Why does the World-Honored One not allow lay people to discuss monastics?

When Elder Master Xuyun was at Nanhua Monastery, there was a monk who may have done something contrary to the Dharma. The supervising master struck another master with the incense board, and a layperson who saw this thought the master was lacking in compassion—how could he hit someone? But this layperson's reaction was inappropriate, because laypeople do not know the precepts of monastics and the rules of the monastery, and should not casually pass judgment on monastics. The Dragon King, a Dharma protector of the mountain behind the monastery, also found this intolerable and gave that monk a slap as well. When Elder Master Xuyun learned of this, he rebuked the Dragon King and forbade him from meddling in the affairs of the sangha. This shows that the affairs of the sangha are handled by the sangha itself; others may not interfere arbitrarily—not even dragon and deva Dharma protectors.

Because not all bhikṣus are noble ones, they will inevitably have faults. But when a bhikṣu has faults, they must be dealt with in accordance with the precepts established by the Buddha, through sangha karma (saṃghakarman)—not through casual judgment and interference by laypeople at home. Even a bhikṣu who has broken the precepts still surpasses hundreds of millions of times over the merit of his initial aspiration to leave home (the sutra says: 破禁比丘虽无戒，初心出家功德胜，百千万亿白衣人，功德纵多不及彼). It is like a golden vessel that, though broken and leaking, is still far superior to an intact wooden vessel. One great virtuous one said: “虽说破戒如人尸，然具剩余之功德，如牛王死留苦胆，獐子尸体具麝香。”

The Buddha also personally proclaimed with his golden mouth that even if his disciples who had left home violated prohibitions and broke the precepts, they would still surpass all worldly non-Buddhists. Even if a monastic breaks the precepts, because he wears the Tathāgata's kaṣāya robes, dwells together with those practicing pure brahmacarya, and regularly hears and contemplates the noble teachings of the three trainings, it is easy for him to give rise to a sense of shame and remorse, repent his misdeeds, and reform the past and cultivate the future. He is like a swift-footed person who occasionally stumbles and falls to the ground but immediately gets up again—whereas laypeople are not like this.

The Sūtra on the Merit of Praising the Sangha says: “纵使欲火炽烧心，玷污尸罗清净戒，不久速能自忏除，还入如来圣众位。如人暂迷失其道，有目还能寻本路，比丘虽犯世尊禁，虽然暂犯还能灭。如人平地蹶脚时，有足还能而速起，比丘虽暂缺尸罗，虽犯不久还能补。”

The sutra also says that even if one who has left home falls into hell, it is like slapping a ball into water—it rises up as soon as it goes down—whereas a layperson is like a stone sinking into water, extremely difficult to rise again.

Therefore, I exhort those with the affinity: never slander the sangha jewel under the Tathāgata's teachings. If one does not restrain one's own evil mind and evil deeds, when karmic retribution ripens in the future, one may even slander the Tathāgata himself. The bodily, verbal, and mental evil karma of slandering the sangha, defaming the sangha, and harming monastics will cause one to sink into the three evil paths for millions upon millions of kalpas with no prospect of release. If, due to past ignorance, one has harmed or slandered monastics, one should now give rise to great terror, sincerely and earnestly disclose one's faults, seek mercy and repent, and vow never to commit such acts again throughout all future lifetimes.

The Mahāyāna Great Collection Kṣitigarbha Daśacakra Sūtra says: “若诸有情带在家相，不剃须发不服袈裟，虽不得受一切出家别解脱戒，一切羯磨布萨、自恣悉皆遮遣，而有圣法得圣果故，胜义僧摄，是名胜义僧。”

In this present age of the Dharma's final period, the monastic community is a mixed assortment—fish and dragons mingled together, the good and the bad intermingled. But it cannot be denied that they are still the field of merit for humans and devas, the upholders of the Buddha's Dharma. If the substance and marks of even a single instant of their merit existed, the entire great earth could not contain it. Without today's monastics, even the image-form of the Dharma of today could hardly be sustained, and of course there could not possibly be lay practitioners who have taken the three refuges and five precepts, bodhisattva precepts, and so on.

Therefore, laypeople should equally respect and support all monastics, and must not readily ridicule, defame, or slander them. Of course, when relying on a teacher, one may choose the good among them and follow and learn from them.

If you see a monastic breaking the precepts, doing evil, or violating deportment, you should immediately contemplate with a pure mind, and never ridicule, slander, or spread word of the misdeeds. To laypeople, monastics are like elders; therefore, even if they have faults, one should regard them as pure, patiently tolerate and protect them, and gently and skillfully advise and support them. Even if one is unable to help them, one must absolutely never expose and publicize their faults.