The food given in alms to the priest is to be received by him
meditatively ; it is not to be received carelessly, so that in the act
of being poured into the alms-bowl some may fall over the sides ;
the liquor and the solid food are to be received together, without
being separated ; and the alms-bowl is not to be piled up above the
mouth. The food is also to be eaten meditatively, with care, so
that it is not scattered about ; without picking and choosing, the
particles that come first to hand being first to be eaten ; the liquor
and the solid food are to be eaten together, not beginning in the
centre, and heaping the food up, nor covering the liquor with rice.
The priest, unless when sick, may not ask for rice or curry to eat ;
he may not look with envy into the bowl of another ; nor eat mouth-
fuls larger than a pigeon's egg, but in small round balls ; he may
not fill the mouth, nor put the hand into the mouth when taking



94 EASTERN MONACHISM.
