The Precept of Abstaining from Wearing Garlands and Using Perfumes in the Eight Precepts Uposatha

The original text from the Sixteenth Volume of the Ekottara Āgama, "High Banner Chapter": Just as Arhats do not adorn themselves with fragrant flowers, cosmetics, or powders, so too shall I now do likewise. For the remainder of my life, I shall not indulge in the adornment of fragrant flowers or the fondness for cosmetics and powders.

Explanation: Like the Arhats, who do not wear fragrant flowers or apply cosmetics and powders to decorate themselves, I too should now be like this. For my entire life, I will not wear fragrant flowers, nor indulge in the fondness for rouge, cosmetics, or powders, and will not adorn myself.

Adornments such as fragrant flowers, cosmetics, and powders include all items used to decorate the physical body. Apart from necessary clothing, all are additional ornaments. Men have their ornaments, women have theirs—all are for embellishing and beautifying the physical form, or for displaying one's status, position, and social class. Wearing them on the body can increase attachment to the body (rūpa-saṃjñā), foster arrogance (ahaṃkāra), make the mind impure, and hinder spiritual practice. They should all be discarded, regardless of whether one upholds precepts or not.

On the days of observing the Eight Precepts of Abstinence (Upoṣadha), refraining from wearing fragrant flowers and applying cosmetics also includes avoiding all kinds of luxurious, ornate clothing adorned with gold, silver, or other decorations, various elaborately made ceremonial garments, as well as women's clothing that reveals their figure or exudes charm. Wearing such clothing can increase arrogance, strengthen the view of self and attachment to the body, provoke desires in others, and hinder cultivation. The clothing worn by monastics is loose and ample, not revealing the figure, covering the body completely, and dyed in subdued, non-bright colors. Even during the Buddha's time, his attire was very simple, not much different from what the bhikkhus wore. When no one offered him robes, he would go to the charnel ground (śīvathikā) to collect shrouds, bring them back, dye them, patch them up, and wear them.

The Buddha, the supreme being of the Three Realms—there is no one in the world more noble than the Buddha—yet his life was so simple and humble. Comparing this, those laypeople adorned with gold and silver are utterly extravagant, constantly displaying their desires and attachments everywhere. How can they attain liberation from the suffering of birth and death?

Excellent is the robe of liberation, the kāṣāya for repentance; I now reverently receive and wear it, may I ever be clad in it throughout lifetimes. This is the verse chanted when receiving and donning the kāṣāya (the unsewn robe). What does this verse signify? The kāṣāya is a single rectangular piece of cloth without the form of a garment. It is draped over the body and fastened at the shoulder with a clasp to prevent it from falling off. This cloth is also called the "robe for repentance," worn during precept reception, repentance before the Buddha, sutra recitation, and ceremonial activities. Donning this robe signifies receiving the precept-essence (śīla-kāya). With the precept-essence, one can uphold the precepts. Because of upholding the precepts, one will attain the fruit of liberation in the future and enjoy the benefits of liberation. Therefore, only by receiving and upholding the precepts can one sever the view of self and attain liberation. Without receiving and upholding the precepts, one cannot sever the view of self and cannot attain liberation. Inability to sever the view of self means one cannot realize the true mind and see the true nature; one cannot achieve any accomplishment in either the Mahāyāna or Hīnayāna. The importance of precepts lies precisely in this.

This issue should be contemplated inversely: Why do many people like to adorn themselves with fragrant flowers and cosmetics? What is the meaning of applying them? Why do men and women decorate and adorn themselves? Sentient beings, lacking an awakened mind, do not reflect on their own and others' daily behaviors, do not question themselves, but follow their own habits and tendencies, indulging all their thoughts without knowing what kind of thoughts these are. Ultimately, all thoughts of sentient beings stem from the view of the body (kāyadṛṣṭi) and the view of the mind (cittadṛṣṭi), which together constitute the view of self (ātma-dṛṣṭi). Because the view of self is deeply ingrained, it manifests constantly in every situation. There is no thought to conceal it, nor the ability to conceal or restrain it. They do not know this is a wrong view, erroneous, and that it causes them to fall into the pit of birth and death, unable to extricate themselves, making it difficult even for the Buddha to rescue them.

Taking the body as the self is called the view of the body (kāyadṛṣṭi or satkāyadṛṣṭi). Sentient beings subconsciously and unconsciously, at all times and in all places, constantly attend to their physical form, concerned with how others view them, how they evaluate them, how to make others accept them, like them, revere them. Thus, they unconsciously seek to attract others' attention and notice. Those who are extremely attentive to their appearance all harbor the view of the body. They like to make coquettish gestures, behave affectedly, offer professional smiles, frequently touch their hair or hands, wipe their faces, adjust their clothing—countless small actions all reveal a person's view of the body. The sensation of the body cannot be ignored for even a minute; one can never forget the body at any time. This shows how heavily sentient beings are burdened by the view of the body.

If one knows what the view of the body is, one can observe whether others have it and how severe it is. Then one knows whether that person has severed the view of the body, whether they are a virtuous friend (kalyāṇamitra), and whether their teachings can lead you to sever the view of self and embark on the path to liberation. Because sentient beings are generally ignorant and unwilling to study the Buddhist scriptures, they lack correct judgment and are easily deceived, mistaking the false for the true, wasting immense time and energy on wrong paths. Not knowing what the mental and physical state or manifestation of severing the view of self is, neither the teacher nor the listener can conceal their own view of the body and view of self, nor do they know how to conceal it—they cannot even pretend convincingly.

Teachers also know that sentient beings are ignorant and do not understand, so they do not deliberately disguise or conceal themselves. Thus, it is the foolish leading the foolish; no one can escape the pit of ignorance. The reason fraudsters flourish in the world is because the soil of the world is suitable—suitable for survival, suitable for propagation. This suitable soil is the ignorance and foolishness of sentient beings. Therefore, it is the karma of sentient beings that summons hypocrites and attracts them.

Returning to the main topic: The reason the Buddha established precepts to restrain the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of sentient beings is so that they can subdue their incorrect bodily, verbal, and mental actions, subdue their view of the body and view of self, lay the foundation for severing the view of self, lay the foundation for realizing the true mind and seeing the true nature, and also lay the foundation for meditation (dhyāna). Therefore, a person unwilling to receive and uphold the precepts, who does not abide by the precepts, will not attain meditation, will not subdue their own mind, will not reduce the view of self, will not sever the view of self, and will not realize the true mind and see the true nature.

Those without meditation, who do not uphold the precepts, yet claim to have attained the fruits [of enlightenment], realized the mind, and seen the nature—what fruits have they attained? What mind have they realized? What nature have they seen? Therefore, it is no surprise that some who guide others to attain the fruits and realize the mind advocate that followers should indulge their afflictions, abandon the form of precepts, and not uphold precepts with form. This is because their own afflictions are very heavy. To deceive all sentient beings as if they were fools is extremely unwise, because the Sahā world is, after all, the Buddha's land, and sentient beings are the Buddha's people. With the Buddha's great compassion, how could he abandon his care and salvation of sentient beings? How could he not support them? How could he allow sentient beings to be maliciously deceived?