BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1before leveling a charge against him. Thus, in context, the Burmese reading makesmore sense: Having been asked to give leave, one is allowed to assess the personmaking the request before giving him leave to speak. If we did not follow theBurmese reading here, there would be no allowance in the Vibhaṅga or theKhandhakas not to give leave to an abusive accuser.) A bhikkhu who asks for leavewith no grounds — i.e., he has not seen the other party commit the offense, hasheard no reliable report to that effect, and has no reason to suspect anything to thateffect — incurs a dukkaṭa (Mv.II.16.3).Pv.XV.4.7 gives further support to the Burmese reading here by suggesting that oneshould not give leave to a bhikkhu who:1) is unconscientious,2) is ignorant,3) is not in regular standing (e.g., he is undergoing penance for asaṅghādisesa offense or has been placed under a disciplinary transaction),4) speaks intent on creating a disturbance, or5) is not intent on rehabilitating the bhikkhu he is accusing.Pv.XV.5.4 suggests further that one should not give leave to a bhikkhu who:1) is not pure in bodily conduct,2) is not pure in verbal conduct,3) is not pure in his livelihood,4) is incompetent and inexperienced, or5) is unable to give a consistent line of reasoning when questioned.If the bhikkhu is not unqualified in any of these ways, though, one should willinglygive him leave to speak. Cv.IX.5.7 says that, when being admonished or accused,one should keep two qualities in mind: truth and staying unprovoked. ThePāṭimokkha also contains a number of rules imposing penalties on behavingimproperly when one is being admonished formally or informally: Sg 12 for beingdifficult to admonish in general, Pc 12 for being evasive or refusing to answer whenbeing formally questioned (see below), Pc 54 for being disrespectful to one'saccuser or to the rule one is being accused of breaking, and Pc 71 for findingexcuses for not following a particular training rule.If both sides act in good faith and without prejudice, accusations of this sort areeasy to settle on an informal basis. If an accusation can't be settled informally, itshould be taken to a meeting of the Community so that the group as a whole maypass judgment. The procedures for this sort of formal meeting will be discussedunder the aniyata and adhikaraṇa-samatha rules. If the issue is to be brought up ata Community meeting for the uposatha, there are extra procedures to be followed,which are discussed in BMC2, Chapter 15. If the issue is to be brought up at the116