Chapter 20 The first section

In this section, it is about the personal belongings that monks can keep. The term "carrying utensils" can roughly describe the entire content of personal life and study items that monks are allowed to keep. The five Buddhist monks, namely monks, bhikkhunis, novice monks, novice monks, and Shichamana, can generally be collectively called the Sangha, which is a transliteration of the Sanskrit word samgha; free translations include "harmony", "all", "harmony", etc. , and because the monks are as harmonious as the sea, they are translated as "sea people"; there are also phonetic and free translations as "monk", "monk family" and "monk Wu".This word is a title of a collective nature, referring to a practice group that believes in and accepts the Dharma, and there must be more than four people to form a Sangha.But after development and use, as long as there are five monks, one person can be regarded as a monk.Referred to as the monk.In Sinicized Buddhism, monks and nuns are often collectively referred to as "monks and nuns".The novice and the novice are also counted among the monks or monks and nuns. In order to distinguish them, the monks and other two groups are called great monks, and the three groups including novice monks (including Shichamana) are called junior monks.One of the main differences between monks and lay people is that they give up all personal possessions.Therefore, in principle, all movable and immovable properties in monasteries are collectively owned by the Sangha.

If we further analyze, according to a classification method of Buddhism, all the movable and immovable properties of the Sangha are regarded as the "Three Treasures", and then divided into three categories: Buddha objects, Dharma objects, and Sangha objects.Buddha objects belong to "Buddha", which generally include halls, Buddha statues and objects dedicated to Buddha, such as solemn objects in the halls-three legs, banners, treasure covers, etc. Buddha clothes and so on belong to the Buddha and cannot be used for other purposes.Misappropriation is punished as the crime of theft.Dharma objects refer to items related to Buddhist classics in Buddhist temples, such as Buddhist scriptures, the four treasures of the study used to write Buddhist scriptures, sutra boxes and sutra scarves used to collect classics, fragrant flowers and three feet for offering these dharma objects, etc.These dharma objects cannot be repurposed for other purposes. For example, copying non-Buddhist secular materials on the paper that has been written on Buddhist scriptures, or using it as "reversal" (transcribing on the reverse side), is sinful from the point of view of Buddhism.Sangha objects include monastery-owned real property such as houses and land, and movable property such as food and utensils, which in principle belong to the entire Sangha.Before 1949, Chinese temples were roughly divided into two categories: "Shifang Temple" and "Descendants Temple".The "Three Treasures" of Shifang Temple, especially the monks, belong to all the Sanghas in the world in principle, at least they belong to a certain sect, as is the case in Chinese Zen temples.Master and apprentice cannot be taught privately, that is to say, no one has the right to inherit.The property rights of the descendants temple belong to a certain family (commonly known as "family temple"), or even a monk's private property, and there is a right of inheritance between master and apprentice.However, from the perspective of Buddhist principles, this kind of inheritance right is only a kind of work and use inheritance, and the property right still belongs to the "Buddha". After 1949, the children and grandchildren temples in mainland China basically disappeared, and now the temples affiliated to the Buddhist Association of China are all ten-fang treasure temples.

So, what is left of the "personal private property" that a monk can own?Roughly speaking, it is limited to the minimum necessities that can only supply one's own life and study.From a historical point of view, its varieties and the number of reserves have gradually increased.