San Sarv Bu Pm Finot Pc 28Sitting in Private

Exposition of the Rahonisajja Discourse (Sitting in Private)

Background

The Rahonisajja discourse (Sitting in Private) belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka of the Theravada tradition, the section of discipline and ethics (Vinaya) for bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. The content of this discourse is directly related to the rules of practice within the Sangha, especially regulations intended to protect the purity of the monastic community and maintain the confidence of the community of devotees.

The background for the arising of this discourse lies in the period when the Buddha and his disciples were establishing rules of conduct appropriate to the social context of ancient India. The regulations in the Vinaya Piṭaka are not rigid and unreasonable commands, but wise guidelines helping monastics avoid situations that may give rise to suspicion, harm personal honor, and damage the reputation of the Dharma.

Main Content

The Rahonisajja discourse concerns situations in which a bhikkhu, or bhikkhuni, sits privately with a woman, or with a man in the case of a bhikkhuni. This is one of the Pātimokkha regulations, the basic prohibitions in the Vinaya.

According to this rule, a monastic should not seek an opportunity to sit privately and secluded with a person of the opposite sex without a witness. This is not because the act of sitting itself is materially wrong, but because it creates favorable conditions for the suspicion and conjecture of others concerning the character of a monastic.

The discourse points out that such situations can lead to undesirable results: harming the honor of the monastic, diminishing people's confidence in the Sangha, and, more importantly, becoming an easy setting for acts that violate other precepts, especially those related to sensual desire.

This regulation expresses a profound principle: a monastic must not only avoid wrong actions, but also avoid situations from which wrongdoing may arise. This is called “prior prevention” (paccayapaṭippassaddhi).