BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1if the bhikkhu and bhikkhunī happen to travel together without having madean arrangement;if the bhikkhunī proposes an arrangement, while the bhikkhu does not givehis verbal assent;if they travel on a dubious and risky road; orif there are other dangers. The Commentary illustrates this last contingencywith a stock phrase whose meaning admits two interpretations. It starts,"Savage tribes are attacking the countryside," and then comes theambiguous part, either, "People mount their wheels (their carriages, says theSub-commentary)," or, alternatively, "The tribes seize power (anothermeaning for 'wheel')."Summary: Traveling by arrangement with a bhikkhunī from one village to another —except when the road is risky or there are other dangers — is a pācittiya offense.28. Should any bhikkhu, by arrangement, get in the same boat witha bhikkhunī going upstream or downstream — except to cross over tothe other bank — it is to be confessed."Now at that time, some group-of-six bhikkhus, having made an arrangement withsome bhikkhunīs, got in the same boat with them. People criticized and complainedand spread it about: 'Just as we sport with our wives in a boat, so too theseSakyan-son monks, having made an arrangement with bhikkhunīs, sport with themin a boat...'"(The Buddha then formulated the first version of this rule, without the exception forcrossing over to the other bank.)"Then at that time a number of bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs were traveling on the roadfrom Sāketa to Sāvatthī. Along the way, they had to cross over a river. Thebhikkhunīs said to the bhikkhus, 'We'll cross over with the masters.'"'Sisters, it isn't proper for bhikkhus, having made an arrangement, to get in thesame boat with bhikkhunīs. Either you cross over first or we will.'"'The masters are the foremost men. Let the masters cross over first.'"Then as the bhikkhunīs were crossing over afterward, thieves robbed them andraped them."The factors for the full offense here are similar to those for the preceding rule.1) Object a bhikkhunī.2) Effort: (a) One makes an arrangement together with her to get in a boattogether; (b) one actually travels together with her as arranged, goingupstream or downstream along a river (c) from one village to another.296