Why don monks wear ordinary clothes?
There are nine listed disadvantages of ordinary clothes; they relate to expense, maintenance, keeping clean, durability, restrictions of size and style, unsuitability for a life of simplicity, social implications, motivations of attractiveness and finally clarity of duties relating to dress. There are also twelve qualities of the robes listed; these relate to cheapness; simplicity of making, of wearing, of mending and of fitting; suitability for a monk’s lifestyle; ease of wearing and packing; not breaking any precept in their manufacture; causing very little envy; low temptation to thieves; low satisfaction to personal vanity and, finally, that there is less sense of personal possession.
