Find out the origin and meaning of the shirt: The magic color of Ca tomatoes.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.

Unlike the costumes of other religions, Ca sa is not merely a costume covering the body but has long become a symbol of peace of Buddhism. Ca Mau represents the virtue, modesty as well as the humility of austerities.

The origin of the robes

Ca sa, whose Sanskrit transliteration is  Kasaya , its full name is Ca descendants. Accordingly, Ca sa does not mean clothes or clothes, but a concept of faded, monotonous, only old and damaged objects. So it is quite possible to guess that  Kasaya  meant very simple clothes, not colorful, just to cover herself, not to show off. Partly that makes people see the simple, humble connotation of Ca and those who put on their robes.

The reason is called the shirt, because Ca is actually not a kind of clothes or clothes as usual. It is the patchwork of connection, of many pieces of fabric together. We can say about the story of the birth of the Ca sa shirt as follows:

Initially, the Buddha's sangha had clothes that were no different from other traditional religions, so Buddha's disciples generally did not have a distinct identity. Seeing this, the king of the kingdom of  Ma Kiet Dai  (Magadha), Mr.  Qin-Ba-Sa-La  (Bimfbisala) was also one of the disciples of the Buddha who proposed to dress differently from other religions and others (even ordinary people) to make it easier to recognize. Buddha saw the fields were dyed straight rectangular, the Buddha told  Ananda to  follow the pattern of the field and make clothes for the sangha. So the robes of the robes in the shape of rectangular fields have been formed. Also so that in Chinese, Ca sa is understood as  radical y sand, filled y, that is a field-shaped shirt.

Or there is another story about the birth of the Ca sa dress as follows. Once upon a time, monks and ascetics followed the practice of giving. They dress very miserably to show respect, enlightenment and humility. The monks had to pick up the rags, the cloth, then bring it in and dye it, then patch it up to make a big cloth. And currently, some monasteries in  Sri Lanka  or  Myanmar  still retain that tradition. Show the meaning of the shirt Sa nothing more than simplicity, simplicity.

Depending on the differences in culture, weather conditions, customs, and schools of Buddhism, there is a variety of colors of the Ca Mau, such as Indian monks   wearing a deep orange-yellow color.  China  has yellow on the shirt with dazzling red squares,  Japanese  sauces are white,  Korea  has tea green, light blue, dark brown, dark yellow for  Vietnamese people . ...

The use of Ca sa

Although simple, simple, but deep in costume Ca still has many quintessential contents to discuss, can be color, use, ... even Ca Sa also shows the level, level of awareness enlightenment to those who put on them. Obviously, it is impossible to equate the wise meditation masters with the newly ordained.

Outer robes in Buddhism are used outside as body cover also used as blankets (tools) and tools to sit (coordinates tools). As in the Bat Nha Sutta,   there is a story about the Buddha and his disciples after their alms round, after finishing his meal, he cleaned and arranged the Ca-sa sitting position to sit on it to preach.

Tomatoes are sewn in rectangle, including 3 main types of tomatoes: small, medium and large. Ca sa medical is also known as  An-da-cong , used to wear inside, he only has 5 pieces so he is also known as the five things, the whole plate consists of ten pieces. Together is one thing. Chinese medicine  U- da -la-rise  is he wears on An-da-cong y  ,  consisting of 7 pieces so it is also known as the ataxia, the whole y consists of 21 pieces, but 2 pieces long and a short piece is assembled into one. one thing. University Medical  Sangha Chile  y outer covering, including 9-piece eternal thing called y, y consists of 27 panels and each row 2 pieces 1 piece short term do a thing.

Currently, depending on the school of Buddhism, natural conditions or customs, each place, each country has a variety of sauces with different colors and accordingly there is an improvement in the way of sewing and wearing. But the original, there are still three main colors Ca sa called French three-color identity: black (mud color, brown), near blue, near red.

The Ca Mau is a symbol of Buddhism , representing the miracle and enlightenment of Buddhism. Ca Mau also has many different uses and names:

- About the name: Ca sa, subdue clothes (robes of austerities leave the secular), forensic medicine, medical union, compassionate dress, medical minister, ...

