Similarities and Differences Between Bhikkhu Precepts and Bhikkhuni Precepts

The bhikkhuni precepts for the most part coincide with those of the bhikkhus, being drawn directly from the bhikkhu precepts. However, owing to the considerable physiological and psychological differences between women and men, a number of bhikkhu precepts cannot be applied to bhikkhunis, and bhikkhunis must also have their own special regulations. Therefore, while the precepts of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis share much in common, they also differ in important respects.

It is commonly said that bhikkhunis observe five hundred precepts. This is merely a rough figure, for in fact none of the five Vinaya collections contains a full five hundred precepts in its text. Yet, judged by actual circumstances and needs, the number is far greater than five hundred.

The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Four-Part Vinaya) sets forth 348 bhikkhuni precepts: eight parajikas (the first four identical to those of the bhikkhus), seventeen saṅghādisesas (of which seven are identical to the bhikkhus'), thirty nissaggiya pācittiyas (of which eighteen are identical), 178 pācittiyas (of which sixty-nine are identical), eight pāṭidesanīyas (entirely distinct from the bhikkhus'), one hundred rules to be studied (two rules—about walking with swaying of the body and about urinating or defecating on growing grass or vegetables—are dukkata for bhikkhus but pācittiya for bhikkhunis; the rest are identical), and seven rules for settling disputes (entirely identical to the bhikkhus'). In total, 198 precepts are identical with those of the bhikkhus, while 150 differ from the bhikkhus' precepts.

The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya (Root Vinaya of the Sarvāstivādins) contains 354 bhikkhuni precepts: eight parajikas, twenty saṅghādisesas, thirty-three nissaggiya pācittiyas, 180 pācittiyas, eleven pāṭidesanīyas, ninety-five rules to be studied, and seven rules for settling disputes. Its points of agreement and difference with the bhikkhu precepts are broadly similar to those of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, with slight variations.

The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (Five-Part Vinaya) contains 377 bhikkhuni precepts (though the precept section lists 381): eight parajikas (the first four identical to the bhikkhus'), seventeen saṅghādisesas (of which five are identical), thirty nissaggiya pācittiyas (of which eighteen are identical), 207 pācittiyas (the precept section lists 210, of which sixty-eight are identical), eight pāṭidesanīyas (entirely distinct from the bhikkhus'), one hundred rules to be studied (urinating or defecating on growing grass or vegetables is pācittiya for bhikkhunis; the rest are identical to the bhikkhus'), and seven rules for settling disputes (entirely identical). In total, 201 precepts are identical with those of the bhikkhus, while 176 differ.

The Ten Recitations Vinaya (the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya) contains 354 bhikkhuni precepts: eight parajikas (the first four identical to the bhikkhus'), seventeen saṅghādisesas (of which seven are identical), thirty nissaggiya pācittiyas (of which nineteen are identical), 178 pācittiyas (of which seventy-one are identical), eight pāṭidesanīyas (entirely distinct), one hundred and six rules to be studied, and seven rules for settling disputes.

The Mahāsaṃghika Vinaya contains 290 bhikkhuni precepts: eight parajikas, nineteen saṅghādisesas, thirty nissaggiya pācittiyas, 141 pācittiyas, eight pāṭidesanīyas, seventy-seven rules to be studied, and seven rules for settling disputes.

The Sūtra of Liberating Precepts (Vinaya of Liberation) consists of only one fascicle and contains bhikkhu precepts but no bhikkhuni precepts. Among the bhikkhuni precepts found in the five Vinaya collections mentioned, the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya has the most and the Mahāsaṃghika Vinaya the fewest. Yet even the largest is only 377 precepts; the so-called five hundred bhikkhuni precepts is merely a rough figure.

The Record of Observances (fascicle 1 of the middle volume), citing the Treatise on Clear Understanding (Míngliǎo Lùn), explains the phrase "forty-two thousand streams of merit flow ceaselessly" as meaning there are forty-two thousand precepts. There is also a method of statistical division that systematically divides the precepts of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis into two groups: "Bhikkhu precepts: minimally 250, moderately three thousand patterns of conduct and sixty thousand minor acts, and extensively immeasurable; bhikkhuni precepts 348, moderately eighty thousand patterns of conduct and one hundred and twenty thousand minor acts, extensively also immeasurable." These are all speculative numerological classifications and are in fact unlikely to be taken so rigidly.

