San Lo Bu Pm Pc 75Legitimate Correction
Pāli / Sanskrit:Sahadhammika
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Sahadhammika Discourse (Legitimate Correction)
Background
Sahadhammika is a section belonging to the Pātimokkha, the basic code of the Sangha, recorded in the Vinaya of the Theravāda tradition. This section addresses a practical and subtle issue in the monastic community: how to correct the errors of fellow practitioners legitimately, so that discipline is observed while brotherhood and the order of the Sangha are preserved.
In the earliest period of Buddhism, when the Buddha was still present, rules of conduct arose from specific cases. Some monks behaved improperly, and the question arose: were other fellow practitioners permitted to correct them? According to what principles? This was not always a situation in which the Buddha could be called upon to intervene; the community had to govern itself.
Sahadhammika, meaning “together in the Dharma,” refers to the principle that correction is valid only when carried out in the spirit of the Dhamma, that is, with a motive of compassion, not hatred or pride.
Main Content
This rule states that if a monk or bhikkhunī violates the rules, fellow practitioners have the right, indeed the responsibility, to correct that person. However, such correction is considered “legitimate” (sahadhammika) only when it follows certain conditions.
First, the one who corrects must have clean practice, meaning that he must not himself be violating the very matter he criticizes. No one has the right to admonish another about faults that he himself is committing. This is a basic human principle: one has sufficient voice to guide others only when one has oneself overcome that fault.
Second, the motive must be pure. Correction must not arise from anger, resentment, or the desire to harm. It must arise from compassion, from the wish to help a fellow practitioner advance on the path of training. This is called “metta” (loving-kindness), one of the four immeasurable states that Buddhism regards as foundational for ethical action.
Third, the method must be appropriate.
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