rules of the order.

the obligations inherent in the dignity of patzin, and the multifarious duties prescribed to the buddhist monks, are contained in a book called patimauk, which is, properly speaking, the manual of the order, and the vade mecum of every talapoin, who is obliged to study it with great care and attention. it is even ordered that on festival days a certain number of recluses shall meet in a particular place called thein, to listen to the reading of that book, or at least a part of it; that every brother should have always present to his mind the rules and regulations of his profession, and be prompted to a strict observance of all the points they enforce. this injunction is a very proper one, since it is a fact confirmed by the experience of ages that relaxation and dissipation find their way in all communities at the very moment the rules are partially lost sight of. so attentive to this duty are some phongyies that they can repeat by heart all the contents of the patimauk. we have read the book with a good deal of attention. many wise and well-digested rules are to be met with here and there, but they are merged in a heap of minute, not to say ridiculous and childish, details, not worth repeating. in order, however, to give a correct and distinct outline of the mode of life, manners, habits, and occupations of the talapoins, we will extract from it all that has appeared to be interesting and calculated to attain the above purpose, leaving aside the incongruous mass of useless rubbish.

every member of the order, on his entering the profession, must renounce his own will and bend his neck under the yoke of the rule. so anxious indeed has been the framer of its statutes to leave no room or field open to the[283] independent exertions of the mind, that every action of the day, the manner of performing it, the time it ought to last, the circumstances that must attend it, have all been minutely regulated. from the moment a rahan rises in the morning to the moment he is to go to enjoy his natural rest in the evening, his only duty is to obey and follow the ever-subsisting will and commands of the founder of the society. he advances in perfection proportionately to his fervent compliance with the injunctions of, and to his conscientiously avoiding all that has been forbidden by, the sagacious legislator. the trespassing of one article of the rule constitutes a sin. the various sins a rahan is liable to commit are comprised under seven principal heads. 1st, the paradzekas; 2d, the thinga-de-ceits; 3d, the patzei; 4th, the toolladzi; 5th, the duka; 6th, the dupaci; and 7th, the pati-de-kani. these seven kinds of sins are subdivided and multiplied to the number of 227, which constitute the total amount of sins either of commission or omission that a phongyie may commit during the time that he remains a member of the holy society. the paradzikas are four in number: fornication, theft, killing, and vainglory in attributing to one’s self high attainments in perfection. a recluse, on the day of his admission, is, as before related, warned never to commit these four sins, under the penalty of being excluded from the society. they are irremissible in their nature. the meaning of this is, he who has had the misfortune of yielding to temptation, and committing one of these four offences, is no longer to be considered as a member of the thanga, or of the assembly of the perfect. he is de facto excluded from the society. he may exteriorly continue to be a member of the thanga, but inwardly he really no longer belongs to it. all other offences are subjected to the law of confession, and can be expiated by virtue of the penances imposed upon the delinquent after he has made a public avowal of his sins.

the reader will no doubt be startled by the unexpected[284] information that the practice of confession has been established among the talapoins, and is up to this day observed, though very imperfectly, by every fervent religious. some zealous patzins will resort to the practice once, and sometimes twice a day. here is what is prescribed on this subject in the wini, or book of scriptures, which contains all that relates to the phongyies, the patimauk being but a compendium of it: when a rahan has been guilty of a violation of his rule, he ought immediately to go to his superior, and, kneeling before him, confess his sin to him. sometimes he will do this in the thein, the place where the brothers assemble occasionally to speak on religious subjects or listen to the reading of the patimauk in the presence of the assembly. he must confess all his sins, such as they are, without attempting to conceal those of a more revolting nature, or lessening aggravating circumstances. a penance is then imposed, consisting of certain pious formulas to be repeated a certain number of times during the night. a promise must be made by the penitent to refrain in future from such trespasses. this extraordinary practice is observed now, one would say, pro forma. the penitent approaches his superior, kneels down before him, and having his hands raised to his forehead, says: “venerable superior, i do confess here all the sins that i may be guilty of, and beg pardon for the same.” he enters upon no detailed enumeration of his trespasses, nor does he specify anything respecting their nature and the circumstances attending them. the superior remains satisfied with telling him: “well, take care lest you break the regulations of your profession; and henceforward endeavour to observe them with fidelity.” he dismisses him without inflicting any penance on him. thus an institution, so well calculated to put a restraint and a check upon human passions, so well fitted to prevent man from occasionally breaking commands given to him, or at least from slipping into the dangerous habit of doing it, is now, by the want of fervour[285] and energy in the hands of that body, reduced to be no more than an useless and ridiculous ceremony, a mere shadow of what is actually prescribed by the wini.

