Xct Mu Bi Pc 8Truthfully Announcing Superhuman Attainments
Pāli / Sanskrit:Bhūtārocana
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The Bhūtārocana Sutra: Truthfully Making Public Superhuman Achievements
Background
The Bhūtārocana Sutra (Pāli: Bhūta + arocana, meaning "making known what is true") belongs to the Vinaya Piṭaka, the collection that regulates the ethics and discipline of bhikkhus. This sutra appears among the rules concerning the conduct of monastics who request or personally claim supernormal achievements (adhimuttacārikapāramī).
The background of its composition is said to be that the Buddha declared this rule in order to protect the purity of the Sangha from those who abused spiritual fame. In the early period of Buddhism, some people sought to make public supernatural abilities or lofty meditative attainments for the purpose of obtaining offerings, honor, or influence. The Buddha set forth clear rules to prevent this phenomenon.
Main Content
The Bhūtārocana Sutra establishes that bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs may not publicly proclaim or declare "superhuman states" (atimānusikā dhammā) about themselves, whether psychic powers, powers of concentration, or meditative states they have attained. This prohibition applies whether the statement is true or not.
The reason for this regulation is profound. First, publicly declaring spiritual achievements easily leads to conceit (māna), a mental affliction that Buddhist tradition identifies as a major obstacle on the path of practice. Second, such action violates the teaching on purity: those who have truly reached supernormal achievements do not feel the need to announce or boast of them. Third, controlling such information protects the Sangha from outsiders or mentally afflicted persons who may counterfeit spiritual abilities in order to deceive others.
Specific prohibited cases include: declaring possession of kinds of attainment (samāpatti), psychic power (iddhi), supernormal knowledge (abhiññā), or any unusual mental state one believes to be beyond the range of ordinary people.
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