San Lo Bu Pm Pc 16Throwing Out a Monastic
Pāli / Sanskrit:Nikkaḍḍhana
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EXPOSITION OF THE NIKKAḌḌHANA SCRIPTURE
Background
The Nikkaḍḍhana scripture, concerning sending away a monk, is the sixteenth Pācittiya in the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravāda tradition, recorded in the collection of training rules specifically for bhikkhus. The background of this scripture is related to an event in the early monastic community. A monk had violated the rules or failed to follow the discipline of the Sangha. The Buddha and the Sangha discussed how to handle similar cases, whether it was possible to send a monk out of the community, and what conditions were necessary for carrying out such an action.
This rule arose from the need to maintain purity and discipline in the monastic body. The Vinaya Piṭaka is not merely a system of prohibitions, but an educational system intended to help monks practice according to the Dharma and preserve their conduct. Nikkaḍḍhana, meaning "expulsion" or "sending away," refers to the process and conditions under which a monk is required to leave the community.
Main Content
According to the Pāli Canon tradition, the scripture states that a monk can be sent out of the monastic body only in serious and clearly determined cases. This is not an arbitrary punishment, but a decision that must be approved by the Sangha according to formal procedure (saṅghakamma). The person to be sent away must first be warned, given the opportunity to correct himself, and only when he continues to commit serious violations is the final measure carried out.
Nikkaḍḍhana differs from Parivāsa, temporary discipline, in that it is a permanent sending away, a supreme form of exclusion. The scripture states the conditions clearly: the monk must truly have committed the fault, the Sangha must be in agreement, and the process must be carried out according to the rules. A monk who has been sent away cannot participate in the collective activities of the monastic body and is no longer accepted as an official member.
Nevertheless, Buddhist law also allows a monk who has been sent away the opportunity to repent.
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