Buddhism --> Gender Flashcards
1
Q
women in buddhism pre knowledge
A
- should be no difference: Anatta
- Nuns vs monks on rules in Vinaya P
- ordination in thailand not allowed for Nuns –> only can become mae chi, lower karmic merit
- upaya: Kiso gotami
- Buddha refused to teach women and not allowed into monastic life –> Pajapati
2
Q
position of women in Buddhas time
A
- Ancient India: inferior as had no right to earn money
- limited freedom + no education
- infanticide for girls –> seen as bad luck due to dowry and not contributing to the household
However Buddha said
‘a female offspring may prove even nobler than a male’
3
Q
widows in Buddhas time
A
- linked to husbands family if poor
- Sati: widow burning
- honourable to burn with husbands body if he died
- forced if woman refused
4
Q
Women in Buddhism
A
- biological difference between men and women but ultimately equal
- equal dedication to family needed
- can take over husband’s role of trading if husband is away
- no restriction on educational/religious freedom
- accepted women (Buddha) but said success of dhamma reduced from 1000 years to 500
5
Q
dewaraja and marriage in Buddhism
A
- secular: divorce does not upset the divine
- access to divorce is easy and you can remarry
- can own property and inherit: can be educated + own property
- reduces segregation of sexes
- buddhist countries were historically more advanced with equal rights than west
6
Q
Khema as an important woman in early B
A
- Born into a princely family as was gold as a baby, beautiful her whole life
- married: avoided buddha as he knew he would disprove of her beauty (attachment)
- phantom of beauty to attend buddha created –> she witnessed its hideousness as it aged
- she realised Anicca and the three MOS
- entered stream of sainthood
- Mara disguised as a young man to tempt her but she resisted
- story of spider in web: humans are wedded to passion and lust like a spider in the web –> upon realising this she became an arhat and ordinated
7
Q
Maha Pajapati as an important woman in early B
A
- adoptive foster mother of the Buddha and maternal aunt –> became lonely when he renounced princehood
- ordination main focus: asked buddha to create an order of nuns, turned down 3 times
- she went home and 500 nuns gathered around her after returning defeated
- shaved head and wore yellow robe –> followers copied her and went on large march
- ananda became the mediator –> asked buddha if women can achieve sainthood in light of his teachings
- B have 8 conditions eg Nun is always lesser than Monk despite years of service, nun cannot scold or advice monk
8
Q
Subha as an important woman in early B
A
- born into luxury + fortune as past life followed precept well
- born to a gold smith + wore gold around the village
- heard the buddha had come and heard his teaching
- buddha knew this was her last birth in samsara due to insight
- she vowed to become a nun and be ordained –> parents discouraged her
- recited poem about dharma to family ‘craving and desire are frightful enemies’
- parents understood
- she became E and buddha elevated her –> ‘she maintained mindfulness and restrained her senses’
9
Q
Visakha
A
- achieved first stage of sainthood immediately after hearing dhamma
- five kinds of feminine beauty
- monks came for alms and father in law ignored them while she said he was eating stale food
- father wanted her gone from house so tried to clown her but she said the food is stale as he was not making merit in his present life but enjoying the merit of his past actions
- After trying to get her to leave many times, FIL realised she was wise and achieved first stage of sainthood
- she was given authority by Buddha to settle nun disputes –> led to rules in the Vinaya P
- built pubbarama monastery and B spent 6 rainy seasons there
10
Q
A sponberg and attitudes to women in early buddhism
A
- ambivalence and inconsistency in buddhist texts
- ‘traditional sources say women could and did become arhats’
women present in early B communities
11
Q
inclusive soteriology
A
- practical liberation from suffering open to all
- anyone can become enlightened and gender is irrelevant
- ‘by that same car into Nirvana’s presence shall they come’ samyutta nikaya
- included caste: born into and cannot change but in B irrelevant due to anatta/rebirth
- soma –> famous arhat that banished mara
12
Q
institutional androcentrism
A
- no fixed leader after B died
- monastic community needed structure and alms –> mutual dependence
- needed to align with society that pushed male superiority
- nuns accepted societal role and therefore lost hierarchy in Buddhism
‘diminished prestige, educational opportunity and financial support’
13
Q
ascetic misogyny
A
- ‘women are ever the root of ruin and loss of substance’ Sanskrit text
- ‘it is a wholly snare of mara’ (woman hood)
- Buddha against this –> ‘your majesty should first know a man’s faults. then hell have insight into those of a woman’
- more of these texts in M tradition
- women seen as temptresses ad feared as distractions on the road to enlightenment
- discordance between teaching vs practice
- leads to attachment to fear of the feminine –> three fires including craving
14
Q
Soteriological androgyny
A
- move towards gender neutrality concerning enlightenment
- buddhism is more progressive than west
15
Q
Dewaraja and the position of women in Buddhism
A
- independence of women in Buddhist countries prior to western influence
- Boyd 1782: women do not have ‘humiliating restraints put upon them’ compared to hindu or islamic countries
- Burma: King and queen both referred to as the two sovereign lords
