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Introduction

Since communities, whether large or small, are composed of human beings, they are inevitably exposed to tensions caused by human frailties. The innate propensity for self-aggrandizement, craving for personal benefits, self-righteousness, and attachment to personal opinions can lead to factionalism and disputes and even split the community into fragments. Such disputes are the subject of Part VIII, and the settlement of disputes the subject of Part IX.

The passages included in Part VIII deal with disputes among both monastics and laity, which are similar in some respects but different in others. Text VIII,1 sets up the theme of the chapter. We here see Sakka, ruler of the gods, come to the Buddha and present him with a conundrum: “When beings all wish to live in peace, why are they perpetually embroiled in conflict?” The Buddha’s answer initiates a dialogue that pursues the origins of conflict down to increasingly subtler levels.

In Text VIII,2 the elder monk Mahākaccāna states that laypeople quarrel with each other because of their attachment to sensual pleasures while ascetics quarrel with each other because of their attachment to views. Texts VIII,3–6 illustrate his point: the first two texts in this group deal with disputes among householders and the last two with disputes among ascetics. While Mahākaccāna’s thesis may have partial validity, the course of history actually shows the situation to be more complex. There have been wars between nations and regional blocs over rival ideologies — witness the Cold War that pitted corporate capitalism against communism, and the present-day hostilities between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. On the other hand, for the sake of their material requisites, grants of land, support from householders, as well as fame and honor, ascetics have engaged in bitter conflicts with one another and have even initiated lawsuits for material gain.

Since the Buddha placed the Sangha — the order of monks and nuns — at the core of the spiritual community, he recognized that the longevity of the Dhamma depended on the ability of his ordained disciples to contain disputes fomented in their ranks and re-establish unity. Conflict did indeed break out, the most famous being the quarrel that divided the monks of Kosambī along with their lay followers into two hostile factions whose mutual animosity was so strong that they even rejected the Buddha’s efforts to intercede, as seen in Text VIII,7.1

To prevent disputes from breaking out in the monastic order, the Buddha devoted several discourses to their causes and the means of settling them once they have arisen. In Text VIII,8, he points out “six roots of disputes” (vivādamūla); since the first five occur in matching pairs, when they are counted separately the roots of dispute actually amount to eleven. Preventing disputes requires the monastics to remove the roots of dispute that might emerge in their midst before they deteriorate into full-scale divisions.

If conflicts become serious, they pose the further danger of schism, the division of the monastic order into two rival factions that refuse to acknowledge the validity of one another’s acts. The Buddha considered a schism in the Sangha to be one of the gravest threats to the success of his mission. I therefore close this part with Text VIII,9, which strings together several short suttas on the conditions that lead to schism in the Sangha and the consequences respectively for those who foment schism and those who unite a divided Sangha.

VIII. Disputes

1. WHY DO BEINGS LIVE IN HATE?

Sakka, ruler of the devas, asked the Blessed One: “Beings wish to live without hate, hostility, or enmity; they wish to live in peace. Yet they live in hate, harming one another, hostile, and as enemies. By what fetters are they bound, sir, that they live in such a way?”

[The Blessed One said:] “Ruler of the devas, it is the bonds of envy and miserliness that bind beings so that, although they wish to live without hate, hostility, or enmity, and to live in peace, yet they live in hate, harming one another, hostile, and as enemies.”

Sakka, delighted, exclaimed: “So it is, Blessed One, so it is, Fortunate One! Through the Blessed One’s answer I have overcome my doubt and gotten rid of uncertainty.”

Then Sakka, having expressed his appreciation, asked another question: “But, sir, what gives rise to envy and miserliness, what is their origin, how are they born, how do they arise? When what is present do they arise, and when what is absent do they not arise?”

“Envy and miserliness arise from liking and disliking; this is their origin, this is how they are born, how they arise. When these are present, they arise, when these are absent, they do not arise.”

“But, sir, what gives rise to liking and disliking . . . ?” – “They arise from desire . . . .” – “And what gives rise to desire . . . ?” – “It arises from thinking. When the mind thinks about something, desire arises; when the mind thinks of nothing, desire does not arise.” – “But, sir, what gives rise to thinking . . . ?”

“Thinking, ruler of the devas, arises from elaborated perceptions and notions.2 When elaborated perceptions and notions are present, thinking arises. When elaborated perceptions and notions are absent, thinking does not arise.”

(from DN 21, LDB 328–29)

2. DISPUTES AMONG LAYPEOPLE, DISPUTES AMONG ASCETICS

A brahmin approached the Venerable Mahākaccāna and asked him: “Why is it, Master Kaccāna, that khattiyas fight with khattiyas, brahmins with brahmins, and householders with householders?”

