The Ordinatiion of Theravada Nuns (CA)

Sylvia Boorstein, founding teacher, Spirit Rock Meditation Center (Huffington Post)

It is 6:15 pm on Aug. 29, 2010. The place is a secluded mountaintop hermitage overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Sonoma County, California.

Four women, all long-time dedicated Buddhist practitioners, were declared fully ordained as nuns (bhikkhunis) in the Thai Theravada tradition.

It was the first such ordination ever in the Western hemisphere. And it was epochal because their preceptors were nuns within the same tradition.

Although the Buddha ordained both monks and nuns, the order of nuns disappeared a thousand years later when there were no longer enough nuns available to ordain new nuns. Keeping strictly with tradition (and in keeping with patriarchal pressures) the rule that nuns needed to be ordained by nuns brought the order of nuns to an end.

Women were able to join a community and practice but only at an inferior status. The pressure brought by women with a burning desire practice and have roles and recognition comparable to men has enabled some women, trained in the Theravada Thai tradition, to be ordained by nuns with Sri Lankan ordination.

The nuns ordained in 2009 join the now small group of recognized Theravada Buddhist nuns in the Thai Forest tradition that can now continue to grow. More

Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Marin County, California

• Buddhist eye opening ceremony in Japan
• Ayya Tathaaloka, American Buddhist nun
• Nirvana's secret feminism
  

Thai Nuns (cautiously) lobby for recognition

Amy Lieberman (contributor), Christian Science Monitor

Novice nun Dhammarakhita (center), dressed in adobe-colored robe after her ordination in Sri Lanka, gestures at Songdharmakalyani Temple in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand in this 2002 file photo. Formally known as Varangghana Vanavichayen, Ven. Dhammarakhita, a mother of two who divorced her husband to dedicate her life to Buddhist practice, became the first woman to be ordained as a monk in Thailand (AFP/Newscom File).

Thailand's female monks (cautiously) lobby for legal recognition
A quiet campaign to grant female monks [nuns] legal recognition began this summer. Advocates hope that the minimal fanfare will help the bhikkhunis evade conservative religious opposition.

BANGKOK, Thailand - Ven. Dhammananda Bhikkhuni grips a wobbly stack of feminine hygiene products and sorts them on a long table. Her followers watch before mimicking her quick movements.

“We will bring these donations to women who are in the local prison,” explained Ven. Dhammananda. “If we don’t then who [will]?”

Bhikkhunis (bee-KOO-nees), ordained female monastics, in Thailand consider their gender to be an essential bridge to the women they help through charity work and spiritual guidance, since women are forbidden to be alone with male monks, known as bhikkhus (bee-KOOS).

But Thai nuns have their own limitations, not just because they number only 25 compared with approximately 200,000 monks here. They lack legal recognition -- a denial that accompanies various withholdings of public benefits -- and it highlights a persistent issue of discrimination for women across the country. More

• Burma: monks vs. junta
• US to engage Burma: Clinton
• As military allows an election in Burma, watch the Buddhist monks
• Religion
  
• Buddhism
• Thai Politics
• Culture and Lifestyle
• Asia-Pacific Politics

First Annual Buddhist Nuns Day (AFB)

Susan Pembroke, President, Alliance for Bhikkhunis

Thank you, those working around the globe to make the First International Bhikkhuni Day a success. This day of awareness is calling attention to the issue as well as raising funds to support American Buddhist nuns.

The Alliance for Bhikkhunis (Nuns) is moved by the kindness and generosity of those who give so freely of their time and talents. There is a growing sense of joy and optimism as more enter the widening circle of friendship and goodwill.

American Buddhist nuns or bhikkhunis (Sopaporn Kurz/AFB).

All of our sisters are invited, regardless of Buddhist tradition, to join us on September 17th to celebrate the founding of the Bhikkhuni Sangha (Order of Buddhist Nuns). We are celebrating the fact that there are many thousands of women in robes [26] centuries after the Buddha began teaching.

Whether Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, or other, feel free to use any of our tools to educate as well as raise funds for your affiliated center, temple, monastery, school, hospital, or other agency or enterprise.

