Talk on Kathina Robe-Offering Ceremony by the late Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa You are going to offer Kathina robes to the Sangha in a moment. As you probably know, this is an annual ceremony whereby individuals and groups offer Kathina robes to the Sangha. I hope you remember what’s so special about Kathina robes. First of all, Kathina robes can be offered to the Sangha in a monastery only once in a year. That means you cannot offer Kathina robes to the Sangha at a monastery twice in the same year. Secondly, the Kathina robes can be offered only during a specified period which starts from the end of Vassa to the next full moon day. In other words, Kathina robes can offered between the day following the full moon of October (Thadinkyut) to the full moon day of November (Tazaungmon). Even during this one month, you can offer Kathina robes to a monastery only once. So offering Kathina robes to the Sangha is indeed a rare opportunity that only comes once in a year. Thirdly, Kathina robes are to be offered to the Sangha and not to an individual. So you should know the meaning of the word “Sangha”. You all know that Sangha means the community of bhikkhus or monks. But you should be aware that Sangha according to Vinaya is different from Sangha according to Sutta and Abhidhamma. Vinaya means the Buddhist dispensation for monks or the rules laid down by the Buddha for monks to follow. In Vinaya, Sangha means a group of four monks. In Vinaya, if there is only one monk, it is referred to as an individual monk. If there are two or three monks, they are called “Group”, but not Sangha. If there are four or more monks, perhaps hundreds or thousands, they are called ‘Sangha”. So when you offer the Kathina robes to the Sangha, you are offering not just an individual or a group, but to the vast collection of monks all over the world. That’s why offering Kathina robes is special. When we say Sangham saranam gacchami - I go to Sangha for my refuge or I take Sangha as my refuge, we mean all disciples of the Buddha that had attained enlightenment. But when we say I offer this robe to the Sangha., we mean all the Sangha in the world including both those who gained enlightenment and also those who are not yet enlightened. Today, when you offer the Kathina robes, you will offer them to the Sangha; that means all monks, all noble disciples of the Buddha, not only the Enlightened Ones, but also the yet unenlightened monks. In Theravada Buddhism, the word “Sangha” means ‘the Community of Monks’ only. ----------------------------------- Devotees recite, “Imam civaram kathinatthaya sanghassa dema”. In order to perform the Kathina ceremony according to the Vinaya rules, “We offer the robes for the Kathina ceremony to the Sangha” which refers to the monks who have just completed their Vassa in their vihara. On Saturday 20 November 2010, six of us represented Mahindarama & MBMC Yogis, Penang as Kathina Main Sponsors to offer robes to the Sangha at Panditarama Hse Mine Gon Forest Meditaton Centre, Bago, Myanmar. The next following day on Sunday 21 November 2010, six of us went to Panditarama Shwe Taung Gon Sasana Yeiktha, Yangon to offer Kathina robes to the Sangha, represented by our Grand Kammatthanacariya, Ovadacariya Sayadawgyi U Panditabhivamsa. Mahindarama & MBMC Yogis were the Kathina Main Sponsors for both meditation centres in 2010. For both years 2012 and 2013, the Kathina main sponsorship for Panditarama Shwe Taung Gon Sasana Yeiktha was taken up by our new yogi, Ang Kee Hock or better known as Uncle Sadhu and his two Dhamma friends. This year, one of our yogis, Ong Siak Bee, his family members and relatives are the Kathina Main Sponsors for this Panditarama town centre in Yangon. On Sunday 2 November 2014, 7 of them will have this rare privilege to offer Kathina robes first to the Sangha, followed by other devotees. In conjuction with this Robe-Offering Ceremony, they also sponsored 1,000 booklets in Burmese which will be used by the bhikkhus and samaneras. Idam me puññam nibbanassa paccayo hotu May these merits of mine be a good cause for the attainment of Nibbana. Imam no puñña bhagam sabbasattanam dema We share our merits with all beings. Sabbe satta sukhita hontu May all beings be well and happy. Sadhu ! Sadhu! Sadhu!
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 22:37:59 +0000
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