invitation; (1) whereby a donor invites a bhikkhu(ni) or a sangha of bhikkhu(ni)s to ask for requisites; (2) ceremony, held at the end of the Vassa, in which each bhikkhu invites the rest of the sangha to inform him of any transgressions they may have seen, heard, or suspected that he has committed.

(1) an invitation whereby a donor gives permission to a bhikkhu or a Community of bhikkhus to ask for requisites. See Pacittiya 47. (2) a ceremony, held at the end of the Rains Retreat (see vassa), in which each bhikkhu invites the rest of the Community to inform him of any transgressions they may have seen, heard, or suspected that he has committed.

(or pravarana) ceremony: Held at the end of the rainy seasons, the ninety-day period of seclusion referred to as the summer retreat. In Thailand it is held on the full moon of the eleventh lunar month to mark the termination of Buddhist Lent, the end of the 3 month rainy season. In China and Taiwan it fell in the seventh lunar month, usually in August and is also known as the Ullambana Dharma Assembly. It was at this time that the monks and nuns confessed any mistakes they might have made as a sort of communal examination.