Confession 149

Origin Story

At that time, the bhikkhunīs lay down with lay women and non-Buddhist female renunciates on the same robe. Their bodies touched each other, and sexual desire arose in their minds. They weren’t happy with celibacy, and thereupon returned to lay life, or became non-Buddhist renunciates. As the lay women had got to know them, they later said: “Bhikkhunī So-and-so’s body is really so nice.” When they lay people later saw the bhikkhunīs, they pointed at them, fooled around, and said: “What a nice body this bhikkhunī has, or that bhikkhunī has.” The bhikkhunīs became ashamed by this. When the senior bhikkhunīs 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 lies down with a lay woman or a non-Buddhist female renunciate on the same robe, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

If they’re on the same bed with a common blanket, she should use the lower robe to separate them.

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