<p>Here's an alleged <a href="http://purifymind.com/TeaDalaiLama.htm" rel="nofollow">quote from the Dalai Lama</a>,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>After my lunch I come here to my office until about 5:30. Then at 6:00 I have my evening tea-as a Buddhist monk, no dinner, sometimes just a few biscuits or some bread. At that time I always watch BBC television. Then evening meditation for about one hour and at 8:30, sleep. Most important meditation! Sleep is the common meditation for everyone-even for birds. The most important meditation. Not for nirvana, but for survival!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In other words he "eats" but doesn't "have dinner".</p>

<hr>

<p>In <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NHIzDRMY0" rel="nofollow">this video</a> Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu explained why he prefered to eat once a day.
It's noticeable that both his companions laughed at time 12:15 of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfE5YttKb30" rel="nofollow">this video</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-30T19:30:51.900Z
2015-03-30T19:30:51.900Z
ChrisW
<p><em>I can only speak from the Mahayana world but I'd be very interested in the Theravada side. I'm suspect it will be enlightening.</em></p>

<p>How important is the Sixth Precept to monks and nuns? In my experience the few that profess a claim to follow it refer to "noon" as something nebulous or in a different time zone. Every monastic I know eats after noon. Also if it doesn't have to be followed then why? It seems the bending of precepts can be a dangerous thing or like the proverb says "Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works".</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your time.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-30T20:12:18.653Z
I'm thinking we may have to close this... we don't really encourage forum-like questions like this. SE is a "best-answer" platform, and doesn't lend itself well to open-ended or opinion-based questions like this. If you want to edit your question to ask about Theravada specifically, there might be a single best answer... but then you are also asking more than one question.
yuttadhammo
<monk><eight-precepts>
How important is the Sixth Precept to monks and nuns?
# How important is the Sixth Precept to monks and nuns?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-03-30)

*I can only speak from the Mahayana world but I'd be very interested in the Theravada side. I'm suspect it will be enlightening.*

How important is the Sixth Precept to monks and nuns? In my experience the few that profess a claim to follow it refer to "noon" as something nebulous or in a different time zone. Every monastic I know eats after noon. Also if it doesn't have to be followed then why? It seems the bending of precepts can be a dangerous thing or like the proverb says "Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works".

Thank you so much for your time.

**Tags:** monk, eight-precepts

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm thinking we may have to close this... we don't really encourage forum-like questions like this. SE is a "best-answer" platform, and doesn't lend itself well to open-ended or opinion-based questions like this. If you want to edit your question to ask about Theravada specifically, there might be a single best answer... but then you are also asking more than one question.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-03-30. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

Here's an alleged [quote from the Dalai Lama](http://purifymind.com/TeaDalaiLama.htm),

> After my lunch I come here to my office until about 5:30. Then at 6:00 I have my evening tea-as a Buddhist monk, no dinner, sometimes just a few biscuits or some bread. At that time I always watch BBC television. Then evening meditation for about one hour and at 8:30, sleep. Most important meditation! Sleep is the common meditation for everyone-even for birds. The most important meditation. Not for nirvana, but for survival!

In other words he "eats" but doesn't "have dinner".

---

In [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NHIzDRMY0) Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu explained why he prefered to eat once a day.
It's noticeable that both his companions laughed at time 12:15 of [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfE5YttKb30).


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