[INDOLOGY] Buddhism and removal of dirt

Mon Jul 10 20:59:02 UTC 2017

Dear Artur,

The three volumes of Abhisamācārikā Dharmāḥ translated by Karashima are 
actually available as free PDFs on
the Soka University website:

http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/en/publication/bppb.html

http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/content/pdf/bppb/Vol.%20XIII.1.%20Seishi%20Karashima,%20Die%20Abhisamacarika%20Dharmah%20Verhaltensregeln%20fuer%20buddhistische%20Moenche%20der%20Mahasamghika-Lokottaravadins.%20(2012)%20ISBN%20978-4-904234-05-1.pdf

http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/content/pdf/bppb/Vol.%20XIII.2.%20Seishi%20Karashima,%20Die%20Abhisamacarika%20Dharmah%20Verhaltensregeln%20fuer%20buddhistische%20Moenche%20der%20Mahasamghika-Lokottaravadins.%20(2012)%20ISBN%20978-4-904234-06-8.pdf

http://iriab.soka.ac.jp/content/pdf/bppb/Vol.%20XIII.3.%20Seishi%20Karashima,%20Die%20Abhisamacarika%20Dharmah%20Verhaltensregeln%20fuer%20buddhistische%20Moenche%20der%20Mahasamghika-Lokottaravadins.%20Grammatik,%20Glossar%20und%20Nachtraege.%20(2012)%20ISBN.pdf

The Heirman/Torck book also appears to have been made available as an 
open access
publication, see here:

http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=466590

As for the person tasked with removing the waste, I would be interested 
in knowing
the answer to that as well, but I do not have information on it. As I 
recall, the
vinaya sources I looked at simply said that the material "ought to be 
removed"
or something similar, but did not specify by whom. My understanding is 
that with
hygiene generally, it is often junior monks who help their superiors 
with things like
bathing. I would not be surprised if monastery servants also helped out with
tasks considered menial / defiling.

You might also wish to look at the travel record of the Chinese monk 
Yijing (I-Tsing),
whose work mentions a number of things about hygiene (see especially p. 91,
"On Evacuation").

There is a translation of that work by Takakusu Junjirō available on 
Internet Archive:
https://archive.org/details/recordofbuddhist00ichi

Best wishes,

Chris

On 7/10/17 2:31 PM, Artur Karp wrote:
> Dear Christopher,
>
> Am grateful for the access to your PhD dissertation. Unfortunately, I 
> am unable to consult these two other publications. Could I count on 
> your sending me pdfs of their appropriate fragments?
>
> As far as I know, in Myanmar the removal of the monks' fecalia is 
> traditionally considered to be the duty of a class of 'monastery 
> servants' - sort of conscripted, from the times immemorial, to serve 
> in this role.
>
> Is this situation the norm also in Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka?
>
> Best,
>
> Artur Karp
> Polska
>
> 2017-07-10 15:28 GMT+02:00 Christopher Handy via INDOLOGY 
> <indology at list.indology.info <mailto:indology at list.indology.info>>:
>
>     Dear Dr. Karp,
>
>     There is some information on removing human urine and excrement
>     from monastery floors in
>     volume 1, pp. 150 and 168 of
>
>     Karashima, Seishi, trans. 2012. Die Abhisamācārikā Dharmāḥ:
>     Verhaltensregen für
>     buddhistische Mönche der Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravādins. 3 vols.
>     Tokyo: The
>     International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology.
>
>     One thing I found very interesting there is that human excrement
>     is perceived as
>     defiling, but cow excrement is perceived as purifying (it is
>     actually recommended
>     for cleaning the floor).
>
>     This book may also be useful to you:
>
>     Heirman, Ann and Mathieu Torck. 2012. A Pure Mind in a Clean Body:
>     Bodily Care in
>     the Buddhist Monasteries of Ancient India and China. Gent:
>     Academia Press.
>
>     I also have a chapter in my dissertation (chapter 4) on Buddhist
>     lavatory protocol:
>
>     Handy, Christopher Aaron. 2016. “"Indian Buddhist Etiquette and
>     the Emergence of Ascetic Civility.” Ph.D.
>     Diss. McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
>     https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/20471
>     <https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/20471>
>
>     Best wishes,
>
>     Chris Handy
>
>
>     On 7/10/17 6:49 AM, Artur Karp via INDOLOGY wrote:
>>     >  monograph
>>
>>     *paper or monograph*
>>
>>     2017-07-10 9:25 GMT+02:00 Artur Karp <karp at uw.edu.pl
>>     <mailto:karp at uw.edu.pl>>:
>>
>>         Dear List,
>>
>>         is there any monograph devoted to the techniques of cleansing
>>         monasteries and - especially - of the removal of fecal matter?
>>
>>         Respectfully,
>>
>>         Artur Karp (ret.)
>>         Chair of South Asian Studies
>>         University of Warsaw
>>         Polska
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>     -- 
>     Christopher Handy
>     PhD in Religious Studies (McMaster, 2016)
>
>
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>
>

-- 
Christopher Handy
PhD in Religious Studies (McMaster, 2016)

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