Oldal 169 [169]
RELIGIOUS CODES OF MONGOLIAN BUDDHIST
MONASTERIES
Tsymzhit P. Vanchikova
Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Institute for Mongolian,
Buddhist and Tibetan Studies, Ulan-Ude
Religious Codes in General
To gain a better understanding of the relationship between Buddhist institutions and
the state, monastics and laity, how rules and regulations for monasteries were set up
and the role of monasteries played in the Mongolian society throughout its history, it
is important to know the inner operation of the monasteries and the general attitude
of monks towards laity. Studying the monastic way of life and the administrative
system of monasteries provides valuable information for examining the role of
Buddhist Church and its impact on the Mongolian society in general. The activities
of social institutions in Buddhism, like Buddhist monastic community, or Sangha,
are regulated by Vinaya, the Buddhist disciplinary code. Although the canonical
texts of Vinaya (Pratimoksa, Vinaya sitra, etc.) remain unchanged for centuries,
monastic disciplinary codes of Buddhist monasteries underwent corrections under
the influences of historical, cultural and political changes.
As we know the first rules for monks and for the Sangha date back to the times of
the first Buddhist communities in India. They regulated the internal life in monaste¬
ries, defined monastic life in general, and introduced basic rules for the performance
of religious services. They were codified in the Vinaya pitaka, one of the three parts
of the Tripitaka. Apart from rules, Vinaya texts include ritual practices aimed at
cultivating certain moral virtues for the shaping of monks and nuns through the
institution of moral and formal restraints leading them to spiritual perfection. Vinaya
embodies the means by which an individual monk may achieve the soteriological
goal of Buddhism and it determines the manner in which the community of monks
may sustain its unity.
In the course oftime, monasteries started to create their own internal rules (statutes)
that underwent changes as the communities evolved. These codes outlined general
rules for regulating activities of a particular monastery and its Sangha and varied
from monastery to monastery, from country to country. These charters often reflect
political climate as they changed with the demands of time and specific location.
The development of Mongolian monastic system and monastic communities, the
system of providing education and maintaining internal discipline are among the
least researched topics in the history of Mongolian Buddhism. We know that the
life in Mongolian monasteries was regulated by monastic rules (dürem) and statutes
(jayay, Tib. bca’yig), but we do not know whether there were any regulations unique
to Mongolia, and if so, what these regulations were. Initially Mongolian monasteries
167