Pratimoksha Explained

The Pratimoksha is a Buddhist moral discipline(skt.).

A loose translation of the term is "personal liberation", and thus the discipline is concerned with the Buddhist's quest for personal liberation, and originated with the Pratimoksha Vows given by the Buddha to his followers.

"Prati" means 'towards' or 'every', "moksha" liberation from cyclic existence.

The Pratimoksha comprehends the vows for nuns and monks (Buddhist monastics) as well as vows for the lay followers of Buddhism.

The Pratimoksha belongs to the Vinaya of the Buddhist doctrine and is seen as the very basis of Buddhism.

The Pratimoksha of the Mulasarvastavadin lineage, followed in Tibetan Buddhism, is taken for the whole life and the vows end when the person who received it died or has broken one or more of the four root vows.

On the basis of the Pratimoksha there exist in Mahayana Buddhism two additional set of vows:

The Bodhisattva vows and the Vajrayana vows.

If these two set of vows are not broken, they will last to future lives.

There is also a Dharmaguptaka Pratimoksha, followed in Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhism, as well as some orders of Buddhism in S. Korea.

Patimokkha in Theravada

See main article: Patimokkha. The Patimokkha is the Pali equivalent of Pratimoksha (Sanskrit).

It is being followed by the monks of the Theravada lineage (Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos).

Division in the Mulasarvastavadin Lineage

There are eight types of Pratimoksha vows:

The three set of Householders vows (for Lay-Followers)

    Fasting Vows (skt. Upavasa; tib. Nyung ne) - 8 vows
    Laymans' Vows (skt. Upasaka; tib. Genyen) - 5 vows
    Laywomans' Vows (skt. Upasika) - 5 vows

Upaasak means 'worshipper' and Upasikaa 'female worshipper.'

The Laymans' and Laywomans' Vows

The laywoman and layman Pratimoksha consists of 5 vows.

They are also named as The Five Shilas (skt. moral discipline):

    (1) to refrain from killing
    (2) to refrain from stealing
    (3) to refrain from false speech
    (4) to refrain from sexual misconduct
    (5) to refrain from using intoxicants

One is not obliged to take all five vows.

The commentaries describe seven types of lay followers:

    Promising to keep just one vow
    Promising to keep certain vows
    Promising to keep most of them
    Promising to keep all five
    Keeping all five and also promising to keep the pure conduct of avoiding sexual contact
    Keeping all five, pure conduct, and wearing robes with the promise to behave like a monk or a nun
    Lay follower of mere refuge. This person is unable to keep the vows but he promises to go for refuge to the triple gem until death.

The five set of vows Monks and Nuns

    Male Novices' Vows (skt. Sramanera, tib. Getsul) - 36 vows
    Female Novices' Vow (skt. Sramanerika, tib. Getsulma) - 36 vows
    Probationer Nun's Vows (skt. Siksamana)
    Full Nun's Vows (skt. Bhikshuni, tib. Gelongma) - 364 vows
    Full Monk's Vows (skt. Bhikshu, tib. Gelong) - 253 vows

Only full monks and full nuns are seen as full members of the buddhist monastic order.

A group of minimum 4 full ordained is seen as a Sangha.

The Pratimoksha tells also how to purify faults, how to solve conflicts and deal with all kinds of situations which can happen in the Sangha Community.

Patimokkha
Vinaya

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