Lzh Mu Bu Pm Ss 8Making a Groundless Accusation Out of Anger
Pāli / Sanskrit:Duṭṭhadosa
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The Duṭṭhadosa Sutta: Making a Groundless Accusation Out of Anger
Background
The Duṭṭhadosa Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravada Buddhist tradition, the section of regulatory law for the Sangha community. This sutta records the rules of ethical cultivation laid down by the Buddha to protect the purity of the monastic collective. Rather than expounding transcendent truths, the Vinaya Piṭaka focuses on concrete ethical actions in the shared life of the community.
This sutta concerns one of the grave violations that monastics must avoid: the act of accusing another without foundation, arising from anger (dosa). This is a Saṅghādisesa offense (an offense requiring confession before the Sangha), because it destroys harmony in the community and harms mutual trust.
Main Content
According to the spirit of the Vinaya Piṭaka, this sutta states clearly: when a monastic, swept up in anger (kodha), accuses another of things that person has not done, this is a wrongful act. Anger obscures insight, causing a person to lie or give false testimony without realizing that he is violating a prohibition.
This act is a violation because it contains three elements: (1) an accusation without a basis in truth; (2) a motive arising from anger or hatred; (3) the intention to harm or demean the person accused. The Buddha identifies this offense as destroying trust (saddhā) and causing the Sangha to become divided (bheda).
One who commits this offense must confess before the Sangha, acknowledge the fault, and abandon the angry mind. The process of confession is not simply saying words of apology, but truly examining the root of hatred in one’s mind and arousing the resolve to cultivate concentration and wisdom in order to eradicate it.
Practical Meaning
The Duṭṭhadosa Sutta teaches us that in a community of practice, wrong speech, especially when it arises from hatred, has great destructive power.
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