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The Ways People Come to Break a Rule
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The Ways People Come to Break a Rule

Pañcahākārehi bhikkhu āpattiṃ āpajjati

Upāli asks in how many ways a monk falls into an offence. The Buddha gives two sets of five — one about the mind that leads to the lapse, one about not knowing and forgetting — along with five grades of falsehood and who should be questioned.

7 points

In the Parivāra of the Vinaya Piṭaka, in the Upālipañcaka, the seventh chapter is the Musāvāda Vagga. The venerable Upāli asks the Buddha one question after another, and every answer comes in sets of five. The chapter opens with the question: how many kinds of falsehood are there?

The answer is five, graded by the offence that follows: from a falsehood amounting to pārājika down to one amounting only to a wrong-doing. Lies do not all weigh the same; it depends on what is lied about and whom it affects.

The heart of the chapter is the question of in how many ways a monk falls into an offence. The first set is: through shamelessness, through not knowing, through doubting and doing it anyway, through perceiving what is not allowable as allowable, and through perceiving what is allowable as not allowable. The second set is: through not seeing, through not hearing, through being asleep, through assuming it to be so, and through lapse of mindfulness.

The details of each class of offence belong to monastics, but distinguishing the ways people come to break a rule applies to looking after others and oneself in any setting.

  1. 1

    Five ways of falling into a breach Alajjitā aññāṇatā kukkuccapakatatā

    The first set is: through shamelessness, through not knowing, through doubting and doing it anyway, through perceiving what is not allowable as allowable, and through perceiving what is allowable as not allowable. The last two are mirror-image misunderstandings, and either one can cause a lapse.

    Applying it in daily life

    When a team member skips a step, ask first whether they knew and where they were unsure, instead of assuming intent.

  2. 2

    The one most people overlook: doubting and proceeding Kukkuccapakatatā

    Among the five, doubting and doing it anyway is counted as one of the ways a breach occurs. Even without knowing for certain whether the thing was permitted, once doubt has arisen and one presses on regardless, the book counts that among the ways a rule comes to be broken.

    Applying it in daily life

    If you feel unsure whether something is allowed, stop and ask. One question today is cheaper than a month of repair work.

  3. 3

    A second set that has nothing to do with intent Adassanena assavanena pasuttatā

    The second set is: through not seeing, through not hearing, through being asleep, through assuming it to be so, and through lapse of mindfulness. Not one of these is deliberate, yet the book still counts them, because knowing how a lapse can happen is a different matter from finding who is to blame.

    Applying it in daily life

    Design important work to survive forgetfulness — checklists, a second pair of eyes — rather than hoping everyone remembers every time.

  4. 4

    Falsehoods do not all weigh the same Atthi musāvādo pārājikagāmī

    Upāli asks how many kinds of falsehood there are. The Buddha answers: five — falsehood amounting to pārājika, to saṅghādisesa, to thullaccaya, to pācittiya, and to dukkaṭa. The book does not make light of lying; it says one must look at what was lied about and how much harm followed.

    Applying it in daily life

    In managing people, separate a lie that destroys all trust from a small excuse, and respond to each in proportion.

  5. 5

    Who should be given questioning Anuyogo dātabbo

    The Buddha says the Saṅgha should not give questioning to a monk who does not know offence from non-offence, light from heavy, remediable from irremediable, gross from non-gross, and what can be cleared from what cannot. One who knows all five should be given it.

    Applying it in daily life

    Don't let someone who doesn't yet understand the rules run the questioning in a complaint. Questions from misunderstanding make matters worse.

  6. 6

    Who should not stand up and object in an assembly Mā bhaṇḍanaṃ mā kalahaṃ mā viggahaṃ

    The Buddha lists five qualities such that if such a monk suspends the observance or the invitation in the midst of the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha should overrule him — "enough, monk, do not make quarrelling, do not make strife" — and proceed. They include being shameless, being a fool, and speaking with the aim of making someone fall away from the holy life rather than with the aim of clearing an offence. A further set covers impurity of bodily conduct, of speech and of livelihood, and being a maker of quarrels.

    Applying it in daily life

    Before blocking a decision in a meeting, ask whether you want the matter resolved well or want someone to lose face. Objections of the second kind help nobody.

  7. 7

    Five losses and five attainments Ñātibyasanaṃ bhogabyasanaṃ

    The chapter closes by asking how many losses there are. The answer is five: loss of relatives, loss of wealth, loss through illness, loss of virtue, and loss through wrong view. The five attainments are their opposites: attainment of relatives, of wealth, of health, of virtue, and of right view.

    Applying it in daily life

    The first three are largely not in our hands, but the last two — virtue and view — are chosen daily, so that is where the effort belongs.

Try it in daily life

When someone breaks a rule, most people's first move is to decide whether it was deliberate. This list is far more careful than that, and shows that slipping has several different faces.

Shamelessness is knowing and doing it anyway. Not knowing is never having been told. Doubting and doing it anyway is proceeding while aware you are unsure. The last two are misunderstandings in opposite directions: thinking you may when you may not, and thinking you may not when you may. The second set is more interesting still, since it includes not seeing, not hearing, being asleep and losing mindfulness.

For a manager or a parent, telling which of these you are looking at determines the right response. Someone who did not know needs information; someone who proceeded while unsure needs an easy way to ask; someone who is shameless needs clear supervision.

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