The Great Benefits Of Kathina Offering | 3 Oct 2025

Ajahn Anan emphasizes the importance of harmony (samaggi) for both monks and lay supporters, particularly around the time of the Kathina Offering.

The end of the Rains Retreat (Vassa) is marked by Maha Borana Day, where monks ask for and grant forgiveness and declare their willingness to be corrected (Pavarana) to maintain unity and cease resentment.

The Kathina is a special "timely gift" allowed only when the Sangha is united. The great merit of this offering stems from the collective effort and unity of both the monastics and lay community. By joining together in this act, they gain the strength to fight the inner defilements of greed, anger, and delusion.

Ultimately, this tradition, practiced with faith and self-sacrifice, serves to uphold and preserve the Buddha's dispensation (Dhamma) for future generations. True strength and success come from being united as one heart and one mind.

Transcript

On the day the rains retreat ends for the monks,

There is a special chant they do.

This day is called Maha Balarna.

Maha means great.

It is an important day for the Sangha who lives together,

Whether 5 monks,

10 monks or even more,

In some monasteries up to 60 monks.

This year at Wat Mabchan,

There are 67 monks.

Each one came from different directions,

Different countries,

Different personalities and temperaments,

Yet they all live together.

The Vinaya,

The monks' discipline,

It binds and regulates them so that things are orderly.

But in their minds,

Because ignorance still exists,

There may be likes and dislikes,

Due to differing views and opinions that don't align.

There may even be results from karma between them.

Seeing someone's face may stir dislike,

Seeing another's mannerisms may be displeasing.

But when the Maha Balarna day arrives,

There is this principle of practice where everyone sets their intention,

And for whatever bodily,

Verbal or mental actions that may have offended one another,

They ask forgiveness and they grant forgiveness.

In this way there is no more blame between them,

And so practice can flourish and progress.

And they also declare their Balarna,

Their willingness to be corrected.

If there is anything that needs to be pointed out,

Please,

With kindness and compassion,

Kindly tell me.

The one who admonishes should speak with loving kindness,

And the one who receives admonition should listen with the mind,

Said that,

They mean well for me.

This is also an important monastic practice,

But it's not just to be done as a ritual,

It must be done sincerely,

So that anger,

Resentment and ill will in our hearts and the bad thoughts to each other can cease.

This is the virtue that brings about harmony in the Sangha,

Because harmony is what leads happiness to arise.

When the monks in any monastery,

Five or more,

Are united in harmony,

The Buddha out of his compassion allowed for the lay supporters to offer the katina cloth.

This katina cloth is called a timely gift,

Because it must be offered within a set period of time.

From the first waning day of the eleventh lunar month,

Which is one day after Balarna day,

Up until the full moon day of the twelfth lunar month,

Called Loigrotong day,

Which is the final day.

And in one monastery,

The katina can be received only once.

And after the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month called Loigrotong day has passed,

Even though we may have faith,

If we want to offer katina cloth,

We must wait until next year.

It cannot be done.

We can't offer it this year,

Because the time has ended for it.

Just like for us we can see that in the world it's also like this.

There are goods,

Medicines,

And they all have a production date and an expiration date.

There is also a time limit.

After that,

They can no longer be used.

They will even become harmful.

The Buddha pointed out the importance of this.

If you want to perform this kind of merit,

You can only do it within one month,

So you should do it with determination.

And speaking of generosity,

It may be said that the merit of katina is a great and special act of giving.

It must rely on unity.

It cannot be done by a single person alone.

Even one monk by himself cannot accept it.

For it to be accomplished,

It must arise from harmony.

And this power of unity is important.

With it,

Whatever is done can succeed.

In unison,

As one heart and one mind,

With harmony,

Then work,

Whether great or small,

Can be accomplished,

And without exhaustion or weariness.

But if unity is lacking,

It becomes tiring,

Weary,

And exhausting.

One person is working while another just sits and watches.

That cannot be.

Even an army of soldiers,

If someone is weak or ill,

He must be sent away for treatment,

Leaving only those strong in both body and mind.

Only then,

There will be true strength.

All this harmony brings about happiness,

This the Buddha has declared.

Therefore we must be in harmony and alignment,

Accommodating one another.

This is a principle of practice,

And truly a blessing in our lives.

Physical harmony is called unity of the body,

Joining efforts until the task is accomplished.

Whether in our community,

Or in small or large tasks at our workplace,

It is the same.

Unity of mind means acting without fault-finding in one another,

And having the same views,

Having the same level of morality,

Sila.

This brings about happiness.

If it's unity at the level of a nation,

Then no one can destroy it.

Like the Licchavi kings who had unity and concord.

It is said they possessed a parihaniya dhamma,

Such that no enemy could destroy them.

King Ajatasattu,

When he knew this,

Sent the brahmin Vasakara to destroy their unity.

And in the end he was able to conquer the strong city of the Licchavis.

This is an important point to note.

Therefore the breaking of unity causes disorder.

It can bring about economic decline,

Or makes living together unhappy.

Wat Nompa Pong has many branches,

But they are united through their respect for Venerable Ajahn Chah.

And then through respecting the Sangha rules which Venerable Ajahn Chah established for all to follow.

And every year there are meetings in the Ajahn Chah Sangha to express their opinions.

Though the matters may be similar to what was discussed in the past,

But they are things that must be preserved.

Thus unity is maintained without division.

Even if opinions differ somewhat,

We ask the guidance from the senior monks with experience.

Those who learned the monastic practices and discipline from Ajahn Chah.

