Lzh Dg Bu Vb Pc 63Intentionally Killing Living Creatures

– FOUR-PART VINAYA

– PĀCITTIYA

63. INTENTIONALLY SOWING DOUBT AND REMORSE

A. ORIGIN

At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden, Jeta's Grove, in the city of Śrāvastī. At that time, the group of seventeen monks came to ask the group of six monks:

"Venerable Elders! What is it to enter the first jhāna? The second, third, and fourth jhāna? What is it to enter emptiness, the signless, and the wishless? What is it to attain the fruit of a Sotāpanna? The fruit of a Sakadāgāmī, the fruit of an Anāgāmī, the fruit of an Arhat?"

At that time, the group of six monks said:

"By asking such questions as you have asked, you have committed a pārājika offense—you are not monks."

Thereupon, the group of seventeen monks went to the senior elder monk and asked:

"If monks ask such questions as: 'What is it to enter the first jhāna? The second, third, and fourth jhāna? What is it to enter emptiness, the signless, and the wishless? What is it to attain the fruit of a Sotāpanna? The fruit of a Sakadāgāmī, the fruit of an Anāgāmī, the fruit of an Arhat?'—what offense would they incur?"

The Elder said:

"Asking such questions incurs no offense whatsoever."

The group of seventeen monks said:

"We went to the group of six monks and asked: 'What is it to enter the first jhāna? The second, third, and fourth jhāna? What is it to enter emptiness, the signless, and the wishless? What is it to attain the fruit of a Sotāpanna? The fruit of a Sakadāgāmī, the fruit of an Anāgāmī, the fruit of an Arhat?' Those monks of the group of six then said, 'You have claimed to have attained a superhuman state—you have committed a pārājika, you are not monks!'"

That senior elder monk reflected and understood that the group of six monks had intended to sow doubt and confusion in the group of seventeen monks.

The monks heard of this, and among them were those of few desires and contentment, who practiced the dhūta austerities, were fond of training in the precepts, and knew shame; they criticized the group of six monks: "Why have you sown doubt and confusion in the group of seventeen monks?"

The monks went to the Blessed One, bowed at his feet, sat to one side, and reported this matter to the Blessed One in full. The Blessed One, on account of this matter, convened the assembly of monks and rebuked the group of six monks:

"What you have done is wrong—it is not proper conduct, not the way of a śramaṇa, not pure practice, not right behavior; you have done what should not be done. Why have you sown doubt and confusion in the group of seventeen monks?"

After rebuking the group of six monks with numerous expedient means, the Blessed One said to the monks:

"These foolish men are a field for planting many seeds of the āsavas; they are the first to commit this offense. Henceforth, I shall lay down a rule for the monks, comprising ten principles of meaning, up to and including the phrase: so that the true Dharma may long endure."

The precept should be proclaimed as follows:

Whatever monk sows doubt and confusion in another—pācittiya.

The Blessed One thus laid down this precept for the monks. At that time, a number of monks gathered together in one place and discussed the Dharma and Vinaya, but one monk left the assembly. After departing, that monk became uncertain in mind and thought: "Will those monks think that I sowed doubt in them?" The monks reported this to the Buddha, and the Buddha said:

"If there was no deliberate intention, there is no offense."

Henceforth, the precept should be proclaimed as follows:

Whatever monk deliberately and intentionally sows doubt and confusion in another, causing him to be unsettled in mind, even if only for a moment—pācittiya.

B. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OFFENSE

Monk: as explained above.

Doubt: causing doubt regarding birth, age, ordination, kammavācā, transgression of offenses, and the Dharma.

—Causing doubt regarding birth: For example, asking, "How long ago were you born?" The person replies, "I was born at such a time." One then says, "You were not born at that time. Compared to when others were born, you were not born then." This is called sowing doubt regarding birth.

—What is called sowing doubt when asking about age? For example, asking, "How old are you?" The person replies, "I am such-and-such an age." One then says, "You are not that age. Compared to others who have received the precepts, you have not yet reached that age." This is called asking about age in order to sow doubt in another.

