From: <just999in@yahoo.com >
    Date:  5/9/06
    Subject:  "Was the Lord Buddha a sexist?" by Metthando Bhikku
 

[…]

There was an article in today's BKK Post called "Was the Lord Buddha a sexist?" by Metthando Bhikku.  What do you think?  The link for the article is below.  If you can't get to the web page, I copied the article below.

[…]
 

I have analyzed the article Justin sent, according to the Theravada Tipitaka perspective, below.

[As presented in <http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/09May2006_news18.php> , My comments are in dark blue between square brackets, in context.]  
 

 Was the Lord Buddha a Sexist?

This question is not intended as a blasphemy against the Lord Buddha or his teachings, but it is pertinent to the survival and progress of Buddhism in the modern world

By METTANANDO BHIKKHU

Determining the Lord Buddha's attitude towards women is directly related to the very nature of Buddhism itself, and whether or not Buddhism supports the human rights movement for equality and democracy.

In answering this question, one can always argue that there is no way to verify the answer, since the Lord Buddha has long since passed away into Nirvana. However, passages in the Tripitaka, which is the largest body of religious teaching in the world, serve as a good reference in our quest.

In order to find out whether or not the Buddha discriminated against women, the Tripitaka is the only appropriate historical source for reference. Nevertheless, the method is not simple.

The interpretation of Buddhist texts depends largely on the method employed in the reading, i.e., taking the words literally as many traditionalist Buddhists do, or using a more holistic approach to understanding, as many modern scholars do.

The latter also requires critical analysis and the art of reading between the lines. Like most religious texts handed down from antiquity, the Tripitaka offers conflicting information regarding the status of women.

One of the key references that strongly discriminates against women is the legend of the origin of the nuns (bhikkhuni), in which the Buddha showed his strong disapproval of women's ordination...

 [A: According to the sutta, he said Ananda should not 'be pleased with'/approve the idea of women ordination.  What was the original Pali or Thai that suggested what M called 'strongly discriminates'?]
 

...as requested by Prajapati Gautami, his aunt and stepmother. Ananda, the Buddha's close attendant stepped in and negotiated on her behalf. As a result, the Buddha laid down a set of special rules, or the so-called Eight Heavy Duties (Garudhammas) that established the conditions for women's ordination, and nuns were required to strictly adhere to them for the rest of their lives.

The Eight Heavy Duties are:

1. A nun, even if she has been ordained for 100 years, must respect, greet and bow in reverence to the feet of a monk, even if he has just been ordained that day. (Monks pay respect to each other according to their seniority, or the number of years they have been ordained.)
 

[A: At the time, over five hundred of the bhikkhus were Sakkayan princes who were her sons, nephews and at least one grandchild, the Venerable Rahula.  They all used to honor her as their Queen and senior member of the family, which was why the Buddha had to mark the end of worldly relations and the beginning of the Bhikkhuni order, which is junior to the Bhikkhus order.  Like the laity will always respect the ordained, the Bhikkhunis Order, even the former grandmothers, will have to respect the older order of Bhikkhus.]
 

2. A nun is not to stay in a residence where there is no monk.  (A monk may take an independent residence.)

 
[A: Even with this protection, an arahant nun was raped by her former fiancé.  Biologically women are not as strong as men, and the vinaya in general is made to protect the Sangha and the sasana in general. Indeed the vinayas, or the siilas for the ordained, are described as the ultimate protection for the order like a thread in a garland that keeps the multitude of flowers in a pile from being scattered by the wind so easily.  Without the vinaya, the sasana would not last as long. As the Buddha explained to the Venerable Sariputta, the teachings of some former Buddhas lasted longer than others' because they established more vinayas and related major and minor rules for different occasions, which would become necessary when the order grew [Vinaya Pitaka, Vol. 1, Mahavibhanga, Part 1, No. 7]]
 

3. A nun is to look forward to two duties: asking for the fortnightly Uposatha (meeting day), and receiving instructions by a monk every fortnight. (Monks do not depend on nuns for this obligatory rite, nor are they required to eceive any instruction.)

