BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1Accidentally spilling or splashing water would apparently not come under the termusing here.Intention. This factor is fulfilled simply by the immediate aim of using the water. Asthe K/Commentary notes, one need not have murderous motives in order to fulfillthis factor. For example, if after perceiving that the water contains insects, onechooses to ignore their existence and boils the water — not to kill the insects, butto use the water for bathing — one commits an offense all the same."Result" is not a factor here. Whether the living beings actually die is of noconsequence in determining the offense.Non-offenses. There is no offense in using water —if one does not know that it contains living beings;if one knows that it does not contain living beings; orif one knows that the living beings it contains will not die from the use onehas in mind.Water strainers. Cv.V.13.1 gives permission for one to use a water strainer toremove dirt and living beings from water before using it, and such strainerseventually became one of a bhikkhu's eight basic requisites. According to Cv.V.13.2,one must take a water strainer along when going on a journey. If one has no strainer,one may determine the corner of one's outer robe as a strainer and use it to filterwater.Summary: Using water, or getting others to use it, knowing that it contains livingbeings that will die from that use, is a pācittiya offense.63. Should any bhikkhu knowingly agitate for the reviving of anissue that has been rightfully dealt with, it is to be confessed.Issues. An issue (adhikaraṇa) is a matter that, once arisen, must be dealt withformally in a prescribed manner. The Vibhaṅga lists four sorts:1) dispute-issues (vivādādhikaraṇa) concerning Dhamma and Vinaya (seeSg 10), which the Community must deal with by declaring which side is rightand which wrong;2) accusation-issues (anuvādādhikaraṇa) concerning offenses (see Sg 8 &9; Ay 1 & 2), which the Community must deal with by judging them true orfalse;3) offense-issues (āpattādhikaraṇa), in other words, the commission ofoffenses, which are to be dealt with by the offender's undergoing theprescribed penalties (confession, penance, or expulsion from theCommunity); and376