BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1Of these factors, intention is the most variable. Under some rules, it deals simplywith the issue of whether the bhikkhu's action was fully deliberate. In others, it dealswith the impulse, the mental state, e.g., anger or lust, impelling his action. In others,it deals with the immediate aim of this action; in others, with the underlying motivethat the immediate aim is intended to serve. In still others, it deals withcombinations of any of these four.Another variation is that in rules where a bhikkhu may be put into a passive role incommitting an act that would fulfill the factor of effort, the factor of intention ischanged to consent: mental acquiescence to the act combined with a physical orverbal expression of that acquiescence. Under some rules, such as the rule againstsexual intercourse, simply letting the act happen counts as physical acquiescenceeven if one lies perfectly still, and the question of whether one incurs a penaltydepends entirely on the state of one's mind. Under other rules, though — such asthe rule against lustful contact with a woman, which includes cases where thewoman is the agent making the contact — simply lying still is not enough to countas a physical sign of acquiescence, and even if one consents mentally, say, to awoman's fondling, one would incur a penalty only if one says something orresponds with a physical movement to her action.Because of the many variations possible in the factor of intention, it might beargued that it should be consistently divided into such sub-factors as presence orabsence of deliberation, impulse, immediate aim, and motive. However, theVibhaṅga itself is not consistent in distinguishing among these three. Under Pr 3and Sg 1, for instance, it clearly distinguishes among them, in that impulse andmotive play no part in determining the offense in question, whereas deliberation andimmediate aim do. Under Sg 8 and 9, however, the impulse — anger — is conflatedunder motive: the desire to see another bhikkhu expelled from the Saṅgha. In fact,under most rules the Vibhaṅga does not make a clear distinction among these subfactors,so it seems artificial to force a consistent distinction throughout. Thus theapproach followed here is to place these considerations under one heading —intention — and to alert the reader to the distinctions among them only whenimportant.The factor of effort is basic to every rule and is also used to determine offenses incases where a bhikkhu intends to break a rule but does not complete the action. Forinstance, in the case of stealing, the efforts involved are said to begin when, actingunder the intent to steal, a bhikkhu gets dressed and starts walking to the object.With each of these preliminary efforts — literally, with every step — he incurs adukkaṭa. At first glance, this may seem extreme, but when we view his state of mindas having ultimate importance, this system of assigning penalties is appropriate.Every step intentionally taken toward an offense reinforces an unskillful state ofmind; the knowledge that each of these steps incurs an additional offense may helpdeter a bhikkhu from his original plans.Thus it is important, when reading about each training rule, to pay attention to whatrole these five factors play in determining the offenses related to the rule. And, ofcourse, it is important for each bhikkhu to pay attention to all five of these factors inall of his actions to make sure that he does not fall at any time into an offense. This4