Conflict in the early sangha

Further thoughts on The Life of the Buddha, a collection and translation by Nanamoli (Chapter 8):

This happened in Kosambi. Don't let the story mark the town as one thing, because it is many.

The offense was that a leader left grey water at the toilet. At the time when someone caught him, he did not know it was an offense. The other leader said since it wasn't intentional, it was not an offense, but then later said it was an offense and spoke out against the offense.

It hardly seems like much to get worked up about, but sometimes when you are very mindful you can be a bit precious about things. There is also some conflict, a power struggle, which is not acknowledged, between the two leaders.

The leader was suspended. He sent out to his people to come and defend him. Many of his followers were loyal to him even though he was suspended.

When alerted to the situation, the Buddha was concerned about a schism. He talked to the suspending leader. The Buddha said essentially to be more worried about schism than the offense, to not pursue the matter. He went to the offending monk and told him to not challenge the suspension because schism is worse than being suspended wrongly.

So I wonder what happened. I guess the offending monk stayed away until the end of the suspension, though the suspension would have been withdrawn.

That was I did when I was a teacher and two students were in conflict, I would "shoot both ways," so that neither felt like they got their way. You need to stop doing this, and you need to stop doing that.

It is a fundamental problem in the world that there are rules in society and there are some people who do not follow them.

I think this is one of the great problems with the current presidency. The conventions of the presidency are not being followed. It freaks a lot of people out, it's destabilizing to people who do not protect him out of ideological defensiveness. That is also something they take glee in, which is a further offense. Win at any cost not matter that the whole fabric of society is smashed. Out of partisanship they pretend not to see it, then later flip the script. The party that wants to run things so they can prove that running things is wrong, don't expect good government, and wreck up the whole place.

When the sangha insisted on continuing the quarrel, the Buddha finally just left, deciding that he could not say anything to them that would de-escalate the conflict.

I find that a fascinating story. No miracles, no reverence, keeping the Buddha on the right side. He was told they would settle it. I've always found this story really interesting somehow. "There is no fellowship with fools." It's better to be alone than in conflict. Being alone is preferable to disagreeable company.

When the town stopped giving them food, because it was seen as not respecting the Buddha to send him away, they went to the Buddha to resolve their quarrel. The offending monk said it was an offense, and the Buddha told them to reinstate him because he saw the offense.

Then there is the report of harmony with Anuruddha, Nandiya and Kimbila. I've always loved those names because of their harmony. Whoever got home first would set things up. Whoever got home last would clean up. They agreed on the various tasks and asked for help when needed. Nobody shirked any duty and they thought on each other with loving kindness in public and privately.