Women in Engaged Buddhism

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Contemporary Buddhism, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2002

Women in Engaged Buddhism

Claudia RombergFree University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Introduction

The introduction of the notion of the ideal equality of all human beings by

Buddhism represented a change of attitude towards women compared with that

obtained in Indian Brahman society at the time of the historical Buddha

(565485 BCE). The patriarchal family system of the Brahman tradition

(around 800400 BCE) subordinated women in all aspects of life to men: Day

and night women must be kept in dependence by the males of their families and

must be kept under male control [] a woman is never fit for independence

(Das 1962, 152). Only as wives of Brahmans could women assist in sacred rites,

but they were not allowed to study Vedic texts and were considered incapable

of reaching salvation. The rigid caste system did not offer any path to salvation

that women could travel independently (Rau 1957).

With the emergence of Buddhism in ancient India, the situation changed. The

historical Buddha did not make any social reform efforts to overcome this strictand invincible caste system, but tried to create a second world where these

distinction are not relevant any longer. All human (and in the Mahayana

tradition even all sentient) beings, feeling the suffering of life and, once

conscious of that suffering, deciding to enter the Buddhist sangha, lose their

social identity as members of the four castes just as all great rivers vanish when

flowing into the sea. They are capable of liberation from samsaric suffering,

regardless of their social status or sex. But the fact that no social reform efforts

were made, either by the historical Buddha or by Buddhist communities in later

times, reveals that there must have been a certain tension between the doctrinesthat describe idealized circumstances and actual social situations.

In this paper, I shall try to show that no form of discrimination has any

theoretical foundations in Buddhism. However, although I can hardly present

solutions for existing injustice, I shall try to point out the theoretical basis for

a possible reconciliation of opposing views concerning discrimination in gen-

eral, and the problem of gender in particular. I shall try to illustrate existing

tensions on three different levels. First, I will sketch problems that exist on the

level of society. Was Buddhism in its early form a religion open to individuals

of all social classes? Was it possible for members of the female sex to enter theBuddhist community and thereby to enter the path to salvation? Second, I shall

describe forms of femininity that are prevalent in Buddhism, and answer the

question whether it is possible to attain salvation as member of the female sex.

As Diana Paul has pointed out, Buddhism is like Judaism and Christianity []

an overwhelmingly male-created institution dominated by a patriarchal power

ISSN 1463-9947 print; 1476-7953 online/02/020161-10 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd

DOI: 10.1080/1463994032000068564


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162 C. Romberg

structure. As a consequence of this male dominance, the feminine is frequently

associated with the secular, powerless, profane and imperfect (1985, XIXXX).

Male Buddhists created certain images of femininity and, in accordance with

these images, established normative rules of behavior for women within theBuddhist community. Third, I will investigate the possibilities Buddhism offers

for a more activist approach toward society and social ethics. Could one draw

conclusions from Buddhist teachings that help to overcome social injustice?

Does Buddhism formulate certain rights that should be valid in secular society

as well? Is reconciliation between existing injustice or discrimination and

idealized teachings possible? Is any specifically feminist approach to socially

engaged Buddhism likely to succeed?

Early Buddhism

Buddhism was not intended to be a religion for the masses. The historical

Buddha taught a path to salvation that each individual could go on indepen-

dently. The aim was to overcome suffering and rebirth by means of meditative

practice and good behavior, but it was never meant to change society as a whole

or to offer salvation that can be reached without own efforts.1 Buddhism teaches

a radical responsibility for ones own deeds and for the karma accumulated by

them. In deciding to enter the Buddhist community, one takes the first step

toward this salvation by ones own efforts. But was everyone allowed to enter

the sangha? Not in the first place. Men could enter the sangha, but even thoughwomen were regarded as capable of reaching salvation, they were not allowed

to enter the community until the Buddhas aunt and stepmother Mahaprajapat

wanted to join it. When the disciple Ananda requested it on her behalf, the

Buddha reluctantly granted his request (not hers), but put the nuns order under

the control of the monks. The nuns had to obey the Eight Chief Rules that made

them dependent upon the monks for the proper performance of most of their

ceremonies and the authorization of them all. For example, the nuns had to pay

reverence to the monks, but the monks were not obliged to make salutations in

return; nuns had to spend the rainy season under observance of the monks, andwere not allowed to admonish the latter. When the Vinaya, the monastic rules,

were instituted, the nuns had to obey 311 rules, compared with 227 for the

monks.

In this early stage of Buddhism it was practically difficult for women to enter

the Buddhist order. Although both men and women had to undergo medical

examination in order to restrain sick persons from entering, only women had to

have their sexual organs examined as well.2 Few members of the community

were from the lower social classes. High demands concerning intellectual

abilities partly restricted illiterate people, and especially women, from becomingmembers. The Thergata, a collection of poems written by nuns, shows that a

large number of the women who entered the sangha in the early period of

Buddhism were noble women of good education.

