BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Saṅghādisesa Chapter 5Penance. Penance does not begin immediately, but only at the convenience of theCommunity giving it. During his period of penance, the offender is partially strippedof seniority and must observe 94 restrictions (Cv.II.5-6), discussed in detail inBMC2, Chapter 19. The four most important are:1) He must not live under the same roof as a regular bhikkhu.2) He must live in a monastery with at least four regular bhikkhus.3) If he goes anyplace outside the monastery, he must be accompanied byfour full-fledged bhikkhus unless (a) he is going to escape dangers or (b) he isgoing to another place where there are regular bhikkhus of the sameaffiliation and he can reach it in one day's time.4) Every day he must inform all the bhikkhus in the monastery of the fact thathe is observing penance and the precise offense for which the penance wasimposed. If visiting bhikkhus come to the monastery, he must inform them aswell; if he goes to another monastery, he must inform all the bhikkhus there,too.If, on any day of his penance, the bhikkhu neglects to observe any of these fourrestrictions, that day does not count toward the total of six. In addition, he incurs adukkaṭa each time he fails to observe any of the 94 restrictions.Once the bhikkhu has completed his penance, he may ask a Community of at least20 bhikkhus to give him rehabilitation. Once rehabilitated, he returns to his previousstate as a regular bhikkhu in good standing.Probation. If a bhikkhu who commits a saṅghādisesa offense conceals it from hisfellow bhikkhus past dawn of the day following the offense, he must observe anadditional period of probation (parivāsa) for the same number of days as heconcealed the offense. Only after he has completed his probation may he then askfor the six-day period of penance.The Commentary sets the factors of concealment at ten, which may be arranged infive pairs as follows:1) He has committed a saṅghādisesa offense and perceives it as an offense(i.e., this factor is fulfilled even if he thinks it is a lesser offense).2) He has not been suspended and perceives that he has not been suspended.(If a bhikkhu has been suspended, he cannot accost other bhikkhus, and thushe cannot tell them until after his suspension has been lifted.)3) There are no obstacles (e.g., a flood, a forest fire, dangerous animals) andhe perceives that there are none.135