Lzh Mu Bi Pm Pj 4Laying False Claim to Superhuman Attainments
Pāli / Sanskrit:Uttarimanussadhamma
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Exposition of the Uttarimanussadhamma Sutta
On Falsely Declaring Superhuman Qualities
Background
The Uttarimanussadhamma Sutta, provisionally translated as “Superhuman Dhammas,” belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, the most ancient sacred collection of Theravāda Buddhism. This text is especially important in establishing monastic discipline (the Bhikkhu Vinaya), in order to protect the purity of the Sangha community and prevent deceitful conduct that harms the faith of devotees.
The context in which the text arose concerns situations in early Buddhist history when some people falsely declared that they had attained supernormal wisdom such as prajñā, or had realized the fruits of arhatship, while in fact they had never attained them. Such conduct not only violates ethics but also deceives the Buddhist community, diminishing the prestige of the Dharma and the Sangha community.
Main Content
The text stipulates that any monastic who falsely declares that he or she has attained superhuman qualities (uttarimanussadhamma), such as wisdom surpassing ordinary human beings, supernatural abilities, or lofty meditative attainments, while in reality having never attained them, commits one of the gravest offenses in the Bhikkhu Vinaya.
The “superhuman qualities” mentioned in the text include attainment of arhatship and other fruits (stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning), possession of qualities of concentration and wisdom (samadhi-panna), or abilities such as psychic power (iddhi), knowledge of others’ minds (cetopariya), or the divine ear (dibbasota).
The crucial point is that the text requires absolute honesty. If a monastic has not truly attained, for any reason whatsoever, he or she must not declare or imply that these qualities have been attained. The act of false declaration is regarded as a Pārājika, that is, one of the offenses that severs the discipline, with the consequence of permanent expulsion from the Sangha community.
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