Confession 118

The 118th training precept: Ordaining an excessively grieving woman.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then Thullanandā bhikkhunī gave the going forth to a woman without relatives who was grieving. She always anxiously thought about her relatives, weeping and with tears flowing all throughout the night. The bhikkhunīs were frequently woken up, and when they heard her crying, their minds were disturbed, they were unable to establish mindfulness, and their concentration was pierced. Many bhikkhunīs admonished her: “Don’t weep. This is against the rules of renunciates.” That bhikkhunī didn’t accept it and answered: “You don’t understand that suffering: My father and mother died, and I’ve also lost all my brothers, sisters, my husband, and my children. I feel instense sorrow. How could I be able to stop grieving?” The bhikkhunīs asked each other: “Who ordained such a grieving woman and gave her the going forth?” A bhikkhunī said: “This Thullā bhikkhunī ordained her.” The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked and criticized, as explained in detail, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī knows that a woman is excessively grieving, and gives her the going forth, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

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

“Excessively grieving” means always being distressed.

“Giving the going forth” is as explained above.

The explanations of the rule factors etc. are as explained in detail before.