9 FEATURESBangkok Post TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 LIFE

KCMYE

English-bornBuddhist nun leadswomen on the path ofspiritual enlightenmentSTORY:SAMANERI NISSARA

Thequestforparity

Venerable Tenzin Palmo

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B eing born female is theresult of bad karma.Women are innatelyinferior to men in wisdomand other spiritual quali-

ties. The male form is the better vehiclefor spiritual progress. These are the tra-ditional — deeply rooted and arguablystill widely held — views found in manyBuddhist countries, Thailand included,despite there being no dispute of theBuddha’s own unequivocal confirmationthat women are also capable of beingenlightened.

Here we speak to Venerable TenzinPalmo to hear her perspectives on wom-en’s spiritual potential and role in Bud-dhism.

Born in England in 1943, at the age of20 she embarked on a spiritual journeyto India and became one of the firstWesterners to be ordained as a Tibetannun and later fully-ordained bhikkhuni.

As part of her path she spent 12 yearsin solitary retreat in a Himalayan cave,as documented in the popular book Cavein the Snow by Vicki Mackenzie. To fulfilla request made by her late teacher, the8th Khamtrul Rinpoche, in the 1990’sshe started the work of building a nunneryto provide much-needed, high-qualitymonastic education and facilities forwomen. Today, Dongyu Gatsal Ling(Garden of the Authentic Lineage) Nun-nery in northern India is home to morethan 70 nuns. In 2008, she was conferredthe rare title of Jetsunma, or VenerableMaster, by His Holiness the 12th Gyal-wang Drukpa, head of the Drukpa Kagyulineage in honour of her spiritual achieve-ments and work to uplift female practi-tioners in Tibetan Buddhism.

Could there be some grounds to theidea that women are generally bornwith less wisdom than men in thatthey may have spent many lifetimesreborn as women, who historically havehad less opportunity to receive formaleducation in dharma?No, I don’t think so. I think one doesn’tnecessarily need to have much formaldharma education to achieve realisation.There’s a kind of wisdom that comeswithout having anything to do with theintellectual process, which might evenstand in the way sometimes. For example,when I met with Sayadaw U. Pandita,the great Burmese vipassana teacher,he told me his best students were thevillage women because when he toldthem what to do, they would go awayand do it and get the realisations. Whereasthe monks would just intellectually playaround with [his teachings] and didn’tjust take the jump and do it.

But nonetheless, I doubt if any ofthose village women, no matter howmuch insight they got, then themselvesbecame meditation teachers becausethey were not pandita (learned ones).Similarly, in Tibet there were, and therestill are today, many great femalemeditators who have great accomplish-ment themselves. But they have verylittle voice for helping others becausethey don’t have the education behind it— the language and intellectual structureto be able to express what they’ve realised.But they have realised.

What we are trying to do for womennow is to give them the intellectualunderpinning so they themselves canbecome teachers.

I do think the female has an importantvoice. But we don’t what it is becausewe haven’t heard it yet.

Whether or not it is true that womenare innately inferior to men, it is hardto dispute that in most countries womenare born into societal structures wherethey still have less opportunity foreducation, professional advancement,and leadership roles in society. Do youthink this is because of negative karmathey have made in the past?I’m not sure that it’s negative karma perse. I don’t think it is because we somehowdid something wrong and are beingpunished by being reborn as women. Ithink obviously I did something right,so I came back in a female body, thankgoodness!

I think that actually to be born in afemale body can be an enormousadvantage. Men have tremendous prob-lems with their male bodies, as we all

know, and end up making a lot of badkarma for themselves and creating a lotof havoc in the world. I’m not sure it’san advantage to be born male.

But certainly from a society point ofview, women have definitely been dis-advantaged. [Even so] they certainly don’tlook to me like they are somehow anexpression of anything which is inferior.Because with many women, even thoughoutwardly it doesn’t look like [their livesamounted to much] as they didn’t writethe books and didn’t become theteachers, nonetheless they led very beau-tiful lives. Unsung and un-regarded, butnonetheless very beautiful. Very self-sacrificing, very compassionate, oftenhaving an innate wisdom which maynot be an intellectual wisdom, but isnonetheless a very clear seeing and veryself-less seeing. And after all, what arewe aiming for?

Yes, but women still do not have allthe educational resources males do.And this is why we are working towardshelping that to happen.

On the other hand, one could feelhappy to be a woman to be able tointimately help in that effort. It’s likebeing born a woman provides theopportunity to do this kind of servicethat a man wouldn’t have. So in a way,it’s good!Exactly!

But it’s rare to hear such a sentimentexpressed in the traditional discourseon being born a woman.Why? Because the women have beentold by the males that they’re inferior.So if the whole of society is telling youyou’re inferior, then you believe you’reinferior. But in fact you might not beinferior at all. It depends. What are thecriterion by which we are judgingsuperiority or inferiority?]

A common trope: Most governments,companies, etc. are led by men, whichsuggests that there is somethinginnately superior about the physicalmale form that lends itself to leadershipin society.Well, men are bigger than women, andif the women don’t agree, they can beatthem up!