—What is called asking in order to sow doubt about receiving ordination? For example, asking, "When you received ordination, you were not yet twenty years old. Moreover, the ordination was performed with a separate assembly outside the boundary." This is called sowing doubt regarding ordination.

—What is called sowing doubt about the kammavācā? For example, asking, "When you received ordination, the motion was not properly made, the kammavācā was not valid, and it was an unlawful separate assembly." This is called asking in order to sow doubt regarding the kammavācā.

—What is called sowing doubt about transgressions? For example, saying, "You have committed a pārājika, a saṅghādisesa, a pācittiya, a pāṭidesanīya, a thullaccaya, a dukkaṭa, a dubbhāsita." This is called sowing doubt regarding transgressions.

—What is called sowing doubt about the Dharma? For example, saying, "By asking such a question about the Dharma, you have committed a pārājika—you are not a monk." This is called sowing doubt with regard to the Dharma.

If any monk deliberately causes another monk to doubt—whether regarding birth, age, or up to and including doubt regarding the Dharma—if spoken clearly, the offense is a pācittiya; if spoken unclearly, the offense is a dukkaṭa.

For a bhikkhunī, it is a pācittiya. For a śikṣamāṇā, a śrāmaṇera, or a śrāmaṇerī, it is a dukkaṭa. These are called offenses.

Non-offense: If it is the truth, and there was no deliberate intent. If that person was truly not born at that time; fearing that later they would have cause for doubt and remorse, that without reason they would receive offerings from people and accept the reverential salutations of senior monks—one says, "You were not born at that time. Compared with when others were born, you should understand that you were not born at that time."

If it is the truth, and that person truly is not of that age; fearing that later they would have cause for doubt and remorse, that without reason they would receive the benefits offered by people and accept the reverential salutations of senior monks—one says, "You are not of that age. Compared with the age of other monks, you have not yet reached that age."

If it is the truth, that the person had not yet reached twenty years of age, and the ordination was performed with a separate assembly outside the boundary; fearing that later they would have cause for doubt and remorse, that without reason they would receive the benefits offered by people and accept the reverential salutations of senior monks, in order to let them know so that they may return to their former status and receive ordination again—one says, "You had not yet reached twenty years of age, and the ordination was performed with a separate assembly outside the boundary."

If it is the truth, that the motion was not properly made, the kammavācā was not valid, and it was an unlawful separate assembly; fearing that later they would have cause for doubt and remorse, that without reason they would receive the benefits offered by people and accept the reverential salutations of senior monks, in order to let them know so that they may return to their former status and receive ordination again—one says, "Your motion was not properly made, the kammavācā was not accomplished, and it was an unlawful separate assembly."

If it is the truth, that the person has committed a pārājika, saṅghādisesa, pācittiya, pāṭidesanīya, thullaccaya, dukkaṭa, or dubbhāsita; fearing that later they would have cause for doubt and remorse, that without reason they would receive the benefits offered by people and accept the reverential salutations of precept-observing monks, wishing to let them know so that they may confess in accordance with the Dharma—one then says, "You have committed a pārājika, up to and including a dubbhāsita."

Furthermore, if that person is of shallow understanding and does not know how to speak properly, and thus one says, "By speaking in such a way, you are claiming to have attained a superhuman state—you have committed a pārājika; this is not the conduct of a monk."

Or if one speaks in jest, speaks hastily, speaks to oneself, speaks in a dream, or intends to say one thing but says another—in all such cases above, there is no offense.

Those who do not commit an offense: one who commits an offense for the first time before the precept was laid down; one who is mentally deranged, of confused mind, or overcome by painful affliction.

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

Chinese translation: Tripiṭaka masters Buddhayaśas and Zhu Fonian.

Revised and annotated by: Bhikkhu Thích Nguyên Chứng

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

Buddhist Publication Committee, 2002