The 4 Parajikas.

The 4 Parajikas.

There are 227 rules in the Monastic Code called the Patimokkha which monks chant every fortnight. These are roughly arranged in order of severity. At the top of the list are the 4 parajikas, the transgression of which, disqualifies a monk (and bhikkhuni). 

That means once a monk commits any of the 4 parajikas, he is immediately "defeated", no longer a monk and cannot re-ordain for the rest of his life. 

These are:

1. Sexual intercourse between a monk and another being (man, woman or animal, alive or dead) including having another perform oral sex on him.

2. Stealing, that is, the robbery of anything worth more than 1/24 troy ounce of gold (as determined by local law). One article calculates it at around RM50.

3. Intentionally bringing about the death of a human being, whether by killing the person, arranging for an assassin to kill the person, inciting the person to die, or describing the advantages of death.

4. Deliberately lying to another person that one has attained a superior spiritual state, such as claiming to be an Arahant when one knows one is not, or claiming to have attained one of the jhanas when one knows one hasn't.

The transgression of the other rules can be repaired by some penalty, but not the 4 parajikas.