Extracted from The Gospel of Buddha by Paul Carus And the venerable Upāli, having approached the Blessed One, asked concerning the re-establishment of peace in the Sangha: “Would it be right, O Lord,” said he, “that the Sangha, to avoid further disputations, should declare the restoration of concord without inquiring into the matter of the quarrel?” And the Blessed One said: “If the Sangha declares the re-establishment of concord without having inquired into the matter, the declaration is neither right nor lawful. “There are two ways of re-establishing concord; one is in the letter, and the other one is in the spirit and in the letter. “If the Sangha declares the re-establishment of concord without having inquired into the matter, the peace is concluded in the letter only. But if the Sangha, having inquired into the matter and having gone to the bottom of it, decides to declare the re-establishment of concord, the peace is concluded in the spirit and also in the letter. “The concord re-established in the spirit and in the letter is alone right and lawful.”
Of the Brighter Side... 