4. A nun who has completed her rains-retreat must offer herself for instruction to both the community of monks and to the community of nuns, based on what is seen, what is heard and what is doubted. (Monks only offer themselves to the community of monks.)

5. A nun who is put on probation for violating a monastic rule of Sanghadisesa must serve a 15-day minimum probation, with reinstatement requiring approval from both the monk and nun communities. (The minimum for monks is a five-day probation with no approval by the nuns required for reinstatement.)

6. A woman must be ordained by both monks and nuns and may be ordained only after a two-year postulancy, or training in six precepts. (Men have no mandatory postulancy and their ordination is performed by monks only.)

7. A nun may not reprimand a monk. (A monk may reprimand a monk, and any monk may reprimand a nun.)

8. From today onwards, no nun shall ever teach a monk. However, monks may teach nuns. (There are no restrictions on whom a monk may teach.)

[A: To me, these are about the former teacher, the mother/aunt/grandmother/queen/ must not expect to educate her former charges/householders/subjects as she formerly probably did when she raised youngsters and ran the household/palace in her former role.  The mother/queen in Indian society even today is one of the most powerful roles within the home/palace.  Indeed Sariputta and Mogallana were called their mother's sons because they had such powerful mothers.  Here, the great lady can't even call her seven year old grandchild Rahula to teach him anything but must sever all family ties and pay reverence to him first.

Ordained life for the Queen and her 500 retinue of royal ladies should no longer expect the former powerful educational/nurturing role they played formerly, within the community of the sangha, especially since most of the bhikkhus who were their former relatives were now arahants or at least sotapanna and above.  Especially it was now the Buddha who would be the teacher for all, and the bhikkhus would be the teachers who transmit his teachings as well.  The dowager Queen was not there to educate anyone but to learn and follow The One Thus Gone, the Tathagata and other arahants, according to the rules, 'From today onwards...']
 

The legend recalls that, after memorising the Eight Heavy Duties, the Lord Buddha's disciple Ananda returned to inform Prajapati the aunt, of the Buddha's words. She accepted all eight rules without reservation. Delighted, she said:

"I accept all the Eight Heavy Duties, and shall abide by them without fail throughout my life, like a young girl or boy who enjoys her beauty, having bathed and shampooed, accepts a garland of jasmine or lilac, accepts it with her hands and puts it on her head."

Apart from these discriminatory regulations against women, the Buddha further prophesised that because of the women's ordination the core teaching of his religion would be cut short from 1,000 to 500 years. This is stated in the following passage in Tripitaka:

At that time, the Venerable Ananda went to see the Lord. Having sat at one side, he said to the Lord, "Lord, Mahaprajapati Gautami has accepted the Eight Heavy Duties. The aunt of the Lord has now been ordained." The Lord said to Ananda, "Ananda, if women had not renounced their household lives and ordained in the religion of the Tathagata, the holy life would have lasted long, the core teaching of Buddhism would have remained for a thousand years. Because the ordination of women has occurred in this religion of the Tathagata, the holy life will not last long; the True Dharma will last for only 500 years. Ananda, in whatever religion women are ordained, that religion will not last long. As families that have more women than men are easily destroyed by robbers, as a plentiful rice-field once infested by rice worms will not long remain, as a sugarcane field invaded by red rust will not long remain, even so the True Dharma will not last long. Ananda, as a man builds a large surrounding dike to prevent the flow of water, I prescribe the Eight Heavy Duties for the nuns to adhere to for the rest of their lives without fail. (Vin. II, 256)

 
[A: As seen in the last sentence, the ‘Eight Heavy Duties’ are laid down by the Buddha to preserve the religion even with the presence of the Bhikkhunis, the Buddha said, ‘Ananda, as a man builds a large surrounding dike to prevent the flow of water, I prescribe the Eight Heavy Duties’.]
 

