Lzh Dg Bi Vb Pc 84Sitting Without Permission

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

RULE 84

A. ORIGIN STORY

At one time, the Bhagavān was dwelling on Mount Gijjhakūṭa near the city of Rājagaha. At that time, in the city of Rājagaha there was a high minister who had no faith in or affection for the Three Jewels. This minister had a personal seat that no one dared to sit upon. The bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā regularly came and went from this household, treating it as a donor's home.

Sthūlanandā, at the time for alms-gathering, put on her robe, took her bowl, and went there. Without asking anyone, she sat down on the minister's personal seat. The minister saw this and said: "Who told this bhikkhunī to sit on my personal seat?"

The bhikkhunī replied:

"No one did. I came and sat down of my own accord."

The minister complained indignantly: "The bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā has no sense of shame. She outwardly claims, 'I know the true Dharma.' But what kind of true Dharma is this? How could a bhikkhunī sit on another person's seat without asking the owner, just like a prostitute or a thieving woman—what difference is there?"

At that time, Sthūlanandā was in her monthly period and soiled the cushion of the seat, then left. The minister saw this and, enraged, said: "This bhikkhunī truly has no shame. She outwardly claims, 'I know the true Dharma.' Yet without asking the owner, she sat on another person's seat of her own accord, like a prostitute or a thieving woman. What kind of true Dharma is this?"

The bhikkhunīs heard of this, and among them those who were of few desires, who were content, who practiced the dhūta virtues, who were fond of training in the precepts, who had a sense of shame, reproached the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā: "How could a bhikkhunī sit on another person's seat without first asking the owner?"

The bhikkhunīs went and reported the matter to the bhikkhus. The bhikkhus went and reported it to the Blessed One. The Blessed One, on account of this incident, assembled the Sangha of bhikkhus and rebuked the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā:

"What you have done is wrong, unbecoming, contrary to the deportment of a monastic, contrary to the pure conduct, contrary to the practice of following proper behavior, and something that should not be done. Bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā, how could you sit on another person's seat without first speaking to the owner?"

After rebuking the bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā with numerous expedient means, the Blessed One said to the bhikkhus:

"The bhikkhunī Sthūlanandā is a field that cultivates many seeds of the āsavas, and she is the first to commit this offense. From now on, I shall set forth the precept for the bhikkhunīs, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the phrase 'so that the true Dharma may long endure.'"

The precept should be stated as follows:

Whatever bhikkhunī, upon entering a layperson's home, without asking the owner of the house, immediately sits upon a seat — pācittiya.

B. ANALYSIS OF THE RULE

Bhikkhunī: meaning as above.

If a bhikkhunī enters a layperson's home and, without asking the owner of the house, hastily sits upon a seat — pācittiya.

For a bhikkhu: dukkaṭa. For a sikkhāmānā, a sāmaṇera, or a sāmaṇerī: dukkaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: if one speaks to the owner first and then sits; or if there is a regularly designated seat; or if it is a relative's home; or if a relative says, "Please sit, do not hesitate — I will speak to the owner for you"; or if one sits on a stone, on a wooden bench, on an earthen platform, or on a grass mat; or if one collapses to the ground due to illness; or if one is taken away by force; or if there is danger to one's life or danger to one's chastity — in all such cases there is no offense.

Those who are without offense: one who commits the offense for the first time before the rule has been laid down; one who is mentally deranged; one whose mind is disturbed; one who is afflicted with pain and oppressed by suffering.

Vietnamese translation: Bhikkhu Thích Đỗng Minh and Thích Đức Thắng. FOUR-PART VINAYA, PART ONE

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Edited and annotated: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

(Chinese translation, fascicles 1–21; Vietnamese translation, volumes 1 and 2)

Buddhist Editorial Committee, 2002