BUDDHIST REJECTION OF MUSIC

[Madhav Deshpande]

This reminds me of my college days in Pune.  There were a number of Thai
and Cambodian monks studying at the Fergusson College in Pune, and they
watched Hindi movies along with other college students with the same
frequency.  Once I asked one of these monks how they could watch these
Hindi movies when the Buddha forbid them from watching dances, songs, etc.
(nacca-giita-vaadita-visuukadassana etc. in the Vinaya).  One of the monks
responded by saying that the sole purpose of watching the Hindi movies was
to feel disgusted by them, and that was not forbidden by the Buddha.
        All the best,
                                Madhav Deshpande

On Wed, 18 Feb 1998, jonathan silk wrote:

> Please check first of all in the Pali Vinaya in English -- I do not have a
> copy at hand, but there is a rule against seeing various performances,
> dance, music etc. However, there is an exception to this (although perhaps
> not in the Pali -- I don't remember) for performances at stupas. this has
> been discussed in detail by Sasaki Shizuka (alas, in Japanese). Anyway, the
> Vinaya stuff is the place to start, and perhaps that will answer your
> question, since of course it is the Pali vinaya which is appealed to in
> Thailand.
>
> Jonathan Silk
> SILK at wmich.edu
>