1. pre-buddhist india vedic age 1500 — 500 bce · women in theravada buddhism anil d....

Women in Theravada Buddhism Anil D. Goonewardene of 7

9. Women in Theravada Buddhism

1. Pre-Buddhist India Vedic age 1500 — 500 BCE

Women have always commanded respect in India as mothers. In the early Vedic Age, women enjoyed an honourable position in educational, family, social and religious matters1. However, the latter part of this period saw an increase in the dominance of the Brahmins as a priestly caste and a consequent deterioration in the position of women2. Brahminism, with its emphasis on sacrifice and ritual, required a son to carry on the family line and also to perform the sacred rites to ensure the continued happiness of the father and grand-father in their repeated births. The lowly position of a woman in the religious sphere was reflected in the law of the time3. A woman could not perform any religious rites, worship on her own, nor attain heaven on her own merit. Her civil law rights were similar to that of a married woman in English law prior to about 1870.

2. India during Buddha's time 563 BCE - 483 BCE and after C5CE - C 12 CE

Gotama Buddha was born on the full moon day in May (Vesak) in the sixth century BCE in North India. His mother, Queen Maha Maya, died seven days after his birth and her younger sister, Maha Pajapati Gotami, who was also a queen of his father, Kind Suddhodana, looked after the child. On the same day, in another kingdom, his cousin Princess Yasodhara was born. The two were married sixteen years later and lived happily for another thirteen years. Then, on the day their son Rahula was born, Gotama decided to renounce the world to seek an answer to the ills of life. He left behind him the two women who had looked after him and his beloved father and son, all of whom were to benefit later by the Dhamma he realised. It was Sujata, a generous woman who brought him his last meal, milk rice, before his Enlightenment, who was instrumental in the final confidence Gotama received that he would attain Enlightenment, when the golden bowl which had contained the milk rice floated upstream when he placed it on the waters of the river. Women played a significant role in supporting him in his life prior to his Enlightenment, at the age of thirty five, on the full moon day in May.

The concept of rebirth, that an individual continues to be reborn in human and non-human spheres until attaining Nirvana and, the concept that an individual progresses along the Buddhist path by personal effort, are ideas central to Buddhism. The superiority of men over women, or vice versa and, indeed, human over other forms of life, cannot be reconciled with these two concepts.

Buddha delivered his first sermon on the full moon day in July (Asalha) to five ascetics, who were previously his companions. They attained Arahantship and became the first disciple bhikkhus4. The Bhikkhu Order was thus commenced. A few days later, Buddha delivered a discourse at the house of the millionaire father of his sixth disciple Yasa, on hearing which, the latter's mother and former wife


became his first two lay female followers. Some weeks later, when there were about sixty Arahant disciples, Buddha formally established the Order of the Sangha, consisting at the time only of bhikkhus. The bhikkhus of today are descended in direct unbroken line from those bhikkhus ordained by the Buddha. Mahavira, who founded Jainism, had by this time established orders of monks, nuns, lay-men and lay-women5.

After the death of King Suddhodhana, five years later, Maha Pajapati Gotami, who was already a lay disciple, asked the Buddha permission for women to enter the Order. Thrice Buddha refused the request. Then Ven. Ananda asked, "Are women capable of realising the state of Arahantship?" and Buddha replied, "Yes". Ven. Ananda made another appeal on behalf of Maha Pajapati Gotami and, Buddha granted the request on condition that she accepted eight rules6.

Buddha's hesitation was owing to the fact that he had to consider very carefully the implications of such a move. He had to balance the cultural background of the society, the attitudes of the people, and his concern not to endanger the Sangha by an unwise step, with the logical equality of men and women which flowed from the Dhamma. He felt that women were less able to deal with the tribulations of the daily secular life in a society ordered by men. He therefore bound the Bhikkhu Order by special rules in order to strengthen the former. Buddha is recorded as having said that the Sangha would not last for so long, as it would otherwise, because women had been admitted to the Order, but Dr Horner indicates the possibility of Bhikkhus editing the statement to decrease the importance which Buddha gave to women7.

Further statements in the Buddhist scriptures, that a woman cannot become a Buddha or attain the higher realms of Enlightenment8 have to be accepted with caution for the same reason, and would certainly go against the central ideas of the Dhamma.

The Bhikkhuni Order, once established, flourished. The membership came from the whole range of the social structure and included Yasodhara9. Ven. Pajapati Gotami was the most senior. Ven. Khema and Uppalavanna were the two chief Bhikkhuni disciples. Buddhist literature contains the Therigatha, psalms or verses of seventy-three elder Bhikkhunis, Bhikkhuni-Samyutta, more verses of ten elders and the Apadana, the biographies in verse of forty nuns contemporary with the Buddha, which are unique in the religious literature of the world10. Both Bhikkus and Bhikkunis wore similar dress, engaged in the same activities and aspired to teach the Dhamma and attain Arahantship11. Some Bhikkhunis like Dhammadinna and Bhadda Kappilani were famous exponents of the Dhamma.

