Lzh Sarv Bi Pm Dh Pc 120Giving Ordination to One Who Keeps Company of Men and Women
Pāli / Sanskrit:Giving ordination to one who keeps company of men and women
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Explanation of the Discourse: Giving Ordination to One Who Still Associates with Men and Women
Background
This discourse belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Early Buddhist tradition, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha, the disciplinary rules for bhikkhunīs. This is a detailed code of training, built from specific events in the earliest monastic community of Buddhism.
The background of the discourse concerns a practical issue in the community of female monastics: whether someone who still maintains close association with both men and women can receive lay precepts. This is not a theoretical question, but a concrete situation that arose as the Buddha and his disciples established the ethical foundation of the Sangha.
Clearly determining the conditions for receiving precepts is extremely important, because discipline is not merely a formal restriction, but the basis for authentic practice and the protection of the honor of the Buddhist community.
Main Content
This discourse deals with the situation of people who wish to receive the Five Precepts (Pañcasīla), the basic precepts for lay Buddhist practitioners, while still maintaining associative relationships (sahavāsa) with both men and women. Association here does not mean ordinary contact only, but living together, working together, or maintaining ambiguous relationships.
According to the spirit of the Early Buddhist Vinaya Piṭaka, the Theravāda tradition requires those who receive the precepts to truly aspire to leave behind obstacles in order to practice the Dharma. Keeping the precepts cannot be a surface formality, but must reflect a determined commitment to change.
For those who still live in the world and do not actively separate from complicated relationships with men and women, the question is this: can the spirit of receiving the precepts, the true commitment to ethics and self-awareness, be fulfilled? The discourse records that giving precepts in such circumstances will meet practical obstacles, because the surrounding environment does not support the foundation of the precepts.
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