This short description reveals that the ideal equality of all human beings was

not put into practice on the level of the Buddhist institution. Women


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Women in Engaged Buddhism 163

not only suffered discrimination in secular Brahman society, but in the Buddhist

sangha as well. Reasons for this can be found in the embeddedness of

Buddhism in the Indian Brahman culture and the different forms of femininity

described in the Theravada and Mahayana traditions of Buddhism.3

Buddhist attitudes toward women

There are basically three general attitudes toward women in Buddhism. The first

teaches that female rebirth is a result of negative karma accumulated in a past

life. This view is strongly influenced by the Brahman background and the

general position of women in ancient society. A second view imagines a

Buddha to be male and, therefore, makes male rebirth or a sexual transform-

ation necessary for women. The third view is that gender is irrelevant for

salvation in the sense that gender is one of the traits of the ego, which need to

be transcended. Empirically, all three stances are part of Buddhism.

Within the corpora of the oldest Buddhist literature, the Pali canon and other

Theravada literature that is transmitted in Sanskrit and Classical Chinese, the

first view is the most prevalent. The scriptures often speak disparagingly about

women: in the Cullavagga, the Buddha is said to have stated that the Buddhist

dharma will deteriorate earlier because women became part of the sangha. The

Anguttara-Nikaya is very detailed on all the bad characteristics of women, and

in the Theragata (a collection of poems written by monks) women are described

as great temptresses and the cause of all suffering. With the development of theJataka literature, the position of men and women became particularly polarized:

being born male was a visual proof of ones moral and spiritual superiority.

These images were frequently regarded as unalterable and permanent. It is not

clear whether these passages are true accounts of the historical Buddhas

opinion or whether monks added them in later times. It is reasonable to assert

that these descriptions say more about the worldliness and the fear of men, who

seem to confuse objects of perceptions with their own mental fantasies about

them, than they do about actual (mis)behavior by women. In order to avoid

these fantasies, monks were taught to meditate upon women as female corpses,a practice that mirrors the difficulty men had in pursuing the strict practice.

The fact is that Indian Buddhists believed that women were by nature more

deeply involved with worldly existence than men because of female fertility.

Motherhood was generally considered a wise and compassionate form of

femininity, but mothers with their unconditional love for their children, involv-

ing strong karmic bonds, were regarded as the least capable of attaining

salvation. Sexuality, too, was closely associated with women. As the most

dangerous samsaric force, strong bodily desire evokes the greed for another

becoming, for another unredeemed rebirth. The mysterious and destructive formof femininity had to be controlled by the male-dominated Buddhist institution

and this is expressed in the Eight Chief Rules and the 311 monastic rules for

nuns.

Despite all social and institutional restrictions, the aim for both men and

women within this early form of Buddhism was to become an Arhat, an


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enlightened human being that has already escaped the cycle of death and

rebirth. Lists in the old Pali canon show that quite a number of nuns became

Arhats, and the Thergata speaks of awakened women, too.

Since the formation of Mahayana Buddhism in the first centuries CE, thesituation changed. The aim was no longer to become an Arhat, but to become

a Buddha, imagined as a male being, the aforementioned second view. The 32

characteristics of a Buddha (P. lakkhana, Skt. laksana) include the hidden, male

sexual organ. This shift made, in fact, the situation for women worse, because

a doctrinal foundation was laid for the necessity of changing the sex before

being able to become enlightened. Nancy Schuster Barnes suggests that imagin-

ing a Buddha to be male was due to Hindu influences from the important

literary works of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana that were written at the

same time (Schuster Barnes 1987, 121). Within the Mahayana Prajnaparamitaliterature, the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, a (minor) philosophical discussion

started on whether or not a sexual transformation for women was necessary in

order to become a Buddha (i.e. to become awakened). Within this text corpus

it is asserted that all apparent characteristics of beings are illusionary, for

everything is in and of itself empty of characteristics. It is only on the level of

unenlightened beings that these distinctions exist. And [] if all phenomena

are impermanent and insubstantial, then there are no self-existent entities with

inalienable and unchanging characteristics such as maleness or femaleness

(Paul 1985, 217). This represents the third stance. But due to different conceptsof femininity prevalent within Mahayana Buddhist literature, we find examples

of women who reach enlightenment with and without sexual transformation.

A well-known example of a female being that changes into a male being first

and then into a Bodhisattva4 is related in the legend of the Daughter of the

Dragon King in the twelfth chapter of the Lotus Sutra (Skt. Saddharma-

pundarka-sutra). It dramatically illustrates that changing the female body into

a male one, a preconception resulting from the view that women cannot attain

enlightenment in their female bodies, is in itself illusionary (Paul 1985, 185ff).