The Dhamma expounded by the Buddha improved immeasurably the condition of laywomen as mothers, daughters, wives, widows and workers12. They were to be treated as equal individuals. Laypeople could attain Arahantship and this goal was


open to women. The duties towards parents, children, teachers, pupils, husband, wife, friend, employees, employers, religious teachers and laymen are explained in the Sigalovada Sutta13. The ethical code lays down the framework of the Buddhist lay life. The relationship of husband and wife was a bilateral one with reciprocal duties. A daughter was not a liability. When King Kosala was not pleased with his wife, Queen Mallika, having a baby daughter, Buddha said, "A woman child, O Lord of men may prove even a better offspring than a male".

Women played a significant part in the stories relating to the exposition of the Dhamma. Queen Mallika was able to persuade her husband from holding a great animal sacrifice. Kisagotami, grieving for her dead son, found that death was universal when she was not able to find a home wherein no one had died, in order to obtain a mustard seed, which the Buddha said would bring her son to life14. The Buddha Sasana or community consisted and consists now, of Bhikkus, Bhikkunis, laymen and laywomen. Women are included.

The twelfth century CE saw the decline of Buddhism in India owing to the invasions by adherents of Islam and the revival of orthodox Hinduism. However, the present century has seen a revival of Buddhism there.

3. Sri Lanka (240 BCE)

Buddhism arrived in Sri Lanka during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa. Emperor Asoka of India sent his son, Yen. Mahinda, to Sri Lanka about 240 BCE. On hearing the latter expound the Dhamma, the King first and, many others later, became Buddhists. Queen Anula, the wife of the King Tissa's brother, inspired by the teaching, expressed a wish that she and many companions should become nuns. Ven. Mahinda explained that only a Bhikkhuni can ordain a woman as Bhikkhuni and suggested that they ask Emperor Asoka to send his daughter, Ven. Sanghamitta, to Sri Lanka.

This was done and Ven. Sanghamitta arrived in SriLanka. She brought a branch of the Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained Enlightenment. The branch, planted at Anuradhapura, grows today venerated by Buddhists, probably the oldest historically authenticated tree in the world.

Ven. Sanghamitta ordained Queen Anula and her companions and the Order of Bhikkhunis continued into Sri Lanka on the same basis as in Buddha's time in India. Epigraphical and literary sources point to the rapid spread of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. The Order of Bhikkhunis flourished in Sri Lanka, as did the Order of Bhikkhus.

About 500 CE, there was a deterioration in the Sangha in Sri Lanka and the Order of Bhikkhunis ended. However, there were women who had taken the ten precepts living as nuns. Their number is now increasing. Most of them are Sinhalese but some come from far off lands. Several small communities have been


established, such as Parappuduwa Nuns Island in Dodanduwa.

The Dutch Governor Falck wanted to codify the laws and customs of the Sinhalese and sent a questionnaire to eminent Bhikkhus of Kandy. Their answers in a document known as the Lakrajalosirita (1769) indicate that, in relation to marriage and divorce, the Buddhist ideas had become a part of the Kandyan Sinhala law. Hugh Boyd, who came as the envoy to the Kandyan Kingdom in 1784 and Robert Knox, who was a prisoner in the Kandyan Kingdom from 1660 - 1679 after being shipwrecked, both write about the equality of men and women in social life15. However, in the Maritime Provinces in Sri Lanka, the pre-Code Napoleon Roman Dutch law as it prevailed in Holland, was accepted as the common lay by the Dutch courts and, in those areas of Sri Lanka, the legal position of women was more dis-advantaged than under the Kandyan Sinhalese law.

Much can be written about the lay Buddhists in Sri Lanka, who form the foundation of a Buddhist civilisation. It is said that the Buddha predicted at the very end of his life that the Dhamma would take firm root and flourish in Sri Lanka, as it has done. The Buddhists in Sri Lanka feel that they owe a duty to the rest of the world to cherish, protect and make available to all the Dhamma, which is a part of the common inheritance of humanity.

Women are not second to men in taking an active part in supporting the Sangha, listening to the Dhamma and engaging in all manner of Buddhist activities.

Although monogamy has been the general rule in Buddhist societies, polygamy seems to have been accepted in Buddhist India and polyandry in Kandyan Sinhalese law and in Tibet.

4. Burma (500 CE), Thailand (500 CE) and Tibet (700 CE)

Lieutenant General Albert Fytche, Chief Commisioner of Burma and Agent to the Viceroy and Governor General in India, writing in 1878 and R. Grant Brown, a revenue officer in Burma 1889-1917, both remarked on the freedom and independence of the women and the equal status they have in legal, educational and social matters16.

In Thailand, J.G.D. Campbell, Educational Adviser to the Thai Government, wrote that the position of women was an honourable one and attributed this directly to Buddhism16.

