Purpose
These rules were instituted, whether by the Buddha himself or other members of the early sangha, to fulfill certain requirements put on them by society. Monks and nuns had to be sufficiently separated to give no accusation of impropriety between them, but not so separate that the nuns became an autonomous group of women without at least formal subordination to some male authority; this was unacceptable to society at large, and would have rendered the sangha socially unacceptable. Social acceptability was vital for the sangha, as it could not survive without material support from lay society.
Read more about this topic: The Eight Garudhammas
Famous quotes containing the word purpose:
“Let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
Stir up their servants to an act of rage
And after seem to chide ‘em. This shall make
Our purpose necessary, and not envious;
Which so appearing to the common eyes,
We shall be called purgers, not murderers.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul? It is merely garish and glaring.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“No further evidence is needed to show that “mental illness” is not the name of a biological condition whose nature awaits to be elucidated, but is the name of a concept whose purpose is to obscure the obvious.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)