The first video covers such topics as shaving, ordination, recitation of the Prātimokṣa, and toileting, which are all done strictly according to the precepts that have been laid down, and that are assiduously followed by this Sangha.
The second video looks at the 18 requisites that the monks carry with them whenever they go on walkabout (cārika). These are such things as the three robes, the bowl, sitting mat and pewter staff, as well as Sūtra and Vinaya texts, images and incense for offerings.
The third video looks at the dhutanga practices for dwellings, and what is a suitable place to dwell while wandering. These include the root of a tree, in a graveyard, in a wilderness and in the open air. It also looks at sleeping practices.
In the Mahāyāna tradition in China, there are still many monks very strictly abiding to the Vinaya tradition, who engage in all the ascetic practices (dhutanga), and live a very austere life.
This is the sixth, seventh and eighth in a series of films about the Vinaya-trained monks from the Miao Xiang Sangha, based in Liaoning in north-eastern China (bordering North Korea), who are living such a life, and records their various practices.
These rules differ somewhat from those in the better-known Theravāda traditions, but the monks abiding to these rules are equally bound to living a strict and austere life and are equally sincere in their practices.
It is also to be noted that along with reflections on the meaning of the dhutanga practices themselves, there are also reflections on Dharma and why we practice and what goals we are trying to achieve.
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