Lzh Dg Bu Pm Pc 8Truthfully Announcing Superhuman Attainments
Pāli / Sanskrit:Bhūtārocana
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Bhūtārocana Sutra: Truthful Declaration of Supernormal Attainments
Background
The Bhūtārocana sutra, “Truthful Declaration of Supernormal Attainments,” is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Pātimokkha, the basic rules of the Theravāda Buddhist Dharma. It is a Vinaya text directly connected with the governance of the monastic community and the ethical principles that students of the Buddha must uphold.
Bhūtārocana means “declaring what is true” (bhūta: true, existent; arocana: declaration, proclamation). The background of this sutra arises from the need to protect the purity of the Sangha from those who impersonate the accomplished or make inaccurate claims about their spiritual attainments. In early communities of practice, some people falsely claimed supernormal attainments (abhiññā), such as psychic powers, divine vision, or higher states of meditation, which endangered the community’s trust and the reputation of the Buddha’s Dharma.
Main Content
The Bhūtārocana sutra addresses the rules concerning the truthful declaration of supernormal attainments. According to the Theravāda tradition, supernormal attainments include five kinds: the power of psychic accomplishment (iddhividhi), the divine ear (dibbasota), tha-citta-paricchañā-ñāṇa, knowledge of reading the minds of others, pubbenivāsānussati-ñāṇa, knowledge of recollecting past lives, and dibbacakkhu, the divine eye or divine vision.
The most important quality in this sutra is its emphasis on truthfulness (bhūta) in declaration. If a monastic or layperson has truly attained these powers through right practice, they have the right to declare them truthfully. However, making a false claim about attainments not yet reached is a grave unethical act, producing negative karmic consequences. This sutra therefore establishes standards for distinguishing those who truly possess attainments from those who make self-serving or deceptive claims.
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