LIFE OF THE BHIKKU

Practices differ in each country, but in general the life of the bhikku follows that of the Buddha and his followers.  While the Buddha advised a middle way for the public at large, his bhikkus he instructed to be celibates, for example. 

The bhikku was to attempt to eliminate all hinderances to perfection, since he had acquired his present body through his own cravings, represented by karma, which led, in the first place, to his rebirth in the world.  To break this cycle he must,  in his monastic life, strive to purify himself of all earthly attachments. 

He was to wear simple clothing, yellow or saffron robes, and was limited to three of these, one outer, two under. He might even dress in cast-off clothing, or remnants of burial shrouds.  His food was to come only from house-to-house begging, at all houses on his path that is, not simply at the most opulent ones, taking whatever food was offered to him.  He was to live and sleep anywhere without discrimination, as the brotherhood dictated.

In general, bhikkus were to reside either in a vihara, translated as abode, with other bhikkus, or in a secluded place such as a forest, cave, or even at a charnel or cremation ground.  For most, life on the road was to be the standard, each bhikku wandering roughly eight or nine months out of the year, until the monsoon season, at which point he was to return to the vihara.