International Bhikkhuni Day is intended to be a global grassroots celebration of Buddhist women, uniting and empowering them. Please join in -- even if it is only to meditate along with us, knowing that we are all part of global community committed to protecting the Bhikkhuni Sangha.

• Additional downloads have been added to the site. American nun Ven. Tathaaloka Theri has offered the paper “The Amazing Transformations of Arahant Theri Uppalavanna.” It is a fascinating, mythic tale that “serves as a catalyst for exploration, inspiration, and insight.”
• The renowned scholar Ven. Analayo has very graciously contributed his article “Mahapajapati’s Going Forth in the Madhyama-agama,” reprinted with permission from the Journal of Buddhist Ethics. Ven. Analayo’s incisive analysis of early discourses sheds light on critical texts that have been lost in subsequent translations as well as exploring the societal forces that shaped the early Bhikkhuni Sangha.
• Ven. Bhikkhuni Ajahn Thanasanti has written a very personal article about the women who have figured prominently in her spiritual development. Dipa Ma is one of these “Extraordinary Women.”
• Take a moment to look at the recently added Power Point on bhikkhuni history on the homepage. It has intentionally been left in non-PDF format so individuals and groups can tailor the Power Point slides to suit their needs.
• Feel free to translate into other languages or add or remove slides based on what works best for different circumstances, tradition, or lineage.
• There is a new page with Dhamma and videos from 12 bhikkhunis including Ayya Gunasari’s talk on “Solitude.”
• We remain grateful to Melanie Davies for allowing us to use her beautiful chant on the Recollection of the Foremost Arahant Bhikkhunis (LISTEN).
  

There is still time to create a FIRSTGIVING PAGE.

• Click on the “Join Now” link in white and green to be taken to screens for a walk through the process.
  
• After creating your own page, forward the link to family and friends and invite them to sponsor your day of meditation, learning, and radiating metta (loving-kindness) to this world which is so in need of healing.
• Organizing a day, a half day, or a talk can happen any time you find convenient.
  
• The Firstgiving site will remain open until December 17th, but please do not feel that your event must happen by September 17.
  

Thank you so much for caring about ordained women and wanting to support and protect them!

• News: Traffic light camera scam steals your identity

First Annual Int'l Buddhist Nuns' Day

Susan Pembroke (firstgiving.com/allianceforbhikkhunis) with Wisdom Quarterly

Participate in the First Annual International Bhikkhuni Day:

• September 17, 2011

WHAT is it? The first IBD is a global, grassroots effort devoted to honoring Mahapajapati Gotami, the founder of the Nuns' Sangha. It also honors all of ou

r spiritual mothers -- ordained women, laywomen teachers who have transformed our practice, inspiring historical figures, actual mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and cousins -- any woman who has brought out the best in us.

This day celebrates our spiritual legacy. It is a chance to learn about the history of prominent Buddhist women, and it is also an opportunity to raise funds to support nuns (bhikkhunis).

HOW do we accomplish these things? We simply gather in a circle, meditate together, and talk about the women we love and admire. The gathering can take place anywhere -- in a temple, center, or your living room or backyard.

• Access materials from the Alliance for Bhikkhunis (AfB) site and invite fellow practitioners to join in on a day of meditation, reflection, and learning.

AfB’s home page (bhikkhuni.net) has Dharma talks and downloadable handouts which can be printed and used to lead group discussions. Feel free to adapt and revise the materials in ways that make them more meaningful to individual communities.

Mahajapati Tells Her Story

Excerpt from bhikkhuni.net

“I can never forget the moment I was told [my son] Siddhartha had left the palace. At first I could not believe it. I was in shock. It was as though time had stopped. The sobbing Yasodhara [his wife] had to repeat herself over and over until I could accept that Siddhartha was serious about his leave taking. My son, my handsome, good hearted son was gone. I never thought of him as my stepson, or even nephew. He was my son. I nursed him. I mothered him. He was my boy. Sometimes his leaving made sense, other times it remained incomprehensible. It upset me that he was in turmoil yet could not confide in me. When did this breach between us happen? How did I fail to notice that Siddhartha was no longer a part of us? But, upon reflection, I began recalling comments he had made and subtle ways he revealed a growing disenchantment with our way of life. In hindsight, I could point to moments that foretold his departure.”

