Confession 153

Origin Story

At that time, the Blessed One was in Sāvatthī in Jeta’s grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s park.

Then the group-of-six bhikkhunīs had sikkhamānās massage their bodies. When the householders saw this, they were all upset: “These bhikkhunīs know no shame, they’ve broken celibacy. Outwardly, they praise themselves: ‘We know the true dhamma’, how is that the true dhamma? They have sikkhamānās massage their bodies. There’s no difference to prostitutes and criminals.”

When the bhikkhunīs heard this, there were among them those with few wishes, who knew moderation, who practised the austerities, who were keen on training in the precepts, and who knew shame. They rebuked the group-of-six bhikkhunīs: “Why did you have sikkhamānās massage your bodies?” Then they told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus went and told the World-honored One. The World-honored One for this reason gathered the bhikkhu sangha, and criticized the group-of-six bhikkhunīs: “What you did is wrong, is improper conduct, against the rules of renunciates, an impure practice, a practice not to be followed, shouldn’t be done. Why, bhikkhunīs, did you have sikkhamānās massage your bodies?” When he had criticized them in countless ways, he said to the bhikkhus: “These bhikkhunīs have all kinds of taints, and are the first to break this precept. From now on, I’ll lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs, and state the 10 principles: … So that the true dhamma may last long. Someone wishing to recite the precept should recite like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī has a sikkhamānā massage her body, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanation

The meaning of “bhikkhunī” is as above.

If a bhikkhunī has a sikkhamānā massage her body, it’s a pācittiya.

For a bhikkhu, it’s a dukkaṭa. For a sikkhamānā, a sāmaṇera, and a sāmaṇerī, it’s a dukkaṭa. This is called “to commit”.

“Not committed” means if she has a certain illness at that time, or if she’s held by force, the offense isn’t committed.

“Not committed” means if she’s the first offender when the precept hadn’t yet been laid down, if she’s mad, if she’s distracted, or if she’s overcome with pain. (End of the 153rd rule.)