OUTLINE

• General view about Buddhism

• Women and Buddhism

• Experience of women today in the religion

Women and Buddhism

OutlineI. OverviewII. Origins of the ReligionIII. Gods and GoddessesIV. Originating Figure’s Attitude Toward WomenV. Core beliefs of the religionVI. History of the Religion insofar as the status of Women

changesVII. Representation of Women in the Religion’ Holy Books

•There are about 488 million Buddhists worldwide, representing 7% of the world’s total population as of 2010.

•There are many different types of Buddhism, because the emphasis changes from country to county due to customs and culture. What does not vary is the essence of the teaching - the Dhamma or truth.

•The vast majority of them in Asia.

I. Overview of Buddhists Religion

Origin of Buddhist Religion

When? Where? Who?

Why?

India(6th century B.C.E.)

Siddhartha Gautama(536-476 B.C.E.)

A member of a warrior caste called the Shakas from Kapilavastu in Northest India, at the foothills of the Himalayas.

He studied with Hindu gurus

Gautama grew up protected from all hardships, married, and begot a son.

He was afflicted by questions about meaning of life

Sickness

Getting Old

Death

Video: Origins of the Religion

CORE BELIEFS OF BUDDHIST RELIGION

Buddhism is a religion, a doctrine of liberation and way to liberation.

It does not talk about belief or faith but of knowing and experiencing.

For Buddhism, nothing in the world is permanent. Life is suffering, and the way to end suffering is enlightenment.

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHAll life is suffering The cause of suffering is desire If one removes desire one can remove suffering The way to remove desire is to follow the noble eightfold

path of right views

Eightfold Factors

DivisionEightfold

factorSanskrit, Pali Description

Wisdom(Sanskrit: prajñā,Pāli: paññā)

1. Right viewsamyag dṛṣṭi,sammā ditthi

Viewing reality as it is, not just as it appears to be

2. Right intentionsamyag saṃkalpa,sammā sankappa

Intention of renunciation, freedom and harmlessness

Ethical conduct(Sanskrit: śīla,Pāli: sīla)

3. Right speechsamyag vāc,sammā vāca

Speaking in a truthful and non-hurtful way

4. Right actionsamyag karman,sammā kammanta

Acting in a non-harmful way

5. Right livelihoodsamyag ājīvana,sammā ājīva A non-harmful livelihood

Concentration(Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)

6. Right effortsamyag vyāyāma,sammā vāyāma

Making an effort to improve

7. Right mindfulness

samyag smṛti,sammā sati

Awareness to see things for what they are with clear consciousness;being aware of the present reality within oneself, without any craving or aversion

8. Right concentration

samyag samādhi,sammā samādhi

Correct meditation or concentration, explained as the first four jhānas

THE THREE JEWELS OF BUDDHISM

• Seeking refuge in the Buddha (the Enlightened One)

• Seeking refuge in the Dharma (the Teachings)• Seeking refuge in the Sangha ( the Community)

This is a simple formula prayer of Buddhism:To the Buddha for refuge, I goTo the Dharma for refuge, I goTo the Sangha for refuge, I go

BUDDHIST SPIRITUALITY

• Buddhism does not have system of beliefs but its whole practice is spirituality.

• Its spirituality is essentially following the so-called MIDDLE WAY , adherence to the EGHTFOLD PARTH.

• Its main practice is meditation with the main goal of enlightenment/ arriving Nirvana.

Effects on Women

• The core teaching of Buddhism are gender-free and more women-friendly than any of the other major religions.

• Buddha’s teaching apply to all sentient beings.• No relevant distinctions can be made between

men and women regarding their ability to become enlightened and to realize Buddha’s teachings.

GODS AND GODDESSES

• In Buddhism, there are originally no Gods and Goddesses.

• Buddha was not claimed to be God but the enlightened one. He is the model for one’s own search for the understanding of Ultimate Reality.

• The ones who had achieved enlightenment are consider as a First Jewel of Buddhism.

• People come and seek refuge in them and consider them as Gods and Goddesses.

GODS AND GODDESSES

• ???? Suddhavaso deva are gods who attain Anagami (none returning to lust worlds) and Arahant states whose help to Buddhist people.

