Oldal 174 [174]
TSYMZHIT P. VANCHIKOVA
given to the other temples (datsans) of the monastery, according to their khurals, and
to the monks in accordance with their ranks and academic degrees.
f. 131 — colophon “[It was compiled] on auspicious day of the full moon" (del¬
geregsen sara-yin degedti sayin edtire).
This lengthy document is one of the most detailed codes known to us. The rules
regulate all aspects of daily life of the monastery and its religious, as well as eco¬
nomic affairs. The information provided here is the result of only a preliminary
research. Matters such as dating of the document, its history, the way it functioned
at the monastery, etc. will be considered by us at a later stage.
Closing Thoughts
Study of the monastic documents found at the COMX allows us to differentiate
between the two types of the statutes: lengthy extensive documents such as the
charter of the Gandan Monastery of 1840, and brief documents that consider only
religious practices. The latter may be either of didactical nature or regulate rituals
and liturgies conducted at the monastery.
Titles of these documents and terms they use may vary as jayay (Tib. bca’ yig,
‘rules, regulation for monastic guidance, statute’), gural nom-un unsily-a deglem
(Tib. sgrig lam ‘order, schedule for convening religious ceremony’), diirim (‘rules
of discipline’), Cayaja gauli (‘law, statute’), but all of them are rules for regulating
activities of monasteries and their educational faculties. They set goals and tasks for
the monastery as whole and individual monks, the rights and duties of officials and
the monastic community.
These works contain valuable information to understand the uniqueness and
peculiarities of life in Mongolian monasteries: the administration system, internal
hierarchy and order, rules for conducting khurals, sermons and celebrating religious
festivals, as well as financial affairs of datsans and monasteries. Some of them also
provide description of various duties of monks and novices, restrictions regard¬
ing their behavior and rules of their conduct, procedures for taking vows, types of
monastic clothing and decorations and instructions for distributing among lamas
money and materials received by the monastic treasury, and so on. Some charters
are divided into two parts: liturgical and disciplinary, containing didactic instructions
for monks and listing punishments for violating monastic discipline. The contents of
the charters often reflect to the current political climate. Studying these documents
might be useful for modern monasteries and the Buddhist Church in general in their
attempt to restore traditions lost in the years of repression and militant atheism. They
might rely on this material to create new unified requirements and rules for over 200
monasteries functioning now in Mongolia.
The analysis of the charters shows that in general these documents have preserved
the traditions of the canonical Vinaya, aimed at training and preparing Buddhist
monks for the path of perfection and living up to the Buddhist ideals. These docu¬
ments also include the schedule and description of procedures for conducting services
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