Devadatta - a prominent leader of the early Buddhist Order who later betrayed his teacher - knew how to take advantage of people's love of rules. After his failed attempts on the Buddha's life, Devadatta worked to create a schism in the Buddhist Order by asking Shakyamuni to adopt five new rules that he knew the Buddha would not accept.

According to an early Buddhist text, Devadatta's rules required members of the Order to: 1) live in the forest and never go near a village; 2) beg for alms and never accept invitations for meals; 3) wear robes made of rags and never wear household robes; 4) sleep at the root of a tree and never sleep under cover; and 5) never eat meat and fish. Whoever in the Order failed to follow those rules, Devadatta declared, "Sin would besmirch him" (The Book of the Discipline: Vinaya-Pitaka Cullavagga, vol. 5, I. B. Horner, trans., p. 276).

Devadatta then assured his cohorts of his plan's success: "The recluse Gotama [Buddha] will not allow these. Then we will win over the people by means of these five items. It is possible ... with these five items, to make a schism in the recluse Gotama's Order, a breaking of the concord. For ... people esteem austerity" (ibid., 276).

As expected, the Buddha refused those rules, explaining that it was up to each member how he would handle such matters.

As a result of Devadatta's scheme, five hundred newer members deserted the Order. The Buddha then instructed Shariputra and Maudgalyayana, two of his trusted disciples, to help them understand the true teaching and return to the Order before they could "fall into trouble and distress" (ibid., 279).

When Shariputra and Maudgalyayana caught up with Devadatta's group, he was preaching to his new converts and assumed that those eminent disciples of the Buddha had come to join him. Despite a warning from his assistant Kokalika, Devadatta invited the pair to the assembly where he spoke to his followers until late into the night. Then, imitating the mannerisms of the Buddha, who was then past seventy, Devadatta said to his followers, "My back aches and I will stretch it" (ibid., 280). So saying, he quickly fell asleep.

Seizing the opportunity, Shariputra and Maudgalyayana eloquently explained the Buddha's true teachings, which dispelled the confusion of Devadatta's followers and led them all back to the Buddha.

Nichiren Daishonin admonishes our tendency to be deceived by imposters posing as true teachers: "Powerful enemies of the correct teaching ... are to be found not so much among evil rulers and evil ministers, among non-Buddhists and devil kings, or among monks who disobey the precepts." (WND, 584).

	What do you think it means to internalize the Buddhist teachings as opposed to merely imitating them? In terms of your own life, why is it important?
	What is the difference between learning how to practice Buddhism from a mentor and imitating only the appearance of a mentor?

Imposters are essentially concerned with the appearance of keeping precepts, while true practitioners question the relevance of precepts to the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, that is, happiness for oneself and others.

The purpose of a true practitioner is to internalize Buddhism and manifest it from deep within his or her life. One way not to be deceived by an imposter, then, is to embody the teachings of Buddhism instead of simply keeping up their appearance. That is, only when we practice true to the intent of Buddhism can we distinguish between being and seeming.