View source for Pindapata

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[[File:027 Cave 16, Buddha on Almsround (33914608490).jpg|thumb|Mural depicting the [[Buddha]] on almsround, from the [[Ajanta Caves]]]]
'''''{{transliteration|pi|Piṇḍapāta}}''''' or '''''{{transliteration|pi|piṇḍacāra}}''''' is a [[Pali]] term used to refer to the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] [[Sangha|monastic]] practice of almsround to the laity to receive almsfood and other necessities.<ref name="PārileyyaSG" /><ref name="Nāḷandā2012Aug" />

In [[Japanese Buddhism]], this practice is also known as {{nihongo||托鉢|'''takuhatsu'''}}.<ref name="OxfordRef" />
==Theravāda==
In [[Theravāda Buddhism]], the practice is referred to by the [[Pāli]] term ''piṇḍacāra'' ({{script|Brah|𑀧𑀺𑀡𑁆𑀟𑀘𑀸𑀭}}).<ref name="Nāḷandā2012Apr">{{cite web|title=Generosity Begins with Me!|url=https://www.nalanda.org.my/wesak-series-generosity-begins-with-me/|website=Nāḷandā Buddhist Society|date=2012-04-28}}</ref> [[Bhikkhu|Monks]] or [[Bhikkhunī|nuns]] on ''piṇḍacāra'' go around town on foot with their [[Ōryōki|almsbowl]] under their outer [[Kasaya (clothing)|robe]] and make themselves available to the [[Upāsaka|laity]] to receive almsfood ({{langx|pi|𑀧𑀺𑀡𑁆𑀟𑀧𑀸𑀢|label=none}}, ''piṇḍapāta'').<ref name=PārileyyaSG>{{cite web|url=https://palelaibuddhisttemple.org/pindapata-in-detail|title=Piṇḍapāta in Detail|website=[[Palelai Buddhist Temple|Pālēlāi Buddhist Temple]]}}</ref><ref name=Nāḷandā2012Aug>{{cite web|title=Piṇḍacāra: Going on Almsround|url=https://www.nalanda.org.my/pindacara-going-on-alms-round/|website=Nāḷandā Buddhist Society|date=2012-08-29}}</ref>

Owing, however, to the [[precarity]] inherent in almost all aspects of Theravāda monastic life,<ref name=Gavesaka2003>{{cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/site/gavesako/my-texts/the-value-of-pindapata|title=The Value of Piṇḍapāta|date=2003|author=Gavesako}}</ref> there is no [[Food security|guarantee]] of collecting enough food for the day, if any at all. This precarity is particularly observable outside the [[Indian cultural sphere|Indosphere]],<ref name=Mills1964>{{cite book|last=Mills|location=[[Kandy]], CP|year=1964|url=https://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh073_Khantipalo_Blessings-of-Pindapata.html|title=The Blessings of Piṇḍapāta|publisher=[[Buddhist Publication Society]]|first=Lawrence}}</ref><ref name=Dinsmore2019>{{cite book|title=Through the Looking Glass: An American Buddhist Life|date=2019|last=Dinsmore|first=John David}}</ref> or even within it in times of [[Social crisis|societal]] or [[Societal collapse|systemic]] crisis.
<gallery>
File:Pindapatta.jpg|Pindapata around Bodhigiri Vihāra, [[Balerejo, Wlingi, Blitar]], East Java, Indonesia
File:Ajaan_Geoff_Almsround.jpg|[[Ṭhānissaro]], an American monk, practicing ''piṇḍacāra'' by receiving ''piṇḍapāta'' in [[Portland, Oregon]], United States
File:Empty_Cloud_Alms.jpg|Monks and nuns of Empty Cloud Monastery on ''piṇḍapāta'' in [[West Orange, New Jersey]], United States
File:Dhammagiri_Forest_Hermitage_www.dhammagiri.org.au_315.jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' at Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, [[Brisbane]], Australia
File:Dhammagiri_Forest_Hermitage_www.dhammagiri.org.au_310.jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' at Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, [[Brisbane]], Australia
File:Pindapata_in_Myanmar.jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' in [[Myanmar]]
File:Luang_Prabang_Takuhatsu_ルアンパバーン_托鉢_DSCF7017.JPG|''Piṇḍapāta'' in [[Luang Prabang]], Laos
File:Buddhist_alms_in_Si_Phan_Don.jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' in [[Si Phan Don]], Laos
File:Pindacara.jpg|Two monks performing ''piṇḍapāta'' on Street 172, [[Phnom Penh]], Cambodia
File:Ladakh_(14686912823).jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' in [[Ladakh]], India
File:Alms_giving_to_several_thousand_monks,_next_to_Central_World_in_Bangkok_on_the_morning_of_Sunday_18th_March_2012.png|''Piṇḍapāta'' next to [[CentralWorld]], Bangkok, Thailand
File:Monks_and_sunset_-_Flickr_-_Nagyman.jpg|''Piṇḍapāta'' on a small island in [[Thailand]]
</gallery>