Of course, Buddhists who are traditionally trained take for granted that the passage above is an actual quotation from the Buddha. Therefore, they take it to mean that women are inferior to men, and they are cause of destruction of the religion.
 

[A: This is the author’s own conclusion.  Traditionalists realize that to mix men and women without certain rules would result in communities that are no different than ordinary worldly life.  With these rules all the disasters are prevented, the additional silas are protection against any shortening of the duration of the sasana.  Most Buddhist scholars I have talked to think the prevention is also in place, since in the Vinaya [Vinaya Pitaka, Vol. 1, Mahavibhanga, Part 1, No. 7] the Buddha said that the silas and other rules of behavior are like garlands that make it hard for wind to scatter a pile of flowers.  While a pile of flowers are easy to scatter, the thread in a garland keeps the flowers together longer, just as the silas protect the orders.  Therefore it is normal that since women by biological nature need more protection than men, the Bhikkhuni order would need more silas than Bhikkhus as well.]  
 

If this is true, then there is only one conclusion: the Buddha
was a sexist. However, the word "sexist" is too strong for most Buddhists. No traditional Buddhist would want to acknowledge the Buddha's prejudice. Instead, they usually stand up to defend the message of the Eight Heavy Duties, claiming, "This is the way things are. This is the Dharma of the Universe, and there is nothing we can do but accept them [the Heavy Duties] as they are authentic messages of the Buddha."

 
[A: This is not the first time this author, Mettanando has attacked the Buddha and the Tipitaka.  He has written a book about the Buddha’s parinibbana that a senior Theravada scholar had analyzed in a detailed rebuttal and since then had faded out of the Thai language arena to continue his attacks in English.]
 

This fundamentalist interpretation has isolated Buddhists from the belief in democracy based on human rights and gender equality. Buddhism has become a tool used to marginalise half of the world's population. Educated people often turn away from Buddhism in repugnance since they see the religion as a part of the problem rather a solution for social progress.

 
[A: Educated people who really study Buddhism in detail that I know of become more and more interested as they progress.  It may be true that this author's interpretation is aimed to turn educated people off, of course.]
 

However, another way of answering the question is through a critical reading of the Tripitaka. This is the methodology of modern scholars. It clearly shows a different picture of the Buddha's attitude towards women. According to other parts of the Tripitaka, the Eight Heavy Duties are against the Buddha's principles of compassion and the nature of humanity. According to the Buddha's version of the Genesis, male and female characters emerged as a result of continuous decay of the physical world, i.e., they do not belong to the true nature of what we are. Since gender is only the external appearance of our true nature, both men and women are enabled with an equal ability to attain the highest enlightenment.

 
[A: We all see that when Ananda asked if women were capable of attaining arahantship, the Buddha said yes.  What could be higher than that, for men or women?] 
 

Moreover, when this particular part of the Tripitaka _ the legend of the origin of the order of nuns and the Eight Heavy Duties _ is compared to other parts of the Tripitaka, there are many discrepancies and contradictions. For example, in the Books of Theragatha and Therigatha (psalms composed by enlightened monks and nuns) we see a situation in which a monk became enlightened by the teachings of a nun who, as a result, was respected as his mother. This contradicts the last rule of the Eight Heavy Duties, which prohibits a nun from teaching a monk.

[A: I don't see the proper reference here.]
 

Also, the phrase "from today onwards" suggests that there had been nuns who were previously teaching monks, and the rule was issued to stop the activity in the name of the Buddha. This is also supported by the metaphor of the "dike" used in a later part of the story. This part of the story tells of a dike that was built to quarantine rice and sugarcane fields in India once a farmer saw the fields being infested by rice worm or red dust.  The dike had to be built as soon as the farmer spotted the pests, but not earlier than that. The use of the metaphor is against the logic of the condition that the rules were set before the community of nuns was formed. Rather, these eight rules were post-dated some time after the foundation of the order of nuns. These small hinges suggest that the legend of the Eight Heavy Duties were interpolated in the Tripitaka as a part of the Buddha's teaching. It seems, then, that the Duties were the work of a younger generation of monks who had negative attitudes towards women.

