Rule Index

Right Speech

Lying

Making an unfounded charge to a bhikkhu that he has committed a pārājika offense, in hopes of having him disrobed, is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 8)

Distorting the evidence while accusing a bhikkhu of having committed a pārājika offense, in hopes of having him disrobed, is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 9)

The intentional effort to misrepresent the truth to another individual is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 1)

Making an unfounded charge to a bhikkhu—or getting someone else to make the charge to him—that he is guilty of a saṅghādisesa offense is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 76)

Divisive speech

Telling a bhikkhu about insulting remarks made by another bhikkhu—in hopes of winning favor or causing a rift—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 3)

Abusive speech

An insult made with malicious intent to another bhikkhu is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 2) 

Idle chatter

Visiting lay families—without having informed an available bhikkhu—before or after a meal to which one has been invited is a pācittiya offense except during the robe season or any time one is making a robe. (Pc 46)

Entering a village, town, or city during the period after noon until the following dawn, without having taken leave of an available bhikkhu—unless there is an emergency—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 85)

Right Action

Killing

Intentionally bringing about the death of a human being, even if it is still an embryo—whether by killing the person, arranging for an assassin to kill the person, inciting the person to die, or describing the advantages of death—is a pārājika offense. (Pr 3)

Pouring water that one knows to contain living beings—or having it poured—on grass or clay is a pācittiya offense. Pouring anything that would kill the beings into such water—or having it poured—is also a pācittiya offense. (Pc 20)

Deliberately killing an animal—or having it killed—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 61)

Using water, or getting others to use it, knowing that it contains living beings that will die from that use, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 62)

Taking what is not given

The theft of anything worth 1/24 ounce troy of gold or more is a pārājika offense. (Pr 2)

Having given another bhikkhu a robe on a condition and then—angry and displeased—snatching it back or having it snatched back is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 25)

Making use of cloth or a bowl stored under shared ownership—unless the shared ownership has been rescinded or one is taking the item on trust—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 59)

Sexual Misconduct

Voluntary sexual intercourse—genital, anal, or oral—with a human being, non-human being, or common animal is a pārājika offense. (Pr 1)

Intentionally causing oneself to emit semen, or getting someone else to cause one to emit semen—except during a dream—is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 1)

Lustful bodily contact with a woman whom one perceives to be a woman is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 2)

Making a lustful remark to a woman about her genitals, anus or about performing sexual intercourse is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 3)

Telling a woman that having sexual intercourse with a bhikkhu would be beneficial is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 4)

Getting an unrelated bhikkhunī to wash, dye, or beat a robe that has been used at least once is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 4)

Getting an unrelated bhikkhunī to wash, dye, or card wool that has not been made into cloth or yarn is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 17)

Lying down at the same time in the same lodging with a woman is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 6)

Teaching more than six sentences of Dhamma to a woman, except in response to a question, is a pācittiya offense unless a knowledgeable man is present. (Pc 7)

Exhorting a bhikkhunī about the eight vows of respect—except when one has been authorized to do so by the Community or asked a question by a bhikkhunī—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 21)

Exhorting a bhikkhunī on any topic at all after sunset—except when she requests it—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 22)

Going to the bhikkhunīs’ quarters and exhorting a bhikkhunī about the eight vows of respect—except when she is ill or has requested the instruction—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 23)

Giving robe-cloth to an unrelated bhikkhunī without receiving anything in exchange is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 25)

Sewing a robe—or having it sewn—for an unrelated bhikkhunī is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 26)

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. (Pc 27)

Traveling by arrangement with a bhikkhunī upriver or downriver in the same boat—except when crossing a river—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 28)

When aiming at privacy, sitting or lying down alone with a bhikkhunī in an unsecluded but private place is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 30)

When aiming at privacy, sitting or lying down with a woman or women in a private, secluded place with no other man present is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 44)

When aiming at privacy, sitting or lying down alone with a woman in an unsecluded but private place is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 45)

Traveling by arrangement with a woman from one village to another is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 67)

Right Livelihood

General

Deliberately lying to another person that one has attained a superior human state is a pārājika offense. (Pr 4)

Acting as a go-between to arrange a marriage, an affair, or a date between a man and a woman not married to each other is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 5)

Engaging in trade with anyone except one’s co-religionists is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 20)

Persuading a donor to give a gift to oneself, knowing that he or she had planned to give it to a Community, is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 30)

Telling an unordained person of one’s actual superior human attainments is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 8)

Persuading a donor to give to another individual a gift that he or she had planned to give to a Community—when one knows that it was intended for the Community—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 82)

Robes

Keeping a piece of robe-cloth for more than ten days without determining it for use or placing it under shared ownership—except when the robe-season or kathina privileges are in effect—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 1)

