Buddha and Buddhist order of Nuns
First section of the tenth chapter of the Cullavagga in Vinaya speaks about position of women in Buddhist order.Eight special rules for nuns(garudhamma) were laid down.These were to be accepted by every woman before her entry into monastic life.
The forster mother and aunt of Buddha ,Mahapajapati Gotami is the first woman to ask the buddha to permit the acceptance of women into the order in principle.Buddha does not give his consent to this request of Mahapajapati which she repeats three times.
Mahapajapati Gotami evidently much grieved is not completely discouraged.She cuts her hair off, dresses in a robe and with other women of the Sakya clan follows the Buddha,who has meanwhile moved on to Vesali.There Ananda observes her piteous state and questions her,so she explains the situation to him.Ananda himself takes the matter up.He too expresses Mahajapati's wish three times to the Buddha,but in vain.Later by skilfully steering the conversation he draws from the Buddha the admission that in principle women are capable of attaining Enlightenment and by alluding to the many services which Mahajapati rendered the Buddha in his youth,Ananda manages to get the Buddha to agree in principle to the admission of Mahajapati and thus of women in general in the Buddhist order.
The agreement to the establishment of the Nuns order was not given unconditionally.This may be deduced from the further course of events in the section of Cullavagga.Only if Mahajapati is prepared to follow the eight garudhammas (meaning important rules) may she belong to the order.These eight garudhammas serve not only as admission criteria but also as rules to be observed for life by every Nun.
As regards the grade of penalty the garudhammas are on a par with the Samghadisesa offences.This is shown by the content of the fifth garudhamma,furthermore, the content of passages in which monks are mentioned in connection with transgression against the garudhammas leads at least to equating the garudhammas with Samghadisesa offences.One of the attributes a monk must possess in order to be allowed to instruct nuns is ,according to Pacittiya 21 of the Bhikkuvibhanga,that he should not have offended against a garudhamma
Garudhamma 1 requires the complete subordination of nuns to monks.The sequence of the eight rules specific to nuns begin with a stipulation which makes it quite clear that a nun is always beneath a monk in social rank. "A nun even is she has been ordained for a hundred years, is to make a respectful greeting ,to stand up, to make the greeting with palms laid together and to carry out the acts of homage to a monk,even if has only only been ordained that day
Garudhamma 2 reads "A nun shall not spend the rainy season in a residential district where there is no monk" Pacittiya 56 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga is identical to the garudhamma 2
Garudhamma 3 states that twice a month a nun is to ask for two rulings from the Order of monks,one regarding the Uposatha day and the other about monks coming to offer instruction.This garudhmma is in complete agreement with Pacittiya 59 of the Bhikkunivibhanga.The nuns were obliged to ask the monks for information about the Uposatha ceremony as the exact date was determined by the monks
The instruction given to the nuns changed over time.At first, the whole Bhikkhuni sangha visited the monks in order to receive instructions.However,mistrust by the "people" soon led to only two or three nuns at a time being allowed to visit a monk who has been designated by the Bhikkusamgha as Bhikkhunovadaka or instructor of nuns.Monks were forbidden to enter the nuns area to give instruction.This may be concluded from Pacittiya 23 of Bhikkhunivibhanga .During their instruction the monks questioned the nuns as to whether they had kept the garudhammas,checking that they had maintained the discipline
Garudhamma 4 and Pacittiya 57 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga describe the pavarana ceremony for nuns.
"At he end of the rainy season a nun shall satisfy both orders in three respects:by that which is heard,seen and suspected".According to the description in the Cullavagga, at first nuns did not perform this ceremony at all.Then they performed it only within their order and later,in a third move,the complete order of nuns performed the pavarana in front of the order of the monks.
As this caused trouble in the Bhikkhunisangha,the Buddha decreed that a pavarana was first to be completed in the nuns order
Garudhamma 5 stipulates the nuns who offend against a garudhamma must perform 14 days of manatta in front of both orders
Garudhamma 6 contains the two most important procedural differences between nuns and monks in bestowing the Upasampada "After having obeyed the six precepts for two years,a Sikkhamana must request Upasampada from both orders" Only women are subject to the condition of a two year probationary period and the conditions that Upasampada must be taken twice,with consent from both the nuns and the monks.
The final decision whether to receive a woman into the Buddhist order lay with the monks
Garudhamma 7 "A nun is in no way allowed to insult or disparage a monk" This garudhamma corresponds to Pacittiya 52 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga.Here reference is made to the conflict between the "group of six nuns" and Upali,described in the history of Pacittiya 52 of Bhikkhuni vibhanga.Thus it is most probable that his garudhamma is of a later date when the Order of Nuns already existed.
