Early Monastic Buddhism v1.c22.s6.4

v1.c22.s6.4

A study of the *Vinaya Piṭaka* further reveals that the *bhikkhus*, apart from religious practices, were required to act through the corporate body, the *sangha*, and never individually, and it is for this reason that it is said in the *Mahāparinibbāna-sutta*¹ that so long as the monks will assemble frequently, transact business in concord, adhere to the rules already prescribed and avoid laying down new rules, the progress of the *bhikkhu-sangha* is assured and not its decline.