the punishments inflicted for the repeated transgressions of one or several points of the rule are, generally speaking, of a light nature, and seldom or never corporeal, as flagellations, &c. the superior sometimes orders a delinquent to walk through the courtyard during the heat of the day for a certain time, to carry to a distance a certain number of baskets-ful of sand, or a jug of water. meekness, being a virtue most becoming a recluse, forbids the resort to penances of a more severe nature.

humility, poverty, self-denial, and chastity are to him who has received the order of patzin cardinal and most essential virtues, which he ought to practise on all occasions. he must, in all his exterior deportment, give unequivocal marks of his being always influenced by the spirit they inspire. the framer of the rules and regulations of the order seems to have had no other object in view than that of leading his brethren by various ways and means to the practice of these virtues, and inculcating on their minds the necessity of attending to the observances prescribed for this purpose. it is from this point we must view the statutes of the fraternity in order to understand them well and rightly, and appreciate them according to their worth and merit. we would indeed form a very erroneous opinion of institutions of past ages if we were to examine them, to praise or blame them, without a due regard being paid to the spirit that guided the legislator, and to the object he aimed at when he laid them down. our own ideas, customs, manners, and education will often dispose us to disapprove at first of institutions made in former ages, amongst nations differing from us in all respects, under the pretext that they are not such as we would have them to be now, making unawares our own prejudices the standard whereby to measure the merit or demerit of all that has been established[286] previously to our own times. the institutions of the middle ages, a celebrated modern historian has said, are intelligible to him that has entered into the spirit of those days, and who thinks, feels, and believes as did the people of those bygone centuries. this observation holds good to a certain extent, and, mutatis mutandis, in respect to buddhistic institutions. the whole religious system must be understood, the object which the founder of the order had in view ought to be distinctly remarked and always borne in mind, ere we presume to pronounce upon the fitness or unfitness of the means he has employed for obtaining it.

for humility’s sake every talapoin is bound to shave every part of his body. in complying with this regulation he must consider that the hairs that are shaved off are useless things, serving merely for the purposes of vanity, and he ought to be as unconcerned about them as a great mountain which has been cleared of the trees on its summit. influenced by the same spirit, the religious must always walk barefooted, except in case of his labouring under some infirmity, or for some other good reason; he is then allowed to use a certain kind of plain and unornamented slipper, the shape, colour, and dimensions of which are carefully prescribed by the rule. when the rahans travel from one place to another, they are allowed to carry with them the broad fan, made of palm-leaves, and a common paper umbrella to protect their bare head from the inclemency of the weather, or screen it from the heat of the sun. their dress, consisting, as above mentioned, of three parts, is as plain as possible. according to the patimauk, each separate part must be made of rags picked up here and there, and sewed together by themselves. this regulation, though disregarded by many, is to a certain extent observed by the greater number, but in a manner rather contrary to the spirit, if not to the letter, of the rule. on their receiving from benefactors a piece of silk or cotton, they cut it into several small square parts,[287] which they afterwards contrive to have stitched in the best way they can, so as to make their vestments according to the prescription of the statutes. the vestment ought to be of one colour, yellow in those countries in which mahometanism does not prevail. the yellow colour is a mark of mourning, as the black is amongst most of the nations of europe.

seven articles are considered as essential to every member of the holy family, viz., the kowot, thin-bain, dugout (the three pieces constituting his vestment), a girdle, a patta, a small hatchet, a needle, and a small apparatus for straining the water he drinks. the entire number of articles he is permitted to use and possess amounts to sixty. they are all plain, common, almost valueless, offering no incentive to cupidity and leaving him who is only possessed of them in the humble state of strict poverty.

