ABSTRACT
Introduction In the introductory chapter to this volume James Robson notes how in earlier studies Buddhist monasteries were often presented as communities of world-renouncing religious virtuosi who were forced to make compromises to secular power and wealth. More recent studies treat monastic institutions differently, preferring to see them as a diverse and dynamic community in which a wide range of legitimate concerns, some narrowly soteriological, but others more practical and this-worldly, co-existed and competed with each other. In this chapter I examine closely one particular practice in which lay supporters invite monks for a meal. Through this practice we are able to observe how closely monastic and lay concerns intersected. I further examine how this intersection affected the symbolic construction of Chinese Buddhist monasteries in the stories told about them. I show how the practice of lay devotees feeding the monks came to be understood in the light of a utopian vision of a supernatural monk who appears at such a meal in disguise. These accounts of visions ultimately gave rise to certain cultic practices.