For bhikkhus, the parajika and saṅghādisesa sections are uniformly four parajikas and thirteen saṅghādisesas across all Vinaya traditions. However, from the saṅghādisesa category onward, the bhikkhuni precepts differ among the various Vinaya texts: the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya has seventeen saṅghādisesas; the Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī Vinaya has twenty; the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, though sharing the same number of seventeen saṅghādisesas as the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, differs in content; the Ten Recitations Vinaya also has seventeen; and the Mahāsaṃghika Vinaya has nineteen. This is one point of difference between the bhikkhu and bhikkhuni precepts.

The bhikkhu precepts are divided into five sections and seven categories; the bhikkhuni precepts have no category of "indeterminate offenses" and thus consist of only five sections and six categories. This is another point of difference between the two codes.

When a bhikkhu makes bodily contact with a woman—whether adult, minor, dead, or alive, and regardless of which part of the body—any intentional flesh-to-flesh contact constitutes a saṅghādisesa offense. When a bhikkhuni makes bodily contact with a man, the contact must be with an adult man known to harbor a mind of sexual desire toward her, and the contact must be intentional and occur above the knee, below the nape, or behind the wrist; in such a case, it constitutes a parajika offense. This is another point of difference.

If a bhikkhu knows that another bhikkhu has committed a grave offense such as one of the four parajikas or thirteen saṅghādisesas, and conceals it without reporting the offense, he commits a pācittiya. If a bhikkhuni knows that another bhikkhuni has committed a parajika offense and neither confesses it herself nor reports it to the Saṅgha, she commits a parajika. This is another point of difference.

If a bhikkhu deliberately handles his own sexual organ (akin to what modern people call masturbation) until emission occurs, he commits a saṅghādisesa. If a bhikkhuni deliberately handles her own sexual organ to the point of emission (referring to vaginal secretions, which occur in women when they entertain sexual thoughts, engage in sexual activity, or have an object inserted into the vagina), according to vol. 3 of the Sarvāstivāda Treatise, emission in women is not as easily provoked as in men, and the offense is pācittiya. According to vol. 12 of the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya, if a bhikkhuni strikes her sexual organ with her hand, she commits a pācittiya; if there is emission of impurity, a thullaccaya.

Vol. 40 of the Mahāsaṃghika Vinaya also states that if a bhikkhuni flushes her vagina with water, inserts an object into it, or does so out of a desire for sexual release, she commits a thullaccaya; emission also constitutes a thullaccaya. This is another point of difference. (Note: Excessive male masturbation can lead to tuberculosis, neurasthenia, and seminal emission; excessive female self-manipulation can cause leukorrhea, uterine tumors, uterine prolapse, and menstrual disorders.)

If a bhikkhu eats the five pungent vegetables, such as garlic, he commits a dukkata. A bhikkhuni committing the same offense commits a pācittiya. This is another point of difference.

If a bhikkhu anoints his body with perfume, he commits a dukkata. A bhikkhuni committing the same offense commits a pācittiya. This is another point of difference.

If a bhikkhu urinates or defecates on growing grass or vegetables, he commits a dukkata. A bhikkhuni committing the same offense commits a pācittiya. This is another point of difference.

If a bhikkhu walks with a swaying of the body, he commits a dukkata. A bhikkhuni committing the same offense commits a pācittiya. This is another point of difference.

There are many more similarities and differences of this kind, as well as precepts formulated separately for the two Saṅghas, which cannot all be enumerated here.

The most significant point of difference in the bhikkhuni precepts is the Eight Rules of Reverence (Garudhammas). The Eight Rules of Reverence are the earliest body of bhikkhuni law. When the five hundred women of the Śākya clan led by Mahāpajāpatī went forth into homelessness, they did so by accepting the Eight Rules of Reverence instituted by the Buddha and thereby became bhikkhunis. Later, although the so-called five hundred bhikkhuni precepts were formulated, bhikkhunis are still required, in addition to observing the five hundred precepts, to observe the Eight Rules of Reverence, which form the core of the bhikkhuni precepts.

