The Welfare of the Order

There was an occasion when the Buddha instructed Ananda to assemble the monks from the Rajagaha area in the hall on Vulture Peak. When the monks were gathered, the Buddha taught them seven rules for the welfare of the Order.

The monks should meet for democratic mutual exchanges of ideas.

The monks should manage the Order correctly, in cooperation and concord.

The monks should abide by correct established precepts and rules.

The monks should respect and listen to the words of the elders of the Order.

The monks should not indulge in the kinds of sensual pleasures that keeps human beings bound to the cycle of birth and death.

The monks should prefer a life of solitude in remote places.

The monks should be the kind of people whom men and women of religion are happy to meet and they should provide men and women of religion with pleasant places to live.