• The bodhisattva (the Buddha-to-be) vows to achieve complete perfect enlightenment for the sake of all beings, before attaining it oneself.

• ??? Brahma Sahampathi god who lives in Brahma Loka, enlightened into Anagami state in Kasapa Lord Buddha's time and helped to our Gautama Buddha.

B. GODDESSES

• The bodhisattva of compassion: a male figure in India but become female - a mother goddess who are closed to the ordinary people in others Buddhism countries.

• There are many versions of this Goddess with different name in different branches of Buddhism and countries: Kannon of Japan, Queen Srimala of India, Kuan-yin of China, Quan Am of Vietnam, Tara of Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia

Green Tara filled with youthful vigor, is a goddess of activity. She is the fiercer form of Tara, but is still a savior-goddess of compassion.

White Tara is sometimes called the Mother of all Buddhas and she represents the motherly aspect of compassion. Her white color signifies purity, wisdom and truth.

Tara (Sanskrit, "star") is a Buddhist savior-goddess especially popular in Tibet, Nepal and Mongolia. She also brings about longevity, protects earthly travel, and guards her followers on their spiritual journey to enlightenment.

Quan Am/ Phat Ba, the bodhisattva of compassion in VietnamDevotees look to Quan Am for guidance, fertility and protection.

The goddess Kuan-yin of China

INFLUENCE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE RELIGION

• Women is highly honor and respect . The quality of enlightened figure is shine through the image of goddess. (Tara refuses to reincarnate as man but woman .)

• Women are equal to men in spirituality and in the way to enlightenment. Women can reach Nirvana by their own and can help others to reach to enlightenment as well. There is no inferior figure of women here in the realm of Nirvana.

• The motherhood of women is highly praised through the role of the goddess of fertility/ nurturing , of compassion and of guidance. . ..

ORIGINATING FIGURE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN

There are 5 stages regarding the Buddhist attitude toward the problem of women and enlightenment:1. The origin (buddha and his direct disciples) make no distinction

between men and women.2. 1st century B.C.: women are incapable of being a Buddha.3. 1st century A.D. : transforming women into men on their bith in

the Buddha paradise.4. In Mahayana Sutras/ the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines/

the Lotus Sutra and the Pureland Sutra: developed the idea that a woman can be enlightened by transformation of herself into male.

5. The mature philosophy of emptiness and Buddha nature in all sentient being, represented in the Vimalakitinirdesa, Srimaladevi, and other sutras, declares a woman can be enlightened remaining just as she is, a woman.

More in favor: (the 1st and the last stages)

• Buddhism is more in favor for women comparing to Hinduism. Buddha offer the way to enlightenment to all. And in the

path to enlightenment each one can attain it oneself. Women’s salvation is not depend on men. So, there is no gender issue in the principle.

Women can choose to be married or to be nun. Woman suffers no moral degradation on account of her widowhood.

Female energy that activities this potential into movement and creativity

ORIGINATING FIGURE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN

Limited: (stages 2, 3, 4)

• The statue of women is certainly not equal to men. Being born as a woman is a bad KarmaBuddhism sees women in a less favorable light

than men and provides them with fewer opportunities.

Only male monks can teach and lead Buddhism. Women are not allowed to take full ordination (as a female monk). Women were relegated to servants of the temple, cleaning, cooking, sewing for priests commodity

ORIGINATING FIGURE’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN

See as a symbolism of sexuality ( some Buddhist scriptures said, even though you may look at a large snake, you must not look at woman.)

Women are not allowed to sit beside and touch monks because they are told that they are temptations against the monks‘ enlightenment. (woman as danger to monks)

Women are also not allowed to enter certain sacred sites.

HISTORY OF THE RELIGION INSOFAR AS THE STATUS OF WOMEN CHANGES

Womanhood Status before Buddhism:

- Women were under the framework of the domestic life: + submits to husband’s authority + household activities.- could not stand by their own but as a supportive role to her husband in all religious activities.- Women bounds to marriage, depends on her

husband, sons to ensure her salvation.

