Vinaya

Vinaya ('dul ba). 'Discipline.' One of the three parts of the Tripitaka.

• The Buddha's teachings showing ethics, the discipline and moral conduct that is the foundation for all Dharma practice, both for lay and ordained people. [RY]

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Vinaya ('dul ba)

• The Sanskrit term Vinaya (lit. "discipline") refers to monastic discipline maintained by members of the Budddhist community, including the ethical codes which regulate the life of fully ordained monks and nuns, as well as probationary nuns, novice monks and nuns, and male and female laity. The collection of Śākyamuni Buddha's discourses which elucidate and define the principles of these ethical codes (including the administrative guidelines for running a monastery) are known as the Vinayapiṭaka, and this is one of the three primary collections of discourses which comprise the Buddhist canon (Skt. tripiṭaka). Based on different interpretations relating to the subtler points of the discourses on Vinaya, there emerged, in ancient India, several distinct schools, including the Sthaviravādin, Sarvāstivādin and the Dharmagupta. The Vinaya tradition that became predominant in Tibet is that of the Sarvāstivādins.
• According to the tradition of the Sarvāstivādins, the eight types of observance are as follows: 1) one-day vows (Skt. upavāsa/ upavāsī) which require lay people to abstain over a twenty-four hour period from killing, sexual misconduct, stealing, lying, alcohol, frivolous activities, eating after lunch, and using high seats or beds; 2-3) five vows of the male and female laity (Skt. upāsaka/ upāsikā) which are not to kill, lie, steal, be intoxicated, or commit sexual misconduct; 4-5) the vows of the novice monk and nun (Skt. śrāmaṇera/ śrāmaṇerikā) which include the ten fundamentals of monastic training (śikṣapada) and thirty-three vows concerning subsidiary transgressions which are to be guarded against; 6) the vows of a probationary nun (Skt. śiksamāṇa) which include six primary observances and six consequential observances; 7) the 253 vows of a fully ordained monk (Skt. bhiksu) which comprise: the four defeats (pārājikā), the thirteen residual transgressions (saṅghāvaśeṣa), the thirty downfalls to be publicly abandoned (pāyantika), the ninety individual transgressions or isolated downfalls (pratideśaya), and the 112 minor transgressions (duṣköta); and 8) the 364 vows maintained by fully ordained nuns (Skt. bhiksuṇī) which comprise: eight defeats (parājikadharma), twenty residual transgressions (saṅgha vaśeṣadharma), 180 downfalls (āpatti), eleven individual confessions (pratideśaya), and 112 transgressions (duṣköta). GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)