The Earth Store Dharma Door
Staff ( Sanskrit : khiṅkhirikā )
The staff is an accessory that a Bhikshu (monk) should bring when going on walks, one of their eighteen possessions. The Sanskrit word is khakharaka. The Ten Recitation Vinaya calls the item a “sounding staff.” Since its rattling sound resembles that of tin, the staff is also known as tin staff. Other names include Chan staff, rattling staff, wisdom staff, virtue staff and golden tin.
In the Buddha Speaks of the Tin Staff of Ladder to Awakening Sutra, “The Buddha told the Bhikshus, ‘All of you should receive and uphold a tin staff. For what reason? All the Buddhas of the past held tin staffs. All the Buddhas of the future will hold tin staffs. All the Buddhas of the present hold tin staffs. Just as I who have become a Buddha, a World Honored One, in the present day, also hold a staff as I should. The Buddhas of the past, future and present teach disciples to also hold tin staffs.
‘Thus, having become a Buddha, a World Honored One, I instruct you according to the Dharma of the Buddhas. All of you shall now uphold a tin staff. For what reason? The tin staff is named the wisdom staff and also the virtue staff. Since it reveals the wisdom of sages, it is named the wisdom staff. Since it carries out the fundamentals of merit and virtue, it is called the virtue staff. Such a staff is the symbol of a sage, the bright sign of a worthy one, and the upright banner of advancing on the Path. This is the reason all of you shall uphold it according to the Dharma.’”
Chapter 34 of the Vinaya-kṣudraka-vastu, the Ksudraka Bases of Discipline, tells a story. One Bhikshu on alms round entered a layperson’s home. He pounded the door with his fist, making noise to alert them. The layperson criticized, “Why are you breaking my door?” The monk was silent and did not answer. The Buddha said, “Do not pound on doors. You may make a staff.” The Bhikshu did not understand. “Put a ring on top of the staff, round like the opening of a cup. Put small rings through it. Shake and rattle it to let others know of your presence,” instructed the Buddha.
The Bhikshu went to a non-Buddhist’s home and shook the staff for a long time until he was tired. However, no one answered the door. The Buddha said, “Do not shake for a long time. Shake twice or thrice. You must leave if no one answers.”
Chapter 56 of the Ten Recitation Vinaya says “The teaching on the staff comes from when the Buddha lived in a cold forest where numerous reptiles and poisonous insects bit the Bhikshus. The Buddha said, “You shall make a jingling staff to repel the poisonous insects. That is the dharma of the staff.”
Chapter 53 of the Fourfold Vinaya says, “Many Bhikshus on pilgrimage saw snakes and centipedes. The Bhikshus not yet free from desires were horrified and told the Buddha. The Buddha replied, 'You are allowed to rattle your tin staff as you walk.'”
There are three parts to a tin staff. The upper part is the finial of the staff, usually made of tin, iron or other metals, formed by prongs creating large rings in the shape of a stupa. Several more small rings hang from each of the large rings. They rattle when the staff is shaken. The mid-section of the staff is made of wood. The bottom part is a tube of copper, iron, other metals, ivory or horn.
Moreover, the Sutra of the Tin Staff describes styles of two prongs and six small rings or four prongs and twenty-four small rings. The former is the style of Kashyapa Buddha, the latter the style of Shakyamuni Buddha. The two prongs are meant to remind people of the Twofold Truths (conventional truth and absolute truth). The four prongs are used to halt the Four Births, to recall the Four Noble Truths, to cultivate the Four Equalities and to concentrate on the Four Dhyanas.
Volume Two of the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions says, “The Tathagata’s tin staff has white iron as its rings and sandal-wood as the rod, and is supported by a jeweled base.” The finial of the staff seems to be removable for storage in a bag.
Volume 56 of the Ten Recitation Vinaya mentions a “staff pouch” and records that “the Buddha listened and permitted them to hang a pouch from the staff so they could protect it and not damage or lose the pouch.” This should be referring to the finial of the staff. From the Pictures of the Eighteen Items of a Mahayana Bhikshu, the top part of the staff is separated from the rod, and a pouch is also shown.
The staffs with a shorter rod are called hand tin staffs. They are used in Dharma assemblies, shaken in unison with the recitation, mostly in the Tiantai School tradition. Common ones have four prongs and twelve small rings. According to the second volume of the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions and the fifth volume of the Records of the Luoyang Monasteries, a tin staff used by the Buddha was kept in the Nagarahāra Kingdom in Northern India. Its length was in excess of one zhang (3.6 feet), with white iron rings, a sandalwood rod and stored in a jeweled base. There is one staff dating from the Tang Dynasty in China made solely of iron with four prongs on the finial. Nevertheless, lavishness is not the purpose of the Dharma instruments. In Japan, staffs come in diverse forms: two prongs with six small rings or four prongs and twelve small rings. Also, the centers of the prongs may be ornamented with jewels, gorintos (pagodas), images of the Buddha, etc.
The different shapes of the tin staffs embody different meanings. The Tin Staff Sutra mentions that a tin staff has three tubes to remind one of the sufferings of the three evil destinies, the cultivation of precepts, concentration and wisdom, the three torments of old age, illness and death, as well as the three poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance. A staff of four large rings represents halting the reincarnation in the four births (birth by womb, egg, transformation or moisture), or signifies the four noble truths – the recognition of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way to end suffering. The staff with twelve rings represents thorough insight into the Twelve-fold Conditioned Arising. The chains of three rings and four prongs are used to be mindful of the Tathagata’s Seven Factors of Awakening. The octagonal tube recalls the Eightfold Noble Path.
