I asked my teacher, Bhante Gunaratana, about the
"eight heavy duties", the special restrictions on
Bhikkhunis.
His answer was unequivocal. The rules were added to
the Canon after the Parinibbana by some woman-hating
person.
What bothered him most was what he refered to as the
"insult to the Buddha", the author(s) of the
garudhammas make Ananda more compassionate than the
Buddha himself.
Furthermore, if the garudhammas were real they would
be part of the Bhikkhuni training rules which of
course they are not.
What kind of strategy can we have to combat sexism in
Theravada Buddhism?

Sumana

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.)

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

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 receive 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.)

rules summarized By METTANANDO BHIKKHU
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=8,2666,0,0,1,0

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