Confession 151

The 151st training precept: Teaching magic arts to a lay person.

Origin Story

Location as before. Then a lay person came and asked to learn magic arts from Thullanandā bhikkhunī. The bhikkhunī then taught him a spell that said: “Xili xili pu suohe.” Having heard it, the lay person learned it, but the bhikkhunī still taught them again. They replied: “Noble one, I’ve already learned it. Don’t bother teaching it again.” Even though the bhikkhunī heard what they said, she still didn’t stop teaching them. The lay person replied angrily: “I don’t need the spell.” Then other bhikkhunīs asked: “Noble one, why do you teach magic arts to people again and again?” She answered: “I love this person and want to talk with them. Therefore I teach repeatedly.” The bhikkhunīs told the bhikkhus, and the bhikkhus told the Buddha. The Buddha asked Thullanandā: “Did you really repeatedly teach (magic) arts to people in this way?” She answered: “I really did.” As explained in detail, down to: “I’ll lay down another training precept. You should recite it like this:

Final Ruling

‘If a bhikkhunī teaches magic arts to a lay person, it’s a pācittiya.’”

Explanations

“A bhikkhunī” means Thullanandā etc.

“Teaching magic arts to a lay person” means teaching them spells.

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