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Goal and Content of WikiVinaya

The goal of WikiVinaya is to facilitate the creation of a free and editable online Vinaya resource, covering all the rules (and related conventions) relevant for bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns), and the male and female lay buddhists who come into (regular) contact with buddhist monks and nuns. It is hoped that this will help both contributors and readers to improve in knowledge about Vinaya.

Any kind of information concerning the Vinaya (or monastic discipline) of the (Theravadin) Buddhist Monastic Order has a place here. Please also have a look at the more specific subjects that WikiVinaya covers.

Adding to the WikiVinaya

Since WikiVinaya is a wiki, the writing of all pages of the WikiVinaya is principally a community-effort, and the contents of these pages can be altered. Also this page, and any of the other pages. So feel free to change and add things. However, you need to create an account on WikiVinaya in order to be able to edit pages and make new pages.

More information for newcomers to wikis can be found at the welcomepage for newcomers at wikipedia (P.S. Wikipedia is not the same as WikiVinaya, but it uses the same software as WikiVinaya, is the biggest and most famous wiki and has a good help-section).

About origins of rules

Nowadays many different rules exist in the different Buddhist monasteries and the various Buddhist monastic lineages. One may hear different interpretations of the same rule, which can be quite confusing for the newcomer to Buddhism, and see some rules being emphasized in some monasteries, and unheard of at other monasteries.

WikiVinaya tries to clear things up by trying to always make a distinction concerning the origin of a certain rule:

1. Is the rule Buddha-Vinaya (contained in the oldest scriptures (the Vinaya Pitaka), and very likely to have been proclaimed by Buddha himself?
2. Is it one of a number of variant interpretations of a passage or rule in the Vinaya Pitaka, which subsequently lead to different practices of the very same rule.
3. Is it a commentarial comment on the Vinaya, written down (many) centuries after the passing away of the Buddha?
4. Or is it a current practice, of which it maybe cannot be said that it has a basis in any rule contained in the old scripture of the Tipitaka and her (ancient) commentaries?