- Diverse ways of using: mentioned in the sutta " Mind of mindfulness " raised the 10 benefits of the Ca sa y: it covers the body from shame; away from mosquitoes, hot and cold; denote the generals of the sa subjects; birth of heavenly Brahma; the method of eradicating the crime; plain color clothing helps the mind not produce desire; permanently eradicate defilements; eliminate sin, arise goodness; bodhicitta. Or in the sutra " Bi hoa"There is talk about the 5 virtues of Ca Mau: that all four criminals who commit serious wrongs and know the sincere repentance of respect for Ca sa are immediately accepted to sign the three vehicles; natural dragon, human, god, demon know respect Ca Ca also be privileged three vehicles; devils and humanity if there is a piece of Ca Mau will be full; sentient beings doing evil that respect Ca sa will initiate compassion; In the middle of the battle, a piece of tomato will be purified, generating compassion and compassion for the war.

It can be said that Ca sa is more than just a costume. Ca Mau carries on a long way of Buddhist history, contributing to fostering the image of compassionate Buddhism, directing people to good deeds. The monks wearing robes received the respect of sentient beings, the symbol of virtue, the secular rupture, all for the benefit of the ...

The meaning of the robes

In addition to the above symbolic meanings, Ca sa also has many other meanings.

From the perspective of material significance

The robes are made up of different pieces of cloth, this is to make the most of the material to form the body, making the seemingly useless things become useful. Regarding the "great-grandchildren" point of view, as we often believe in Vietnamese folklore, this action has a lot of meaning to show frugality and humility.

Even in modern society, too, life has advanced, economic development. Practitioners or Zen masters no longer need to be so miserable because often there are Buddhists who are willing to make donations and offerings. However, from the simple point of view of thousands of years ago, the monks and nuns received an easy offering that it did not matter if the item was sufficient, usable or needed in any way. More precisely, it is the discretion of Buddhists and worshipers to make offerings to which all items are used.

A monk wears primarily to cover his body and not see it as an object to elaborate or show his level. On the other hand, the robes themselves also remind them to be humble and respect their precepts (to avoid sexual misconduct, to kill, steal, to be angry, to anger, etc.) It also brings peace to the wearer as well as to the people. witness.

From the perspective of spiritual significance

It has been for thousands of years, demonstrating its importance in the life and propagation of Buddhism, so it is quite possible to say that it is one of the symbolic images representing Buddhism, with many meanings. spiritual meaning.

Ca sa collection from many pieces also partly show the practice, the path to the Benedict also has many stages, as the Buddha himself also needs to go through countless lives to witness the Bodhi fruit. That reminds every practitioner in the next life to follow the example of persevering in cultivation, accumulating merit, correcting mistakes, body and mind, etc. Therefore, Ca sa has also been divided into many categories, each of which includes Different number of pieces. Monks and nuns with many wisdoms often wear Ca sa 25 things, symbolizing the experience, deep merit and bright wisdom, which will be different from those who have just received the precepts and practice without understanding. 9 things only.

Traditional value

In addition to the spiritual or material values, tomato also carries the inheritance and continuity that few people know about.

In order to understand more clearly about this issue, I would like to remind you of the story of "Micro-flower sealing" (holding a smiling flower) as follows:

Buddha in a meeting on Mount Linh Thuu, after preaching held a flower in the public audience without saying a word. Everyone is surprised not understand the intention of the Blessed One, only Mr.  Ma-ha-ca-lettuce  is smiling. The Blessed One then said: We have the right eye, the nirvana of the mind, the infinite reality, the miraculous disciplines, now handed back to  Ma-ha-ca-lettuce . And so the Buddha passed on the bowl to  Ma-ha-ca-lettuce.

Y bowl here is understood, y is the main dress is Ca sa, the main bowl is a container of offerings. Since then, the retribution of the Ca-vajra and the eight bowls has the same meaning as the traditional succession, reminding the subsequent disciples to continue to practice and cultivate Buddhism. That tradition continues from  Ma-ha-ca-lettuce  handed back to Ananda, lasting until the 28th generation,  Bodhi-attain-ma (that is, nearly 1000 years after the Buddha's return). nirvana). Mr. Bodhidharma continued to go to China to spread the Buddha's Dharma, and passed many generations of medicine to  Hue Nang Nang  (638-713).

The legends above often carry a spiritual element, but certainly have depicted extremely detailed functions as well as the great value of a tropical robes shirt to the world. No matter how many years go by, Ca sa is still an image that reminds us of simple monks, wearing yellow robes and reciting Buddha's hands. General figure gently serene. Also thanks to that people with things, animals and people always blend together to contribute to the status of the Buddhist picture. END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).WORLD VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST ORDER=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.28/12/2019.