What Is Called Slander?

The Saṃyukta Āgama records that when non-Buddhists or certain laypeople asked the Buddha's disciples about the Dharma, after answering, the disciples would think: "In answering this way, does it accord with the World-Honored One's teaching of the Dharma? Surely I am not going against the World-Honored One or slandering the World-Honored One?" So the disciple would go to ask the World-Honored One: "World-Honored One, a non-Buddhist asked me about the Buddha's Dharma, and this is how I answered—did I slander You?" The World-Honored One would then say: "You answered correctly; you did not slander me." From this we should understand that as long as speech or verbal expression does not accord with the facts, it constitutes slander. If the Dharma a disciple transmits does not accord with the Buddha's intent and is inconsistent with the Buddha, it is slandering the Buddha. If the Buddha says a certain dharma is such, and the disciple says it is not such, that is slandering the Buddha and also slandering the Dharma; regarding the Dharma teachings spoken by the Buddha, merely saying "no" already constitutes slandering the Buddha and slandering the Dharma.

Then slandering the Saṅgha is also quite easy to commit. Slandering the Saṅgha is divided into slandering ordinary saṅgha members and slandering bhikṣus and bodhisattvas of the Saṅgha who have attained the Way. The karmic offense of the former is somewhat lighter, while the karmic offense of the latter is extremely grave, and the retribution is inconceivable. As long as you deny a saṅgha member of ultimate truth (saṅgha of true meaning), saying "no" or "not so" or "incorrect," when the facts are not so, then the offense of slander is established. Sentient beings usually pay no attention to these matters, thinking there is nothing wrong with denying others, and casually open their mouths to say "incorrect" or "not so." Yet this is not merely a matter of fault but a matter of karmic offense; matters involving fundamental issues are often hellish offenses, and in future lives one will have to undergo the immense evil retribution of having slandered a saṅgha member of ultimate truth. When one truly undergoes that evil retribution in a future life, one often does not even know why one has received such evil retribution, and so one undergoes the retribution in a muddled way, and then creates karma in a muddled way again—such is the ignorance and lack of awareness of sentient beings.