Introduction
Unusually for the time, the Buddha did allow women to become monastics. But he did so only after repeated cajoling both from his maternal aunt (who had largely been responsible for raising him) and his favorite disciple, Ananda. Further, while the Buddha agreed that women were capable of reaching enlightenment, he denied them opportunities to rise above men in the monastic hierarchy. This tension between acknowledging women’s capabilities while denying them institutional support lies at the center of Buddhism’s fraught relationship with gender.
Buddhism is steeped in tradition and venerates the authority of its founder. This makes outright rejecting or changing things like the eight heavy rules quite difficult. The nuns discussed in the last two readings this week are working to overcome many obstacles, but they remain Buddhists committed to the religious vision of the Buddha and may be reluctant to overtly claim he was wrong by, for instance, utterly rejecting the eight heavy rules. They are, therefore, trying to walk a middle path that elevates their positions without overturning the system entirely.
Prompt
What do you think about this strategy? Some people have viewed these women in a positive light as feminist heroes, while others have condemned them, suggesting that by refusing to tear the system down entirely they remain complicit in the tradition’s overall patriarchal structures. What do you think?
Guidelines
Remember that for each discussion post, you need to write:
- your initial post, 2-3 paragraphs in length, that develops 1 or more arguments
Topic 10 Discussion: Monastics
I felt that there was no such discrimination that took place in Buddhism. Moreover, women were also allowed to perform several ideas and performances related to Buddhist ventures. This, allowed the women to become more monastic. Moreover, initially, this was not conducted because most of the women belonged to a society that had patriarchal dominance. He did repeat cajoling with his maternal aunt’s son Ananda, who was his favorite disciple. While agreeing on the point based on the case which is related to the women who are capable of reaching Enlightenment, as it often denies the opportunities in order to give rise to men with a monastic hierarchy. Moreover, the tension that allows women to thrive out of the capabilities that deny institutional support lies in the center of Buddhism which is fraught with gender. As it is argued by Gyatso, (2010), women were never differentiated in the Buddhist society, as he mentioned that women are often denied the different opportunities which are raised by the patriarchal society while it shall not be followed in the monastic hierarchy.
These texts helped me to find the reason for the tension developed to acknowledge the capabilities of women, which denies all the institutional support, which lies at the prime center of Buddhism which is fraught with the relationship underneath the valuation of gender development. Reformation has been brought to society with an emphasis on Buddhism while addressing the context which is related to the views, that thrived about the values that some people have been viewing the position given to women. Thus, men and women should get an equal position within society because both have been doing the same karma by following the paths of the same dharma (Horner, 1992).
Thus, women also have the privilege to gain moksha through the paths of nirvana. Buddha reached the peak of Enlightenment, which was solely appreciated because he narrated the ideas of women while giving light to the venture that women are required to get a positive place within society (Hallisey, 2015). Thus, all the feminist heroes, are condemned, as it is suggested while refusing the factors to tear away the system, which is solely torn up by the system, which is entirely believed to remain complicit, with the traditional ideas to acknowledge the overall patriarchal structures.
In this text, I have learned that Buddhism is filled with the steeped following mentioned in the religious tradition of Buddhism. Thus, this is true that Buddhist ideas mainly venerate the authority based on the founder. In the case of the Buddhist teachings, this is true that this acts like an outright measure which is often followed by rejecting or catering to the changes about the Eight Folds Paths with all the Heavy rules system which is difficult (Liang & Taylor, 2020). Moreover, understanding the rules for the nuns is discussed in the two readings which acted like a significant to overcome many obstacles, but they remain Buddhists committed to the religious vision of the Buddha which is reluctant to overtly claim.
In the Indian system, which series about the raids that destroy the greatest monastery system, for the next forty years. Bhikshunis are the female beggars where the nuns are projected to be less prominent, thus females are to be given a role for their karma because they have been playing a significant role to be the mother. These texts have helped in evaluating the ideas of how nuns and monks have varied positions even though Buddhism did not distinguish between them. Thus, it is utterly rejected under the heavy rule measured in the guidelines. Moreover, these changes shall help the women to step on the middle path which elevates their positions without overturning the system entirely. Still, this has been discovered that the fates of both nuns and monks are different.
References
Falk, N. A. (1980). The case of the vanishing nuns: The fruits of ambivalence in ancient Indian Buddhism. Unspoken Worlds: Women’s Religious Lives, 207-224.
Gyatso, J. (2010). Female Ordination in Buddhism: looking into a crystal ball, making a future. Mohr, T. & J. Tsedroen. Dignity and Discipline: Reviving Full Ordination for Buddhist Nuns. Boston: Wisdom Publication.
Hallisey, C. (2015). Therigatha: Poems of the first Buddhist women (Vol. 3). Harvard University Press.
