Cow dung and garlic.
Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:27 pm
In my reading of the Vinaya I've discovered some interesting things about garlic and cow dung. I wrote an article about it, so please have a look:
http://huayanzang.blogspot.com/2012/07/ ... -dung.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is the key quote that sparked my interest:
The Sarvāstivādavinaya Saṃgraha states,
Actually this speaks of vast cultural differences that we always need to be aware of when reading any text.
http://huayanzang.blogspot.com/2012/07/ ... -dung.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This is the key quote that sparked my interest:
The Sarvāstivādavinaya Saṃgraha states,
So, if you eat garlic you need to go into solitary retreat for a week and then smear cow dung all over your room to get rid of any residual garlic odor.《根本薩婆多部律攝》卷8：「若服蒜為藥者。僧伽臥具大小便處。咸不應受用。不入眾中不禮尊像。不繞制底。有俗人來不為說法。設有請喚亦不應往。應住邊房服藥既了。更停七日待臭氣銷散。浴洗身衣並令清潔。其所居處牛糞淨塗。」(CBETA, T24, no. 1458, p. 571, a10-15)
“If treating [an illness] with garlic, neither the sangha bedding nor lavatory should be used. One does not enter in among the sangha. One does not prostrate to the Buddha or circumambulate caityas. If a laymember comes, one does not teach the Dharma. Even if requested one should not go. One should reside in a room on the periphery [of the monastery]. When the treatment of medicine is completed, one remains settled for a further seven days to wait for the odor to disperse. Washing the body and clothes making them pure, the place one stayed in is to be purified by smearing it with cow dung.”
Actually this speaks of vast cultural differences that we always need to be aware of when reading any text.