the possession of temporal goods is strictly forbidden to the rahans, as calculated to hinder them from meditating upon the law and attending to the various duties of the profession. nothing indeed opposes a stronger barrier to the attainment of the perfect abnegation of self and a thorough contempt for material things, than the possession of worldly property. hence a true rahan has no object which he can, properly speaking, call his own. the kiaong wherein he lives has been built by benefactors, and is supplied by them with all that is necessary or useful to him. food and raiment are procured for him without his having to feel concerned about them. the pious liberality of his supporters assiduously provides for his wants. but it is expected that he shall never concern himself with worldly business or transactions, of whatever nature they may be. he can neither labour, plant, traffic, nor do anything with the intent of deriving profit therefrom. agreeably to the maxim, “sufficient to the day is the evil thereof,” the rahan cannot make any stores for the time to come. he must trust in the never-failing[288] generosity and ever-watchful attention of his supporters for his daily wants. now, let it be said to the praise of the buddhists, that he is seldom disappointed in the reliance he places on them.

that he may be more effectually debarred from a too easy and frequent use of the things of first necessity, a talapoin is bound to go through a tedious ceremony, called akat, or presentation, before he can lawfully touch anything. when he has occasion for food, drink, or anything else, he turns to his disciples and tells them to do what is lawful. whereupon one of them, or several, as circumstances may require, rises from his place, and, taking the thing or things he wants with both hands, approaches him respectfully, and presents to him the articles, saying, this is lawful. then the rahan takes the things into his own hands, and uses them or lays them by, as may suit his convenience. when a thing is presented, the disciple must be at a distance of some cubits, otherwise the recluse is guilty of a sin; and if what he receives is food, he commits as many sins as he eats mouthfuls. gold and silver being the two greatest feeders of covetousness, the rule forbids the phongyies to touch them, and a fortiori to have them. but on this point, however, human covetousness has broken through the strong barriers the framer of the statutes has wisely devised for effectually protecting recluses from its dangerous allurement. gold and silver are not indeed touched by the pious devotees, but the precious and dazzling metals are conventionally handed to the disciples, who put them into the box of the superior, who, whilst bowing obsequiously to the letter of the rule, disregards its spirit. sometimes an innocent ruse is resorted to by a greedy religious for silencing the remorse of his conscience; he covers his hands with a handkerchief, and without scruple receives the sum that is offered to him. it would be unfair to pass a general and sweeping sentence of condemnation for covetousness upon all the members of the fraternity. there are some whose hands[289] have not been polluted by the handling of money, and whose hearts have always been, we may say, strangers to the cravings of the auri sacra fames; but it cannot be denied that many among them are insatiable in their lust for riches, and not unfrequently ask for them.

no rahan can ever ask for anything; he is allowed to receive what is spontaneously offered to him. in this point too the spirit of the rule is frequently done away with. the recluse will not ask an object he covets (i beg his pardon for making use of such a term) in direct words; but by some indirect means or circuitous ways he will give significantly to understand that the possession of such an object is much needed by him, and that the offering of it would be a source of great merits to the donor. in this manner he moves the heart of his visitor, and soon kindles in his breast a desire to present the thing, almost as eager as his own is to receive it.

celibacy is strictly enjoined on every professed member of the society. on the day of his reception he is solemnly warned by the instructor never to do anything contrary to that most essential virtue. the founder of the order and the framer of its statutes has entered, on this subject, into the most minute details, and prescribed a multitude of regulations tending to fortify the rahans in the accomplishment of the solemn vow they have made, and to remove from them all occasions of sin, even the most distant. we must give him credit for an uncommon acquaintance with the weakness of human nature, as well as with the violence of the fiercest passion of the heart, since he has laboured so much to strengthen and uphold the former, and bridle the latter by every means his anxious mind could devise. he was deeply read in the secrets of the human heart, and knew well that the surest tactics for carrying on successfully the warfare between the spirit and the flesh consist in rather avoiding carefully the encounter of the enemy, and skilfully man?uvring at a distance from him, than in boldly encountering him in[290] the open field. hence the repeated injunctions to shun all the occasions of sin.

the phongyies are forbidden to stay under the same roof, or to travel in the same carriage and boat, with women; they cannot receive anything from their hands. to such a height are precautions carried that the religious are not permitted to touch the clothes of a woman, or caress a female child, however young, or even handle a female animal.[59]

