San Sarv Bi Vb Pc 117Ordaining Trained Candidate Without Approval

Explanation of Sikkhita-sikkhamānā-asammata

Proceeding with a Trained Female Candidate Without Permission

Background

This rule is recorded in the Pātimokkha of the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the Vinaya for nuns, in the Pācittiya section, dealing with disciplinary violations by nuns. In the Buddha's time, communities of women monastics had been established with careful governance. Receiving a training companion (sikkhamānā, Pāli) into the community of female renunciants or bhikkhunīs was a simple act, but it involved the consent of the entire Sangha.

In the Theravāda Pāli Canon, sikkhamānā is an intermediate stage between upāsikā, a laywoman, and bhikkhunī, a nun. A female sikkhamānā must observe expanded precepts and be supervised by experienced bhikkhunīs. Receiving a person who has been trained into this status, or elevating that person's status, must follow the formal procedure of the whole Sangha.

Main Content

Sikkhita-sikkhamānā-asammata deals with the situation in which a trained nun (sikkhita) has completed her period of training and is ready to be formally received into the Sangha, but this process is carried out without the consent (asammata, not approved) of the bhikkhunī community.

Continuing or upgrading the status of a trainee is not the personal decision of one nun or even a small group of nuns. According to the rules of the Sangha, every formal act must be performed through a solemn procedure, with the witness and consent of at least five or ten nuns, depending on the circumstances. This omission, continuing the training of a companion without the approval of the whole Sangha, is considered a Pācittiya offense.

Pācittiya (Pāli: pāci-ttiya) is a kind of disciplinary offense requiring "public remorse" before other nuns. It is not the gravest disciplinary offense, such as Pārājika or Saṅghādisesa, but it still requires recognition of the mistake and a sincere apology.