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INVITATION
哥打丁宜佛教会
2012 卡帝那庆典
KATHINA 2012 CELEBRATION
地点
： 哥打丁宜寂乐苑禅修中心
Venue :
Santisukharama Meditation Centre
Lot 478, Batu 2
Jalan Lombong, 81900 Kota Tinggi
日期 ： 2012 年11 月18 日 （星期日）
Date
: 18th November
2012 (Sunday)
时间 ： 早上8.00 点
Time
: 8.00 am
The
Significance of the Observance of Vassa and the Kathina Robe Offering Ceremony
During the
Buddha’s time, most Bhikkhus (monks) wandered.
For most of the year, they travelled by themselves or in larger or
smaller groups around a Teacher-Bhikkhu (acariya). They might stop in a place they found
suitable for their practice for a few months or intermittently even for
years. In some cases, people might
invite them to stay and guarantee their alms food and other simple needs. These people would have kutis (huts) and a
meeting-hall erected, these small building being the beginnings of Buddhist
monasteries.
During the
monsoon season, i.e. from July to October, the Buddha laid down a rule that
Bhikkhus were to stay in one place and this period is called Vassa
(Rain-retreat). The Buddha enacted this
rule particularly because complaints had been made to him that the Bhikkhus who
travelled about during this time when the earth was teeming with vegetation and
full of insects and worms, could not avoid crushing them under their feet. Though such acts were committed
unintentionally, many censured it as an act unbecoming of one observing a
brahmacariya life.
This three
months retreat period brought many benefits.
Besides entailing one to adapt to live a life of communal harmony, Bhikkhus were also expected to practice
meditation more intensively, observe the disciplinary rules and to propagate
the teaching of the Buddha to the laity who supported them in increasing
numbers.
The glory and the longevity of the Buddha-Sasana (dispensation of the Buddha) rest on the Parisuddhi (Purity of Conduct) of the Sangha. A Bhikkhu who is earnest in his practice guards his Parisuddhi even at the risk of his life, humble and meek he seek not the faults of others, ever mindful of his own, he lives his life in a accordance with the Vinaya, the life-blood of the Buddha-Sasana.
The end of the
Vassa period is marked by a ceremony called Pavarana, meaning
‘invitation’. Here, Bhikkhus are
required to invite other Bhikkhus living within the same boundary to censure
them for any wrongdoing they might have committed. After confession have been made and faults
atoned, they then rejoiced in that the Vassa had been beneficially spent.
These Bhikkhus who have thus established their Parisuddhi are certainly worthy of reverence, worthy of receiving gifts for that, which when given to them yield abundant fruit. It should also be noted that the lay-devotees get such an opportunity only once a year to bestow their tangible respect in some sort of offering, within each one’s means. Whatever is offered to Bhikkhu-Sangha on this occasion is considered, in point of merit, productive of the highest good.
This tangible expression of the respect of the gratitude of the lay-devotees of the avasa of the vihara towards the Bhikkhus who had gone into the Retreat at the invitation of the lay-devotees is usually shown by a gift of cloth to be sewn into robes, which is called Kathina-civara.
Now what were the reasons that led to the offering of this special robe ? A certain group of monks after observing the three month’s retreat were proceeding to the monastery of the Blessed One at Savatthi. They were thoroughly drenched by a heavy downpour when they arrived at the monastery where the Buddha dwelt, their robes were soaked to the skin and they were weary and tired. Considering the conditions in which these monks were placed, the Buddha addressed the monks thus :
“I prescribed, O Monks, that the Kathina ceremony shall be performed by monks when they have completed their Vassa. And five things are allowable to you, O Monks after the Kathina ceremony has been held – going for alms to the houses of people who have not invited you, going for alms without wearing the usual set of three robes, going for alms in a group of four or more, possessing as many robes as are wanted, and whatever number of robes shall have come to hand, that shall belong to them” (That is, to the monks entitle by residence and otherwise to share in the distribution) – (Vinaya Pitaka)
Kathina ceremony brings together the Bhikkhus and the lay-devotees. The Bhikkhus received from the laity the requisites of the monks’ life, which are necessary for their physical well being, and at the same time, promote their spiritual progress on the path to deliverance. The Bhikkhus reciprocate the liberality of the laity by providing the latter with spiritual nutriment for their well being here and thereafter. This mutual interdependency of the Sangha and laity is essential for the strength, the unity, solidarity and longevity of the Buddha-Sasana.
With Acknowledgement
To the Selangor Buddhist
Vipassana Meditation Society
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卡帝那前夕
KATHINA EVE
17-11-2012 星期六 ( Saturday
)
8.00
pm :
受持五戒 Taking of Five Precepts
8.30
pm : 佛法开示 Dhamma
Talk
9.30
pm : 迴向功德 Sharing of
Merits
9.45
pm : 茶点招待 Light
refreshments
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卡帝那日
KATHINA DAY
18-11-2012 星期日 ( Sunday )
7.00 am : 早餐供养僧团 Breakfast Dana for The Sangha
8.00 am : 环绕寺庙仪式 Procession Round Temple with Kathina
Tray
9.00 am : 邀请僧团莅临 Invitation of Venerable Sangha
- 皈依三宝及受持五戒
Taking Triple Gems
and Observe of Five Precepts
- 诵经 Paritta Chanting by
Sangha
- 佛法开示 Dhamma Talk by Sayadaw U.
Sejjanalankara
9.15
am : 供奉袈裟于僧团 Kathina
Robe Offering Ceremony
10.45
am :
迴向功德
Sharing of merits after
completion of robe offering to the Sangha
11.00 am : 午餐供养僧团 Lunch Dana for The Sangha
12.00
pm :
午餐招待佛友 Lunch for Devotees
1.00 pm : 僧团于戒堂之卡帝那仪式
Conducting the Kathina at Sima Hall by The
Sangha
1.30 pm : 庆典结束 Ceremony Adjourns
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