The legend in the Lotus Sutra relates that the Bodhisattva Manjusr, known forhis great wisdom, praises the spiritual achievements of the eight-year-old

daughter of the Dragon King. When she appears in front of the Buddha

Sakyamuni to profess her faith, the haughty Sariputra reminds her that women

cannot realize Buddhahood because they cannot become Bodhisattvas in the

first place. Through her great mental abilities she then transforms herself into

a male being, becoming a Bodhisattva immediately (Kato et al. 1975, 21114).

Since all phenomena, including bodily appearance, are void of innate character-

istics, transformation is possible and supports the doctrine of Emptiness (Skt.

sunyata).An example of a female being becoming a Bodhisattva without sexual

transformation is found in the Vimalakrti-nirdesa-sutra, admired by the Chi-

nese since the fifth century and in Japan since the sixth century CE. The basic

teaching expounded in the text is the doctrine of Emptiness, stressing that all

phenomena are neither arising nor ceasing, and are without distinct and


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innate characteristics, inconceivable, equal and non-dual (Paul 1985, 222).

Vimalakrti, the main character of the Sutra, is a householder, who reaches

Buddhahood even earlier than most of the monks in the text. A goddess resides

in his house and engages in discussions with the eminent monk S

ariputra aboutthe Buddha Dharma. She argues that it is absurd to hold the position of innate

distinctions among phenomena. Finally, she can prove that sexual transform-

ation, as a form of discrimination, is counterproductive to understanding the

nature of Emptiness.

Both Mahayana views of a Bodhisattva with or without sexual transformation

stress the fact that enlightenment is not attained on the basis of gender.

Although these stories show that a difference between male and female was still

maintained, they stress the fact that the outward appearance (i.e. gender) is not

a constitutive part for the capability to reach enlightenment and supreme

Buddhahood. From the very moment of attainment one no longer speaks of a

being with a certain gender, but of a Bodhisattva who has transcended the

worldly, be it sex or the like. Strictly speaking, a Bodhisattva could, philosoph-

ically, be considered genderless. However, believers did not obviously share

this view and the conflict has never been resolved.5

Later developments of Mahayana Buddhism as Chan or Zen Buddhism in

China and Japan emphasize that sexual appearance is irrelevant to enlighten-

ment. The difference between enlightenment and delusion is one single instant

of impeccable thought and, since enlightenment has no visible characteristics,

the sex of one who realizes enlightenment is of no importance. In Zen Buddhistliterature, one often finds stories about fully enlightened nuns who make fun of

monks who cling to sexual distinctions by pointing them to the concept of

Emptiness, and thereby indirectly making them aware of their discriminative

attitude towards women.6 In other Zen anecdotes, lay women and ordained nuns

alike help men to realize enlightenment by using, like Socrates in Greek

philosophy, a maieutic method.7 In other cases, Bodhisattvas on the verge of

enlightenment are compared with mothers about to give birthan interesting

comparison considering the Theravada view that mothers are the least capable

of reaching salvation (Macy 1977, 31920).In thirteenth-century Japan, Dogen Zenji (12001253), the founder of the

Soto Zen sect of Japanese Buddhism, explains in the chapter entitled Raihai

tokuzui (Prostration to Attain the Marrow) of his major work Shobogenzo

(Storage of the Eye of the Right Dharma)8 that, on the level of enlightenment,

men and women are completely equal. He writes that one should not discuss

man or woman when dealing with a person who has attained the Dharma. Men

who do not want to recognize the female capability of attaining supreme

Buddhahood are stupid people who insult the Dharma (Nishijima and Cross

1994, I, 77). He even admits that all prejudices concerning the inferiority ofwomen are the results of false association of women with sexual greed:

Furthermore, nowadays extremely stupid people look at women without having

corrected the prejudice that women are objects of sexual greed. Disciples of the

Buddha must not be like this. If whatever may become the object of sexual

greed is to be hated, do not all men deserve to be hated too? [] if we hate


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whatever might become the object of sexual greed, all men and women will

hate each other, and we will never have any chance to attain salvation (ibid.,

78).

This seems to be the most modern and liberal view on the relation betweenthe sexes that I found in Buddhist texts. By recognizing hatred resulting from

fear or greed as the main reason for discrimination against women, a first step

toward the elimination of that mental action is made. Only respect for life and

compassion for all living beings that suffer can remove hate. Dogens statement

can also be applied to life in secular society, where this respect for and

compassionate helping of others is regarded the basis for a good life as a lay

follower. This leads us to the third question about the possible relevance of

ideal or idealized Buddhist teachings in society.