Garudhamma 8 "From today for nuns speaking to monks is forbidden,but for monks speaking to nuns is not forbidden".This garudhamma corresponds in content partly to Pacittiya 95 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga which says, A nun who puts a question to a monk who has not given her permission to do so commits a Pacittiya( offence for repentenance)
In the garudhammas the dependence of the Bhikhhunisangha on the Bhikhhu sanga is at times quite bluntly expressed. All eight garudhammas express an aspect of the personal subordination of individual nuns to the monks.As the wife is under the guardianship of the husband, the mother under the guardianship of the sons, so the Order of nuns is under the guardianship of the Order of monks.
When Mahapajapati has accepted the eight garudhammas without hesitation,Ananda conveys this to Buddha.It is only then that the Buddha expresses his misgivings about the admission of women into the Buddhist order to Ananda and establishes the consequent importance of keeping the eight garudhammas.
Buddha stated " If Ananda women had not received the Pabbajja in the dhamma and vinaya expounded by the Tathagatha,the Brahma path would have lasted long. The saddhamma would have lasted 1000 years .And now, Ananda that women have received the Pabbajja in the dhamma and vinaya expounded by the tathagatha,the Brahma path will not last long ,Ananda. The Saddhamma will last only 500 years"
"Just as families with many women and few men are easily overpowered by thieves,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya women receive the Pabbajja will not last long"
"Just as when a disease known as mildew affects a whole rice field,that field will not last long,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya receive the Pabbaja will not last long"
"Just as when a disease known as blight affects a whole field of sugar cane,that sugar cana field will not last long,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya women receive the Pabbaja will not last long"
Women are equated with disease and their admission into the Sangha allegedly brings about an earlier decline of Buddhist teaching.The Buddha says this,not as the reason ,he is against establishment of the Order of nuns,but only after the deed has already been done.
Buddha was probably not able to free himself entirely from the idea of woman as temptress and so did not consent unreservedly to the establishment of a nuns Order.As Buddhism is a religion with basically ascetic characteristics,it partly took over from Brahmanism the traditional view that identified woman with a sexually hostile to Enlightenment(being a distraction from the religious goal).
There was a time lapse between the death of Buddha and the final codification of the Vinaya.As the Buddha left his community without a spiritual leader,many problems arose for the then leaderless Samgha.Often the rules for behaviour laid down by the Buddha were inadequate to meet new cases of conflict.Therefore new rules had to be drawn up.These rules were also attributed to Buddha ,the sole lawmaker in his lifetime.
The forster mother and aunt of Buddha ,Mahapajapati Gotami is the first woman to ask the buddha to permit the acceptance of women into the order in principle.Buddha does not give his consent to this request of Mahapajapati which she repeats three times.
Mahapajapati Gotami evidently much grieved is not completely discouraged.She cuts her hair off, dresses in a robe and with other women of the Sakya clan follows the Buddha,who has meanwhile moved on to Vesali.There Ananda observes her piteous state and questions her,so she explains the situation to him.Ananda himself takes the matter up.He too expresses Mahajapati's wish three times to the Buddha,but in vain.Later by skilfully steering the conversation he draws from the Buddha the admission that in principle women are capable of attaining Enlightenment and by alluding to the many services which Mahajapati rendered the Buddha in his youth,Ananda manages to get the Buddha to agree in principle to the admission of Mahajapati and thus of women in general in the Buddhist order.
The agreement to the establishment of the Nuns order was not given unconditionally.This may be deduced from the further course of events in the section of Cullavagga.Only if Mahajapati is prepared to follow the eight garudhammas (meaning important rules) may she belong to the order.These eight garudhammas serve not only as admission criteria but also as rules to be observed for life by every Nun.
As regards the grade of penalty the garudhammas are on a par with the Samghadisesa offences.This is shown by the content of the fifth garudhamma,furthermore, the content of passages in which monks are mentioned in connection with transgression against the garudhammas leads at least to equating the garudhammas with Samghadisesa offences.One of the attributes a monk must possess in order to be allowed to instruct nuns is ,according to Pacittiya 21 of the Bhikkuvibhanga,that he should not have offended against a garudhamma
Garudhamma 1 requires the complete subordination of nuns to monks.The sequence of the eight rules specific to nuns begin with a stipulation which makes it quite clear that a nun is always beneath a monk in social rank. "A nun even is she has been ordained for a hundred years, is to make a respectful greeting ,to stand up, to make the greeting with palms laid together and to carry out the acts of homage to a monk,even if has only only been ordained that day
Garudhamma 2 reads "A nun shall not spend the rainy season in a residential district where there is no monk" Pacittiya 56 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga is identical to the garudhamma 2
Garudhamma 3 states that twice a month a nun is to ask for two rulings from the Order of monks,one regarding the Uposatha day and the other about monks coming to offer instruction.This garudhmma is in complete agreement with Pacittiya 59 of the Bhikkunivibhanga.The nuns were obliged to ask the monks for information about the Uposatha ceremony as the exact date was determined by the monks
The instruction given to the nuns changed over time.At first, the whole Bhikkhuni sangha visited the monks in order to receive instructions.However,mistrust by the "people" soon led to only two or three nuns at a time being allowed to visit a monk who has been designated by the Bhikkusamgha as Bhikkhunovadaka or instructor of nuns.Monks were forbidden to enter the nuns area to give instruction.This may be concluded from Pacittiya 23 of Bhikkhunivibhanga .During their instruction the monks questioned the nuns as to whether they had kept the garudhammas,checking that they had maintained the discipline
Garudhamma 4 and Pacittiya 57 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga describe the pavarana ceremony for nuns.
