The Chapter on the Restoration Rite

The Chapter on the Restoration Rite (Skt. Poṣadhavastu; Tib. གསོ་སྦྱོང་གི་གཞི།, Wyl. gso sbyong gi gzhi) is the second of The Chapters on Monastic Discipline’s seventeen chapters. In it, the Buddha describes a seated yoga, formal protocols, and a rite of restoration that can be observed on the upavasatha (or poṣadha) holiday. After explaining how monks should practice seated yoga, the Buddha consents first to the building of small clusters of meditation residences and later to gradually larger settlements that come to include multi-storied meditation halls with scented shrine rooms and rooftop verandas. This chapter also explains how all monks at a monastery must gather fortnightly in the hall or in a place that has been specially demarcated for such purposes within the monastery site’s larger boundary. There, they observe the poṣadha or “restoration rite” by listening to the Pratimoksha Sutra recitation and making the appropriate amends for their offenses.

The present chapter together with The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions and The Chapter on the Rains present the “Three Rites” that are considered central to monastic common living: the Rite of Restoration, the Rite of Lifting Restrictions, and the Rite of Pledging to Settle for the Rains. The regular observance of the “Three Rites” at an officially demarcated monastic site is considered a crucial component in ensuring the integrity of the monastics living there and nearby.

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The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the Chapters on Monastic Discipline section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 1-2

• English translation: The Chapter on the Restoration Rite