74 CHAPTER THREEbe called in to reassert communal authority. It was perhaps for this reason that
the early texts warn of the dangers entailed in displaying one's psychic powers
to others. A recurring theme throughout the history of Buddhist monasticism
is that the order thrives when town and forest monks find a harmonious bal-
ance, and suffers when that harmony breaks down. This pattern derives ulti-
mately from the dynamic of right view that we noted in the preceding chapter
(see Section 2.3.2). Study and communal training are needed to recognize
what right view is; practice is needed so that right view can be developed to
the point of its transcendence. The ideal monk is often pictured as one who
successfully combines the meditative prowess of the wandering ascetic with
the social concern and communal loyalty of the settled monk. Maudgalyayana,
for instance, was repeatedly praised for devoting his psychic powers not to his
own aggrandizement but to the well-being of the monastic community and
its followers.
This ideal of isolation combined with social involvement is reflected in the
account of the Buddha's daily habits recorded in the commentaries to the Pali
Canon. The Buddha, we are told, got up at daybreak and, after attending to
his toilet, sat quietly until it was time to go for alms. Then he put on his robes,
took his bowl, and entered the village or town, where he was usually received
with honor by householders who vied to invite him and his following to the
prenoon meal. They would seat him and place food reverently in his bowl.
After the meal, he would teach Dharma to his hosts. Returning to the
monastery, he sat in the refectory pavilion while the monks who had not been
invited to dine in their donors' homes finished their meal. Then he withdrew
to his cell-called "the perfumed chamber" -for meditation and rest. In the
afternoon, he preached to the laity who came to call on him. Afterward, he
went to the bathhouse for a cool bath, then paced back and forth in the court-
yard or garden and meditated. He concluded the evening (first watch of night)
by instructing monks. During the second watch, he received deities who came
for instruction; during the third, he rested and then surveyed the world with
his psychic vision to see whom he should seek out to teach the next day. This
schedule alternates rest and activity, seclusion and sociability, covering a long
and busy day at a leisurely pace. It is with good reason that the tradition has
consistently emphasized the daily routine and guarded its observance as a way
of harmoniously combining the monk's two roles of meditator and teacher.3.4.3 Buddhist Nuns
The Buddha is said to have reluctantly instituted the Bhik~ul!i Sangha (Order
of Nuns) at the request of his aunt and foster mother, Mahaprajapati, and upon
the intercession of Ananda (Strong EB, sec. 2.4.1). He conceded that women
are able to attain arhantship but formulated eight garudharma (vows of respect)
for the nuns, strictly subordinating them-institutionally but not spiritually-
to the Order of Monks. The vows were as follows: a nun shall honor every
monk as her senior, even if she has been ordained for a hundred years, and he
one day; during the rainy season retreat she shall not reside in a district where