Xct Mu Bu Vb Pc 23Teaching Nuns for Profit

Explanation of the Āmisa Sutta (Teaching Bhikkhunīs for Gain)

Context

This sutta is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga (Analysis of the Discipline for Nuns), within the Pācittiya class of offenses requiring confession. It reflects the legal regulations that the Buddha established to maintain discipline in the community of nuns (Bhikkhunī Saṅgha).

The background arose when bhikkhunīs (ordained nuns) taught the Buddha’s Dharma to laywomen for the purpose of gaining possessions or goods (āmisa), rather than to guide them in practicing the Dharma. This action violates the spirit of practice: it is done for personal gain instead of for the spiritual liberation of the learners.

Main Content

This sutta states that any bhikkhunī who teaches the Buddha’s Dharma to laywomen with the purpose of receiving robes, food, or any property commits a Pācittiya offense. This fault requires her to confess publicly before the assembly (Sangha).

The basic principle of this rule is that teaching the Dharma and receiving material benefit from teaching should not be linked. When a bhikkhunī actively teaches in order to gain profit, her motivation is stained by greed (lobha) and other unwholesome states. This distorts the purpose of the noble Dharma from a means of liberation into a commercial instrument.

This rule also protects those being taught. If the instructor is motivated by gain, the teaching may be insincere, incomplete, or distorted to serve personal benefit rather than the liberation of the learner.

Practical Meaning

In the context of modern practice, the Āmisa Sutta reminds monastics, especially those who have a teaching role, of the importance of pure motivation. The transmission of the Buddha’s Dharma must arise from compassion and the wish to help beings escape suffering, not from the wish to accumulate wealth or fame.