Women in Buddhism Religion - Essay Example

Buddhism Buddhism and women First part Buddhism is a philosophically oriented religion whose teachings emanate from the Buddha. The Buddha is a sage who lived around 5th century BCE and primarily taught in the northeastern India. In the Buddhist tradition, the Buddha refers to an enlightened person. Enlightenment is a process of eliminating ignorance and creating a stable state of the soul whereby delusion, desire and aversion have been eliminated. Buddhism, however, has a complex nature that demands critical study into its unique elements. The handling of sexuality and gender has an essential impact on the shaping of the religion. Although most schools of thought may describe Buddhism as a sexist religion, it is essential to note that Buddhism highly includes females in its worship practices. Most critiques of Buddhism’s handling of sexuality have centered on the religion’s hypocrisy in Bhikkuni ordination. A bhikkuni is a female monastic, who has undergone full ordination. In this sense, Buddhism seemed an inclusive religion in a world that most religions are inherently patriarchal. Critics, however, point out a different side to this Buddhist initiative. For instance, ordination of female monks requires that they agree to the eight garudhammas (Keats, Day, Weinberg, 2010). These legislations bind nuns in junior positions as compared to male monks. These rules also forbid nuns to assume leadership positions in the presence of male monks. This means that even monks who have served for shorter periods have precedence over nuns who have served for a long time. In spite of Buddhism’s scriptural clarity, the garudhammas have a perilous impact on women’s spiritual life. This is because women are seen to serve a subsidiary role to the monks’ activities. The cultural context under which the eight rules sprouted has a created a barrier to nun’s spiritual and administrative ascent. In addition, it constrains the education and attainment of resources by nuns. In the end, nuns cannot participate in decision making that that enables the growth of leadership and confidence in the Buddha tradition. The spread of Buddhism to the Western countries has invited a complex debate about the Buddha tradition. The eight rules have triggered Western Buddhists’ discontent with the handling of nuns in religious worship. It is essential to highlight that the discontent underlies a perception that the patriarchal tradition is part of the true Buddha foundation. Western nuns, however, have grown to ridicule such perception. Indeed, in as much as Buddhism strives to achieve an egalitarian heritage, a sexist speculation has damaged the reputation of the religion. This is because what affects women worshippers should be in consistent with the growth of the dharma. Second part A. L. De Silva, in his text of Homosexuality in Theravada Buddhism, argues that significant pieces of evidence manifest that the Buddha’s principal teachings do not have hegemony in terms of sexuality. Instead, such traditions strive to foster a universal outlook towards conceiving life and spiritual matters. In Buddhism, the Buddha is a word that Siddhartha Gautama earned after he was deemed to have gained enlightenment. Buddhism ascribes enlightenment only to sentient beings. Siddhartha sacrifices worldly pleasures and aspirations in order to attain the spiritual awakening that is necessary for halting the cycle of rebirth. The description of Siddhartha has no gender allusions as they clearly describe what each human being requires in order to attain redemption. The Four Noble Truths represent a secular and liberal worldview that does not attempt at discriminating individuals as based on their sex. This includes the truth of suffering and the truth of the root of suffering, the truth of the end of suffering, and the truth of the path that leads to redemption. This means that suffering is real and it has a beginning. In addition, suffering has an end and the cause that will lead towards its elimination. This notion accords a pragmatic worldview that highlights the world as it is and acknowledges that rectifying its problems is a possible feat. It is essential to highlight that Buddhism highlights ignorance and desire as the two main causes of suffering. With material greed and insufficient insight, human beings invite afflictions into their lives. Roger Corless, ON QUEER BUDDHISM, notes that, indeed, Buddhism highly preaches against desire. Sexual pleasures are one of the desires that human beings are highly likely to indulge. The end of suffering means reaching a state of Nirvana. This transcendent state is free from the worldly cycle of death and rebirth thereby meaning a spiritual enlightenment has been achieved. Most essentially, Buddhism assigns eight principles of eliminating such suffering. Several lessons emerge in these basic precepts of the Buddhist tradition. In his translation and comments on Part of the Vinaya (Rules for Monastics), Thanissaro Bhikkhu argues that Buddhism assigns a similar fate to every human being. This is because every human being faces at least a form of suffering. In addition, it highlights the basic problems, ignorance and desire, that affect every human being in spite of gender. It is essential to highlight that the elimination of unnecessary desires and the eradication of ignorance is a continual process that every human being practices. Thanissaro Bhikkhu concludes that the assignment of the eight principles of attaining enlightenment suggests that these rules apply to everyone regardless of sex and gender. Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao, in her text of Women Acquiring the Essence, the traditional Buddha teaching despises the existence of hegemony in a society. When Siddhartha was undergoing a spiritual redemption, he abandoned his materially lustful life. He had been living a lustful life of drinking and women. These privileges arose from his wealthy and high social status background. In the end, Siddhartha abandons his privileged background in order to achieve a new definition that is detached from the material belongings that his family possesses. It is essential to highlight that Buddhism is one of the religions that have accepted women leaders in worship. The religion has documented the contribution of women in inspiring spirituality. Rev. Patti Nakai, in his text of Women in Buddhism, notes that although their roles have been overlooked, they have actively participated in religious activities. In Theravada Buddhism, Prajakati, the Buddha’s aunt, is the first Buddhist nun who raised Shakamuni after his mother’s death. When the aunt expressed an interest in joining Shakamuni’s spiritual activities, the young man denounced her by stating that women had mental inferiority. The texts thereby explain why Shakamuni reacted this way. The texts note that Shakamuni grew up in a cultural context that had limited place for women. While he was young, he learned that women were property of men, whose roles were breeding and entertaining men. In this position, women were like domesticated animals. From the stepmother, the dancing girls, and his wife, Shakamuni perceived women as creatures relied on the rewards of entertaining men. In this view, the society cannot castigate Shakamuni for despising women, but recognize him as a person who received wayward cultural conditioning. Later Shakamuni’s cousin convinces him to let her aunt into his spiritual activities. This act might have invited sensibility and transcendence that led the Buddha acquires a universal view of human beings. He thereby related with the other nuns as spiritual beings, but not as women who would have to acquire subservient roles. In addition, in occurs that the original conception of women in the Buddhist’s spiritual life emanated from the cultural context under which Buddhism originated, but not the exclusive understanding of women from Buddhism’s context. Third part Indeed, in spite of the fact that most schools of thought may describe Buddhism as a sexist religion, it is essential to note that Buddhism highly includes females in its worship practices. It is essential to note that the contemporary world historically promotes gender differences because of the socio-political role it serves. The world’s progress has also entailed persistent questioning of this order and its rationality. Personally, religion is a product of culture. This means that when the culture changes, the perception of religion also changes. It is essential to enact this change in light of Buddhism. This does not mean, however, that the role of Buddhism in establishing inclusive religious worship should be ignored. The critics have always pointed to the hypocritical treatment of nuns in Buddhism’s worship practices. An investigation into the fundamental practices of the religion, however, reveals that Buddhism has a transcendent system that does not discriminate on followers as based on sex and gender divisions. In addition, Buddhism is one of the world’s few religions that accepted the expanded role of women in its early development. In Theravada Buddhism, it manifests that given cultural contexts defined the initial perception of women. In the end, new cultural contexts should help define Buddhism in a contemporary fashion. Buddhism is one of the unique religions because it does not accord essence into transcendence offered by a superior being. Instead, it theorizes that human beings are in control of their fate through the choices they make in life. This offers an optimistic view of life that does not entail the promises of punishment for wrong behavior. In this sense, Buddhism is a principal religion in eliminating the sexist culture inherent in most religions. By offering an inclusive system, Buddhism helps create the love it espouses in its teachings. The human condition, therefore, becomes a unifying experience that requires the same solutions in tackling the common problems affecting every individual. Reference Keats, L., Day, E., Weinberg, M. (2010). The Time Has Come. Buddha Dharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, Summer. Read More