But now at this point, we don’t allhave to go around like gorillas. And whenintelligence counts more, and as womenbecome more educated, the importantthing now is for women to start respectingwomen and supporting women, because

to my mind what has really kept womendown is not so much the men as otherwomen. And if women don’t supporteach other, who will support us?

What do you think it will take forwomen to start supporting each othermore?I think they themselves have to startfeeling more self-respect and self-esteem.As they start to have more confidencewithin, then they will be able to give itout to their sisters. As long as they con-sider themselves inferior and unworthy,then they will also regard all the otherwomen as inferior and the result of badkarma and therefore the only thing todo is to worship the male form.

And hope that in their next life theywill be reborn a male.Pray hard!

So what has to be done is to recognisethat actually we are both two sides ofthe coin. No matter which side of thecoin you’re on, it’s the same coin. We’reall human.

It looks like it might take quite awhile before women and men are reallyon level playing ground. Sometimesone wonders if it is even really possible.But it’s happening. It is happening.

Women have made a quantum leapin the past hundred years. You look, inthe West, before, women didn’t havethe vote. Women didn’t become doctors,lawyers, architects — it was inconceivablethat they would.

And now, I was just reading recentlyin the newspaper in India that there’s abig worry — I’m not worried, they’reworried — that the majority of peoplegraduating from medical school arewomen.

It doesn’t take long. And once it startsto happen in the secular world, then ithighlights how retrograde things are inthe Buddhist world. And how it is rid-iculous to think nuns should not beeducated because their poor little brainswould fry if they had to think too hardbecause we can see that in the secularworld women are intellectually extremelybright, actually. When women are giventhe opportunity, they have proven thatthey perform just as well, if not better,than the men.

Education is education. And the pointis that it’s not like anything is beingtaken away from the monks. The monkscan carry on doing their monk thing.But the nuns can actually help. Becausein the future, if the Sangha doesn’t getthemselves together, they’re going tofind themselves totally irrelevant. As theBuddhist lay people in the future becomemore educated than the monks them-selves, the monks have to rethink theirrole. And nuns can help very much inthis because the nuns have more of asense of social outreach and can reinventthe whole role of dharma for helping toreally make a contribution to society.

Is it true you made a vow to becomea female Buddha? Why?In order to help women. After all, thereare so many men out there already help-ing males. Then it makes more sense tocome back as a female to help women.But of course, in the future if the balancechanges and then instead of a patriarchywe have a matriarchy and the males areleft stranded and neglected and over-looked, then one could come back as amale and help them out.

To find out more about and/or support thenunnery project, visit www.tenzinpalmo.comor www.gatsal.org.

THAI BUDDHISMIN THE NEXT

DECADE Continued from page 1

‘‘This is also why morewidespread dharmapractice does not meanviolence in Thai societywill decrease in thenext decade

Although the interest in Buddhismamong the middle class will continue togrow in the next decade, this does notmean the growth of Buddhism itself.This lay Buddhism phenomenon is takingplace amid a myriad of social malaisesthat are ever intensifying, which reflectsthe overall declining morality of peoplein society. Crime, murder, theft, rape,corruption, domestic violence, aban-doned infants, children and the elderly— these social problems do not onlyshow society’s collective failure to instilmorality among the populace, they alsoreflect the declining influence of Bud-dhism in society as a whole.

Actually, even among those keen onBuddhism, the tendency is that theirpractice and observance will be indi-vidualistic. The main purpose is torespond to their own needs without pay-ing attention to society or other people.Many people turn to Buddhism to copewith stress and to seek inner calm. Theythen are not interested in taking part inpublic activities to help others, for fearthat they will affect their peace of mind.

Many of these people are devoted tomaking merit with monks in order toaccumulate the ‘‘boon’’ or merit whichwill help them to be prosperous in thispresent life or to have happiness in thenext life. Meanwhile, they overlook thedowntrodden, believing that helpingthem will give them less merit than theirhelping monks.

Of late, there have also been newmisunderstandings about karma. Forexample, the belief that if we help savesomeone’s life, that will enrage that per-son’s jao kam nai wen or vengeful spiritswho are intent on avenging us. Or thebelief that by sharing our merits withothers in our prayers will erode our stockof merits. These beliefs actually go againstthe Buddhist teachings. Yet, they havebecome widespread. And they willbecome even more so in the next decade.

Here’s why:Individualism. The practice of Bud-

dhism marked by individualism is theresult of the way Buddhism has beenpromulgated in Thailand in the pastseveral decades. It is the fruit of ThaiBuddhism reform a century ago whichhas eroded the social dimensions of Bud-dhism.

Consequently, the practice has cometo primarily focus on the developmentof one’s meditation. (Helping other per-sons or society has become secondary.Overlooked, even.) When the value onindividualism has become a widespreadphenomenon in modern Thai societythrough capitalism and consumerism,people then have become even morefocused on one’s self interests. In thissystem, one’s needs come first. Whenthey turn to dharma practice, then it isaimed for personal happiness on a verysuperficial level. The practice is not reallyaimed to reduce greed, mental defile-ments and attachment of the ego. Thegenerosity, the willingness to help othersor for the common good then is lacking.This is one of the reasons why socialproblems have not declined at all whenmore Thais actually turn to dharma prac-tice.

