Lzh Mi Bi Pm Pc 32Viewing a Military Action
Pāli / Sanskrit:Uyyodhika
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Explanation of the Uyyodhika Sutta (Viewing Military Activity)
Background
The Uyyodhika Sutta is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, within the Pātimokkha Saṁvara of the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. This sutta concerns the training rules that bhikkhunīs must observe in order to maintain the purity of the renunciant life. In the context of ancient India, the military sphere was a field of extraordinary activity for those who relied on violence and weapons, wholly contrary to the compassionate spirit of the Buddha-Dharma.
The appearance of this sutta in the Pātimokkha shows that the Buddha and the earliest Sangha deeply understood that the process of practicing the Buddha-Dharma concerns not only outward actions, but also activities of perception, the places where the mind constructs ambition, anger, and violence. This sutta serves the purpose of protecting the spiritual life of the Sangha from the harmful influences of the ambition to conquer.
Main Content
The Uyyodhika Sutta lays down that bhikkhunīs should not watch military activities, whether military parades, the arrangement of armies, or displays of martial force. More specifically, this sutta warns that giving attention and mind to sights connected with violence and war can cause one to lose concentration on the Dharma, making the mind distracted and giving rise to unwholesome mental states.
The humane point of the Pātimokkha here is not a comprehensive prohibition against “seeing,” but a warning concerning the attitude of “watching in order to receive and enjoy” (sammati-sampassana). The subtle difference between accidentally witnessing a military event that a monastic cannot avoid, and deliberately seeking out such sights to satisfy curiosity or interest in violence, is something the Pātimokkha examines carefully.
Practical Meaning
The deeper meaning of the Uyyodhika Sutta does not stop at avoiding the sight of military affairs in ancient times.
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