My first thought after reading it was, "If these rules were truly practiced, how did varieties of Schools and Traditions of Buddhism come into existence in the first place?" Then I reasoned that monastics are simply people with understandable propensities for difference of view just like us laypersons, as each of us is raised in these individualized flesh and water packages we call our bodies by different parents with their differing views arisen from their individual life experiences in different communities, nations, countries, regions, ecosystems, biomes, continents, and shortly: planets as man migrates from this planet Earth to other celestrial orbs, galaxies, universes in what seems to be an increasingly approaching future necessity as we corrupt and pollute our current home.10. Should any bhikkhu agitate for a schism in a united Community, or should he persist in taking up an issue conducive to schism, the bhikkhus are to admonish him thus: "Do not, venerable sir, agitate for a schism in a united Community or persist in taking up an issue conducive to schism. Let the venerable one be reconciled with the Community, for a united Community, on courteous terms, without dispute, with a common recitation, dwells in peace."
And should that bhikkhu, thus admonished by the bhikkhus, persist as before, the bhikkhus are to rebuke him up to three times for the sake of relinquishing that. If while being rebuked up to three times he relinquishes that, that is good. If he does not relinquish (that), it entails initial and subsequent meetings of the Community.
11. Should bhikkhus — one, two, or three — who are followers and partisans of that bhikkhu, say, "Do not, venerable sirs, admonish that bhikkhu in any way. He is an exponent of the Dhamma. He is an exponent of the Vinaya. He acts with our consent and approval. He knows, he speaks for us, and that is pleasing to us," the bhikkhus are to admonish them thus: "Do not say that, venerable sirs. That bhikkhu is not an exponent of the Dhamma and he is not an exponent of the Vinaya. Do not, venerable sirs, approve of a schism in the Community. Let the venerable ones' (minds) be reconciled with the Community, for a united Community, on courteous terms, without dispute, with a common recitation, dwells in peace."
And should those bhikkhus, thus admonished by the bhikkhus, persist as before, the bhikkhus are to rebuke them up to three times for the sake of relinquishing that. If while being rebuked up to three times they relinquish that, that is good. If they do not relinquish (that), it entails initial and subsequent meetings of the Community.
12. In case a bhikkhu is by nature difficult to admonish — who, when being legitimately admonished by the bhikkhus with reference to the training rules included in the (Pāṭimokkha) recitation, makes himself unadmonishable, (saying,) "Do not, venerable ones, say anything to me, good or bad; and I won't say anything to the venerable ones, good or bad. Refrain, venerable ones, from admonishing me" — the bhikkhus are to admonish him thus: "Let the venerable one not make himself unadmonishable. Let the venerable one make himself admonishable. Let the venerable one admonish the bhikkhus in accordance with what is right, and the bhikkhus will admonish the venerable one in accordance with what is right; for it is thus that the Blessed One's following is nurtured: through mutual admonition, through mutual rehabilitation."
And should that bhikkhu, thus admonished by the bhikkhus, persist as before, the bhikkhus are to rebuke him up to three times for the sake of relinquishing that. If while being rebuked up to three times he relinquishes that, that is good. If he does not relinquish (that), it entails initial and subsequent meetings of the Community.
13. In case a bhikkhu living in dependence on a certain village or town is a corrupter of families, a man of depraved conduct — whose depraved conduct is both seen and heard about, and the families he has corrupted are both seen and heard about — the bhikkhus are to admonish him thus: "You, venerable sir, are a corrupter of families, a man of depraved conduct. Your depraved conduct is both seen and heard about, and the families you have corrupted are both seen and heard about. Leave this monastery, venerable sir. Enough of your staying here."
And should that bhikkhu, thus admonished by the bhikkhus, say about the bhikkhus, "The bhikkhus are biased through favoritism, biased through aversion, biased through delusion, biased through fear, in that for this sort of offense they banish some and do not banish others," the bhikkhus are to admonish him thus: "Do not say that, venerable sir. The bhikkhus are not biased through favoritism, are not biased through aversion, are not biased through delusion, are not biased through fear. You, venerable sir, are a corrupter of families, a man of depraved conduct. Your depraved conduct is both seen and heard about, and the families you have corrupted are both seen and heard about. Leave this monastery, venerable sir. Enough of your staying here."
And should that bhikkhu, thus admonished by the bhikkhus, persist as before, the bhikkhus are to rebuke him up to three times for the sake of relinquishing that. If while being rebuked up to three times he relinquishes that, that is good. If he does not relinquish (that), it entails initial and subsequent meetings of the Community.
Logically, just as families eventually encourage and kick out their offspring as they mature, monks must have nudged their students out the door, much like we eject elementary school, high school, and college students using a more P.C. term for it, "graduation", encouraging them to go into the world and find their own way and experiences equipped and armed with what they have been taught, in this case: "The Dhamma". And, as their venues of living change, experiences vary, perspective and application of "The Dhamma" changes to adapt to newly arisen needs for adaptation. Darwin saw this with various birds as they moved by air from one isolated environmental and eco-system condition to another.
While the birds' adjustments and adaptations over the generations for the sake of survival eventually became physical resulting in variations of beak sizes in length and width, monks adjustments and adaptations to varying cultures became behavioral so that they could assimilate into the various communities they encountered. Therefore also "The Dhamma" evolved as cultural needs dictated to facilitate acceptance and adoption by members of the new communities the monks encountered.
Very recently we experienced an exact reenactment of such a pivotal sociological event as two Theravadan Bikkhus from Sri Lanka, one ninety year old Mahayana Nun and her attendant from Vietnam, visited with us and our ecumenical Buddhist meditation community. The four of them drove for two hours in a compact car from Boston, Mass. to Concord, New Hampshire. The two Bhikkhus joined with me to practice a walking meditation in one of our beautiful local city parks, White Park. We sat for an hour or so in meditation and discussion and discussed various suttas. We left the park for a quick culinary refreshment of tomato soup and lemonade at a nearby Friendly's restaurant. The ninety year old Mahayana nun refused the soup and drink opting instead for a plate of French Fries with Katsup. I lit up inside when I saw her do this.
We left for The Unitarian Church of Concord where our ecumenical Buddhist meditation community had prepared a welcoming meditation circle for our visitors. Our visitors were welcomed, a reading by our group leader of The Metta Sutta was given in English, and one of our visiting monks, Bhante' Dhammananda, offered to lead the monastic community in a recitation of The Metta Sutta in Pali, the original language of Gotama Buddha.
The bell signaling the beginning of meditation was sounded and Theravadan Monastics, Mahayana Monastics, Theravadan Laypersons, Mahayana Zen Laypersons, Tibetan Laypersons, and non-commited Laypersons sat together, each in silence observing the nature of their individual minds for about twenty minutes.
Later, after meditation period, the leader read a Tibetan commentary regarding the importance of continued development of skillfulness as a part of individual practice, shared how they individually related to what was read, and asked questions of our visitors.
It occurred to me, while there might have been differences in name among The Buddhists and practitioners, who sat in that room together, there was no schism in the sense of a warm thriving Buddhist and Meditation community. And that realization sat very well with me giving me a deep sense of peace.