กฐินเป็นพระบรมพุทธานุญาตพิเศษ ปีละครั้งเดียวหลังออกพรรษา เป็นโอกาสแก้ผังชีวิตนับภพนับชาติ ต่างจากผ้าป่าซึ่งเป็นความปรารถนาเฉพาะกิจของฆราวาสและพระภิกษุเอง ไม่ใช่ธรรมเนียมที่พระพุทธเจ้าทรงอนุญาตไว้เป็นการเฉพาะKathina is a special dispensation granted directly by the Buddha, occurring only once a year after the Rains Retreat, offering a chance to rewrite one's life pattern across countless lifetimes. Pha pa, by contrast, is an occasional offering arising from the wishes of laypeople and monks themselves, not a custom the Buddha specifically authorized.
Someone asked: why is the merit of the Kathina robe offering greater than that of pha pa, when both seem to be offerings made to the monastic community in the same way?
The Kathina offering is a special dispenon the Buddha authorized as a custom within Buddhism, occurring once a year in every era in which a Buddha has arisen, specifically for the benefit of the religion. During this period, nibbana governs merit and with special care, including gathering all the merit generated together.
Kathina Is a Once-a-Year Chance to Rewrite the Pattern of Countless Lifetimes
The reason the Buddha authorized this custom was to give the Buddhist community — those with faith in the religion who wish to support and sustain it — the opportunity to create benefit. Kathina is therefore an important, once-yearly chance to revise and transform the pattern of one's life across countless past lives. However destitute or heavily burdened by karmic result a person may be, with faith and a wish to support the religion, even offering a single needle can change their life and rewrite their pattern.
Both the Monastic Community and Laypeople Benefit Together
Kathina is a custom of the Buddhist community that benefits those with faith who support and sustain the religion, giving them the chance to offer robes — the banner of victory for arahants — along with monastic requisites and other offerings beneficial to the sangha. The sangha itself gains numerous blessings from Kathina that bring comfort and ease. Both the laypeople who devotedly support the religion and the monks who carry its lineage forward benefit together — a compassion that has existed in every era of Buddhism.
Faith, Not Purchase, Draws In the Stream of Merit
Rewriting one's life pattern through this sacred stream of merit depends essentially on faith — this is not a matter of purchasing merit. The faith that arises in each person differs, and the stream of merit it draws in varies accordingly, based on the quality of one's sphere of faith. There are five levels of faith, ranging from mere acceptance, to reverence, up to the most refined, radiantly brilliant level — faith in faith itself. The brighter and clearer one's sphere of faith, the more continuously it can draw in and sustain the stream of merit. As that stream of merit purifies im, the mind becomes clear and pure, giving rise to a deep sense of joy — the very fruit of that purity.
How Pha Pa Differs from Kathina
Pha pa is an occasional offering, arising from the wish of devotees who want to give something specific — it was not a custom the Buddha specifically authorized, but rather a wish of laypeople and monks themselves. In earlier times, robes were the most essential need for monks, since they were hard to obtain and had to be woven by hand — unlike shelter, which could be found beneath trees, in caves, or in vacant dwellings. When villagers wished to offer robes, they would gather together and bring a pha pa offering along with other necessities. Kathina, by contrast, is something the Buddha specifically designated — a custom passed down through every era of every Buddha, occurring once a year after the Rains Retreat, with the purpose of bringing great benefit to the Buddhist community. He imbued it with special sanctity for rewriting the patterns of the faithful. The Buddhist community therefore has time to prepare throughout the year, gathering robes and offerings for the Kathina season, each hoping to transform their own life.