Lzh Mi Bi Vb Pc 59Making Stains

The Discourse on Making Black Stains (Dubbaṇṇakaraṇa)

Background

The Discourse on Making Black Stains (Dubbaṇṇakaraṇa) is found in the Vinaya Piṭaka, the collection of regulations and stories concerning the discipline of the Sangha in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition. This discourse records an event related to the act of damaging the honor or blemishing the reputation of a monastic.

The historical background of the Vinaya Piṭaka belongs to the early years after the Buddha's nirvana, when the Sangha needed to establish rules for communal living in order to maintain discipline and harmony. The regulations (Vinaya) developed from specific situations that occurred among the disciples, after which the Buddha gave the corresponding instruction and rule.

The Discourse on Making Black Stains addresses the personal ethics of the monastic, specifically actions that damage one's own honor or reputation through wrongful conduct. This is an important issue in practice because honor (vaṇṇa) is not considered a material thing or a cycle of craving, but the natural result of ethical practice.

Main Content

The Vinaya Piṭaka records that a certain bhikkhu, because of his own unwholesome action, whether a violation of a minor rule or participation in scandalous acts, had himself stained his own honor. This honor is not outward appearance or the praise of people, but inner purity, the radiance of the mind of practice (padhāna).

When a bhikkhu blackens his own honor, he creates difficulty for himself on the path of training. This affects not only personal honor but also the reputation of the entire Sangha. Through the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Buddha points out that practice is not for gaining fame or avoiding criticism, but for removing mental defilements (kilesa) and attaining true purity.

Actions that stain include violating the rules of discipline, lying, unclean property, or participating in activities contrary to the spirit of renunciation.