when visited in their dwellings by women, who resort thither for the purpose of making offerings, or listening to the recital of a few passages of the sacred books, they must remain at a great distance from them, and be surrounded by some of their disciples. the phongyies are to look upon the old ones as mothers and upon the young as sisters. the conversation must be as short as decency allows, and no useless or light expressions be ever uttered. on the festival days, when crowds of people, men and women, go to the kiaongs to hear the tara, or some parts of the law repeated, the rahans, arrayed in front of the congregation, keep their fans before their faces all the while, lest their eyes should meet with dangerous and tempting objects. much greater precautions are still required in their intercourse with the rahanesses, a sort of female recluses, whose institute is greatly on its decline in almost all parts of burmah. for better securing the observance of continence, a phongyie never walks out of his monastery, or enters a private dwelling, without being attended by a few disciples. popular opinion is inflexible and inexorable on the point of celibacy, which is considered essential to every one that has a pretension to be called a rahan. the people can never be brought to look upon[291] any person as a priest or minister of religion unless he live in that state. any infringement of this most essential regulation on the part of a rahan is visited with an immediate punishment. the people of the place assemble at the kiaong of the offender, sometimes driving him out with stones. he is stripped of his clothes; and often public punishment, even that of death, is inflicted upon him by order of government. the poor wretch is looked upon as an outcast, and the woman whom he has seduced shares in his shame, confusion, and disgrace. such an extraordinary opinion, so deeply rooted in the mind of a people rather noted for the licentiousness of their manners, certainly deserves the attention of every diligent observer of human nature. whence has originated among corrupted and half-civilised men such a high respect and profound esteem for so exalted a virtue? why is its rigorous practice deemed essential to those who professedly tend to an uncommon degree of perfection? owing partly to the weight of public opinion, and partly to some other reasons, the law of celibacy, externally at least, is observed with a great scrupulosity, and a breach of it is a rare occurrence. as the rule, in this respect, binds the phongyie only as long as he remains in the profession, he who feels his moral strength unable to cope successfully with the sting of passion prefers leaving the fraternity and returning to a secular life, when he can safely put an end, by a lawful alliance, to the internal strife, rather than expose himself to a transgression which is to entail upon him consequences so disgraceful.

the sagacious legislator of the buddhistic religious order, pre-occupied with the idea of elevating the spiritual principle above the material one, and securing to reason a thorough control over bodily appetites, has prescribed temperance as a fundamental virtue essential to every rahan. in common with all their fellow-religionists, the rahans are commanded to abstain from the use of spirituous liquors and of intoxicating substances. such a prohibition[292] is the wisest step that gaudama could have adopted to preserve his followers from the shameful vice of drunkenness. all uncivilised people make use of spirits for the sole purpose of creating in them the effects of intoxication. were it not for such an excellent regulation, the members of the thanga would soon become, by their excesses, the laughing-stock of the laity. the time allotted for taking their meals extends from daybreak to the moment the sun has reached the middle of its course; but as soon as the luminous globe has passed the meridian, the use of food is strictly interdicted. a stomach, more or less loaded with nutritive substances taken in the evening, weighs down the body, enervates the energies of the soul, clouds the intellect, and renders a man rather unfit to devote himself to the high exercises of study, meditation, and contemplation, which ought to be the principal occupations of a fervent rahan. he is allowed to make two meals in the forenoon, but it is expected that he will eat no more than is required to support nature. he must always take his meals in company with the members of his community. to stifle the craving of gluttony and eradicate immoderate desires, he ought to repeat frequently within himself the following sentence: “i eat this rice, not to please my appetite, but to satisfy the wants of nature;” just as he says when he puts on the habit, “i dress myself, not for the sake of vanity, but to cover my nakedness.” rice and vegetables are, according to the statutes, the staple food of the phongyies; the use of fish and meat is tolerated, and now it has become a daily prevailing custom which has rendered the practice a lawful one. strictly speaking, a talapoin must remain satisfied with rice and various sorts of boiled vegetables which he has received in his patta during his morning perambulations through the streets of the place.

as it happened among the romans that the law repressing convivial sumptuousness and luxury proved an ineffectual barrier against gluttony and other passions, so[293] amidst the rahans the strict regulations prescribing a poor and unsavoury diet have been obliged to yield before the tendencies to satisfy the ever-increasing demands of appetite. most of the phongyies give to dogs, or to the boys who live in the monastery, the vulgar food they have begged in the streets, and feed on aliments of better quality supplied to them regularly by some persons in easy circumstances, who call themselves supporters of the kiaong and of its inmates. the ordinary fare consists of rice and several small dishes for seasoning the rice, in which are some little pieces of flesh, dressed according to the culinary abilities of the cooks of the country, which are not certainly of the highest order. to this are added some of the fruits of the season accompanied by sweetmeats, which female devotees are wont everywhere so carefully to prepare and so fondly to offer to those who are the objects of their pious admiration and respect. the aliments supplied to the humble recluses are of the best description for the country they live in. one would say that they live on the fat of the land. the most delicate rice and the finest fruits invariably find their way to the monasteries. but withal, the phongyies are not to be charged with the sin of intemperance or gluttony.

