Lzh Dg Bi Pm Pc 3Malicious Talebearing

Sutra on the Fault of Malicious Talebearing (Pesuñña Pācittiya)

Background

Pesuñña, or speaking ill behind another’s back, malicious talebearing, is one of the improper practices in early Buddhism. This sutra belongs to the Pācittiya section of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the discipline of conduct for bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. Pācittiya offenses are more serious than ordinary training rules and require public confession before fellow practitioners.

In the context of the early Sangha, when monastics lived together in communities of practice, the fault of malicious speech became a serious problem. Distorted speech can destroy relationships among members and break the harmony (samaggi) that is the foundation of the practicing Sangha. Therefore, the Buddha laid down a specific disciplinary rule to prevent this action.

Pesuñña differs from other forms of false speech. It is not simply direct but false speech, but the deliberate carrying of words from one person to another with the aim of creating division, causing harm, or producing discord. This is a definite act with malicious intent, called “malicious intent” in the scriptures.

Main Content

According to the Vinaya regulation, a monastic or bhikkhunī who intends to create division and uses malicious speech to damage harmonious relationships among members commits a Pācittiya offense. The act is clearly defined: (1) it must be speech about another person; (2) the words must be selected in order to cause harm; (3) the intention must be to create division, not to correct rightly; (4) the recipient of the words must be someone other than the person spoken about.

The Buddha taught that if there is a legitimate reason to speak about someone’s fault, such as giving constructive advice directly to that person, or protecting the Sangha from harmful conduct, then it is not malicious talebearing. Malicious talebearing occurs only when the motive is purely self-serving and the purpose is destructive.

This subtle distinction is very important in the Vinaya. A monastic may point out another’s fault publicly, but if this is done for the purpose of building up the community and not to demean another, then no offense is committed.