• Must be under the protection of father when young, of husband when married, and of her children when old.

women cannot lead her life independently.

• Women is not to be entrusted with responsibility in making serious or important decisions.

• In Conclusion: women in India before the rise of Buddhism was treated as subordinate, dependent members of the family. She had neither chance or choice to be otherwise.

In early time, women were also subjugated to traditional values prevalent at the time.

Free from caste system binding or class distinction and suppression.(for both men and women)

The teaching of Buddha is available to everyone. Can join the community (Sangha), being equals with

men. Can achieve spiritual enlightenment. A woman’s spiritual salvation depends entirely on her

self.

Womanhood Status in Buddhism’s society:

A women can choose to marry or to lead a hermit’s life and work toward her own spiritual development side by side with her male counterpart

Wife now shared authority in choosing a child’s career, marriage.

Women have their due share socially and spiritually.(preaching dharma, involve in philosophical discussion…)

Have a very important role to spread out the Buddhism as a member of the Sangha.

REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN THE RELIGION’S HOLY BOOKS:

• the “three baskets”(Tripitaka): 1. Vinaya pitaka ( rules + regulations)2. Sutta Pitaka (discourses)3. Abhidhamma Pitaka (profound philosophy)• Background of the text: Oral time: women were not invited to the councilWritten text: recorded by monks and serve to

make interests.

Two major categories of teaching:

I. Core teaching(spiritual path): is free from contextual and gender constraints in its nature. The highest goal of Buddhism is enlightenment, the path of which is made available to all men and women. There is no gender bias. II. In mundane level: the truth of the teaching depends on the social context and the existing values: there were bias toward women:

From Buddhist text To experience

Women are a stain of celibacy

Women have low self esteem

Women are the supreme commodity (it against the Buddhist basic teaching)

Women bound to family priority/ sacrify her own growth.

Women are subjected to 5 woes

It makes women thinking negative about themselves.

It is true in some places(woe no.1). Nature and blessing.

A women cannot become a Buddha.

Lower position of women than man in the religion.

Division of the religion into different strands insofar as these differ on women

Division of the religion into different strands insofar as these differ on women

BUDDHISM(6th Cen. B.E.C) THERAVADA

MAHAYANA(1ST Cen . CE)

ZEN

PURE LAND

VAJRAYANA8th Cen. C.E

Nyingmapa

Sakya Kagyudpa

Gelugpa

7.http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/dewaraja/wheel280.html

In patriarchal society, women were looked down

BUDDHA 1st emancipator of womenNo consider the birth of a daughter as a cause

for worry and despair

No consider women as being inferior to men.

Invite the husband to consider the wife a friend, a companion, a partner.

Women in Buddhism - POWERBe advised to study and

understand their husband's nature

know their activities, character and

temperament be useful and co-operative at all times in their new

homes. be polite, kind and

watchful in their relationship and

managing household. Be considered more discerning and wiser than men and also

considered capable of attaining perfection or

sainthood after treading the noble Eightfold path

WOMEN’

S POWER

Women - as

valuable as perso

ns

WOMEN’

S POWER

Women - as

valuable as

persons

WOMEN

’S POWER Women - as

valuable as

persons

WOMEN

’S PO

WER Women - as valuable as

persons

Be permitted to become bhikkhunis (nuns)Become gurus or adepts

Laywomen - Be allowed to travel freely to hear the Buddha preachWife – Share authority in choosing child’s careerMarried women – inherit and manage their property Widow – Not expected to commit sati or become recluses can enter Shangha / find religious companionship / stay in the world / remarry / manage her own affairs

Women can attain Arahantship

LimitationWOMEN –

definite inferiority to

men

To look after the home and the

husband.

Suffer entail by childbirth, menstruation, menopause

Women are not

allowed to take full

ordination.

Women who are abused by their husbands and partners are

experiencing the results of a

previous life's karma.

Being born as a

woman is a bad Karma

Women are seen less

favorable light than men and provide them

with fewer opportunities.

Goddess of mercy

Ritual In Buddha’s time, nuns managed their own monastery independently and these flourished.Women participate in most of these rituals, especially those celebrated at home or performed in the vernacular at local chapels.

