Buddhism and The Female Contradiction

Gethin describes the evolution of Buddhist thought and teaching as a function of existing cultural and societal mores. Particularly interesting is the contradictory role of women within this tradition. As Gethin notes the “Thengatha” (Buddhist canon) contains a number of verses that are actually directly attributed to female “arhats” and other female religious leaders. Despite this, not only is the status of Buddha and possibility of becoming a “Mara” denied to women but also to Brahmas (who is strictly without sex).

Even though it is true as Gethin notes that women played an important role in the early centuries of the common era as both nuns and laypeople, he also notes that early order of nuns in Sri Lanka died out early in the Common Era and that fully ordained nuns are only regularly found in East Asian Buddhism.

Key to this contradiction seems to be the role of the set of rules or “pratimoksa” that a monk must follow. These rules not only prescribe monks from killing others and material possessions, but also committed them to celibacy. As Gethin notes, “The failure to keep his vow of celibacy undermines one of the defining characteristics of the Buddhist monk: he has renounced the ordinary ‘household’ life of wife, children, and family; furthermore sexual abstinence is associated with channelling one’s energies towards spiritual attainments” (Gethin, 89).’

This idea of renouncing the “household life” and the prohibitions he mentions later on spending a night in the same house as a woman ascribe the role of women based on these norms as another temptation similar in kind to taking food from others or handling money. This is not unusual to the view of women in a number of religious traditions, but it does help explain why it was incompatible for women to both be viewed as something to be resisted and as equal members of the spiritual order.

I should be clear that this exclusion of women from certain monastic roles didn’t mean that they were entirely excluded as I noted previously. It also didn’t mean that Buddhists were in anyway encouraged to engage in actual ill will towards women. There isn’t actually that much written about women in early Buddhist writing, and there is certainly nothing approximating an equivalent text to Genesis’ description of Eve’s original sin in the Christian Bible.

However the fact that Brahmas were denied the potential to achieve the status of Buddha or Mara strongly suggests that gender was still foundational to these early understandings of Buddhist monastic life. If  “punya” or good, generous deeds were at the heart of Buddhist spiritual life as Gethin notes, how could a woman be generous while renouncing family life all together? Indeed how would a woman commit herself to a wife free of sexual activity and family life if existing norms suggested these were an essential part of her identity. While Gethin mentions a movement to re-establish the bhikkhunl ordination lineage in Theravada Buddhism, this seems as much a function of modernity as any tradition culled from early Buddhist teaching.

 

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2 Responses to Buddhism and The Female Contradiction

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  2. Gabby says:

    I really enjoyed your exploration of “the female contradiction.” I was disappointed to learn of the limited religious roles available to women within Buddhist culture, especially because of the reputation of Buddhism as inclusive and universally encompassing. Your chosen quote from Gethin (page 89) was particularly interesting for its admiration toward men for celibacy and renouncing family. Women are recognized in greater capacity as being sexual temptations rather than individual and differing beings. Your last questions regarding the decisions women faced were also very interesting, because women are given less recognition while facing far more difficult choices – women would likely be condemned for abandoning their families to dedicate themselves to the Buddha’s teachings; while it is considered a noble act for a man to do the same.

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