[Buddha-l] women & , er, religion

[Jayarava]

--- On Tue, 21/7/09, jkirk <jkirk at spro.net> wrote:

> Does the FWBO ordain women?

Yes. Men's and women's ordinations are not different in the WBO and technically no one has any status. However there is some cultural baggage in some of the countries in which the order is active which means that in practice women have sometimes been treated as less than equal. My understanding is that in recent times this has become less of an issue. I suspect that India may be different. Certainly women are prominent in the order and often take the lead. My first Buddhist teacher was a wonderful woman to whom I am very grateful.

Sangharakshita has infamously said that he thinks that *as a generalisation* that women are at a disadvantage near the beginning of their spiritual life, but that this evens out as time goes on. However recently he also said that it was just his opinion, not doctrine; anyone is free to disagree with him on this, and many of the order do so quite vehemently and vocally! I must add that I've never heard of Sangharakshita discouraging a woman from practising or from seeking ordination. Women were amongst the first batch of members of his order, and continue to swell the ranks.

You may recall that I wrote about the case of Bhadda on my blog in 2007 (Bhaddā Kundalakesa. Therīgāthā 107-111; http://is.gd/1GIXN). This verse suggests that the Buddha was in no way reluctant to ordain Bhadda (already a Jain ascetic) using the older formula "ehi bhadda"; and that he imposed no extra rules on her either for being a women or being a Jain - one can interpret this as showing that such differentiation and discrimination belongs to a later, perhaps post-Gotama, period. 

I believe that the Buddha over-rode traditional social distinctions and taught anyone that he met who was receptive, according to their aptitude, without a closed fist. That seems like the best approach to me. There's nothing special about being a monk - it's just a archaic set of clothes, a cropped hairdo, and no sex. Many of the great Buddhists down the years have not been "fully ordained". 

Cheers
Jayarava

PS I answered specially about the WBO because Joanne asked about it. I'm not proselytising, apologising or spoiling for an argument about the WBO. Let's take it as read that some of you think I'm a no good heretic, or worse. No need to rub it in.