Xct Mu Bi Pm Sk 70Finding Fault

Explanation of the Ujjhānasaññī Sutta (Finding Fault)

Background

The Ujjhānasaññī Sutta belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Suttavibhaṅga section of the Pāli Canon, and reflects the early context of training in the Sangha under the guidance of the Buddha. The Vinaya Piṭaka is the collection of texts that gathers the rules of practice and the stories that led to the arising of the Pātimokkha rules.

This sutta records an incident in the communal life of monastics, where bhikkhus had to face the problem of looking down upon and criticizing fellow practitioners in the monastery. This is one of the important lessons on discipline where teachers and fellow practitioners train together.

The title “Ujjhānasaññī” in Pāli means “those who have the perception of finding fault” or “those who habitually criticize” (ujjhāna = complaint, dissatisfaction; saññī = those who bear such a perception). This sutta therefore focuses on the human attitude of fault-finding and its consequences in the community of practice.

Main Content

The Ujjhānasaññī Sutta presents a situation in which bhikkhus constantly seek out faults and criticize the actions of other monastics, whether or not those actions are violations of the precepts. They use this criticism as a means of slander, creating division in the Sangha.

The Buddha saw that this harmed the harmony and progress in practice of the community. He not only reproached this behavior, but also pointed out that continually finding fault in others reflects an impure state of mind. This state of “ujjhāna” (complaint, discontent) contains the poisons of anger, conceit, and ignorance (moha).

The Buddha taught that a true monastic should focus on examining his or her own actions, rather than always searching for defects in others. This sutta is therefore closely related to the rules concerning improper speech recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, intended to protect loving-kindness (mettā) and harmony in the community of practice.