San Mu Bu Pm GBM 2 As 4Majority Decision

The Yebhuyyasikā Sutta — Majority Decision

Background

The Yebhuyyasikā Sutta (Pāli: yebhuyyasikā, according to the majority) is an important part of the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically belonging to the Bhikkhunī Pātimokkha, the precepts for nuns. It is one of the rules for governing the purified practice community, resolving matters related to discipline and deciding issues within the Sangha, the monastic community.

The Vinaya Piṭaka established by the Buddha Śākyamuni was not for punishment, but to protect the purity (suddhisaṃvaraṇa) of the community of practice. These regulations are intended to maintain harmony, remove conduct harmful to the monastery, and help all who have gone forth attain liberation.

The Yebhuyyasikā Sutta specifically sets out the way in which nuns in the community make legal decisions through the method of Yebhuyyasikā Kamma (kamma meaning an act or formal decision). This is one of the principal methods for resolving disputes or determining reforms concerning members.

Main Content

Yebhuyyasikā means "according to the greater number" (majority decision), a democratic method of decision-making in the purified practice community. When there is a dispute over discipline or an action that must be formally declared, the Sangha gathers. Each member, whether nun or monk, expresses their view, and a vote or formal resolution follows. The decision is accepted when the majority, more than half, share the same opinion.

This method is used in situations such as:

• Determining the nature of an offense
• Deciding who needs to retrain in the precepts
• Determining whether a member has returned to lay life
• Resolving disputes in the community

Yebhuyyasikā Kamma ensures that no decision is unfair, opaque, or rejected by the whole community. This reflects a democratic spirit, respect for each member’s opinion, and the principle that the "Sangha" (community) always has the authority to resolve its internal matters.