San Lo Bu Pm Pc 7Truthfully Announcing Superhuman Attainments
Pāli / Sanskrit:Bhūtārocana
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Explanation of the Bhūtārocana Rule
Truthfully Announcing Superhuman Attainments
Background
The Bhūtārocana rule (Bhūtārocana Pātimokkha) is one of the important provisions of the Vinaya Piṭaka in the Theravāda tradition. This legal section appears in the Pātimokkha, the basic code that bhikkhus gather to recite and confess every half lunar month.
The background for the arising of this rule relates to bhikkhus abusing spiritual powers. In the Buddha’s time, some bhikkhus declared that they possessed extraordinary attainments such as psychic powers, the divine eye, the divine ear, knowledge of former rebirths, or knowledge of others’ minds. However, they made false declarations for gain, to arouse the faith of laypeople, or to raise their own status in the community. This was an act of deceit mixed with pride and greed for gain.
The Buddha saw that this behavior caused great harm to the Sangha and to the trust of laypeople in the Dharma. Therefore, he established a precept to prevent false declarations concerning superhuman attainments.
Main Content
The Bhūtārocana rule states that any bhikkhu who declares that he possesses extraordinary attainments (iddhi-pāṭihāriya) when he does not actually possess them, or who, even if he actually possesses such attainments, declares them falsely or in order deliberately to create a misleading impression, commits a Pārājika offense, a defeat offense. This is one of the gravest offenses in the bhikkhu discipline.
This rule clearly distinguishes truth (bhūta) from falsehood. It does not prohibit a bhikkhu who truly possesses spiritual attainments from declaring them when necessary for the purpose of instruction, provided the statement is truthful (saccavihāra). However, it forbids every form of false declaration or intentional causing of others to misunderstand.
The special feature of this rule is that it touches upon a subtle ethical issue: the difference between actually possessing a spiritual power and declaring it without integrity.
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