Saṃghabheda (causing dissention among the Order) exists when the following two conditions are both present:
Condition A: the expression of divergent ideas and plotting to cause others to divide the community, and,
Condition B: carrying out the Order’s ritual activities separately from the community.
Neither condition alone is sufficient to cause saṃghabheda. For example:
To hold only condition A remains an attempt to create saṃghabheda.
To hold only condition B is the same situation as that of the bhikkhus who are in nānāsaṃvāsaka (living in a different place), and thus carry out the Order’s ritual activities on their own.
Sasaki 2000 suggested that the definition of saṃghabheda was modified so that only condition B is necessary and sufficient to create saṃghabheda in the Mohe sengqi lu 摩訶僧祇律 (*Mahāsāṅghikavinaya). He cited four sentences from that text to demonstrate his idea.
This paper examines Sasaki’s idea by rereading those four sentences and his interpretations of them, and concludes that the definition of saṃghabheda has not been modified and that Sasaki misread those sentences.