Bu Sk 3030. Not receiving on an even level

Samatittika Sutta: Not Receiving on an Even Level

Background

The Samatittika Sutta is recorded in the Vinaya Piṭaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Skandhaka (the Chapter on Nuns), an important section of the Vinaya pertaining to the community of nuns (bhikkhunī). This text reflects the Buddha's rulings on monastic discipline and governance within the Sangha, with particular aim at ensuring harmony, purity, and right intention within the religious community.

The name "Samatittika" (समतित्तिक / Pāli: samatittika) means "not receiving on an even level" or "not reckoning equally." This term relates to specific instances in the Vinaya concerning how regulations, higher ordination (upasampada), or rulings of Dhamma-Vinaya are to be handled when a single standard cannot be applied uniformly to all persons.

Main Content

In the context of the Vinaya Piṭaka, the Samatittika Sutta addresses the principle that it is not always possible to receive or apply the Vinaya in a uniform manner to every individual. The Buddha instructed that the differing circumstances, differing capacities, and particular situations of individual nuns require wise discernment (paññā) and compassion (karuṇā).

This reflects a profound principle within Theravāda Buddhism: the Vinaya is not a rigid, absolute set of regulations. Rather, the Buddha promulgated each training rule (sikkhāpada) in response to specific causes and actual situations that arose within the community. The Samatittika Sutta reaffirms that in certain cases, "not receiving on an even level"—that is, not applying a single rule identically to all—is precisely the most fitting way to uphold the Dhamma-Vinaya.

Specifically, in the context of the Bhikkhunī Skandhaka, each nun is to be considered case by case, on the basis of her understanding, mental disposition, and capacity for practice. This is a mark of the balanced flexibility of the middle way (majjhimā paṭipadā) that the Buddha consistently taught.