Being in a separate zone from any of one’s three robes at dawn—except when one’s kathina privileges are in effect or one has received formal authorization from the Community—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 2)

Keeping out-of-season robe-cloth for more than 30 days when it is not enough to make a requisite and one has expectation for more—except when the robe-season and kathina privileges are in effect—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 3)

Accepting robe-cloth from an unrelated bhikkhunī without giving her anything in exchange is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 5)

Asking for and receiving robe-cloth from an unrelated lay person, except when one’s robes have been snatched away or destroyed, is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 6)

Asking for and receiving excess robe-cloth from unrelated lay people when one’s robes have been snatched away or destroyed is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 7)

When a lay person who is not a relative is planning to get robe-cloth for one but has yet to ask one what kind of cloth one wants: Receiving the cloth after making a request that would improve it is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 8)

When two or more lay people who are not one’s relatives are planning to get separate pieces of robe-cloth for one but have yet to ask one what kind of cloth one wants: Receiving cloth from them after asking them to pool their funds to get one piece of cloth—out of a desire for something fine—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 9)

Making a felt blanket/rug with silk mixed in it for one’s own use—or having it made—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 11)

Making a felt blanket/rug entirely of black wool for one’s own use—or having it made—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 12)

Making a felt blanket/rug that is more than one-half black wool for one’s own use—or having it made—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 13)

Unless one has received authorization to do so from the Community, making a felt blanket/rug for one’s own use—or having it made—less than six years after one’s last one was made is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 14)

Making a felt sitting rug for one’s own use—or having it made—without incorporating a one-span piece of old felt is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 15)

Seeking and receiving a rains-bathing cloth before the fourth month of the hot season is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. Using a rains-bathing cloth before the last two weeks of the fourth month of the hot season is also a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 24)

Taking thread that one has asked for improperly and getting weavers to weave cloth from it—when they are unrelated and have not made a previous offer to weave—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 26)

When donors who are not relatives—and have not invited one to ask—have arranged for weavers to weave robe-cloth intended for one: Receiving the cloth after getting the weavers to improve it is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 27)

Keeping robe-cloth offered in urgency past the end of the robe season after having accepted it during the last eleven days of the Rains-residence is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 28)

When one is living in a dangerous wilderness abode during the month after the Rains-residence and has left one of one’s robes in the village where one normally goes for alms: Being away from the abode and the village for more than six nights at a stretch—except when authorized by the Community—is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 29)

Wearing an unmarked robe is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 58)

Obtaining an overly large sitting cloth after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one cut the cloth down to size before confessing the offense. (Pc 89)

Obtaining an overly large skin-eruption covering cloth after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one cut the cloth down to size before confessing the offense. (Pc 90)

Obtaining an overly large rains-bathing cloth after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one cut the cloth down to size before confessing the offense. (Pc 91)

Obtaining an overly large robe after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one cut the robe down to size before confessing the offense. (Pc 92)

Food

Eating any of the five staple foods that a lay person has offered as the result of a bhikkhunī’s prompting—unless the lay person was already planning to offer the food before her prompting—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 29)

Eating food obtained from the same public alms center two days running—without leaving in the interim—unless one is too ill to leave the center, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 31)

Eating a meal to which four or more individual bhikkhus have been specifically invited—except on special occasions—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 32)

Eating a meal before going to another meal to which one was invited, or accepting an invitation to one meal and eating elsewhere instead, is a pācittiya offense except when one is ill or during the time of giving cloth or making robes. (Pc 33)

Accepting more than three bowlfuls of food that the donors prepared for their own use as presents or as provisions for a journey is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 34)

Eating staple or non-staple food that is not left-over, after having earlier in the day finished a meal during which one turned down an offer to eat further staple food, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 35)

Eating staple or non-staple food in the period from noon till the next dawn is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 37)

Eating food that a bhikkhu—oneself or another—formally received on a previous day is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 38)

Eating finer staple foods, after having asked for them for one’s own sake—except when ill—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 39)

Eating food that has not been formally given is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 40)

Eating staple or non-staple food, after having accepted it from the hand of an unrelated bhikkhunī in a village area, is a pāṭidesanīya offense. (Pd 1)

Eating staple food accepted at a meal to which one has been invited and where a bhikkhunī has given directions, based on favoritism, as to which bhikkhu should get which food, and none of the bhikkhus have dismissed her, is a pāṭidesanīya offense. (Pd 2)

Eating staple or non-staple food, after accepting it—when one is neither ill nor invited—at the home of a family formally designated as “in training,” is a pāṭidesanīya offense. (Pd 3)

Eating an unannounced gift of staple or non-staple food after accepting it in a dangerous wilderness abode when one is not ill is a pāṭidesanīya offense. (Pd 4)

