BUDDHIST MONASTIC CODE I

Buddhist Monastic Code 1— Ven. Pilindavaccha uses his psychic powers to retrieve a pair of kidnappedchildren. The Buddha states that this entails no penalty because such a thing lies inthe province of those with psychic power. The Vinaya-mukha, in discussing thiscase, takes it as a precedent for saying that if a bhikkhu returns a stolen article toits legal owner, there is no offense. The Buddha's statement, though, was probablymeant to discourage bhikkhus without psychic powers from getting directly involvedin righting wrongs of this sort. If a bhikkhu without psychic powers happens to learnof the whereabouts of stolen goods, kidnapped children, etc., he may inform theauthorities, if he sees fit, and let them handle the situation themselves. However, forsafety's sake, a bhikkhu living in a wilderness frequented by thieves would be wisenot to be perceived as siding either with the thieves or the authorities.Summary: The theft of anything worth 1/24 ounce troy of gold or more is a pārājikaoffense.3. Should any bhikkhu intentionally deprive a human being of life, orsearch for an assassin for him, or praise the advantages of death, orincite him to die (saying): "My good man, what use is this evil,miserable life to you? Death would be better for you than life," or withsuch an idea in mind, such a purpose in mind, should in various wayspraise the advantages of death or incite him to die, he also isdefeated and no longer in affiliation.This rule against intentionally causing the death of a human being is bestunderstood in terms of five factors, all of which must be present for there to be thefull offense.1) Object: a human being, which according to the Vibhaṅga includes humanfetuses as well, counting from the time consciousness first arises in the wombimmediately after conception up to the time of death.2) Intention: knowingly, consciously, deliberately, and purposefully wanting tocause that person's death. "Knowingly" also includes the factor of —3) Perception: perceiving the person as a living being.4) Effort: whatever one does with the purpose of causing that person to die.5) Result: The life-faculty of the person is cut as the result of one's act.Object. The Vibhaṅga defines a human being as a person "from the timeconsciousness first becomes manifest in a mother's womb, up to its death-time." Itfollows from this that a bhikkhu who intentionally causes an abortion — by arrangingfor the operation, supplying the medicines, or giving advice that results in anabortion — incurs a pārājika. A bhikkhu who encourages a woman to use a meansof contraception that works after the point of conception would be guilty of apārājika if she were to follow his advice.50