ancient times. One ostensible reason is that the ordinary lay person
would not have the time to understand, let alone practice, such deep and diffi-
cult doctrines. Anyone truly interested in the deeper aspects of the Dharma
could at any time opt for the celibate life that was freely available to all.
All the early schools agreed that the laity could attain the first three de-
grees of sainthood and remain in the household life. Some of them maintained
that, although lay people could attain arhantship, lay arhants had to ordain or
else die within seven days after their attainment, for the lay state could not
support an arhant's purity (Strong EB, sec. 2.5.1).
Little research has looked into the life-cycle ceremonies of the Indian Bud-
dhist laity. Various recensions of the Vinaya inform us that monks were regu-
larly invited to .teach Dharma at weddings, funerals, and housewarmings, and
to dedicate the"merit of their teaching to the well-being of the sponsors. In
fact, iflay Buddhists or the monk's parents invited a monk to such an occa-
sion, he was obliged to go. However, if modern-day Theravada practice can
be taken as a reliable guide, the monk did not officiate at such ceremonies. He
simply provided the sponsors the opportunity to gain merit, leaving the re-
mainder of the ceremony up to the sponsors themselves.
Early extracanonical accounts of the lives of the Buddha regularly place his
birth, Awakening, and Parinirva9-a on the full moon night of Jiaisakha (May).
They also offer elaborate descriptions of how the entire cosmos paid homage
at all three events with hymns and floral offerings. Thus it is highly likely that
Indian Buddhists celebrated these events in a similar fashion from an early
date. At present, this festival is the most important in the Theravada calendar.
3.4.5 Cult Objects and Forms of Worship
Archaeological evidence indicates that, at the popular level, Buddhism ab-
sorbed local religious forms, symbols, and cults from its environment. These
had a long ancestry, extending in part back to the Indus civilization and other
levels of Indian prehistory, in part deriving from Vedic traditions.
Cults of trees, serpents, and reliquary mounds entered early Buddhism
from the preexisting religious tradition, adapted by the Buddhists to suit their