M. Women saints, women’s festival, rituals and the effect of these on women’s empowerment

Avalokitesvara’s (Kuan Yin) BirthdayThis is a festival which celebrates the Bodhisattva ideal represented by Avalokitesvara. Who represents the perfection of compassion in the Mahayana traditions of Tibet and China. It occurs on the full moon day in March.

http://www.buddhanet.net/festival.htm

Buddhist New YearIn Theravadin countries, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Lao, the new year is celebrated for three days from the first full moon day in April. In Mahayana countries the new year starts on the first full moon day in January. However, the Buddhist New Year depends on the country of origin or ethnic background of the people. As for example, Chinese, Koreans and Vietnamese celebrate late January or early February according to the lunar calendar, whilst the Tibetans usually celebrate about one month later.

The Ploughing FestivalIn May, when the moon is half-full, two white oxen pull a gold painted plough, followed by four girls dressed in white who scatter rice seeds from gold and silver baskets. This is to celebrate the Buddha's first moment of enlightenment, which is said to have happened when the Buddha was seven years old, when he had gone with his father to watched the ploughing. (Known in Thailand as Raek Na)

Other Feastival and Special Days:

Vesak or Visakah Puja ("Buddha Day")Magha Puja Day (Fourfold Assembly or "Sangha Day")

Asalha Puja Day ("Dhamma Day")

Uposatha (Observance Day)

Pavarana DayKathina Ceremony (Robe offering ceremony)

Anapanasati Day

Abhidhamma DaySongkra (This Thai Buddhist festival)Loy Krathong (Festival of Floating Bowls)

The Elephant FestivalThe Festival of the ToothUlambana (Ancestor Day)

Blue: Compassion

Yellow: The Middle Path

Red : Blessings

White: Purity

Orange: Wisdom

Dharma Celebrations

Ritual In Buddha’s time, nuns

managed their own monastery independently and these flourished.

Women both Lay and Nuns participate in most of the rituals:

performed in the vernacular at local chapels: celebrate a full liturgical year of ceremonies and observances.( New Year and Buddha’s birthday)

those celebrated at home: domestic shrines.

Funerary

• This procession bears a body across a rice field to celebrate its passage through the afterlife in Sri Lanka.

Burmese• Melford Spiro: (the anthropologist)stress on improving karma through

meritorious deeds.delineation of many rituals

(women’s most participation)• Typically, instead of renouncing

desire, Buddhists rather aspire to a future worldly existence in which their desires may find satisfaction.

VIEW OF SEX

• Monks often found laywomen unconverted to monastic modesty, they are the greatest temptation or obstacle, still inclined to be attractive if not seductive.

• The problem of pre-marital arises because some are just too young and immature to see the differences between sexual attraction and true compatibility.

• Renunciation is not compulsory in Buddhism. But it is necessary if one wishes to gain spiritual development and perfection at the highest level.

Marriage• married women were under the control of men and fit

a social status.• It is a personal and individual concern, it is rather a

social convention designed to promote well being and happiness

• Fidelity and loyalty are the essential attributes of happy marriage

• No specific Buddhist ritual or procedure to conduct a marriage.

• Buddha did not mention anything regarding the number of wives a man could have ( polygamy or monogamy), to follow the laws of the country.

• Buddhist teachers elaborated the mutual responsibilities of wives and husbands.

The duties of wife to the husband

• To young girls prior to their marriage. The wife should honor and respect to the whole husband family member.

• While the wife’s service of the husband and docility toward him stand out, she is to manage the household prudently and handle his money well.

• They are also advised to study and understand their husband's nature, ascertain their activities, character and temperament, and to be useful and co-operative at all times in their new homes.

• They should be polite, kind and watchful in their relationship.

Five duties• she performs her duties well• she is hospitable to relations and attendants• she is faithful• she protects what he brings• she is skilled and industrious in discharging her duties.

The duties of a husband towards the wife and vice versa: he is to show her

affection and consideration, in addition to providing for her material well-being. goal of partnership, equality. (more than Hindu’s)

* suffering: by immersing themselves in married life and in the world, they are thought to have chosen a less noble and efficacious path than those who had chosen monastic life.