 
[A: Just because the author doesn't see the necessity of these rules doesn't mean that they have to be later additions to the Tipitaka.]
 

Elsewhere in the Tripitaka, we see no evidence of nuns acting as a cause of decay to Buddhism. On the contrary, several sutras, dated before the passing of the Buddha, never describe a visit of a king to a monk in order to learn the Dharma. However, three references in the Tripitaka mention visits of a king to see a nun while the Buddha was alive. In one episode, King Pasenadi of Kosala praised the teaching ability of nun Khema in front of the Buddha; he claimed that her teaching was as good as the Lord's himself!

 
[A: Of course, since they were the Buddha's teachings that she transmitted.  Just as later on the First Council memorized the Buddha's teachings for posterity, not as what they taught but as they remembered as the Buddha's teachings.]
 

Also, in the Books of Theragatha and Therigatha, we see that Buddhist nuns were more active than monks in the promotion of the Dharma. While monks tended to enjoy living a solitary life rather than living in a community, the nuns had stronger community ties where they were very much engaged in teaching and learning.
 

[A: Where are the exact references?  In the Tipitaka we see the Venerables Sariputta and Mogallana etc, interacting with kings and ministers and the laity in general in all the major cities in those days.  Kassapa in his Theragatha said he descended from his hill to the town everyday, where half the town were his relatives and the other half his friends.]
 

One passage even describes a nun who professed boldly to the public, come and listen to my teaching! Such evangelical expression is not described in regard to any monk in the Tripitaka.

[A: In many of the praises to the dhamma, this is quite common, ehipassiko, opanayiko etc.  Again, I doubt she said 'my teachings' in so many words, this is the dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha.]
 

The Book of Therigatha was the first religious literature in the world known ever known to be composed by women.

 
[A: The Therigatha as well as the Theragatha were collections of what the Venerables uttered on special occasions in their lives, and not composed as books or articles.]
  

It shows the period at the earliest history of Buddhism when women enjoyed equal rights with their male counterparts.
 
These small pieces of evidence scattered in the Tripitaka confirm that the original teaching of the Buddha did not favour men over women. Unfortunately, however, elements of sexism found their way into the Buddhist community soon after the passing away of the Lord Buddha in order to reinforce men's superior status over women. The Eight Heavy Duties, as formatted in the legend of the origin of the order of nuns, became a social tool to gain control over the nuns, many of whom were outstanding teachers and successful enough to enlighten some monks.

 
[A: Anyone can say anything but most Theravada scholars believe that the Buddha set down these rules exactly as the Tipitaka described.  I doubt if the author can offer proof for his assertions above.]
 

The rules were not just a part of the Buddhist canon, but were enforced in the nuns' community through repetition and affirmation every fortnight. The period of suppression of the nuns is suspected to have lasted a few generations before the nuns' order finally disappeared from India. It was not long before Buddhism disappeared also. This hypothesis is substantiated when Buddhism is compared to the Jainism, or the sister religion of Buddhism, founded by Mahavira, a contemporary spiritual leader of the Buddha.

Like Buddhism, Jainism was seen as heterodox by the Hindus and later by the Muslims. The Buddhist community and Jain community share the same structure, being composed of monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen; Buddhists worship statue of the Buddha, whereas Jains worship the statue of Mahavira.

While Buddhism disappeared from India, Jainism did not. Many historians blame the extinction of Buddhism in its own motherland to the Muslim oppression, but this theory cannot explain why Jainism was not also destroyed since the two religions held the same position for Muslims.

 
[A: I doubt Jainism had as much influence or as many followers as Buddhism, therefore it was not as much an opposition to Muslim conquerors after the days of Emperor Asoka.

What is more important is that although Buddhism has disappeared from India for a certain time, it has become one of the major religions of the world, especially since China announced last month during the first World Buddhist Forum that by granting its population freedom of belief, it has added 1,000,000,000 more Buddhists to the world, making the official number 1,500,000,000 strong.

