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Đối Trị Vương Mạc
The first reminder is sent with a copy to the Council of Teachers, the teacher, the file, and the mentor. When four members of the community discover a difficulty and intervention is unsuccessful, the Office of Mindfulness will send a warning letter. The letter is delivered in two ways:
- same monastery: delivered directly to the two people involved
-
two different monasteries: a copy is sent to the abbot of the other side, who then gives it to the Council of Teachers, the Office of Mindfulness, and the warning office there
Even if the other side does not yet have four people, once this side has issued a warning, the other side must also review and implement it. For difficulties between a teacher and a member of the sangha, we need to practice transformation with the mind of letting go, maintain equanimity, face the issue directly, and not speak in a roundabout way; if there is no change after a few weeks, intervention should be made through the abbot or the mindfulness officer to protect the sangha.
Practicing prevention before difficulties arise is always superior to dealing with them afterward—just like in medicine, prevention is less costly and more effective than treatment. When warnings have been given a second or third time without change, the sangha must convene an urgent meeting to resolve the issue immediately. The study of the precepts must be just intelligent enough to be put into practice; those who are invited to teach the precepts should guide practical application, not just transmit scriptural knowledge.
Difficulties in the sangha often begin from two dangers:
- sowing the seed of “specialness” in another person
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disregarding minor precepts and decorum
The teacher’s intention is to give the elder brother an honorable opportunity to practice, not to punish. To manage sexual energy, each individual needs to rely on their own mindfulness and that of the sangha; to reject that support is to lose a precious resource. Dharma discussion meetings and general sangha meetings must be organized in a lively way, creating opportunities for frank sharing, avoiding lifeless formality, in order to nourish the bodhi mind and maintain collective happiness.