Chocolate is an exception to the No-eating-after-noon rule?

[lyndon taylor]

What about diabetics that have to eat small meals all day long. The monks at my temple definitely told me there were exemptions to eating after 12pm for people that are sick enough, maybe not in the Forest tradition but in the regular Therevada traditions.

[Mkoll]

As to the palatability of dark chocolate - I am a fan of this super-intense dark chocolate:
http://www.lindt.com.au/noswf/eng/produ ... -90-cocoa/

That has sugar in it which makes it delicious - even a small amount of sugar makes a big difference. I'm talking about chocolate without any sugar at all which makes it not very palatable.

As sugar is allowable why is it so important?

I was responding to Ben about the palatability of dark chocolate.

[Ben]

As to the palatability of dark chocolate - I am a fan of this super-intense dark chocolate:
http://www.lindt.com.au/noswf/eng/produ ... -90-cocoa/

That has sugar in it which makes it delicious - even a small amount of sugar makes a big difference. I'm talking about chocolate without any sugar at all which makes it not very palatable.

Ok, no problem.

[Dhammanando]

The monks at my temple definitely told me there were exemptions to eating after 12pm for people that are sick enough

But was that their precise wording?

I know it's very common for Asian Theravadin monks to say, "It's okay for a monk to eat food in the evening if he's seriously ill," but in saying this they don't mean to imply that there is any Vinaya exemption to this effect, for there simply isn't one. What they mean by "okay" is that breaking the rule in these circumstances is deemed socially acceptable by most of the laity, and so the monks who do it won't be scandalizing anyone by their conduct.

[Cittasanto]

If I remember correctly a bhikkhu can eat after noon if starving, i.e. they are malnurished.... am I correct there?
But to your earlier post as a lay person observing the eight precepts what are your thoughts on eating almost any sweeties/candy as they are (or at least should be) used as a boost not as a meal. Or would you recommend more stringent observance?

If a bhikkhu is famished due to illness, then he can eat the five tonics (seven-day medicines). I don't know of any allowance to eat substantial food at the wrong time.

Although I still have it in my head that it is still there, I think it may stem from somewhere like Ajahn Dhammanando's comment and I am simply just remembering it wrong. Thank-you.

Kind Regards
Cittasanto

[lyndon taylor]

Just be forewarned that a strict Forest monk style observance of the vinaya for all monks and all illnesses could even lead to death in some cases.....

For instance I am diabetic, and I am only a mild diabetic that can get by with oral meds and no insulin, however there is no way any diabetic is going to be healthy and live a long life eating only one meal a day and supplementing 7 tonics which are largely sugar and fat, these vinaya rules were written down something like 1600 years ago by people that didn't have a clue about modern medicine and health like we do today, and we're supposed to follow them religiously(if ordained) hogwash, it makes about as much sense as applying 1200 year old sharia law in the modern world IMHO.

[SarathW]

Hi Lyndon
I see your point and I have my sympathy for you.
It is important to see how these rules link to the final goal.
We can't expect an asthma patient to practice breath meditation.
He has to look for other meditation objects.

[lyndon taylor]

Well some of our posters take ancient scripture so literally that you might almost say the Islamic equivalent would be ISIS, which is actually a movement based around the idea of living Islam exactly as it was intended to be lived 1200 years ago, sometimes you need to apply a little common sense when interpreting scripture, and there is an expression "rules are made to be broken"!!

[Mr Man]

Well some of our posters take ancient scripture so literally that you might almost say the Islamic equivalent would be ISIS, which is actually a movement based around the idea of living Islam exactly as it was intended to be lived 1200 years ago, sometimes you need to apply a little common sense when interpreting scripture, and there is an expression "rules are made to be broken"!!

A totally ridiculous comment.

[lyndon taylor]

Fundamentalism is an issue in every religion, In Christianity its the Literal 6 day creation, every word in the Bible is the inspired word of God type, In Islam its the fundamentalist right wing of which al Quaeda and ISIS are a part, In Buddhism its..... i"ll let you fill in the blank, Its all based on the idea that hundreds or thousands of years old scripture is perfect in every way and equally applicable to today's world as when it was written etc. I'm not Implying that Fundamentalist Buddhism shares anywhere near the danger present in fundamentalist Islam, just pointing out that there is a right wing and a left wing to every religion.

[mikenz66]

Hi Lyndon,

I've known Bhikkhus who eat after noon on medical advice. Perhaps there are some bhikkhus or bhikkhunis out there somewhere who would apply the letter of the vinaya over medical advice, but that's speculation.


Mike

[Mkoll]

Well some of our posters take ancient scripture so literally that you might almost say the Islamic equivalent would be ISIS, which is actually a movement based around the idea of living Islam exactly as it was intended to be lived 1200 years ago, sometimes you need to apply a little common sense when interpreting scripture, and there is an expression "rules are made to be broken"!!

A totally ridiculous comment.

Yup.

[Spiny Norman]

When I first went on retreat to a Thai Forest monastery I was worried about the lack of an evening meal and took a secret stash of chocolate.

As it turned out they provided us with cheese and chocolate at tea time. I think it was dark chocolate.