Hi Yong Peng

I think this has to be a case of gender bias, as it is making one gender sub
ordinate to the other gender. These rules on apply to women who already had
many vinaya rules more than the men.

But, on the other hand it was a radical development to even have female
monastics in ancient India.

Bankei


2010/3/2 Ong Yong Peng <palismith@...>

>
>
> Dear friends,
>
> it is well established that Buddhism was the first to have a "female
> leadership" in its clergy, the Sangha. By this, I refer to the bhikkhunis
> who are equals to bhikkhus in many ways, primarily,
>
> 1. in their capacity to attain arahatship and nibbana, and the recognition
> of this capacity.
> 2. receive alms and veneration from lay-followers, just like the bhikkhus.
> 3. provide guidance and conduct teachings of the Buddha.
>
> By allowing female disciples to be ordained as bhikkhunis, the Buddha was
> far ahead of his times.
>
> Subsequently, we have the Therigatha attributed to the prominent
> bhikkhunis. In China, there are also multiple records of bhikkhunis' lives
> and works in the form of bi-qiu-ni-zhuan (姣�涓�灏间�).
>
> However, we are also aware of the eight garudhamma rules, which somehow
> place the bhikkhunis on a "lower tier" than their male counterparts. Is this
> a special case of a gender bias?
>
> metta,
> Yong Peng.
>
>

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