This is a great source for me, I mean MN 127, so thank you very much for sharing it. I am very interested in instances like this in the Suttas, to make my case regarding how flexible is the Vinaya. The first time I read most of the Suttapitaka I was a lay person with no concern for vinaya, i didn’t notice things like that. But now I remember that there are probably many such instances where the vinaya was violated in the suttas, without any trouble at all! It could always be argued that rules were made at a later stage and therefore no violation exists in the suttas. But still, these instances can be used to show how “intention” is all that matters.
By the way I have resolved most of these matters in my own mind, I myself am not so troubled about the vinaya and how to make use of it. Nevertheless there is something very uncomfortable surrounding it, the judgemental attitudes of people around us; the continual possible whispering, or screaming: “Look! He’s violated the vinaya!”, and so on! It’s a kind of egotism to want to be right all the time! And it is not so difficult for me to bend the phrases while i’m talking or follow suit in the course of others. But to perpetuate the mystery surrounding a “superhuman” state that we don’t even really understand or know exists, or to act as if I know what i’m talking about when it comes to this and other similar subjects, or to kid myself into becoming “convinced” with this kind of stuff; that I can’t do! And there is someone out there, my friend, who feels just the same way! There may be many of us then! Then we should talk about these things, we should bring it up, so that we end up living at ease and with clarity in our hearts - rather than confusion and anxiety.
A mendicant with good common sense will know how to either establish a healthy contact with lay people, or exploit them. It’s unfortunate, because rules, especially nowadays, will not stop a bad monk; they will only burden a good one who probably never really needed them!
Anumodami 