BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code IChapter 8.8Pācittiya: The In-accordance-with-the-rule Chapter71. Should any bhikkhu, admonished by the bhikkhus in accordancewith a rule, say, "Friends, I will not train myself under this training ruleuntil I have put questions about it to another bhikkhu, competent andlearned in the discipline," it is to be confessed. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu intraining should understand, should ask, should ponder. This is theproper course here.This rule deals with cases where a bhikkhu tries to excuse himself from followingany of the training rules without showing out-and-out disrespect for the rule or theperson admonishing him. (If he showed out-and-out disrespect, the case wouldcome under Pc 54.) The factors for the full offense here are three.1) Object: One has been admonished by a fellow bhikkhu who cites a ruleformulated in the Vinaya.2) Intention: One does not want to train oneself in line with the rule.3) Effort: As a ploy to excuse oneself, one says something to the effect thatone will not train in line with the rule.Only two of these factors — object and effort — require explanation.Object. The explanation for this factor is exactly the same as under Pc 54.Perception as to whether the person giving the admonishment is ordained isirrelevant to the offense (see Pc 42).Effort. Looking at the Vibhaṅga's discussion of this factor, it would appear to coveronly cases where one used the precise words mentioned in the training rule, but theK/Commentary — drawing probably on the Great Standards — expands it to coverany case where one says something as a ploy to excuse oneself from following therule without showing disrespect. Examples might include: "I'll worry about that rulewhen I come to it." "I don't have time for that right now." "I've been wondering: Doyou really think that that rule applies in this day and age? It gets in the way of ourspreading the Dhamma." In other words, this factor closes any loopholes left by Pc54.Non-offenses. According to the Vibhaṅga, the only way to avoid an offense insituations like this is to say that one will learn about the rule and train in line with it.As the non-offense clauses to Pc 54 make clear, though, if one has beenadmonished with any interpretation of a rule that differs from one's teachers', onemay avoid an offense simply by stating that one's teachers taught differently.393