The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya refers to the Eight Rules of Reverence as the "Eight Things That Must Not Be Transgressed"; they are also called the "Eight Things That Must Not Be Violated." These are rules that bhikkhunis are obliged to observe and cannot but observe. The Eight Things That Must Not Be Transgressed, as listed in vol. 48 of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya, in the section on the Bhikkhuṇī Khandhaka, are transcribed below:

(1) Even a bhikkhuni of a hundred years' standing, upon seeing a newly ordained bhikkhu, should rise to greet him, bow to him, arrange a clean seat for him, and invite him to be seated. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(2) A bhikkhuni should not revile or rebuke a bhikkhu, nor should she defame him by saying that he has broken precepts, holds wrong views, or is deficient in deportment. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(3) A bhikkhuni should not bring charges of an offense against a bhikkhu, nor remind him of an offense, nor call upon him to acknowledge one; she should not obstruct his search for offenses, his recitation of the precepts, or his pavāraṇā ceremony; a bhikkhuni should not rebuke a bhikkhu, but a bhikkhu may rebuke a bhikkhuni. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(4) A sikkhamānā who has completed her training should request full ordination from the bhikkhu Saṅgha. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(5) A bhikkhuni who has committed a saṅghādisesa offense should undergo the manatta discipline (literally "the act of pleasing" or "of gladdening the assembly") before both Saṅghas for a fortnight. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(6) A bhikkhuni should, every fortnight, request instruction from the (bhikkhu) Saṅgha. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(7) A bhikkhuni should not observe the rains retreat in a place where there is no bhikkhu. This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

(8) When the bhikkhunis' rains retreat has concluded, they should go to the bhikkhu Saṅgha to request the threefold pavāraṇā (whereby the bhikkhus may bring up any offenses they have seen, heard, or suspected against the bhikkhunis, this being the threefold pavāraṇā). This rule should be respected, honored, and praised, and must not be transgressed for the entirety of one's life.

In China, it seems the sikkhamānā training has never been practiced. As for the bhikkhunis' fortnightly request for instruction from the bhikkhu Saṅgha, the Tang dynasty vinaya master Daoxuan of Nanshan remarked: "In this age, most follow the abbreviated method, for it is difficult to fully perform the elaborate method." The bhikkhunis' request for bhikkhu instruction may be carried out in either an elaborate or an abbreviated form. The elaborate method is this: after the bhikkhuni Saṅgha has sent the request, the bhikkhu Saṅgha must dispatch a virtuous senior bhikkhu to go to the bhikkhunis' monastery to instruct them. The abbreviated method is this: the bhikkhuni Saṅgha sends a messenger to make the request, and the bhikkhu Saṅgha simply states: "In this assembly there is no one able to instruct bhikkhunis; be diligent and do not be heedless." The bhikkhuni then responds: "I shall follow this instruction." With that, the abbreviated method is considered performed. Since the elaborate method was not practiced even in the Tang dynasty, by the Song dynasty the vinaya master Yuanzhao of Lingzhi observed: "In our time both the elaborate and abbreviated methods have fallen into disuse; one can only know of them and take them as learning for the future." As for the requirement that bhikkhunis undergo the saṅghādisesa disciplinary process before a dual assembly of bhikkhus and bhikkhunis, because in China bhikkhunis have always received full ordination directly from a single bhikkhu assembly, the dual-assembly saṅghādisesa process must be all the more rare in actual practice. Regarding the rains retreat and the conclusion-of-retreat pavāraṇā, in present-day Taiwan, great virtuous ones have been promoting these practices, but it is regrettable that bhikkhus and bhikkhunis still observe the rains retreat in the same monastery and perform ceremonies in the same monastery—conduct that is still not permitted by the Vinaya.

Bhikkhunis should not observe the rains retreat in a dwelling where there is no bhikkhu, but neither should they observe the retreat in the same monastery as bhikkhus; rather, they should observe it in a place near bhikkhus, in order to make it convenient to send for instructors from the bhikkhu Saṅgha every fortnight. Considering all this, what reflections might arise in the minds of bhikkhuni sisters of great resolve? Should they let things continue in this muddled way? Or should they press forward and strive to revitalize the proper observance of the Vinaya? This is a great undertaking and a great question that bears upon the very lifeblood of Buddhism as a whole, and even more upon the future of our bhikkhuni sisters!