There is no law stating about divorce, should separate or not.

FAMILY

• Married Buddhist women could inherit and manage their property without interference.

• Widows could stay in the world, remarry and manage her own affairs, are expected to find religious companionship

• Unmarried women were regarded as a lunatic and the only good wife was the chaste wife

• The image of mother as an embodiment of compassion

• For children, parents are the same honor with Buddha.

• Buddhism does not regard a wife as being inferior to a husband.

• The Buddha appreciated that the peace and harmony of a home rested largely on a woman.

• Women are entrusted the domestic or household duties who should be considered as the keeper and the distributor of the property and the home economic-administrator.

• It is hard for the parents to allow their children to become independent in their own right.

India

• To be a wife and mother was a valid, praise worthy vocation. (tendency to subject women to men’s control even nuns)

• Buddhist married women came to have more rights than did Hindu’s.

Buddhist mothers came to have more say in the fate of their children than had Hindu mothers.

Views of reproduction

• According to the law of Karma, one's actions in the past will determine one's position of wealth, power, talent and even sex in future births.

• One is reborn a woman because of one's bad Karma. Thus the subordination of women is given a religious sanction. It is not unusual even in Sri Lanka for women, after doing a meritorious deed, to aspire to be redeemed from womanhood and be reborn as a man in future.

• According to Buddhism, certain physical and mental conditions must be present for conception to take place.

• But after conception, abortion is not acceptable because it means taking away a life that is already present in the form of fetus.

• There are no religious laws regarding the necessity of marriage or of having children in the Buddhist tradition.

Interpretation in relationship with women

• Buddha is the first emancipator of women.• Good daughters are as good as good sons.• Does not consider the birth of a daughter as a cause for worry

and despair.• Does not consider women as being inferior to men.• Men and women to be equally useful to the society.• Emphasize the fruitful role the women can play and should

play as a wife, a good mother in making the family life a success.

• The husband is admonished to consider the wife a friend, a companion, a partner.

• In family affairs the wife is expected to be a substitute for the husband when the husband happened to be indisposed.

• Does not restrict either the educational opportunities of women or their religious freedom

• Accepted that women are capable of realizing the truth, just as men are. That is why Buddha permitted the admission of women into the Order.

The limitation on women’ becoming holy

• A woman should be perfectly rightfully Enlightened One'", "the Universal Monarch", "the King of Gods", "the King of Death" or "Brahmaa'“ because they have five obstacles, namely being incapable of becoming a Brahma King, `Sakra`, King `Mara`, Cakravartin or Buddha

VIEWS OF GENDER, ROLES, STATUS, RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN BUDDHISM

• Buddhism is free from gender bias. • The first religion in the world to recognize the

equal spiritual potentiality of men and women. This provides a special place for Buddhism which started in India to lift up to the world spiritual level without boundary in race, caste, or gender.

• Supports and promotes women. • Attempt to uplift women to share the

responsibility as one of the four groups of Buddhists equally responsible for the growth or decline of Buddhism.

Domestic and Sexual violence

• Buddha instructed each family member who came to meet him to live harmoniously together.

• Many women are subjected to physical or mental violence in their lives and they often suffer in isolation and in silence in their domestic or occupational environment.

Buddhist nuns• Gautama Buddha first ordained women as nuns

five years after his enlightenment and five years after first ordaining men into the sangha.

• The first Buddhist nun was his aunt and foster mother Mahapajapati Gotami. Bhikkhunis have to follow the eight rules of respect, which are vows called The Eight Garudhammas.

• Being a nun is leaving her family either temporarily or permanently to practice Buddhism whether she is a virgin or married woman. For some, to become a nun meant entering a career of sorts.

• Buddhist nuns existed proved that marriage was not the only path a devout Buddhist women could choose.

• They have to follow the eight rules to enter the order. Some are last rules which placed women in a position of inferiority to men.

• Nuns were to request ordination as nuns in the presence of monks, to seek instruction from the monks every half month, and correct them. Nuns must bow three times to even a newly ordained monk, and no monk should pay homage to a nun.

