The First Cause of the Major Offences: the Causes of Establishing the Disciplinary Rules for the Serious Offences in the Buddhist Monastic Code

Abstract

The article studied the first causes of the major offences which led to the establishment of the disciplinary rules for the serious offences  in the Buddhist Monastic Code. The offences in the Buddhist Monastic Code are divided into two.  1) Serious offences: they are  four types of major offences;  the offences involve expulsion of the persons from monkhood; 13 types of  offences entailing initial and subsequent meeting of the monastic Order.  2) Light offences include the following: 30 offences entailing expiation with forfeiture, 92 minor offences, 4 offences entailing acknowledgement, 1 offence of wrongdoing and 1 offence of wrong speech.  In addition, there are other monastic rules in which Buddhist monks violating the rules are exempted from punishment.  The rules are applied in the following cases: when the Buddhist monks break the rules without knowing it; they are not delighted with what they have violated; they are insane; they have lost concentration, they are suffering from extreme pains and they are the first cause of the establishment of the monastic rules.