Xct Mu Bi Pm Pc 91Seeing Obstacles to Ordination but Not Speaking
Pāli / Sanskrit:Seeing obstacles to ordination but not speaking
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Sutta on Seeing Obstacles to Ordination but Not Speaking
Background
This sutta is recorded in the Vinaya Pitaka, in the Patimokkha section of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. The Vinaya Pitaka is the collection of training rules for the community of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, established by the Buddha to regulate communal life and protect the purity of the Dharma.
This sutta concerns a very important matter in the Theravada Vinaya: the rights and responsibilities of practitioners in assessing the validity of ordination. In the Theravada tradition, ordination is the first step into the renunciant life according to the Buddha's teaching; therefore, the legitimacy and purity of this process are extremely important.
The background of the sutta arises from specific situations in the community of bhikkhus, when certain monks may see obstacles (aniruddhi-karana) preventing someone from being allowed to go forth and receive ordination, but for various reasons do not explain or warn about it.
Main Content
This sutta treats a specific disciplinary rule: the case in which a bhikkhu sees prohibitive factors regarding a person's ordination — for example, that the person has unpaid debts, has living elders whose permission has not been granted, or is in a state of slavery — and that bhikkhu does not speak out or fulfill his responsibility to warn the community.
According to the Theravada Vinaya Pitaka, these obstacles are regarded as prohibitions (aniruddhi) against valid ordination. If a person has any such obstacle and is nevertheless ordained, that ordination will not be lawful and must be corrected or annulled.
The sutta warns that a bhikkhu who sees these obstacles but does not speak or report them to the community (Sangha) violates a training rule.
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