the quantity of food they may take is also an object of regulation, as well as the very mode of taking, and even of swallowing it. each mouthful must be of a moderate size; a second ought not to be carried to the mouth before the first has been completely disposed of by the masticatory process, and found its way down through the ?sophagus. the contrary would be considered gluttony, and an evident sign that the eater has something else in view besides appeasing the mere wants of nature. it is rather an amusing sight to gaze at the solemn indifference of a talapoin taking his meal. one would be tempted to believe that he is reluctantly submitting to the dire necessity of ministering to the wants of a nature too low and material. the rule forbids talapoins to eat human flesh,[294] or that of the monkey, snake, elephant, tiger, lion, and dog.[60] as a mitigation of the severity of the disciplinary regulation prohibiting the recluses from taking any food from twelve o’clock in the day until the next morning, the use of certain beverages is permitted during that time, such as cocoa-nut water, the juice of the sugar-cane, and other refreshing draughts.

the rule being silent regarding the consumption of the betel-leaf and other ingredients constituting the delicious mouthful for masticatory purposes, the talapoins avail themselves largely of the liberty left to them on this subject. the quantity of betel and other accompanying substances which they consume is truly enormous. these articles hold a pre-eminent place amongst the objects that are presented to the inmates of monasteries. the dark-red substance adhering to the teeth and occasionally accumulating at the corners of the mouth, the incessant motion of the lower jaw, the stream of reddish spittle issuing frequently from the lips of the talapoins, are unquestionable proofs of both their ardent fondness and copious consumption of that harmless narcotic. except[295] during the short moments allotted for taking meals, a rahan’s mouth is always full of betel, and the masticating or chewing process is incessantly going on.

a great modesty must distinguish a member of the family of the perfect from a layman; that virtue must shine forth in his countenance, demeanour, gait, and conversation. any sign on his face indicating the inward action of anger or any other passion is found unbecoming in a person whose composedness and serenity of soul ought never to be disturbed by any inordinate affection. he never speaks precipitately or loudly, lest it might be inferred that passion rather than reason influences him. worldly or amusing topics of conversation are strictly interdicted, either with his brethren or laymen. the rule requires him to walk through the streets with affected simplicity, avoiding hurry as well as slowness, keeping his eye fixed on the ground in front, looking not further than ten or fifteen cubits.

curiosity tends to expand the soul on surrounding objects; but a rahan’s principal aim being to attend diligently to himself, to prefer the care of self before all other cares, and to concern himself very little about all that takes place without, he assiduously labours to keep his soul free from vain inquiry, from eager desire of hearing news, and from an idle or unnecessary interference in things or matters strange to him. it seems that he has the wise saying always present to his mind, “where art thou when thou art not present to thyself? and when thou hast run over all things, what profit will it be to thee if thou hast neglected thyself?” during his perambulations he never salutes or notices the persons he meets on his way; he is indifferent to the attentions and marks of the highest veneration paid to him by the people; he never returns thanks for offerings made to him, nor does he repay with a single regard the kindness proffered to him. objects most calculated to awaken curiosity by their novelty and interest ought to find him cold, indifferent,[296] and unconcerned. his self-collection accompanies him everywhere, and disposes his soul to an uninterrupted meditation on some points of the law. it is a counsel of the wini to observe particularly the four cleannesses, viz., great modesty in the streets and public places, the confession of all failings, the avoiding of all occasions of sins, and the keeping oneself free from the seven kinds of sin. such a wise injunction can only be attended to and observed by keeping a vigilant watch over the senses, which are the very gates leading into the sanctuary of the soul. we could enter into fuller and more particular details regarding the regulations of the talapoinic order, but they would prove little interesting, and only corroborate what has been previously stated, that every action of a brother, even the most common, such as the manner of sitting, rising up, sleeping, eating, &c., has become the object of the legislative attention of the founder of the order. nothing seems to have escaped his clear foresight, and he has admirably succeeded in leaving no room for the exercise of individual liberty. the rule is as a great moral being whose absolute commands must be always obeyed. every individual is bound to lay aside his own self, and unconditionally follow the impulse of his guiding influence.