• These rules reflect Buddhist nuns’ having a second–rate status from the beginning of their admission to the monastic life.

This is the question to answer, “ Why can’t women/nun be a teacher or a master? even though nuns have teachers among themselves.

Because of women's lower status, it has been more difficult for them to raise funds to support themselves and maintain their infrastructure

• Buddhist women; teachers and nuns in Asia are often less value, less respect and receive less financial support than male teachers and monks.

The strongest organization of nuns in the modern world is in Taiwan, who are famous educators, artists, and activists.

Women education

• Buddhism does not restrict either the educational opportunities of women or their religious freedom.

• The Buddha unhesitatingly accepted that women are capable of realizing the truth, just as men are. ( He permitted the admission of women into the order)

Nowadays more attentions is being paid to nuns and their educations.

( esp. western women)

in Thailand and Burma: nuns have very poor education have led much more sheltered lives. in Tibet: even women’s level is high, strong and independent but education for women is lacking even though from time to time a wise nun become a guru(a perfect enlightened)

Dress code

• Buddhist nuns shave their heads and ware a robe which is usually brown, maroon, white, grey or pink.

• Lay Buddhists women follow the dress code of their country and are indistinguishable from the majority.

• The appropriate dress and custom for visiting a Buddhist Temple or monastery is to dress and behave modestly.

Experience of Buddhist women today

• Buddhist women are always influenced by the social traditions of their particular country.

• Most of Buddhist countries are still strongly male domination (patriarchy).

• Some women feel that to concentrate on the upbringing of the family is degrading and conservative.

• In family affairs, the wife was expected to be a substitute for the husband when the husband happened to be indisposed.

The wife is expected even to acquaint herself with the trade, business or industries in which the husband engaged, so that she would be in a position to manage his affairs in his absence.

• This shows that in the Buddhist society the wife occupied an equal position with the husband.

To a Buddhist liberation means a radical freedom not only in future worlds or planes of existence, but very much in this world too.

Since the essence of Buddhism is liberation, today’s women feel that they were called an importance role in the society.

Modern Feminism

• Modern feminism emphasized that how the system causes women to lose their personal identity in their family and how women are socially and culturally pushed towards an existence that requires them to identify and to their lives through their husbands and children.

• Religion is a patriarchal institution. The sacred texts as in almost all the world’s religions, the gods are male. (Hindus come close to being an exception, with its female goddesses). Feminists have also been written and interpreted by males. Supernatural beings and religious professionals are overwhelmingly male,

• Presently both Buddhist women and feminist scholars of religion are devoting much energy to the study of how women have fared in Buddhist history.

• The women’s movement cannot be effective without challenging some of the basic symbols and images of religion

• In fact, what feminists are demanding is that a radical change in the stories, images, and symbols of woman and the feminine Therefore, Buddhist women become aware of their importance role, their dignity, characteristic, value to study for themselves and live their lives with fullness of joy,

happiness and life.

Video Women in Buddhism

1. Hans Kung, Christianity and World Religions Paths to Dialogue with Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, Maryknoll, New York , 1985

2. Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSP, Women, Religion and Spirituality in Asia, Anvil and Institute of Women’s Studies, 2004

3. Edgar G. Javier, SVD, Dialogue Our Mission Today, ICLAPublications, Quezon City, 2006.

4. Denise Lardner Carmody, Women and World Religions, Second Edition, Prentice Hall New Jersey 07632, 1987.

5. Rosemary Radforrd Ruether, Integrating Ecofeminism Globalization and World Religions, Roman and Littlefield Lanham. Boulder .New York .Toronto. Oxford, 2005.

6. Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB, Woman and Religion a Collection of Essays and Personal Histories, Mandaluyong City, Philippines, 1998.

References

REFERENCE

• 2 cuon sach nguon• Women In Buddhism, by Rev. Patti Nakai

-- http://www.livingdharma.org/Living.Dharma.Articles/WomenInBuddhism1.html

• Presented by:• HOANG THI HOAN

• LE DUONG THI TUYET NGAN• LE THI DUNG

• NGUYEN THI HUYEN TRAN• NGUYEN THI XUAN HONG

Thank you