[Buddha-l] Another One Bites the Dust

[Joy Vriens]

Sure stories of rivalry, jealousy and sheer malignancy account for tons 
of paper (or palm leaves) and ink. I would make a distinction for sexual 
scandals, where things aren't that clear cut, and where, as the Buddha 
says, /"Sister, only you and I know whether you are speaking the truth 
or not,"/. There will always remain a doubt.And if the slightest doubt 
remains, will the catharsis take place ? That is why in Cincamanavika's 
story Sakka and the opening of the gates of Hell have to come to the 
rescue of the Buddha.In the Vinaya, Buddhists have tried to avoid 
ambiguous situation as much as possible, because Sakka has a very busy 
schedule.

But this story, invented by a clever lawyer, is probably based on real 
facts. A woman or women could have been spotted, going to a monastery in 
the evenings, and coming out of it in the mornings. Not necessarily to 
see the Buddha, but he would have been addressed because he was the 
manager. This is very likely to have happened, even in Buddhist 
monasteries. If they became pregnant, the bravest ones could have turned 
to the manager of the monastery for financial help. In order to dissuade 
women from doing so,this story could have been invented. If women 
weren't capable of proving beyond doubt that they had intercourse with a 
monk, then the truth would only be known by the woman and the monk. 
Everyone else could only go by their sympathy for the woman's case or by 
their faith in the monks' integrity. A women who didn't have enough 
proof would be considered a liar. And not only that, she could only have 
lied because she wanted to destroy the reputation of a monk and of the 
sangha, and thereby of the Buddha.A very evil person indeed.This story 
is a warning to any woman who would consider accusing a monk of having 
slept with her.She'd better have excellent proof or witnesses, or else 
she'd better shut up.

That's how I read the story.


/"Bhikkhu;, one who is not afraid to tell lies, and who does not care 
what happens in the future existence, will not hesitate to do any evil."/

Le 04/03/2013 18:47, Richard Hayes a écrit :
> I believe the Buddha is a fictional character—or to put it more 
> accurately, I believe that most of the stories that have come down to 
> us are highly fictionalized accounts of someone who may have almost 
> existed—but I can easily make sense of stories of accusations being 
> made against a hero, who then rises above the attempts to smear his 
> reputation. Just as Gotama rose about the attempts of his wicked 
> cousin to assassinate him, he rose above the attempts of troubled 
> women to assassinate his character. That makes for excellent fiction. 
> Even if nothing remotely like that ever happened in real life, a good 
> story teller would need to add a bit of tawdry narrative.