==Mahāyāna==
In the practice of ''takuhatsu'', monks travel to various businesses and residences to chant [[sutra]]s in Sino-Japanese (thus generating merit) in exchange for donations of food and money.

Monks generally wear traditional ''takuhatsu'' clothes reminiscent of medieval Japanese garb and wear the names of their monasteries on their satchels to confirm their identities. This system is used by [[Zen]] monks in training to beg for their food, and is generally done in groups of ten to fifteen. The group walks through a street in single-file, chanting {{Nihongo||法|Hō|[[dharma]]}}, and the faithful gather to fill their alms bowls. This is the monks' offering of the Dharma and their lives of guardians of the Dharma to the people. According to Zen tradition, the givers should be grateful.<ref>Reps & Senzaki, p.&nbsp;48</ref><gallery>
File:Pindapata_Takuhatsu_-_near_Ueno_Station_-_2013_11_8.webm|A Japanese monk practicing ''takuhatsu'' on a [[Tokyo]] street, 2013
File:Ueno_monk.jpg|''Takuhatsu'' practice in Tsutsujigaoka, [[Chōfu|Chofu]], Tokyo
File:Zuiouzi09.jpg|The practice of ''takuhatsu'' at [[Zuiō-ji|Zuioji]] Temple
File:Kiyomizu-dera_National_Treasure_World_heritage_Kyoto_国宝・世界遺産_清水寺_京都249.JPG|''Takuhatsu'' practice in [[Kyoto]], Japan
File:50番繁多寺前で托鉢する遍路P1010122.jpg|''Takuhatsu'' practice at Hantaji Temple, [[Matsuyama]]
File:Monks_doing_Pindapatta_before_Vessak_Day_2010_in_Magelang.jpg|A [[Mahayana|Mahāyāna]] monk performs alms-gathering before the 2010 [[Vesak]] holiday in [[Magelang]] City, Central Java, Indonesia
File:Monks_doing_Pindapatta_before_Vessak_Day_2010_in_Magelang,_Central_Java,_Indonesia.jpg|Mahāyāna monks performing alms round before the 2010 [[Vesak]] holiday in [[Magelang]] City, Central Java, Indonesia
File:Sunnataram_Forest_Monastery_5.jpg|Mahāyāna nuns on alms round at [[Sunnataram Forest Monastery]] in [[Bundanoon, New South Wales]], Australia
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist|refs=<ref name=OxfordRef>{{cite book |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198605607.001.0001/acref-9780198605607-e-1788 |title=A Dictionary of Buddhism |chapter=Takuhatsu |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198605607 |date=2004}}</ref>}}

==See also==
*[[Mendicant]]

{{Buddhism topics}}

[[Category:Buddhist monasticism]]
[[Category:Alms in Buddhism]]


{{Buddhist-ethics-stub}}