Xct Mu Bi Ss 16Siding With One Socializing
Pāli / Sanskrit:Saṁsaṭṭhānuvattaka
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The Discourse on Following One Who Socializes
Background
The Vinaya Piṭaka is the collection of training rules for the Buddhist monastic community, taught gradually by the Buddha according to circumstances as they arose. This discourse is found in the section of rules concerning social conduct among bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs. The Pāli title "Saṁsaṭṭhānuvattaka" (following one who socializes) teaches that a bhikkhu should not imitate or closely follow a fellow practitioner or layperson, especially in relationships that may disturb composure or lead one astray from the path of awakening.
The background for this discourse was the Buddha's observation that within the monastic community there were bhikkhus who were impressionable or easily swept along by companions in practice without exercising their own discernment. This led to conduct not in keeping with the noble Dharma, or to being drawn into unwholesome things simply by following the direction of others.
Main Content
The discourse teaches that a bhikkhu should not be a person of the "saṁsaṭṭhānuvattaka" type - that is, one who "follows the course of socializing" or "clings to others in communication." This clinging means losing independence of thought and failing to verify for oneself what is right, wrong, wholesome, or unwholesome according to the Dharma.
Specifically, the Buddha taught that a bhikkhu needs the ability to judge independently. When interacting with fellow practitioners or influential persons in the community, the bhikkhu should remain firm in his own principles. He should not abandon practice or compromise the precepts he has promised to keep merely in order to fit into society within the monastic community.
The discourse especially emphasizes that a monastic must decide the path of practice for himself or herself, based on understanding of the Dharma, not merely according to trends or crowd psychology. This is a very practical warning about the hidden dangers of socializing within the monastic community when mindfulness is lacking.
Practical Meaning
The deeper meaning of this discourse concerns spiritual liberation.
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