The Buddha Speaks the Sūtra of the Upāsaka Five Precepts (on the Grave False Speech Precept)

Original text:佛告诸比丘。吾以种种呵妄语。赞叹不妄语者。乃至戏笑尚不应妄语。何况故妄语。是中犯者。若优婆塞。不知不见。过人圣法。自言我是罗汉。向罗汉者。犯不可悔。若言我是阿那含。斯陀含。若须陀洹。乃至向须陀洹。若得初禅。第二禅第三禅第四禅。若得慈悲喜舍。无量心。若得无色定。虚空定识处定。无所有处定。非想非非想处定。若得不净观。阿那般那念。诸天来到我所。诸龙夜叉。薜荔毗舍阇。鸠槃荼罗刹。来到我所。彼问我我答彼。我问彼彼答我。皆犯不可悔。 

Explanation: The Buddha said to the bhikṣus: I reprimand those who speak false speech in various ways, and praise those who do not speak falsely. Practitioners should not speak falsely even in jest, let alone deliberately speak falsely—this must not be violated. If someone truly violates the precept against false speech, and if an upāsaka (or upāsikā) who has received the five precepts does not know and has not realized the noble dharma that surpasses ordinary people, yet tells others, "I am an arhat," "I am one bound for arhatship," "I am an anāgāmin," "I am a sakṛdāgāmin," "I am a srotāpanna," "I am one bound for srotāpanna-hood," "I have attained the first dhyāna," "I have attained the second dhyāna," "I have attained the third dhyāna," "I have attained the fourth dhyāna," "I have obtained the four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity;"

"I have attained the formless realm's concentration of the base of infinite space, the concentration of the base of infinite consciousness, the concentration of the base of nothingness, and the concentration of the base of neither perception nor non-perception; I have attained the contemplation of impurity; I have accomplished the mindfulness of ānāpāna; heavenly beings have come to my side; dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, and rākṣasas have come to my side and conversed with me—they ask and I answer, I ask and they answer"—such claims constitute a violation of the precept against false speech, and once violated, it cannot be repented; even if one repents, the karmic offense of false speech cannot be eliminated, and the offense remains; at the end of life one will fall into the three evil destinies to undergo the retribution of false speech. 

The above is the Buddha's teaching on the precept against false speech, mainly targeting major false speech—untruthful lies concerning extremely grave matters; minor false speech is not addressed here. For grave matters, namely the realization of supramundane dharma, one absolutely must not lie and deceive others with false speech. The offense of impersonating a noble sage is extremely grave; even impersonating a king would result in beheading and public display, with one's entire clan implicated—how much graver is the offense of impersonating a noble sage who far surpasses the worldly kings of ordinary people; that offense is even greater, cannot be repented, and one will certainly fall into the evil destinies. Therefore, everyone must be extremely cautious and careful regarding major supramundane dharma. Without one hundred percent certainty, without conclusive evidence, one must never casually spread claims of having attained some supramundane dharma. And no matter who has given the confirmation, if it is not true, one will certainly suffer severe evil retribution. It is hoped that all students of Buddhism will be extremely careful, and not commit the offense of major false speech; once one loses this human body, it will be extremely difficult to encounter it again.

Why do many people like to proclaim outwardly that they have attained such-and-such dharma and realized such-and-such fruit? What psychology do sentient beings have? Upon deep investigation, it is nothing more than wanting to prove that one is excellent and superior, surpassing others, that "I am better than others, and others are all inferior to me"; or wanting to gain others' reverence, admiration, and respect, wanting others to submit to me, wanting to stand out above others, and so on—thereby being arrogant, narcissistic, and conceited. All of this is based on having both self and others in the mind, with the mark of self fully present and the mark of others fully present; the view of self has not been eradicated, and no dharma has been attained—thus one is still an ordinary being replete with the view of self. Those who wish to attain the noble sage's dharma must deeply investigate their own minds, dig out the "I" within their minds, and break it apart, eliminate it, and not let that "I" come out again to delude and confuse oneself, adding afflictions, karmic delusions, and suffering to oneself.