“It is, brahmin, because of adherence to lust for sensual pleasures, bondage to sensual pleasures, that khattiyas fight with khattiyas, brahmins with brahmins, and householders with householders.”

“Why is it, Master Kaccāna, that ascetics fight with ascetics?”

“It is, brahmin, because of adherence to lust for views, bondage to views, that ascetics fight with ascetics.”

“Is there then anyone in the world who has overcome this adherence to lust for sensual pleasures and this adherence to lust for views?”

“There is.”

“And who is that?”

“In the town to the east called Sāvatthī, the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One is now dwelling. The Blessed One has overcome this adherence to lust for sensual pleasures and this adherence to lust for views.”

When this was said, the brahmin rose from his seat, arranged his upper robe over one shoulder, lowered his right knee to the ground, reverently saluted in the direction of the Blessed One, and uttered this inspired utterance three times: “Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Homage to the Blessed One, the Arahant, the Perfectly Enlightened One! Indeed, that Blessed One has overcome this adherence to lust for sensual pleasures and this adherence to lust for views.”

(AN 2:37, NDB 157–58)

3. CONFLICTS DUE TO SENSUAL PLEASURES

“Again, with sensual pleasures as the cause, sensual pleasures as the source, sensual pleasures as the basis, the cause being simply sensual pleasures, kings quarrel with kings, nobles with nobles, brahmins with brahmins, householders with householders; mother quarrels with son, son with mother, father with son, son with father; brother quarrels with brother, brother with sister, sister with brother, friend with friend. And here in their quarrels, brawls, and disputes they attack each other with fists, clods, sticks, or knives, whereby they incur death or deadly suffering. Now this too is a danger in the case of sensual pleasures, a mass of suffering here and now, the cause being simply sensual pleasures.

“Again, with sensual pleasures as the cause men take swords and shields and buckle on bows and quivers, and they charge into battle massed in double array with arrows and spears flying and swords flashing; and there they are wounded by arrows and spears, and their heads are cut off by swords, whereby they incur death or deadly suffering. Now this too is a danger in the case of sensual pleasures, a mass of suffering here and now, the cause being simply sensual pleasures.

“Again, with sensual pleasures as the cause men take swords and shields and buckle on bows and quivers, and they charge slippery bastions, with arrows and spears flying and swords flashing; and there they are wounded by arrows and spears and splashed with boiling liquids and crushed under heavy weights, and their heads are cut off by swords, whereby they incur death or deadly suffering. Now this too is a danger in the case of sensual pleasures, a mass of suffering here and now, the cause being simply sensual pleasures.”

(from MN 13, MLDB 181–82)

4. ROOTED IN CRAVING

“I will teach you, monks, nine things rooted in craving. Listen and attend closely. I will speak.” – “Yes, Bhante,” those monks replied. The Blessed One said this:

“And what are the nine things rooted in craving? (1) In dependence on craving there is seeking. (2) In dependence on seeking there is gain. (3) In dependence on gain there is judgment. (4) In dependence on judgment there is desire and lust. (5) In dependence on desire and lust there is attachment. (6) In dependence on attachment there is possessiveness. (7) In dependence on possessiveness there is miserliness. (8) In dependence on miserliness there is safeguarding. (9) With safeguarding as the foundation originate the taking up of rods and weapons, quarrels, contentions, and disputes, accusations, divisive speech, and false speech, and many other bad unwholesome things. These are the nine things rooted in craving.”3

(AN 9:23, NDB 1280)

5. THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s Park. Now at that time a number of ascetics and brahmins, wanderers of other sects, were living around Sāvatthī. They held various views, beliefs, and opinions, and propagated various views. And they were quarrelsome, disputatious, wrangling, wounding each other with verbal darts, saying, “The Dhamma is like this, the Dhamma is not like that! The Dhamma is not like this, the Dhamma is like that!”

Then a number of monks entered Sāvatthī on alms round. Having returned, after their meal they approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and told him what they had seen. The Blessed One said: “Monks, wanderers of other sects are blind and sightless. They do not know what is beneficial and harmful. They do not know what is the Dhamma and what is not the Dhamma, and thus they are so quarrelsome and disputatious.

“Formerly, monks, there was a king in Sāvatthī who asked his servant to round up all the persons in the city who were blind from birth. When the man had done so, the king asked the servant to show the blind men an elephant. To some of the blind men he presented the elephant’s head, to some the ear, to others a tusk, the trunk, the body, a foot, the hindquarters, the tail, or the tuft at the end of the tail. And to each one he said, ‘This is an elephant.’

“When he reported to the king what he had done, the king went to the blind men and asked them: ‘What is an elephant like?’