• GROUP USE: her story as the first Buddhist nun in history can be printed and passed around a circle. Each person can read a paragraph or so in the midst of deep listening, opening the floor to sharing comments and reactions. A list of questions appears at the end of the narrative, making it easy for anyone to facilitate a conversation about the remarkable founder of the Bhikkhuni Sangha.

Honoring Our Women Teachers
Excerpt from bhikkhuni.net

“What woman in your life was your first spiritual teacher? What woman brought out the best in you? It could be your mother or could be another woman, a grandmother, an aunt, older sister, or teacher. Can you tell a story or two about her which captures her personality and conveys how she touched your life and the lives of others? Were there other women who impacted your spiritual development as well? If so, who are they and how were they pivotal? Mahapajapati advocated for the vulnerable women who fell under her protection. Has any compassionate, strong woman been an advocate for you, protected you? If so, how? Perhaps the people who mothered and nourished you were men -- your father, grandfather, brother or uncle? Can you speak about their kindness, tenderness, love, and belief in you?”

Fund Raising

Contact Susan Pembroke to share news of participation. She is happy to answer any questions. Use Firstgiving to raise funds for this meditation pledge-a-thon. I'm delighted to help anyone create his or her own Firstgiving page. With a page for your team, ask family and friends to support your day of honoring women spiritual leaders. Even 10-20 people who sponsor this day of meditating and pledge $5 to $25 can produce great good, with hundreds of people joining the effort, connecting us all on this sacred day.

Let us know which nuns' abbey (bhikkhuni vihara) should receive your pledges. What is raised will be disbursed to nuns. This is NOT a fundraiser for the Alliance for Bhikkhunis.

Temples and Centers

International Bhikkhuni Day can be an annual fundraiser for temples or centers. Let's brainstorm ways to help raise funds following the meditation pledge-a-thon through silent auctions, arts and crafts sales, admission to a dinner and film, as well as other ideas that can be translated into enjoyable community-building and fundraising events.

Every September is for honoring female spiritual luminaries and chronicling their stories. We vow to protect women monastics and their essential role in preserving the Dharma. Telling their stories is an indispensable part of accomplishing these goals.

Ordaining nuns in Theravada Buddhism?

Nun Thong Nghi at Van Hanh Temple leads a procession during a celebration of the Buddha's birthday which drew hundreds to the Vietnamese nunnery, the only one in Washington, according to chief nun Giac Huong Le (Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times).

The topic of full ordination for Buddhist women in the oldest living Buddhist tradition (Theravada) remains controversial. Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana) never had such a tradition, although the Dalai Lama supports it. Chinese Buddhism (Mahayana) has nuns who have been able to offer ordination to Theravada and Vajrayana women. On one side is the Sangha's traditional view that it can no longer be allowed. On the other side, Buddhist women and Western monks look more deeply at the issue. Many traditional monks, including foreign elders, now support it. But they do so quietly. Background and Buddhist Nuns

(Harvard Divinity School/Rebecca Esterson)

Interpreting monastic discipline (Vinaya)

American Thai Vinaya expert Ven. Ajahn Thanissaro (Geoffry DeGraff, a prolific Internet writer and Abbot of Wat Metta near San Diego, California) opines on the ordination of nuns (Nov. 13, 2009):

He was sent a copy of the transaction statements used at the recent nuns' ordination ceremony in Australia and asked for his opinion as to their validity.

"After looking them over and rereading the relevant passages in the Canon and commentaries, I would like to focus on one aspect of the statements: the use of a form in which two candidates are mentioned in a single proclamation. This is a detailed technical point, and the discussion will have to be long, so please bear with me.