Staff ( Sanskrit : khiṅkhirikā )
The staff is an accessory that a Bhikshu (monk) should bring when going on walks, one of their eighteen possessions. The Sanskrit word is khakharaka. The Ten Recitation Vinaya calls the item a “sounding staff.” Since its rattling sound resembles that of tin, the staff is also known as tin staff. Other names include Chan staff, rattling staff, wisdom staff, virtue staff and golden tin.
In the Buddha Speaks of the Tin Staff of Ladder to Awakening Sutra, “The Buddha told the Bhikshus, ‘All of you should receive and uphold a tin staff. For what reason? All the Buddhas of the past held tin staffs. All the Buddhas of the future will hold tin staffs. All the Buddhas of the present hold tin staffs. Just as I who have become a Buddha, a World Honored One, in the present day, also hold a staff as I should. The Buddhas of the past, future and present teach disciples to also hold tin staffs.
‘Thus, having become a Buddha, a World Honored One, I instruct you according to the Dharma of the Buddhas. All of you shall now uphold a tin staff. For what reason? The tin staff is named the wisdom staff and also the virtue staff. Since it reveals the wisdom of sages, it is named the wisdom staff. Since it carries out the fundamentals of merit and virtue, it is called the virtue staff. Such a staff is the symbol of a sage, the bright sign of a worthy one, and the upright banner of advancing on the Path. This is the reason all of you shall uphold it according to the Dharma.’”
Chapter 34 of the Vinaya-kṣudraka-vastu, the Ksudraka Bases of Discipline, tells a story. One Bhikshu on alms round entered a layperson’s home. He pounded the door with his fist, making noise to alert them. The layperson criticized, “Why are you breaking my door?” The monk was silent and did not answer. The Buddha said, “Do not pound on doors. You may make a staff.” The Bhikshu did not understand. “Put a ring on top of the staff, round like the opening of a cup. Put small rings through it. Shake and rattle it to let others know of your presence,” instructed the Buddha.
The Bhikshu went to a non-Buddhist’s home and shook the staff for a long time until he was tired. However, no one answered the door. The Buddha said, “Do not shake for a long time. Shake twice or thrice. You must leave if no one answers.”
Chapter 56 of the Ten Recitation Vinaya says “The teaching on the staff comes from when the Buddha lived in a cold forest where numerous reptiles and poisonous insects bit the Bhikshus. The Buddha said, “You shall make a jingling staff to repel the poisonous insects. That is the dharma of the staff.”
Chapter 53 of the Fourfold Vinaya says, “Many Bhikshus on pilgrimage saw snakes and centipedes. The Bhikshus not yet free from desires were horrified and told the Buddha. The Buddha replied, 'You are allowed to rattle your tin staff as you walk.'”
There are three parts to a tin staff. The upper part is the finial of the staff, usually made of tin, iron or other metals, formed by prongs creating large rings in the shape of a stupa. Several more small rings hang from each of the large rings. They rattle when the staff is shaken. The mid-section of the staff is made of wood. The bottom part is a tube of copper, iron, other metals, ivory or horn.
Moreover, the Sutra of the Tin Staff describes styles of two prongs and six small rings or four prongs and twenty-four small rings. The former is the style of Kashyapa Buddha, the latter the style of Shakyamuni Buddha. The two prongs are meant to remind people of the Twofold Truths (conventional truth and absolute truth). The four prongs are used to halt the Four Births, to recall the Four Noble Truths, to cultivate the Four Equalities and to concentrate on the Four Dhyanas.
Volume Two of the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions says, “The Tathagata’s tin staff has white iron as its rings and sandal-wood as the rod, and is supported by a jeweled base.” The finial of the staff seems to be removable for storage in a bag.
Volume 56 of the Ten Recitation Vinaya mentions a “staff pouch” and records that “the Buddha listened and permitted them to hang a pouch from the staff so they could protect it and not damage or lose the pouch.” This should be referring to the finial of the staff. From the Pictures of the Eighteen Items of a Mahayana Bhikshu, the top part of the staff is separated from the rod, and a pouch is also shown.
The staffs with a shorter rod are called hand tin staffs. They are used in Dharma assemblies, shaken in unison with the recitation, mostly in the Tiantai School tradition. Common ones have four prongs and twelve small rings. According to the second volume of the Great Tang Records of the Western Regions and the fifth volume of the Records of the Luoyang Monasteries, a tin staff used by the Buddha was kept in the Nagarahāra Kingdom in Northern India. Its length was in excess of one zhang (3.6 feet), with white iron rings, a sandalwood rod and stored in a jeweled base. There is one staff dating from the Tang Dynasty in China made solely of iron with four prongs on the finial. Nevertheless, lavishness is not the purpose of the Dharma instruments. In Japan, staffs come in diverse forms: two prongs with six small rings or four prongs and twelve small rings. Also, the centers of the prongs may be ornamented with jewels, gorintos (pagodas), images of the Buddha, etc.
The different shapes of the tin staffs embody different meanings. The Tin Staff Sutra mentions that a tin staff has three tubes to remind one of the sufferings of the three evil destinies, the cultivation of precepts, concentration and wisdom, the three torments of old age, illness and death, as well as the three poisons of greed, hatred and ignorance. A staff of four large rings represents halting the reincarnation in the four births (birth by womb, egg, transformation or moisture), or signifies the four noble truths – the recognition of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way to end suffering. The staff with twelve rings represents thorough insight into the Twelve-fold Conditioned Arising. The chains of three rings and four prongs are used to be mindful of the Tathagata’s Seven Factors of Awakening. The octagonal tube recalls the Eightfold Noble Path.