“Those who had been shown the head replied, ‘An elephant, your majesty, is just like a water jar.’ Those who had been shown the ear replied, ‘An elephant is just like a winnowing basket.’ Those who had been shown the tusk replied, ‘An elephant is just like a plowshare.’ Those who had been shown the trunk replied, ‘An elephant is just like a plow pole.’ Those who had been shown the body replied, ‘An elephant is just like a storeroom.’ And each of the others likewise described the elephant in terms of the part they had been shown.

“Then, saying, ‘An elephant is like this, an elephant is not like that! An elephant is not like this, an elephant is like that!’ they fought each other with their fists. And the king was delighted. Even so, monks, are the wanderers of other sects blind and sightless, and thus they become quarrelsome, disputatious, and wrangling, wounding each other with verbal darts.”

(Ud 6.4)

6. ARGUMENTS AMONG MONKS

“Monks, wherever monks take to arguing and quarreling and fall into a dispute, stabbing each other with piercing words, I am uneasy even about directing my attention there, let alone about going there. I conclude about them: ‘Surely, those venerable ones have abandoned three things and cultivated three other things.’

“What are the three things they have abandoned? Thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of benevolence, and thoughts of non-harming: these are the three things they have abandoned. What are the three things they have cultivated? Sensual thoughts, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of harming: these are the three things they have cultivated. Wherever monks take to arguing and quarreling and fall into a dispute, I conclude: ‘Surely, those venerable ones have abandoned these three things and cultivated these three other things.’

“Monks, wherever monks are dwelling in concord, harmoniously, without disputes, blending like milk and water, viewing each other with eyes of affection, I am at ease about going there, let alone about directing my attention there. I conclude: ‘Surely, those venerable ones have abandoned three things and cultivated three other things.’

“What are the three things they have abandoned? Sensual thoughts, thoughts of ill will, and thoughts of harming: these are the three things they have abandoned. What are the three things they have cultivated? Thoughts of renunciation, thoughts of benevolence, and thoughts of non-harming. These are the three things they have cultivated. Wherever monks are dwelling in concord, I conclude: ‘Surely, those venerable ones have abandoned these three things and cultivated these three other things.’“

(AN 3:124, NDB 354–55)

7. THE QUARREL AT KOSAMBī

Now on that occasion the monks at Kosambī had taken to arguing and quarreling and had fallen into a dispute, stabbing each other with piercing words. Then a certain monk went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, he stood at one side and said: “Bhante, the monks here at Kosambī have taken to arguing and quarreling and have fallen into a dispute, stabbing each other with piercing words. It would be good, Bhante, if the Blessed One would go to those monks out of compassion.” The Blessed One consented in silence.

Then the Blessed One went to those monks and said to them: “Enough, monks, let there be no arguing and quarreling and dispute.” When this was said, a certain monk said to the Blessed One: “Wait, Bhante! Let the Blessed One, the Lord of the Dhamma, live at ease devoted to a pleasant abiding here and now. We are the ones who will be responsible for this dispute.”

For a second time . . . For a third time the Blessed One said: “Enough, monks, let there be no no arguing and quarreling and dispute.” For a third time that monk said to the Blessed One: “Wait, Bhante! . . . We are the ones who will be responsible for this dispute.”

Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, entered Kosambī for alms. When he had wandered for alms in Kosambī and had returned from his alms round, after his meal he set his resting place in order, took his bowl and outer robe, and while still standing uttered these stanzas:

“When many voices shout at once
none considers himself a fool;
though the Sangha is being split
none thinks himself to be at fault.

“They have forgotten thoughtful speech,
talking obsessed by words alone.
Uncurbed their mouths, they bawl at will;
none knows what leads him so to act.

“‘He abused me, he struck me,
he defeated me, he robbed me’ —
in those who harbor thoughts like these
enmity will never be allayed.

“For in this world enmity is never
allayed by enmity.
It is allayed by non-hatred:
that is the fixed and ageless law.

“Those others do not recognize
that here we should restrain ourselves.
But those wise ones who realize this
at once end all their enmity.

“Breakers of bones and murderers,
those who steal cattle, horses, wealth,
those who pillage the entire realm —
when even these can act together
why can you not do so too?

“If one can find a worthy friend,
a virtuous, steadfast companion,
then overcome all threats of danger
and walk with him content and mindful.

“But if one finds no worthy friend,
no virtuous, steadfast companion,
then as a king leaves his conquered realm,
walk like a tusker in the woods alone.

“Better it is to walk alone;
there is no companionship with fools.
Walk alone and do no evil,
at ease like a tusker in the woods.”

(from MN 128, MLDB 1008–10)

8. ROOTS OF DISPUTES

“Monks, there are these six roots of disputes. What six?