"First, to establish context: A striking feature of the Canon’s rules for the bhikkhunīs [nuns], when compared with its rules for the bhikkhus [monks], is how sketchy they are. Many procedures are mentioned without a detailed explanation of how they should be done; the Vibhaṅgas, or explanations of the Bhikkhunī Pāṭimokkha rules, omit many discussions that would be par for the course in the Vibhaṅgas for the Bhikkhu Pāṭimokkha rules; the Pāṭimokkha rules that the bhikkhunīs have in common with the bhikkhus are not listed in the Canon; and the narratives surrounding the stage-by- stage development of specific procedures contain large gaps. Thus the traditional approach in filling in these blanks has been to apply the Great Standards (mahāpadesa) given in Mahāvagga VI:

“Bhikkhus, whatever I have not objected to, saying, ‘This is not allowable,’ if it conforms with what is not allowable, if it goes against what is allowable, that is not allowable for you.

“Whatever I have not objected to, saying, ‘This is not allowable,’ if it conforms with what is allowable, if it goes against what is not allowable, that is allowable for you.

“And whatever I have not permitted, saying, ‘This is allowable,’ if it conforms with what is not allowable, if it goes against what is allowable, that is not allowable for you.

“And whatever I have not permitted, saying, ‘This is allowable,’ if it conforms with what is allowable, if it goes against what is not allowable, that is allowable for you.” — Mv.VI.40.1 More

Ten-precept Buddhist novices live as monastics but are not allowed full ordination in Burma and other Theravada Buddhist countries (Roulette404)

Nuns, Invisibility, and the Question of Buddhist Activism
Natalie Wendt (Tikkun.org)
Bhikshuni [full Buddhist nun] ordination is practiced frequently in Taiwan and some other parts of East Asia, but is unavailable in the Tibetan tradition and to most Theravada women.

Though the Tibetan tradition has novice nuns, bhikshuni ordination never reached Tibet, and a movement to introduce it has met with strong resistance from some Tibetan teachers.

[The 14th] Dalai Lama and some other prominent teachers support bhikshuni ordination, but they are a minority. Nuns who want to fully ordain are forced to go outside of the tradition, sometimes without support of their teachers. More

Nuns (center) at Santi Forest Monastery, Buddhist Meditation in Bundanoon, Australia

The nuns of Australia
Santi Forest Monastery is a Buddhist education and meditation residence for monks, nuns, and laypeople. Established by Bhante Sujato in 2003, it is set in the rugged bush ravines of the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. Santi offers accommodation, teaching, and support for study and practice in the Forest Tradition, with a special emphasis on the earliest teachings of the Buddha that are shared by all Buddhist traditions. Since 2005, the Sangha of Santi has performed ordinations each year and has become internationally recognized for its advocacy of full ordination for Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunis). Information

Where does Bhikkhu Bodhi stand?

The American monk (Sri Lankan-Theravada tradition), super scholar, author, and abbot of Bodhi Monastery (named prior to his arrival) also weighs in. Bhikkhu Bodhi is now in residence at BAUS in Upstate New York.

Letters on the ordination of nuns
The Buddhist Channel, Nov 11, 2009

He wrote to Ajahn Sujato regarding the full ordination of Buddhist "nuns" in Perth, Australia in September 2009. The first letter dated Nov. 3 was a letter of support, but on Nov. 6, Bhikkhu Bodhi issued a retraction. First published at sujato.wordpress.com

(Nov. 3 2009) Dear Ven. Sujato, Thank you for informing me of this event, a report of which I had already stumbled upon quite by accident on the internet last week... Please convey my congratulations to Ajahn Brahm for his courageous decision, and also accept for yourself my appreciation for spearheading this development. Also, if you can do so, please convey my congratulations to the new bhikkhunis, especially Ajahn Vayama, an old Dhamma friend from my Sri Lankan days. More

The Revival of Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Theravada Tradition (Bhikkhu Bodhi, 2007)

Full Buddhist nuns in California
Wisdom Quarterly 2010
Fortunately, through the bravery of elder Theravada Buddhist monks living in America (such as Bhante Gunaratana of West Virginia and Ven. Piyananda of Los Angeles, and Bhikkhu Bodhi of New York), it is possible for a woman to gain full admission into the Buddhist Monastic Order as a bhikkhuni (Theravada nun), not simply a novice.

