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Feminism and Buddhist Thought
AllbuddhaBound
Veteran
It seems that one of the underpinnings of feminist thought is that women need to care about themselves more than they had. Of course, a part of Buddhism is to care about self as much as one cares for others. That is because all people are equal and should be given the same consideration.
How is it possible for Buddhist thought to consider we are all one and we are all equal yet women cannot be ordained?
When it is said that we need to find Buddhist thought workable for each of us, this contradiction makes me question.
How is it possible for Buddhist thought to consider we are all one and we are all equal yet women cannot be ordained?
When it is said that we need to find Buddhist thought workable for each of us, this contradiction makes me question.
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Comments
Namaste.
The Buddha originally ordained both men and women. However, the reason Theravadin ecclesiastics in places like Thailand and Burma don't currently preform or recognize bhikkhuni ordinations is because the bhikkhuni order died out a long time ago (and was never established in Thailand), and according to the rules set forth in the Vinaya, there needs to be a full quorum of both fully ordained bhikkhus and bhikkhunis for the ordination to be considered valid. (The 'nuns' or mae chees in Thailand aren't fully ordained, they've only taken the eight precepts, which doesn't require a full quorum.)
Sri Lankan monks, on the other hand, have been less concerned with the letter than the spirit of the rules, and have conducted ordinations with bhikkhunis from other traditions (i.e., the Dharmagupta lineage, whose Vinaya some consider an off-branch from Theravada) or with just the quorum of bhikkhus, instituting a new bhikkhuni sangha that's now taking part in the ordinations themselves.
Part of the problem is that monks take fewer vows than nuns, so nuns need to be ordained by superior nuns who have taken all the vows for nuns.
But patriarchal values in the cultures where Buddhism is found also tend to influence the options for nuns in the same way that folk traditions in those countries tend to seep into Buddhism.
And because a lot of people become monks because they are afraid of, are unsuccessful with or believe themselves to have been hurt by women. Therefore anything a religious institution says about the status of women is to be treated with skepticism.
A lot of Buddhist organizations seem to have little interest in any Dharma that doesn't maintain the status quo. It is not about liberation, its about control and comfort.
Thanks for bringing that particular piece of idiocy back into the spot light.
becoming ordained is understandably desirable for those who wish to closely follow the the spiritual footsteps of an ordained Buddhist teacher.
A Buddhist teacher or organization who will only ordain men has simply embraced misogyny over Buddhism. Personally I think that such teachers and organizations should only be refered to as Muddhists from now on.
Phayul [Tuesday, May 22, 2012 15:16]
Nuns have been graduating from the rigorous 19-year program of philosophical studies as required for the normal Geshe curriculum study of the Five Great Canonical Texts. Now with the decision, nuns, at par with monks, have the opportunity to appear for the very stringent doctorate examinations.
In 2011, Ven. Kelsang Wangmo became the first Buddhist nun to be awarded a Rime Geshe Degree by the Dharamshala based Institute for Buddhist Dialectic Studies with the authorisation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The degree is titled Rime Geshe [Non-Sectarian Geshe] as the curriculum includes study with Nyingma, Sakya and Kagyu masters of their respective presentations of philosophy.
Full story: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=31441&t=1