Sir Charles Bell, the British Political Representative in Tibet , Bhutan and Sikkim, wrote in 1928 about Tibet that the women were not kept in seclusion, were at ease with men and had a good social position. He said that the same prevailed in Burma and Sri Lanka and explained the reason as Buddhist influence.


5. United Kingdom (1820 CE)

The initial interest in Buddhism was by scholars from about 1820 CE. Ven. Ananda Metteyya, an English Buddhist monk, was the first to expound the Dhamma in the United Kingdom. That was in 1908. The first Vihara to be established here was the London Buddhist Vihara in 1926. Since then many Bhikkhus have come to the United Kingdom from Sri Lanka, Burma and Thailand and many Viharas and monasteries have been established. The first ordination of an English Bhikkhu who had studied the Dhamma here was in about 1957. Many others have since been ordained. In August 1983, four British women took the ten precepts and became nuns, a growing order which now numbers about sixteen. Since technically a Bikkhuni is required to ordain a woman as a Bikkhuni, they are not Bikkhunis and are not bound by the Vinaya rules. However, they train within the ten precepts and consider themselves to be bound by the monastic discipline. There is some discussion as to whether they could be ordained by a Bhikkhuni from another school of Buddhism.

Some nice legal questions come to mind here. Firstly. whether Theravada Buddhist Ecclesiastical law can be accepted as a part of the English law and secondly, whet her the status of the nuns would be accepted as custom of the English Buddhist Ecclesiastical law by the common law.

This story will not be complete without mention of the contribution which laywomen in England have made to Buddhism. Naming some may be unfair as it means not naming others. In scholarship, teaching the Dhamma, teaching meditation, supporting the Buddhist institutions, taking part in Buddhist activities and festivals and teaching in schools, women both Buddhist and non-Buddhist have made, and are making, a tremendous contribution to the understanding of Buddhism.

6. Conclusion

The equality of women with men flows from the central concepts of the Dhamma. In India, Buddhism afforded women spiritual freedom, opportunity to take part in religious activities and discussions, opportunity to develop as human beings and to take full part in the lay life without any segregation. The position of women in Buddhist societies was much better than in other societies, especially in the present western society, where an individual's worth is often measured in terms of wealth, economic power and earning capacity, rather than the quality of the person's life.

The way that some Buddhists put these ideas into practice, in the past and in the present time, may mean that women are not accorded their rightful position. This is brought about by the wrong ideas of those Buddhists and is not supported by the Dhamma.


In the same way that Sanskrit and Pali influenced the European languages, Buddhism now has a chance to influence western society17.

Anil D. Goonewardene Senior Lecturer in Law, Polytechnic of North London Teacher, London Buddhist Vihara School Buddhist representative ILEA and London Brent SACRE and London Barnet R.E. Statutory Conference


Notes and Resources*18

1. Dewarajah, Dr. (Mrs) L.S., The Position of Women inBuddhism. A talk at the London Buddhist Vihara published in the Buddhist Quarterly 1978-9 Vol.11, No. 2-3, p.65; and a paper presented to the International Conference of Indian Ocean Studies at the University of Western Australia, August 1979, published as Wheel No.280, p.6.

2. idem.

3. Laws of Manu, trans. G. Buhler, Sacred Books of the East, Vol XXV, Oxford 1866.

4. Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, Ven. Narada The Buddha and His Teachings,* Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka, 1980, p.88.

5. Horner, Dr. (Miss) I.B., Women Under Primitive Buddhism, Routledge, London, 1930, at p.101 (Dr Horner uses "primitive" to mean "early")

6. ibid, Part II, Chapter I; and Ven. Narada, The Buddha and His Teachings* above p.150

7. Horner, Dr. (Miss) I.B., Women Under Primitive Buddhism above p.105

8. ibid p.291.

9. ibid p.167.

10. Horner, Dr. (Miss) I.B., Women in Early Buddhist Literature Lecture at Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 1961, published as Wheel No.30, p.2.

11. The word Arahant covers both the feminine and masculine.

12. f.5 above, Part 1

13. Ven Narada, The Buddha and His Teachings* p.588; Ven Dr. Saddhatissa, Buddha's Way* p.100; Ven. Dr. Rahula, What the Buddha Taught* p.78.

14. Hecker, Hellrnuth, Buddhist Women at the Time of the Buddha, Wheel No.292/293.

15. Dewarajah f.1 above p.70 and p.13 respectively.

16. ibid p.17, p.3 and p.4 respectively.

17. For a brief account of Buddhism, written especially for teachers, see the London Brent Faith Communities Handbook article on Buddhism by Anil D. Goonewardene.

18. The books marked with an asterisk are available at the London Buddhist Vihara, 5 Heathfield Gardens, Chiswick, London W4 4.11I, (01 995 9493)

1. pre-buddhist india vedic age 1500 — 500 bce · women in theravada buddhism anil d....

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