• Women in Buddhism (Buddhanet.net)
• American, European nuns ordained in Taiwan
• Tibetan nun's ordination at Tushita Meditation Centre
  
• Thubten Chodron: Nuns in Tibetan Buddhism
  
• Thai monks oppose Western Australia nun ordination
  Back in October 2009 the Buddhist Society of Western Australia (BSWA) had sent a letter of support to the recently ordained nuns of Dhammasara Monastery. On Dec. 22nd an article about the controversy around this matter appeared in The West and on Dec. 30th 2009 a sector of the Thai clergy in Bangkok made an audacious claim on the sovereignty, property, and affairs of the BSWA.
• Ajahn Brahm expelled for ordaining nuns in Australia
• [Ajahn Chah's] Wat Pah Pong Temple official expulsion
• First bhikkhuni ordination in Australia (Facebook)
• Sakyadhita 2011 Int'l Conference on Women (Ven. Sujato)

Tibetan nuns and monks surrounding the 14th Dalai Lama (tushita.info)

The Buddha's Sister: "Beautiful Joy"

Myanmarpedia (Burmese Buddhist records) edited by Wisdom Quarterly

Enthralled with her own beauty and popularity even as a nun, Sundari Nanda managed to break free and become enlightened (en.domotica.net)

Sundari Nanda
Nanda was the the stepsister of Prince Siddhattha (who years later became the Buddha), the daughter of his father King Suddhodana and his adoptive mother Queen Maha Pajapati Gotami (the sister of Siddhattha's biological mother).

Because she brought great pleasure and joy to her parents, she was named Nanda, which means joy and pleasure. Nanda grew up to be extremely graceful and beautiful and was often referred to as Sundari Nanda or "Nanda the Beautiful."

When her mother, Queen Maha Pajapati, and other Sakyan ladies gave up the household life to take up the spiritual life, Sundari Nanda decided to join them. However, she did not do so out of confidence in the Buddha or the Dhamma. She was ordained as a nun to conform to the wishes of her relatives, whom she loved greatly.

Lovely Nanda was very popular and respected by everyone. People were touched by the sight of a stunning royal daughter, the sister of the Buddha, wandering the streets for alms in the simple saffron robes of a nun.

Her mind, however, was not on her enlightenment and emancipation from rebirth and suffering (samsara). She was instead enthralled with her beauty and popularity.

She knew this was not in keeping with the high ideals of the Noble Order. Afraid that the Buddha would admonish her for her vanity and preoccupation with beauty and popularity, she avoided seeing him.

One day the Buddha called for all of the female monastics in residence near him to come one at a time for instruction. Sundari Nanda did not comply because she felt guilty and did not want to face him. The Buddha then called for her specifically. She came and he gave her spiritual instruction that emphasized all of her good qualities.

Even though this discourse made her feel joyful and uplifted, the Buddha realized that her mind/heart (citta or stream of consciousness) was not yet ready for a liberating discourse on the Four Noble Truths.

Seeing that she was still enthralled with her beauty, he created an exquisite vision of a beautiful youthful maiden whose beauty surpassed lovely Nanda’s own radiance. He then caused the image to suddenly age before her eyes.

Sundari Nanda's vision: Beauty fades quickly with time lapse magic.

Sundari Nanda saw the beautiful maiden shrivel, her skin growing wrinkled and discolored, her hair turning grey and falling out. She saw the exquisite form collapse with in frailty and finally die, bloat, and disintegrate into a mass of foul liquid, and bones, and dust.

As the body decomposed becoming an unspeakably ugly sight, bloated with worms and giving a stench, lovely Nanda realized the nature of this body with which she had been so preoccupied. Disillusioned and finally freed of the fetter of a long held attachment, her mind was ready to see clearly the profound teaching of the Buddha's Dhamma (Dharma).

The Buddha then explained to her the liberating Doctrine of impermanence and the hidden repulsive aspects of her very beautiful body. He gave her the loathsomeness of the body (in 32 parts) as her special subject of meditation.

Because of her strong attraction to her beauty -- even in light of the vision that had temporarily freed her of it -- it was necessary for her to contemplate the loathsomeness of the body to penetrate the Truth.

