It may be that a monk has committed an offense. He doesn’t regard it as an offense, but there are other monks who do. If they know, ‘This monk is learned and a master of the tradition; he’s an expert on the Teaching, the Monastic Law, and the Key Terms; he’s knowledgeable and competent, has a sense of conscience, and is afraid of wrongdoing and fond of the training. If we eject him for not recognizing an offense, we won’t be able to do the invitation ceremony with him; we won’t be able to do legal procedures with him; we won’t share a seat with him; we won’t drink congee with him; we won’t sit in the dining hall with him; we won’t stay in the same room with him; we won’t bow down, stand up, raise our joined palms, or do acts of respect toward one another according to seniority. Because of this, there’ll be arguments and disputes in the Sangha; there’ll be schism, fracture, and separation in the Sangha,’ and if they understand the gravity of schism, they shouldn’t eject that monk.”

The Buddha got up from his seat, went to those monks who were siding with the ejected monk, and sat down on the prepared seat. He then said to those monks: “If you’ve committed an offense, don’t refuse to make amends for it just because you think that you haven’t committed it.