Confession 75

Origin Story

At that time, the bhikkhunīs stood and talked with bhikkhus alone in a secluded place, and defiled attachment arose in their minds. Thereupon they returned to lay life, or became non-Buddhist renunciates. When the lay people saw it, they said: “These bhikkhus and bhikkhunīs stand and talk alone in a secluded place, they must be speaking about sex. This isn’t the practice of renunciates. They’ve broken the rules of renunciates.” When the senior bhikkhunīs saw and heard it, they criticized them in all kinds of ways, … “I now lay down a precept for the bhikkhunīs, as explained above. From now on, this precept should be recited thus:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī stands and talks with a bhikkhu alone in a secluded place, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

For a sikkhamānā and a sāmaṇerī, it’s a dukkaṭa.

If there are many bhikkhunīs and one bhikkhu, or when there are the eight difficulties, the offense isn’t committed.