Is a monk allowed to touch his mother, daughter or sister? and Answer

Q: Is a monk allowed to touch his mother, daughter or sister)?

A: No. 

As we read in the Vinaya Piṭaka, Mahāvibhaṅga, it is prohibited in the second saṅghādisesa rule 

(Vin. iii. 126), Monks’ Suspension 

2: Physical contact under an offense of wrong-doing (dukkata).

At the Buddha's time, this happened to a certain monk:

{Now at that time a certain monk stroked his mother for the sake of a mother’s affection. He was remorseful, and said: “What now if I have fallen into an offence entailing a formal meeting of the Order (saṅghādisesa) ?” He told this matter to the lord. The Buddha said: “Monk, this is not an offence entailing a formal meeting of the Order, it is an offence of wrong-doing.”}

(The same offense is then repeated for a monk's daughter and sister...and a monk who makes a physical contact with a wooden doll or a female animal. But if a monk makes a physical contact with a sleeping woman, he commits an offense entailing suspension.)

Caption: 

Recently a TV singer celebrity was ordained temporarily for about one month at one of the Thai temples. His actress wife who is a non-Buddhist, but a Christian asked the abbot if a monk could hold his own daughter. The answer was "yes". After the photos were shared, some people criticized that it was not appropriate for a monk to do so according to Vinaya Pitaka (rules for monks prescribed by the Buddha). People started to argue. Finally, a Thai well known senior monk came out to respond in the social media that it was no problem for a monk to hold his daughter with a heart full of love. He said that even though it was an offense, it was the very minor one. Some monk recommended that he could confess afterwards. Hmm!


Some of the common social issue with monasticism
https://goo.gl/uv6qfY

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