Lzh Sarv Bu Pm 2 Pj 4Laying False Claim to Superhuman Attainments
Pāli / Sanskrit:Uttarimanussadhamma
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THE DISCOURSE ON CLAIMING SUPERHUMAN MERIT
Background
The Uttarimanussadhamma Sutta, claiming superhuman merit, belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Theravāda tradition and is one of the important disciplinary regulations intended to protect the honesty and integrity of the Sangha. The background for the arising of this discourse is connected with incidents in which spiritual teachers or nuns claimed to possess superhuman attainments (uttarimanussadhamma) that in fact they did not have, such as divine hearing, knowledge of others' minds, or transcendent insights.
The Buddha clearly recognized that these false claims not only harmed the reputation of the individuals themselves, but also disturbed the Sangha, caused lay followers to lose faith, and gave rise to doubt concerning the teaching. Therefore, he established a strict rule to prevent this conduct.
Main Content
In this regulation, the Buddha declares that any novice or female bhikkhu who claims to possess superhuman merits such as the ability to fly, solitary psychic power (iddhisiddhi), divine eye power (dippacakkhupabhava), or other higher knowledges such as the destruction of the taints (asavakhaya), if these claims are not true, commits one of the gravest prohibited offenses.
The key point of the regulation is intention: the offense occurs only when the person declares, knowing that they do not possess those merits, or when they make the claim in a very heedless way, without verification. If someone truly possesses these merits and speaks truthfully, they do not commit an offense. However, the Theravāda Vinaya Piṭaka also records that arhats rarely declare their attainments, out of concern that it may give rise to conceit or provocation.
The consequence of this conduct is very heavy: it is one of the irrevocable offenses, requiring public confession and restoration (abbhana) if one wishes to maintain the status of bhikkhu. If one does not admit it or deliberately conceals it, that person will be barred from the Sangha.
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