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According to the spirit of the Middle Way edible food should be had in just sufficient quantity to keep the body healthy, it is regarded as medicine to dispel the hunger of the body, not as a pleasure and a sport. Thus, the proper time for eating should be reviewed. In the Kitagiri Sutta, Lord Buddha has taught: "Once when the Buddha was touring in the region of Kasi together with a large Sangha of monks he addressed them saying: 'I, monks, do not eat a meal in the evening. Not eating a meal in the evening I, monks, am aware of good health and of being without illness and of buoyancy and strength and living in comfort. Come, do you too, monks, not eat a meal in the evening. Not eating a meal in the evening you too, monks, will be aware of good health and ... and living in comfort. "462 Thus, time for eating that is only in the period from dawn until noon became the tradition for Buddhist monastic. The wrong time of eating was after sun-turn. This is to say that a review of evidence will show that the daily meal of the bhikkhu would commence with a slight repast of fruit and cakes with milk or water as the beverage in the early morning, to be allowed by the principal meal of the day usually made up of rice which was had between eleven and twelve. This is evident from the regulation 463 that meal was not to be prolonged beyond the time when the sun cast a 464 ,9465 shadow, but must be had "before and up to noon. However, it is not 462 M. I, 472. 463 Radha Kumud Mookerji, Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 2003, p. 425. 464 Cullavagga , xii, 2-8, and Patimokkha , P. 40. 465 Mahavagga , vi, 40, 3.

242 without some resistance for the time of eating at first. In the Latukikopama Sutta, Venerable Udayin spoke thus to the Buddha: "We, revered sir, used to eat in the evening and in the morning and in the afternoon. Revered sir, the Lord at that time addressed the monks saying: 'Please do you, monks, give up eating at this wrong time during the afternoon.' I was depressed because of this, revered sir, I was sorry and thought 'The Lord speaks of our giving up that sumptuous food which faithful laypeople give us in the afternoon and of our rejecting it. 99,466 Therigatha we used to eat (just) in the morning and in the evening. It was at this time that the Lord addressed the monks saying: 'Please do you, monks, give up eating in the evening.' I was depressed because of this, revered sir, I was sorry and thought 'The Lord speaks of our giving up that which is reckoned as the more sumptuous of these two meals and of our rejecting it. But Venerable Udayin, who, by the way, was known for being fat, soon got over his disappointment and realized the benefits of restraint in eating. Moreover, he appreciated that as monks obtain their food mainly on almsround, going out for almsfood in the evening had certain disadvantages. The same sutta continues: 466 "Once, revered sir, when monks were walking for almsfood in the dense darkness of the night, they would walk into a pond at the village entrance, or they would stumble into the village cesspool, or they would blunder into a thorny hedge or stumble into a sleeping cow, and they would meet young men up to no good and wanton women. Once, revered sir, I walked for alms food in the dense darkness of the night and a certain woman saw me during a M. II, Sutta No. 66. 467 M. I, 448.

243 lightening flash as she was washing a bowl and, terrified at seeing me she uttered a scream of horror: 'How terrible for me, indeed there is a demon after me.' This said, I, revered sir, said to this woman: 'Sister, I am no demon, I am a monk standing for almsfood'. She said 'The monk's father must be dead, the monk's mother must be dead! It were better for you, monk, to have your stomach cut out with a sharp butchers knife than to walk for almsfood for the sake of your belly in the dense darkness of the night. 999468 According to Patimokkha, a monk or nun who eats food outside of the proper time, from dawn until noon, commits an offence called patittiya. To free themselves of the offence they have to approach a fellow monk or nun and tell them of their misdeed. This simple acknowledgement is all that is required for it serves to heighten one's sense of duty, and of responsibility, and so it is a strong incentive to be more punctilious in the future. Thus, these rules of Vinaya do not rely on punishment but rather urging greater mindfulness and restraint so that the same mistake will not be repeated. 469 Though solid foods are disallowed outside in the morning period, other substances were allowed in the afternoon or evening, especially where there is a need such as sickness. Strained fruit and vegetable juices are allowable in the afternoon, especially for thirsty monks and nuns. Therigatha the five traditional Indian 'medicines' of ghee, oil, butter/cheese, honey and sugar were allowed in the afternoon as a 'tonic,' to be used for such reasons as when a monk or nun had been working hard, when it was very cold, or when they had received insufficient alms food that morning." 470 468 Ibid. 469 Source: http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/ebsut 035.htm. 470 Ibid.

244 Whatever is allowable and what is not and when, a monk or nun always remembers the purpose of eating as said. For laymen, most of lifetime, they have pursued the taste of sensual pleasure, of fame, and of position; hence, it is difficult for them to have self-control and to keep the proper time of eating as discussed. Nevertheless, the teaching on the proper time always reminds them about the danger of the wrong time of eating so that they can train gradually.