In the same vein, when the goal ofdharma practice is not to attain a deepand thorough understanding of one’smind until one sees the attachment ofself and ego, then it becomes very easyto get lost in that attachment of perceivedgoodness or one’s image as a good, moralperson. Conceit grows. As a result, wefrown upon whoever thinks or practicesdifferently from us, or judge them asbad people. This is why many dharmapractitioners supported the May violencelast year. This is also why more wide-spread dharma practice does not meanviolence in Thai society will decrease inthe next decade.

Another distinct characteristic ofpopular Thai Buddhism in the next dec-ade will be teachings that are concise,easy to understand and easy to practice,with promise of fast results. This comesfrom the modern Thais’ mentality andway of life which focuses on speed, con-venience and tangible results. Theseteachings will explain the complexity ofthe modern world in a way that is easyto understand, so much so that itbecomes superficial. They will not de-mand too much sacrifice and difficulty

from the followers. Just donate and putone’s mind in the right place withoutchanging one’s way of life or give upselfishness. These teachings will be highlypopular. They also share the commontraits in their ability to respond to thefollowers’ worldly needs such as riches,social status and fame. (One centreattracts the public with the slogan ‘‘lifesaved, diseases cured, wealth and fame’’).An important part of this trend is wide-spread consumerism which does notonly commodify religions and dharmateachings that are easy and fast to con-sume, it also shapes the public’s beliefsthat money is an important tool to attainworldly happiness and success.

In parallel with this phenomenon isthe flourishing of commercialised Bud-dhism, or the commercialisation ofsuperstition, to be exact. We will see themarket expansion of amulets and charmsbelieved to bring quick wealth withouthaving to invest effort or perseverance.These talismans may relate to Buddhism,come from other cults or mix with oneanother until it is impossible to identifywhat is Buddhist, animistic or Bhra-ministic.

Although ‘‘Jatukham Ramathep’’amulets have already lost their popularity,the next decade will certainly see newproducts to give people hope and con-solation amid the uncertainties in theirlife and in the world at large. Dependencyon these talismans will remain the main-stream belief and practice which reflectsthe religious understanding of the ma-jority of Thai people.

Such phenomenon may be the causeof worry for the learned in Buddhismwho view such belief and practice aviolation of the Buddha’s teachings. Butit is difficult to foresee the clergy takingany action to create proper understand-ing. The clergy is very weak and willbecome even weaker in the next decade.The number of monks and novices willdrastically decrease. The knowledge ofmonks and novices will also likely declineas a result of the failure of education ofthe clergy dating back decades. And thereis no sign of any improvement.

That is not all. The monks’ overallbehaviour cannot restore public faith inthe clergy, because they themselves arecaught in the trap of consumerism.Monks then cannot provide spiritualleadership or wisdom for Thai society.Worse, they play an important part inthe growth of animism business. Thiswill continue to happen amid neglectand inertia from the Ecclesiastical Councilas ever before, which is why monasticmisconducts and scandals continueunabated.

What has already happened and willhappen more in the next decade is theproliferation of independent faith groupsand cults in the clergy which teach andpractise differently. Even though theymight violate the teachings of the Buddha,the clergy cannot do much about it. Thewidespread use of connections in theclergy on every level will further aggravatethe situation, preventing the clergy frombeing refuge for the public.

In this scenario, the Buddhist groupthat will play an important role in thenext decade is the Dhammakaya Temple.It has a very strong organisation with acore of 3,000 monks who have beenthrough intense training. Moreover, itis backed with gigantic funding and anationwide network of monks and laysupporters. The temple also enjoys goodrelationships with many elders in theEcclesiastical Council. Its influence atthe top, middle and grassroots levelscombined with its ownership of moderncommunications media will have a sig-nificant impact on the beliefs and prac-tices of a large number of Buddhists inthe next decade.

One last point is the increasing rolesof women.

In the past two decades, women havebeen playing more roles in Thai Bud-dhism, not only as the supporters ofmonks but also as an important force inlay Buddhism. Their roles in the realmsof academics and practices have helpedThai Buddhism to be relevant to theway of life of people in modern society.One of the consequences is the emer-gence of female ordination. The ordi-nation of Bhikkhuni and Samaneri mightnot have been welcomed by the clergyand many conservative Buddhists in thepast decade, but I believe that the numberof Bhikkhunis will certainly grow in thenext decade. It will be difficult for theclergy to stop it. And despite how hardit tries, the opposition will not receivesubstantial support from the public.

But the number of Thai Bhikkhunisin the next decade will not be enough tocreate serious concerns for the elders.There will not be any strong Bhikkhuniclergy in the near future. Still, femaleordination will provide alternatives tomany women.

However, Bhikkhuni ordination willremain an important debate in the nextdecade. So will the question of Buddhismas a national religion. This reflects thedecline of Buddhism in Thailand rootedin the weaknesses within the Thai Bud-dhist society itself while it still insists onpointing fingers at insufficient state sup-port and outside threats from otherreligions.