[Buddha-l] women & , er, religion

[jkirk]

 Why would any woman want to be fully ordained under the conditions of the Buddhist vinaya anyway? Personally I think the "fully" ordained thing is a crock - but I would wouldn't I? ;-) Why has upasampadā come to be translated as "fully ordained" in English? The 'fully' word seems to used to reinforce the high status of being a bhikṣu - it seems to all be about the social standing of the person. A woman obtaining the upasampadā merely confirms her low status in the eyes of the Buddhist society, she accepts laws which rate her lower than the lowest man. Why would she do that in this day and age?

Jayarava
=============
Good questions! "Fully"might refer to the fact that nuns know there is yet one more step, denied to them, to being formally a monastic.   

Taiwan has Master Cheng Yen, who created the big outreach Tzu Chi Foundation.  I doubt if she feels or is made to feel inferior to male monks. 

The desire for full ordination also might have to do with standing within the nun organizations? Ah, social power and status. Maybe why the forest hermit tradition still holds a beckoning candle to some folks. 

Studies on Tibetan nunneries have found that they do all the work for nearby  monks, and are given minimal spiritual guidance. In Ladakh, they also must continue to work in their family's fields. (see Gutschow, Being a Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas, 2004.) 

Does the FWBO ordain women?

Joanna


      

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