(1) “Here, a monk is angry and hostile. When a monk is angry and hostile, he dwells without respect and deference toward the Teacher, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and he does not fulfill the training. Such a monk creates a dispute in the Sangha that leads to the harm of many people, to the unhappiness of many people, to the ruin, harm, and suffering of devas and humans. If, monks, you perceive any such root of dispute either in yourselves or in others, you should strive to abandon this evil root of dispute. And if you do not perceive any such root of dispute either in yourselves or in others, you should practice so that this evil root of dispute does not emerge in the future. In such a way this evil root of dispute is abandoned and does not emerge in the future. (2) “Again, a monk is a denigrator and insolent . . . (3) . . . envious and miserly . . . (4) . . . crafty and hypocritical . . . (5) . . . one who has evil desires and wrong view . . . (6) . . . one who adheres to his own views, holds to them tenaciously, and relinquishes them with difficulty. Such a monk dwells without respect and deference toward the Teacher, the Dhamma, and the Sangha, and he does not fulfill the training. He creates a dispute in the Sangha that leads to the harm of many people, to the unhappiness of many people, to the ruin, harm, and suffering of devas and humans. If, monks, you perceive any such root of dispute either in yourselves or in others, you should strive to abandon this evil root of dispute. And if you do not perceive any such root of dispute either in yourselves or others, you should practice so that this evil root of dispute does not emerge in the future. In such a way this evil root of dispute is abandoned and does not emerge in the future.

“These, monks, are the six roots of dispute.”

(AN 6:36, NDB 898–99; MN 104, MLDB 854–55)

9. SCHISM IN THE SANGHA

The Venerable Upāli approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Bhante, it is said: ‘Schism in the Sangha, schism in the Sangha.’ How, Bhante, is there schism in the Sangha?”

“Here, Upāli, (1) monks explain non-Dhamma as Dhamma, (2) and Dhamma as non-Dhamma. (3) They explain non-discipline as discipline, and (4) discipline as non-discipline. (5) They explain what has not been stated and uttered by the Tathāgata as having been stated and uttered by him, and (6) what has been stated and uttered by the Tathāgata as not having been stated and uttered by him. (7) They explain what has not been practiced by the Tathāgata as having been practiced by him, and (8) what has been practiced by the Tathāgata as not having been practiced by him. (9) They explain what has not been prescribed by the Tathāgata as having been prescribed by him, and (10) what has been prescribed by the Tathāgata as not having been prescribed by him. On these ten grounds they withdraw and go apart. They perform legal acts separately and recite the Pātimokkha separately. It is in this way, Upāli, that there is schism in the Sangha.”

“Bhante, it is said: ‘Concord in the Sangha, concord in the Sangha.’ How is there concord in the Sangha?”

“Here, Upāli, (1) monks explain non-Dhamma as non-Dhamma, and (2) Dhamma as Dhamma. (3) They explain non-discipline as non-discipline, and (4) discipline as discipline. (5) They explain what has not been stated and uttered by the Tathāgata as not having been stated and uttered by him, and (6) what has been stated and uttered by the Tathāgata as having been stated and uttered by him. (7) They explain what has not been practiced by the Tathāgata as not having been practiced by him, and (8) what has been practiced by the Tathāgata as having been practiced by him. (9) They explain what has not been prescribed by the Tathāgata as not having been prescribed by him, and (10) what has been prescribed by the Tathāgata as having been prescribed by him. On these ten grounds, they do not withdraw and go apart. They do not perform legal acts separately or recite the Pātimokkha separately. It is in this way, Upāli, that there is concord in the Sangha.”

On another occasion the Venerable Ānanda approached the Blessed One, paid homage to him, sat down to one side, and said to him: “Bhante, when one causes schism in a harmonious Sangha, what does one generate?” – “One generates evil lasting for an eon.” – “But, Bhante, what is that evil lasting for an eon?” – “One is tormented in hell for an eon.”

One who causes schism in the Sangha is bound for misery,
bound for hell, to abide there for an eon.
Delighting in factions, established in non-Dhamma,
he falls away from security from bondage.
Having caused schism in a harmonious Sangha,
he is tormented in hell for an eon.

Then the Venerable Ānanda asked: “Bhante, when one reconciles a divided Sangha, what does one generate?” – “One generates divine merit, Ānanda.” – “But, Bhante, what is divine merit?” – “One rejoices in heaven for an eon, Ānanda.”

Pleasant is concord in the Sangha,
and the mutual help of those who live in concord.
Delighting in concord, established in Dhamma,
one does not fall away from security from bondage.
Having brought concord to the Sangha,
one rejoices in heaven for an eon.

(AN 10:37–40 combined, NDB 1389–91)

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