Lzh Dg Bi Pm Pc 137Not Ordaining Trainees After Promising

Sutta on Not Granting Ordination After a Promise

Background

This sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Pāli Canon of the Theravāda tradition, specifically in the Pātimokkha, the fundamental ethical rules that all those gone forth must observe. The Vinaya was established by the Buddha not to punish, but to protect the Sangha, the monastic community, maintain discipline, and nurture virtue, foundations indispensable to practice.

This sutta concerns the receiving of students, women who wish to go forth and study the Buddha-Dharma. In the Theravāda tradition, women who wish to go forth must first pass through the stage of being a "sikkhamānā," a person under restricted training, and do not immediately become full bhikkhunīs. This process is intended to test their diligence, aspiration, and capacity to keep the discipline.

Main Content

This sutta addresses the situation in which someone promises to provide robes (cīvara) for a particular sikkhamānā, but later fails to fulfill that promise. Such an act creates instability in the community of nuns and may interrupt the trainee's practice or affect her admission to formal bhikkhunī status.

The rule established here is that bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs should not allow participation in the ordination of a sikkhamānā when a financial or material promise has not yet been fulfilled. In other words, before a young woman is formally received into the higher status of bhikkhunī, all related commitments must be completed.

This is, in essence, a requirement of truthfulness, responsibility, and keeping one's word. If someone promises to provide something to support another person's practice, that promise must be kept. Failure to do so is not only a violation of discipline but also a lack of respect for the integrity of the Sangha community.

Practical Meaning

This sutta teaches a profound lesson on the importance of speech and promises in Buddhism.