"At he end of the rainy season a nun shall satisfy both orders in three respects:by that which is heard,seen and suspected".According to the description in the Cullavagga, at first nuns did not perform this ceremony at all.Then they performed it only within their order and later,in a third move,the complete order of nuns performed the pavarana in front of the order of the monks.
As this caused trouble in the Bhikkhunisangha,the Buddha decreed that a pavarana was first to be completed in the nuns order
Garudhamma 5 stipulates the nuns who offend against a garudhamma must perform 14 days of manatta in front of both orders
Garudhamma 6 contains the two most important procedural differences between nuns and monks in bestowing the Upasampada "After having obeyed the six precepts for two years,a Sikkhamana must request Upasampada from both orders" Only women are subject to the condition of a two year probationary period and the conditions that Upasampada must be taken twice,with consent from both the nuns and the monks.
The final decision whether to receive a woman into the Buddhist order lay with the monks
Garudhamma 7 "A nun is in no way allowed to insult or disparage a monk" This garudhamma corresponds to Pacittiya 52 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga.Here reference is made to the conflict between the "group of six nuns" and Upali,described in the history of Pacittiya 52 of Bhikkhuni vibhanga.Thus it is most probable that his garudhamma is of a later date when the Order of Nuns already existed.
Garudhamma 8 "From today for nuns speaking to monks is forbidden,but for monks speaking to nuns is not forbidden".This garudhamma corresponds in content partly to Pacittiya 95 of the Bhikkhunivibhanga which says, A nun who puts a question to a monk who has not given her permission to do so commits a Pacittiya( offence for repentenance)
In the garudhammas the dependence of the Bhikhhunisangha on the Bhikhhu sanga is at times quite bluntly expressed. All eight garudhammas express an aspect of the personal subordination of individual nuns to the monks.As the wife is under the guardianship of the husband, the mother under the guardianship of the sons, so the Order of nuns is under the guardianship of the Order of monks.
When Mahapajapati has accepted the eight garudhammas without hesitation,Ananda conveys this to Buddha.It is only then that the Buddha expresses his misgivings about the admission of women into the Buddhist order to Ananda and establishes the consequent importance of keeping the eight garudhammas.
Buddha stated " If Ananda women had not received the Pabbajja in the dhamma and vinaya expounded by the Tathagatha,the Brahma path would have lasted long. The saddhamma would have lasted 1000 years .And now, Ananda that women have received the Pabbajja in the dhamma and vinaya expounded by the tathagatha,the Brahma path will not last long ,Ananda. The Saddhamma will last only 500 years"
"Just as families with many women and few men are easily overpowered by thieves,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya women receive the Pabbajja will not last long"
"Just as when a disease known as mildew affects a whole rice field,that field will not last long,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya receive the Pabbaja will not last long"
"Just as when a disease known as blight affects a whole field of sugar cane,that sugar cana field will not last long,so the Brahma path in whose dhamma and vinaya women receive the Pabbaja will not last long"
Women are equated with disease and their admission into the Sangha allegedly brings about an earlier decline of Buddhist teaching.The Buddha says this,not as the reason ,he is against establishment of the Order of nuns,but only after the deed has already been done.
Buddha was probably not able to free himself entirely from the idea of woman as temptress and so did not consent unreservedly to the establishment of a nuns Order.As Buddhism is a religion with basically ascetic characteristics,it partly took over from Brahmanism the traditional view that identified woman with a sexually hostile to Enlightenment(being a distraction from the religious goal).
There was a time lapse between the death of Buddha and the final codification of the Vinaya.As the Buddha left his community without a spiritual leader,many problems arose for the then leaderless Samgha.Often the rules for behaviour laid down by the Buddha were inadequate to meet new cases of conflict.Therefore new rules had to be drawn up.These rules were also attributed to Buddha ,the sole lawmaker in his lifetime.
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