Who himself practiced according to the teachings of the supremely awakened Buddha.

Nowadays some may say,

Why revere individual teachers rather than the teachings of the Buddha?

But the teachers who attained Arahantship had already practiced according to the Dhamma teachings of the supremely awakened Buddha.

And they brought the Dhamma they themselves practiced from the teachings of the Buddha to bring to teach us.

It was neither distorted nor different from the Buddha's teachings.

Therefore if we truly work together in unity,

Everything succeeds,

Doesn't it?

For example,

In the Katina offering each year.

In the past,

Cloth had to be woven by spinning threads into strands.

For it to become a single piece of cloth took a very long time.

To accomplish it was not easy.

Therefore when each of us helps in our own way,

Doing whatever duty we have,

It has good results,

Shared equally.

Importantly,

Those with mindfulness,

Wisdom and intelligence will bring the white cloth to offer.

After the Sangha receives it,

They rejoice and give blessings.

And according to the Dhamma-vinaya,

The cloth will be cut,

Sewn,

Dyed and then formally bestowed to whichever monk the Sangha considers appropriate.

So we have always done it like this.

For example,

At Wat Marp Jan,

Everyone is given the chance to be sponsors of the offering.

Even if some have prepared for a year,

Ready to sponsor the Katina alone,

They sacrifice that,

So that everyone may be joint sponsors.

It could be said that taking all the merit alone is possible,

But instead they give everyone the right,

And to share in this merit.

There is joy,

Unity and mutual rejoicing,

Considering that all of us are Katina sponsors together.

This is why the Buddha greatly praised it.

Because in doing so,

We gain the strength to fight against greed,

Anger and delusion in our hearts.

Therefore all of us,

If we have the opportunity and time,

We may offer the Katina at this monastery or any other monastery.

We do it with hearts of faith and hearts of self-sacrifice,

In order to uphold and preserve the Buddha's dispensation for its continuation.

From the time of our grandparents or ancestors,

They have done it.

And now it comes down to our generation,

And we also preserve and continue it on.

Preserving Buddhism,

Whether it's the Ordination Hall,

The Wihara,

The trees,

The forests,

The mountains.

These are the places,

The religious buildings.

Seeing the monasteries prosper,

Seeing them beautiful and splendid.

All of this comes from the faith of the lay supporters,

Who contribute their resources and donations.

Building monasteries everywhere to become splendid and beautiful.

Just like in Thailand,

Where there are many beautiful monasteries.

In the past,

During the reign of King Rama III,

He greatly supported and maintained Buddhism.

The king built monasteries,

The ministers built them,

The relatives and families also built them.

Therefore,

The monasteries flourished abundantly during his reign.

And there was the question to King Rama III,

Of why does he build monasteries like that?

He replied that in the future,

Foreigners would come to visit and see the monasteries.

And nowadays,

Do we not see this?

Whether it is Wat Pol,

Wat Arun,

Wat Traimit,

Wat Kalaya,

Or the many great monasteries in Bangkok.

All arose from the faith of the lay supporters,

Joined with the devotion of the king,

The officials and their families.

This has made Buddhism stable and enduring until the present day.

And the present king has maintained and supported Buddhism.

Setting an example himself,

Offering katina robes every year.

And granting royal permission for his katina cloth to be offered at various monasteries,

Both within the country and abroad.

Therefore,

We must see the value of the religion and of the Dhamma.

Which is the true representative of the supremely awakened Buddha.

It is not the Sangha that the Buddha left as his representative.

A monk having just ordained,

By convention,

Is called a monk immediately.

The ordination takes only about one hour.

And by convention,

He becomes a monk already.

But he is not yet truly a monk,

Who knows the true Dhamma of the supremely awakened Buddha.

This requires practice first.

Just like food,

Vegetables and other ingredients.

We must cook them first,

Prepare them first,

Before they can be eaten.

The raw meat cannot yet be eaten.

The human body has no enzymes to digest it like that.

Because it is full of germs.

It must be cooked first.

And the mind is the same.

It is still raw.

So it must be trained.

One must train the mind first.

The minds of lay supporters are the same.

They also must be trained first.

When we are born,

We don't really know anything.

We are just ordinary worldlings like this.

Learning,

Doing work and business.

Sometimes we don't know to what degree monks may possess morality and Dhamma.

But don't think too much like that.

When we have the chance,

We should go ahead and give.

Recollect and venerate the virtues of the Buddha.

Recollect and venerate the Dhamma teachings.

By which the Buddha taught us to practice generosity.

Recollect the noble disciples,

The Arahants,

From the Buddha's time until the present.

We make offerings,

Gladdening our hearts and making our minds radiant within.

When the true Buddhist person arises,

The transformation must come from the Dhamma of the Buddha entering into their heart.

That is what is truly important.

Therefore,

The offering of Katina cloth relies on the unity and harmony of both the monks and the lay supporters coming together.

Thus it carries great merit,

As has already been explained in detail.

This makes it important for us to preserve this beautiful tradition,

Which is indeed not easy to maintain.

But we have already made our determination,

From last year until this year,

To come and to offer the Katina cloth again.

I rejoice in this,

In your unity and harmony as one heart and one mind.

With this great merit,

We may aspire for happiness in human wealth,

Heavenly wealth and the wealth of Nibbana,

According to our aspirations.

So may all of you have long life,

Beauty,

Happiness,

Strength,

Intelligence and prosperity.

May you all have strong health.

May you all grow in blessings.

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🙏🏾 2025.