Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Pc 83Concealed Places

EXPLANATION OF THE PAṬICCHANNOKĀSA DISCOURSE (CONCEALED PLACES)

Background

The Paṭicchannokāsa discourse is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Pāli Canon, specifically in the Pātimokkha Saṃvarasikkhāpadā, the prohibitions that bhikkhus must observe. This discourse belongs to the rules concerning dignity in action and determination to keep discipline.

The Pācittiya section (faults requiring confession) in the Vinaya Piṭaka records practical situations that arose in the Sangha community, when the Buddha and his disciples encountered difficulties related to ethics and discipline. The Paṭicchannokāsa discourse reflects the spirit of the Early Buddhist Dharma, not only regulating outward action, but also governing concealment or hiding in one’s intentions and conduct.

Main Content

The word “paṭicchanna” means “covered, hidden, concealed,” while “okāsa” means “place” or “space.” This discourse concerns the “hidden places” where the mind of the practitioner may conceal impure intentions, or places where we try to hide actions and motives in order to avoid ethical scrutiny.

In the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the discourse warns that deliberately concealing violations of the rules, whether from the Sangha, from revered teachers, or even trying to conceal them from one’s own consciousness, cannot escape the nature of wrongdoing. This is not a simple fault, but a double offense: both violating the rule and concealing it.

According to the Early Buddhist Dharma, concealment is a sign of a lack of transparency, of a mind that harbors and fears. A true monastic must live with transparency (avihita-cārita), not hiding one’s work, intentions, or actions. Instead, all must be carried out under the light of wisdom and ethics.

The discourse also implies that these concealed places include the “hidden corners” of the mind, where we hide malicious motives and impure thoughts from our own sight.