Not that Jains should drop their women priests to acquire as many followers internationally.

Nor that, had Buddhism remained in India as in the time of Asoka when it was the empire's religion, but also beginning to flourish  in Sri Lanka and Suvannabhumi [which the Thais believe is in the Thai peninsula area], peace within the Indian subcontinent would have been more widespread.

Indeed if one thought of kamma as the author did, one might say it is because the Muslims drove Buddhism out that there is so much contention in the Indian subcontinent today because of religious differences.   But since the laws of conditions [paccayas] are much more complicated and only a Buddha would know what the exact cause of any reality arising is, one knows that all this speculation is just guesswork while the only certainty is that there are causes and conditions for all occurrences.]
 

The significant difference lies in the treatment of the nuns: in Jainism, the nuns were not discriminated against as in Buddhism. Even now, nuns in Jainism enjoy their liberty in teaching equal to their male fellows. There are no such rules as the Eight Heavy Duties in the teaching of Mahavira.

In this light of analysis, the evidence points to the fact that sexism in the Buddhist community was responsible for the destruction and extinction of the Buddhist religion from its own motherland. It was the result of the karma committed by sexist monks of later generations soon after the passing away of the Buddha.

[A: The rules were set as protection, according to the Buddha, and if the author insists otherwise he will receive the result of false accusations to his own kamma one day, according to Theravada beliefs.  Buddhism is the least sexist of the major religions these days but those more 'sexist' such as Islam or Catholicism have not disappeared from its homeland.  It is ridiculous to say that religions decline because of sexism.]
 

Sexual discrimination or sexism was not at all a part of the original teaching of the Buddha, who excluded no one. The Lord Buddha, we may conclude, was not a sexist.

Sadly, the karma of sexism is still healthy and strong today in most Buddhist countries, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Only some communities in Sri Lanka ordain women.

Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, ordination of women is illegal. The Ecclesiastical Council of Thailand, for example, announced publicly that any monk who supports the ordination of women will be subject to severe punishment.

 
[A: This doesn't mean that there are no women ordination in Thailand, witness the numerous white robe nuns and the Mahayana bhikkhunis who are valued members of Thai society.  As long as the public supports them, whether or not monks do is irrelevant, since monks also depend on laymen's support.]
 

Nevertheless, in the Theravada tradition as a whole, the Eight Heavy Duties are followed faithfully as authentic words of the Lord Buddha.

In Theravada countries, Buddhist religion has never been in support of human rights and social justice.

 
[A: This is ridiculous.  The Thai kings have always adhered to the Ten Royal Dhammas as taught in the Tipitaka, especially our present King.
During the Buddha's time, when people tried to keep a naked mad woman away from his presence as he taught bhikkhus and laity one day, the Buddha told them to allow her to approach and listen to the dhamma; and she recovered her senses and attained a certain level of enlightenment.  The Buddha also went to teach a slave woman who was about to commit suicide because of mistreatment by her master, and she too became enlightened.  From outlaws to kings and bhikkhus he taught those who could understand the dhamma equally, according to their accumulated potential.]
 

As long as there is no reformation of the religious education system in Buddhism and the Tripitaka, the religion will remain the biggest obstacle for the development of democracy and social justice in these countries.

 
[A: As long as people do not understand the teachings they will always want changes to bring the sasana to their own level of comprehension/way of thinking.  If they do not study the teachings with an open mind, they will always fail to see the great wisdom of the Buddha that transcends things like 'social justice' and 'democracy' to reach the incomparable justice of kamma, where each being is heir to his own kammasakata.]
[Amara Chayabongse,
Webmaster, WFB-HQ.org
May 12th, 2549[2006]]  
 

Mettanando Bhikkhu is a Thai Buddhist monk and a former physician. He studied at Chulalongkorn University, Oxford and Harvard, and received a PhD from Hamburg. He is special adviser on Buddhist affairs to the secretary-general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace.
[End Bangkok Post article]