In no long time, Sundari Nanda attained full enlightenment (became an arahant) and expressed her struggle for this supreme attainment and the bliss of nibbana (nirvana) as follows:

“Nanda, behold this body,
Ailing, impure, and putrid,
Develop the meditation on the foul,
Make the mind unified, well composed.
As is this so was that,
As is that so this will be [cause and effect],
Putrid, exhaling a foul odor,
A thing in which fools delight.
Inspecting it as it is,
Unwearying by day and night,
With my own wisdom I pierced right through,
And so saw for myself.
As I dwelled ever heedful,
Dissecting it with methodical attention
[parsing the body into its contituent parts with the mind],
I saw this body as it really is,
Both inside and outside, internal and external.
Then I became disenchanted with this body,
My inward attachment faded away.
Being diligent and detached at heart,
I live in peace, fully quenched.”

– (Therigatha 82-86)

(Gnostic Nunnery)

Sisters in Buddhism: Women's Conference

Sanitsuda Ekachai (BangkokPost.com)

Female novices at the Sathira-Dhammasathan Buddhist Meditation Center in Bangkok. Novices keep ten major precepts rather than the hundreds of rules protecting fully ordained monastics (telegraph.co.uk).

Has the male Sangha's stern frown on female ordination stopped women's determination to pursue a monastic life [in Thailand]?

Everyone dropping by the Sathira Dhammasathan Nunnery and Dharma Center this week will realize how the male Sangha's attemptsto keep women down are ineffective and irrelevant.

For a whole week starting Sunday, June 12, the lush greenery of the Dharma center will be enlivened by different shades of the saffron robes of Buddhist nuns interspersed with the white robes of novices or ten precept nuns. The soothing sounds of their chants will fill the air with a message of peace and sisterhood.

They will be coming to Bangkok from around the world -- female monastics, scholars in Buddhism, social activists -- for the Sakyadhita International Conference. There they will discuss the practical application of Buddhism incontemporary society, review the barriers Buddhist women face in developing their full potential, and share recent studies of interest for Buddhist women.

The pursuit of knowledge is definitely not the sole reason why they are traveling across the globe to attend this biennial meeting.

Female ordination in the Theravada Buddhist tradition was unthinkable just three decades ago. But it is now a reality. There have always been white-clad ten precept novices. Yet, the bhikkhuni (fully-ordained female equivalent of a Buddhist "monk" or bhikkhu) may still face many obstacles. This is in addition to the institutionalized gender discrimination Buddhist women routinely face. But there has been progress.

Working against the odds in this male-dominated world requires lots of inner strength. The Sakyadhita conference is where women can come together to celebrate all that is possible and to fortify their determination through connecting with the positive energy of others in the same cause. More

Int'l Conference on Women Bangkok, June 12-18

NEWS FROM THE CONFERENCE

A Daily Conference Blog (English)

Conference Facebook page (Thai & English)

Sakyadhita Thailand reports from the Conference (Thai)

Opening ceremonies slideshow on YouTube

YouTube video from The Buddhist Door

The full ordination of monks and nuns

Buddhanet.net (edited and expanded by Wisdom Quarterly)

Ten precept Buddhist nuns are actually novices not (fully ordained bhikkhunis) "nuns" (overseasspice.com).

During the time of the Buddha, monastic ordination gradually went from a simple invitation by him (Aham, Bhante or "Come, Venerable"), to the consent of other full monastics in good standing, to a more complex public ceremony.

The first few hundred students were personally ordained by the Buddha. They simply asked him for permission to join the order, and if he accepted them, he invited them with two simple words.

Later as the Monastic Order (Sangha) grew, it was not possible for all students to see the Buddha. So he instructed his best students to ordain some of them. The newcomers shaved their heads and beards (in the case of men) and put on saffron patchwork robes. Then they formally sought guidance from the Buddha, Dharma, and [Noble] Sangha by reciting the Three Guides (often mislabeled "Refuges").

Later, when some less suitable people wanted to join the Order, ten precepts were added to the Three Guides.

Later still, after people complained of the behavior of some monastics, novices, and probationers [in the case of those who had converted from a non-Buddhist monastic tradition], more detailed rules of conduct and etiquette were introduced for monks and nuns who completed their novitiate training. The total number of rules increased from ten to more than 227.

