Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c20.1

v1.c20.1

The Saṅgha grew up into an out and out corporate institution and performed every ecclesiastical act of any importance in an assembly in which the presence in person or by proxy of all monks dwelling within the sīmā of an āvāsa was compulsory. Every act had to be performed by putting the resolution in formal words¹ before the assembly once or twice, usually thrice and could be passed only on the unanimous consent of all the members.² There were āvāsas in unwonted places in which the number of bhikkhus was so small that no assembly in its proper sense could be held, so a minimum number was fixed for the validity of certain ecclesiastical acts, which is as follows,