by Aemilius » Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:25 pm
I'm not an expert on Vinaya. There are different classes of precepts, not working or begging one's livelihood is not among the major precepts breaking which one would lose one's ordination. There are lots of precepts that are almost never followed in practice, for example monks should not shave their beard at other times than when they shave their hair off. Have you seen a monk who practices this? Neither is shaving one's hair off among the major precepts, it is just a well established conventional signal, ... How many monks or nuns have you seen begging in the streets of Europe or America, for that matter? Why not work then ?
svaha