Western Buddhist monks and nuns and visiting tourists in the Dalai Lama's teaching audience (dalailama.com)

Eventually the monks seem to have edged out nuns. This was hastened by eight special rules (the eight garudhammas) that seem to have no purpose but to subordinate nuns to monks.

They were not likely instituted by the Buddha, as is generally believed, but seem to have been inserted by monks.

One rule in particular required monks and fully ordained nuns be present for the full ordination of women, with no such rule for men whose Sangha was independent. Eventually, there were not enough nuns to conduct ordinations, and before long there were no nuns at all in the earliest surviving form of Buddhism (Theravada).

Whereas monks and nuns look the same -- same saffron robes, alms bowls, shaved heads -- female novices in different countries use many colors. And over time even monastics in various Buddhist countries adopted different colored robes.

Monks and nuns from different countries learn the Dharma (Buddha's Teaching) in their own language often also learning Pali and Sanskrit. Their robes may look different, particularly between the two major schools, Theravada and Mahayana.

Monastics from the Theravada tradition come from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. Those in the much larger Mahayana tradition are from China, Korea, and Vietnam, while Tibet calls its special brand of Mahayana "Vajrayana" and Japan calls its brand "Zen." More

• Actress Joey Wong (pictured above) is a Buddhist nun
• Buddhism and Islam in Indonesia
• The Oppression in Burma includes nuns

The Buddha was enlightened, not sexist

Ven. Anālayo Bhikkhu (Buddhist monk) in a letter to the nun Ayya Tathāloka

(Isharak) In the fifth year after his enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rainy season in Kutagarasala. It is the abbey where he most frequently stayed while visiting the great city of Vaishali. It was here that his stepmother, Mahapajapati Gotami, was ordained as the first Buddhist nun, creating the Bhikkhuni Sangha. (To visit: 1upindia.com)

Gender Discrimination and the Pali Canon

...In the case of the attitude towards women, we find contradictory positions and thus a lack of consistency in the Pāli canon [the oldest extant redaction of the Buddha's teachings].

One example is the account of the founding of the Order of Nuns.⁴ According to the "Great Final Nirvana Discourse" (Mahāparinibbāna Sutta), soon after his awakening the Buddha proclaimed that he would not pass away until he had nun disciples who are wise and learned.⁵

From this it would follow that right from the outset he wanted and intended to have an Order of Nuns. This impression is further supported by a closer perusal of the Pāli canon, which shows recurrent references to the importance of having four assemblies of disciples (monks and nuns and male and female lay followers) and to the significant contribution made by nuns to the prosperity and success of the Buddha's dispensation.

These passages stand in contrast to the impression created by the account of the foundation of the Order of Nuns, which reads as if the Buddha did not want to allow women to go forth.⁶

A comparative study of this account in the different collections of Disciplinary Rules (Vinayas), mainly extant in Chinese, shows clear signs of later additions and thus makes it probable that it does not accurately reflect the Buddha's attitude.

Another example would be a pair of discourses in the Collection of Numerical Discourses (Aṅguttara-nikāya) that compare women to black snakes -- as both are dirty, smelly, and betray friends, and so on.⁷

Would it be reasonable and coherent for an awakened teacher to make such derogatory remarks about women?

That enlightened teacher, according to other discourses, had nun-disciples that had reached full awakening and thus total freedom from any defilement,⁸ who according to the same discourse collection proclaimed various nuns and lay women as outstanding in qualities like deep concentration and profound wisdom,⁹ and who apparently placed such trust in women that he (in a twin monastic regulation found in all Vinayas) sanctioned acting on a trustworthy laywoman's report about a monk's breach of the rules?¹⁰

The comparison of women to snakes recurs in two parallel versions -- one in the Tibetan Vinaya, where a similar remark is headed by the qualification "some" (i.e., "some women are..."¹¹) and another in a late text in Uighur [a language in China], where this remark is not made by the Buddha, but rather by some Sakyan youths.¹² More plus footnotes

• The first all Sri Lankan nun's great almsgiving
• Buddhist nuns of Burma (allmyanmar.com)