Khenpo Sherab Zangpo:
Most poisons have antidotes, but the poison of misusing the funds of sangha has
no antidote. There are methods of purification for various misdeeds in
the Mahayana and Hinayana teachings, however, it is extremely hard to purify completely the negative karma related to the sangha’s property or funds.
At most, one can only reduce the length of time of suffering that has to be
endured.
My kind teacher His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche often counselled students to be very
cautious with regard to cause-and-effect, and to protect one’s vows and precepts
like protecting one’s own eyes. HH placed the most emphasis on not
slandering teachers and on not misusing the property/funds of the monastery.
When HH was still alive, he often said that he was doubtful whether he would take rebirth in Sukhavati. This was because in his childhood, his mother had to take care of the
kids single-handedly after his father passed away while he still was very young so the living conditions were poor, and HH often went to Loro
Monastery’s kitchen to make tea and the manager there often gave him food to
eat.
HH remarked that due to eating the sangha’s food, he may not be able to take
rebirth in Sukhavati but may even be reborn in the lower realms to exhaust the
karma. HH said that the few managers who gave him food may already be
in the lower realms and often requested everyone to recite the Hundred
Syllables mantra for them to purify their karma. Of course, HH has already attained
Buddhahood, but he is just showing us how important it is to be careful of such
details of karma. We must be even more vigilant!
The Bodhisattva Nagarjuna often prayed that he would not become the manager of
a monastery in his future lives. Gyaljung pandita from India’s Nalanda
monastery had deep knowledge of the Buddha-dharma but accidentally misused the
Sangha’s property and later fell into the lower realms to suffer.
One must be very careful about using the property of Sangha. When one has
used any item, Dharma instrument, or even the cloth used to wrap scriptures, one
must compensate the Sangha.
If you want to make gifts to others, you should give with your own
belongings. Do not make gifts with the monastery’s property. It may
be a well-intended gesture but you end up harming the recipient of your gifts
and creating the karma for yourself to fall into the lower realms.
Monastics who utilize the property of the sangha in monasteries must also pay
attention to this. Do not waste and do not appropriate anything solely
for your own use. Otherwise the karmic repercussion will be very
heavy. The property of sangha cannot be appropriated solely for one
person’s personal use. It is the common property of the entire sangha and if
anyone uses this common property solely for himself, the karmic repercussion will be the same whoever it may be. When the ordained Sangha is qualified to use the offerings, he or she can use it in a proper manner in accordance with the Dharma.
When it comes to the monastic Sangha, I am always very cautious. I will
not touch even one drop of water belonging to the Sangha. I have made a
vow to this effect.
When I was at Larung Monastic University of Five Sciences, even if I had to
take a meal with someone for the university’s official matters, I would
reimburse the manager. If I took meals at other monasteries, I would also
compensate them. Otherwise, I do not dare to eat a single scrap. To
partake of the offerings to the Triple Gems carelessly diminishes one’s store
of merits very greatly.
Once, the University had a meeting to decide what to do with the leftover tea
and noodles. If we threw it away or gave it away, we were afraid that the
recipient would have the karma to fall into the hell realms. If we gave
it to animals, the animals would also fall into the hell realms.
HH Jigme Phuntsok had us check the scriptures for any possible reference as to
what instructions Lord Buddha had given for similar situations, but we could not
find any. In the end, after discussion, we decided to sell the left-overs
at a discount and use the proceeds to make offerings to the Sangha. This
system of managing the leftovers has continued till now.