Lodgings

Building a plastered hut—or having it built— without a sponsor, destined for one’s own use, without having obtained the Community’s approval, is a saṅghādisesa offense. Building a plastered hut—or having it built—without a sponsor, destined for one’s own use, exceeding the standard measurements, is also a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 6)

Building a hut with a sponsor—or having it built—destined for one’s own use, without having obtained the Community’s approval, is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 7)

When a bhikkhu is building or repairing a large dwelling for his own use, using resources donated by another, he may not reinforce the window or door frames with more than three layers of roofing material or plaster. To exceed this is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 19)

Obtaining a bed or bench with legs longer than eight sugata fingerbreadths after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one cut the legs down before confessing the offense. (Pc 87)

Obtaining a bed or bench stuffed with cotton down after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one remove the stuffing before confessing the offense. (Pc 88)

Medicine

Keeping any of the five tonics—ghee, fresh butter, oil, honey, or sugar/molasses—for more than seven days, unless one determines to use them only externally, is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 23)

When a supporter has made an offer to supply medicines to the Community: Asking him/her for medicine outside of the terms of the offer when one is not ill is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 47) 

Money

When a fund for one’s individual use has been set up with a steward, obtaining an article from the fund as a result of having prompted the steward more than the allowable number of times is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 10)

Accepting gold or money, having someone else accept it, or consenting to its being placed down as a gift for oneself, is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 18)

Obtaining gold or money through trade is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 19)

Bowls and other requisites

Carrying wool that has not been made into cloth or yarn for more than three yojanas is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 16)

Keeping an alms bowl for more than ten days without determining it for use or placing it under shared ownership is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 21)

Asking for and receiving a new alms bowl when one’s current bowl is not beyond repair is a nissaggiya pācittiya offense. (NP 22)

Obtaining a needle box made of bone, ivory, or horn after making it—or having it made—for one’s own use is a pācittiya offense requiring that one break the box before confessing the offense. (Pc 86)

Communal Harmony

To persist—after the third proclamation of a formal rebuke in the Community—in trying to form a schismatic group or in taking up a position that can lead to schism is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 10)

To persist—after the third proclamation of a formal rebuke in the Community—in supporting a potential schismatic is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 11)

To persist—after the third proclamation of a formal rebuke in the Community—in being difficult to admonish is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 12)

To persist—after the third proclamation of a formal rebuke in the Community—in criticizing a banishment transaction performed against oneself is a saṅghādisesa offense. (Sg 13)

When a trustworthy female lay follower accuses a bhikkhu of having committed a pārājika, saṅghādisesa, or pācittiya offense while sitting alone with a woman in a private, secluded place, the Community should investigate the charge and deal with the bhikkhu in accordance with whatever he admits to having done. (Ay 1)

When a trustworthy female lay follower accuses a bhikkhu of having committed a saṅghādisesa or pācittiya offense while sitting alone with a woman in an unsecluded but private place, the Community should investigate the charge and deal with the bhikkhu in accordance with whatever he admits to having done. (Ay 2)

Telling an unordained person of another bhikkhu’s serious offense—unless one is authorized by the Community to do so—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 9)

Persistently replying evasively or keeping silent in order to conceal one’s own offenses when being questioned in a meeting of the Community—after a formal charge of evasive speech or being frustrating has been brought against one—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 12)

If a Community official is innocent of bias: Criticizing him within earshot of another bhikkhu is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 13)

When one has set a bed, bench, mattress, or stool belonging to the Community out in the open: Leaving its immediate vicinity without putting it away, arranging to have it put away, or taking leave is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 14)

When one has spread bedding out in a dwelling belonging to the Community: Departing from the monastery without putting it away, arranging to have it put away, or taking leave is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 15)

Intruding on another bhikkhu’s sleeping or sitting place in a dwelling belonging to the Community, with the sole purpose of making him uncomfortable and forcing him to leave, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 16)

Causing a bhikkhu to be evicted from a dwelling belonging to the Community—when one’s primary impulse is anger—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 17)

Sitting or lying down on a bed or bench with detachable legs on an unplanked loft in a dwelling belonging to the Community, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 18)

Saying that a properly authorized bhikkhu exhorts the bhikkhunīs for the sake of worldly gain—when in fact that is not the case—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 24)

Deliberately tricking another bhikkhu into breaking Pācittiya 35, in hopes of finding fault with him, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 36)

Speaking or acting disrespectfully after having been admonished by another bhikkhu for a breach of the training rules is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 54)

Agitating to re-open an issue, knowing that it was properly dealt with, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 63)

Not informing another bhikkhu of a serious offense that one knows a third bhikkhu has committed—out of a desire to protect the third bhikkhu either from having to undergo the penalty or from the jeering remarks of other bhikkhus—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 64)

Acting as the preceptor in the full Acceptance (ordination) of a person one knows to be less than 20 years old is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 65)

