Chapter 9 - The Thera's Verdict

When king Asoka supported the Buddhadhamma lavishly, some heretics joined the Buddhist sangha for material benefits. The true bhikkhus refused to have anything to do with the bogus monks and for seven years the uposatha service fell into abeyance at the Asokarama monastery in Pataliputta city. So king Asoka sent a minister to see to it that the bhikkhus perform the uposatha service. But the bhikkhus refused to comply with the kings wish. They said that the uposatha service was to be performed only by the assembly of true bhikkhus. If there happened to be a morally impure monk in the assembly, he had to be admonished and penalized for any infraction of Vinaya rules. The Sangha held the service only when there was reason to believe in the purity of every member; and they did not meet for the service together with non bhikkhus. If they did so, they would be guilty of a serious offence.

The minister regarded this reply as defiance of the kings order and put the good monks to the sword. The kings younger brother, Tissa thera, escaped death because the minister recognized him just in time. On hearing the news the king was greatly shocked and he asked Moggaliputtatissa thera whether he was kammically responsible for the death of the bhikkhus. The thera asked him whether he had intended to have the monks killed. When the king replied that he had no such intention, the thera said that he was free from kammic responsibility. The thera gave this verdict on the basis of the Buddhas saying, “Cetana (volitional act) is that which I call kamma.” He also cited Titthira jataka in which the bodhisatta, who was then a rishi, emphasized the primacy of cetana in the operation of the kammic law.

The story of Cakkhupala thera also shows that an Arahat who has no psychic power has body weight like ordinary people. This is evident in the death of insects that were trampled by the thera. During the last 15 years Burma has produced some holy men who are reputed to be Arahats. Some women have reportedly tested their holiness by having flowers on their hands trodden by the holy mens feet. It is said that the flowers were not crushed and the hands not hurt. But an Arahat who has no psychic power or who does not use it cannot avoid crushing a thing if he treads directly on it.

The reliable test of arahatship is to see whether or not a person who claims or is credited with it has craving, love of pleasure, attachment, anger, depression, fear, anxiety, restlessness, the tendency to speak ill of others, the habit of laughing loudly, irreverence to the memory of the Buddha and so forth. If he has these moral weaknesses, he is certainly not free from greed, anger and ignorance. If a thorough inquiry does not reveal any sign of these weaknesses, we may assume that he possesses the admirable attributes of an Arahat or at least the qualities of a holy man who is close to arahatship.