Confession 81

The 81st training precept: Standing alone with a man in a secluded place.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then Thullanandā bhikkhunī stood alone with a man in a secluded place. When the brahmin householders and crowds of people had seen this, doubts gradually arose in their minds, and they said to each other: “This isn’t the type of going forth that leads to extinguishment. She stands alone in a secluded place with a man.” The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked and criticized, as explained in detail above, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

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

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means Thullā bhikkhunī, or any other bhikkhunī.

“Alone with a man” means with a lay man.

“Standing in a secluded place”: There are five kinds of obstructions that make it secluded: 1) A bamboo fence, 2) a wall, 3) a cloth screen, 4) a dense forest, or 5) a dark place.

“Standing” means abiding there standing.

… they all incur a pācittiya offense.