Refusing—after the third proclamation of a formal rebuke in a meeting of the Community—to relinquish the evil view that there is nothing wrong in intentionally transgressing the Buddha’s ordinances is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 68) 

Communing, affiliating, or lying down under the same roof with a bhikkhu who has been suspended and not been restored—knowing that such is the case—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 69)

Befriending, receiving services from, communing, or lying down under the same roof with an expelled novice—knowing that he has been expelled—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 70)

When being admonished by another bhikkhu with regard to a training rule formulated in the Vinaya, saying something as a ploy to excuse oneself from training under the rule is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 71)

Criticizing the discipline in the presence of another bhikkhu, in hopes of preventing its study, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 72)

Using half-truths to deceive others into believing that one is ignorant of the rules in the Pāṭimokkha—after one has already heard the Pāṭimokkha in full three times, and a transaction exposing one’s deceit has been brought against one—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 73)

Giving a blow to another bhikkhu when impelled by anger—except in self-defense—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 74)

Making a threatening gesture against another bhikkhu when impelled by anger—except in self-defense—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 75)

Intentionally provoking anxiety in another bhikkhu that he may have broken a rule, when one has no other purpose in mind, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 77)

Eavesdropping on bhikkhus involved in an argument over an issue—with the intention of using what they say against them—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 78)

Complaining about a Community transaction to which one gave one’s consent—if one perceives the transaction as having been carried out in accordance with the rule—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 79)

Getting up and leaving a meeting of the Community in the midst of a valid transaction that one knows to be valid—without having first given one’s consent to the transaction and with the intention of invalidating it—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 80) 

After participating in a Community transaction giving robe-cloth to a Community official: Complaining that the Community acted out of favoritism is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 81)

When the Community is dealing formally with an issue, the full Community must be present, as must all the individuals involved in the issue; the proceedings must follow the patterns set out in the Dhamma and Vinaya. (As 1)

If the Community unanimously believes that a bhikkhu is innocent of a charge made against him, they may issue a transaction declaring him innocent on the basis of his memory of the events. (As 2)

If the Community unanimously believes that a bhikkhu was insane while committing offenses against the rules, they may issue a transaction absolving him of any responsibility for the offenses. (As 3)

If a bhikkhu commits an offense, he should willingly undergo the appropriate penalty in line with what he actually did and the actual seriousness of the offense. (As 4)

If an important dispute cannot be settled by a unanimous decision, it should be submitted to a vote. The opinion of the majority, if in accord with the Dhamma and Vinaya, is then considered decisive. (As 5)

If a bhikkhu admits to an offense only after being interrogated in a formal meeting, the Community should carry out a further-punishment transaction against him, rescinding it only when he has mended his ways. (As 6)

If, in the course of a dispute, both sides act in ways unworthy of contemplatives, and the sorting out of the penalties would only prolong the dispute, the Community as a whole may make a blanket confession of its light offenses. (As 7)

The Etiquette of a Contemplative

Training a novice or lay person to recite passages of Dhamma by rote is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 4)

Lying down at the same time, in the same lodging, with a novice or layman for more than three nights running is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 5)

Digging soil or commanding that it be dug is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 10)

Intentionally cutting, burning, or killing a living plant is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 11)

Handing food or medicine to a person ordained in another religion is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 41)

Sending another bhikkhu away so that he won’t witness any misconduct one is planning to indulge in is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 42)

To sit down intruding on a man and a woman in their private quarters—when one or both are sexually aroused, and when another bhikkhu is not present—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 43)

Watching a field army—or similar large military force—on active duty, unless there is a suitable reason, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 48)

Staying more than three consecutive nights with an army on active duty—even when one has a suitable reason to be there—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 49)

Going to a battlefield, a roll call, an array of the troops in battle formation, or to see a review of the battle units while one is staying with an army is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 50)

Taking an intoxicant is a pācittiya offense regardless of whether one is aware that it is an intoxicant. (Pc 51)

Tickling another bhikkhu is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 52)

Jumping and swimming in the water for fun is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 53)

Attempting to frighten another bhikkhu is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 55)

Lighting a fire to warm oneself—or having it lit—when one does not need the warmth for one’s health is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 56)

Bathing more frequently than once a fortnight when residing in the middle Ganges Valley, except on certain occasions, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 57)

Hiding another bhikkhu’s bowl, robe, sitting cloth, needle case, or belt—or having it hidden—either as a joke or with the purpose of annoying him, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 60) 

Traveling by arrangement with a group of thieves from one village to another—knowing that they are thieves—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 66)

Entering a king’s sleeping chamber unannounced, when both the king and queen are in the chamber, is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 83)

Picking up a valuable, or having it picked up, with the intention of putting it in safe keeping for the owner—except when one finds it in a monastery or in a dwelling one is visiting—is a pācittiya offense. (Pc 84)