Journeyman's Kuti

[Bhikkhu Ananda]

There has started to be some discussion about building a Kuti for Yours Truly to reside in.

I have recently been on a pilgrimage journey adventure in India in which I referred to Bricks as a building material that may be more flood resistant that some other types of building materials along with cement blocks, cement slabbing horizontal and vertical, and stone.

My father was a bricklayer. With the apprentice system a boy could be an apprentice bricklayer and go on to become a journeyman.

And so I thought it appropo to include amongst discussion for the name of the Kuti: Journeyman's Kuti.

[Bhikkhu Ananda]

There are a couple of places I have been invited to have a Kuti constructe.

I am looking at getting some cement for the floor slab, bricks, and mortar.

Here is a quote from an English translation of the Patimokkha about the size of the Kuti when the materials are aquired through such means.

. When a bhikkhu is building a hut from (gains acquired by) his own begging -- having no sponsor, destined for himself -- he is to build it to the standard measurement. Here the standard is this: twelve spans, using the sugata span, in length (measuring outside); seven in width, (measuring) inside. Bhikkhus are to be assembled to designate the site. The site the bhikkhus designate should be without disturbances and with adequate space. If the bhikkhu should build a hut from his own begging on a site with disturbances and without adequate space, or if he should not assemble the bhikkhus to designate the site, or if he should exceed the standard, it entails initial and subsequent meetings of the Community.

[color=#804000]And here is a quote from another section of the Patimokkha which I include to clarify the size of the sugata span.

[quote]92. Should any bhikkhu have a robe made the measurement of the sugata robe or larger, it is to be cut down and confessed. Here, the measurement of the Sugata's sugata robe is this: nine spans — using the sugata span — in length, six spans in width. This is the measurement of the Sugata's sugata robe.

Object. The term sugata — meaning well-gone or accomplished — is an epithet for the Buddha.

Robe is not defined in the Vibhaṅga here but apparently means any of the three basic robes: the lower robe, the upper robe, and the outer robe. This raises an interesting point: Perhaps in the Buddha's time all three of the basic robes were approximately the same size. This would have made it much more convenient than it is at present to hold to the practice of using only one set of three robes. When washing one robe, one could wear the other two without looking out of line.

At any rate, taking the sugata span to be 25 cm. would put the size of the Buddha's robes at 2.25 m. by 1.50 m. — much larger than the lower robes used at present, but much smaller than present-day upper and outer robes.

As we will see under Appendix II, various theories have been offered over the centuries as to the length of the sugata span. Beginning at least with the time of the Mahā Aṭṭhakathā, one of the ancient commentaries, the Buddha was assumed to be of three-times normal height, and so his handspan, cubit, etc., were assumed to be three-times normal length. Only recently, within the last century or so, have Vinaya experts taken evidence from the Canon to show that the Buddha, though tall, was not abnormally so, and thus the estimate of the sugata span, etc., has shrunk accordingly. Still, the traditional estimates of the Buddha's height continue to influence the size of the robes that bhikkhus wear today throughout the Theravādin countries. There was a movement in Thailand during the mid-19th century to return to the original size and style as shown in the earliest Indian Buddha images, but the idea never caught on.