The social relevance of Buddhist teaching

It is commonly known that philosophical definitions of a particular religion are

not always identical with its actual societal appearance. Since there is no

religion apart from the secular world, Buddhism also took shapes that did and

still do not necessarily follow its basic teachings. Buddhist institutions in history

have failed to put certain basic Buddhist teachings into practice. Moreover, in

most of the Asian Buddhist countries the merging with indigenous thoughts or

the dominant patriarchal structure of society and religious institutions lead to

unfavorable situations for women. To give some examples, the karma theorywas used in Japan even by Buddhist institutions to strictly maintain the social

status quo of the oppressed outcasts (J. burakumin). Under the influence of

patriarchal Confucianism in East Asia, women leaving the house and entering

the sangha were regarded as failing in their duty to sustain the family and bear

children. In Thai society, women acquire maturity through marriage and

childbirth, while men attain maturity through renouncing the world and becom-

ing novice monks for a certain period of time.

Since the transmission of the Buddha Dharma to the West (late nineteenth

century), a new period of Buddhist culture has started. The striving for a

so-called political correctness, for a non-discriminatory society, for the equal-

ity of all human beings, for the actual execution of human rights, gave rise to

a new assessment of Buddhist doctrines. This modern form of Buddhism,

commonly called Engaged Buddhism, tries to reconcile religious conceptions

with social ethics and human rights. Buddhist communities in the West try to

adapt traditional Buddhism to modern Western societies.9 In Asia, reasons for

reform movements result from the contexts of colonialism, westernization,

poverty, foreign invasion, and so on.10 Engaged Buddhism is, in a certain sense,

a result of the great tension modern Buddhists felt between theoretical and

idealized concepts, and the way these concepts have been used.As I said, I am not seeking solutions for existing, concrete problems of

discrimination, but when thinking about possible answers to these problems on

a theoretical level, the structure could be as follows. First, Mahayana Buddhist

sources show that sexual difference is of importance only on a secular level.

Philosophically speaking it is irrelevant because everything is in and of itself


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empty of characteristics. There is nothing that can be called a distinct self. Yet,

this doctrine of no-self (Skt. anatman), together with the doctrine of dependent

origination, does not provide a foundation for notions of autonomous, individual

human personalities as a basis for modern human rights and justice.11

This isone of the reasons for the frequently criticized weakness of Buddhism in terms

of ethical concern.12 Still, the fact that Buddhism denies the existence of an

autonomous, individual self does not necessarily mean that the human person is

not important. Anatman means that a self is constructed of non-self parts, built

by past dispositions and memories, together with present social and other

conditions. Similarly, society itself is empty: In Mahayana thought it is clear

that society is empty of selfhood and is constructed of non-society parts, i.e.

human persons. Thus society and person are interactive; they are mutually

constructive. From a Buddhist perspective, since society and the human person

are interactive, it is fundamentally wrong to conceive them as adversarial []

the value of the one cannot be finally separated from the value of the other []

Thus, in the end, in Buddhism neither the human person nor society may

rightfully dominate, or negate in its behavior, the other. Consequently, it is best

to see final importance resting on the values that Buddhism embraces: an end

to suffering and the nurturing of awakening in all. Both society and the

individual are equally answerable to, should serve and contribute to, these

values (King 2000, 2978).

Second, the cessation of the suffering of all living beings is the foremost aim,

formulated in the Bodhisattva vow not to enter nirvana until all living beingsare released from pain and evil. Suffering is regarded as an absolute evil. There

are two conceptions of the good within Buddhism: first, the elimination of all

suffering (as formulated in the Four Noble Truths); and second, the realization

of enlightenment. All forms of Buddhism consider human birth as rare and

precious because of the inherent possibility it provides to reach Buddhahood. As

Mahayana Buddhism asserts that all beings (not necessarily human) carry the

seed of Buddhahood within, a concept known as Buddha-nature,13 then no

distinction can be made concerning the carrier of this seed, be it a man or a

woman.Third, from these basic statements several imperatives for social behavior can

be concluded. First, to respect human life as the only possibility to attain

enlightenment and overcome suffering. Second, not to harm others and not to

make them suffer even more through inappropriate, disrespectful or discrimina-

tory behavior. Third, to help other people, in accordance with the Bodhisattva

vow in a compassionate way, by all means possible. Traditionally, a sort of

social ethics comparable with the Biblical Ten Commandments is articulated in

the five precepts for lay followers of Buddhism: (1) To abstain from killing, (2)

Not to take what is not given, (3) To abstain from misconduct in sensualactions, (4) Not to engage in false speech, and (5) Not to use any intoxicating

drugs. Regarding the aforedescribed mutual constructiveness of society and the

individual, these rules, again, are not only good for the individual, but for

society as well. All these rules support the striving of the individual for the

perfection of his/her Buddhahood within, and help to overcome social injus-


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tices. All Buddhist social activism is an expression of the compassion for

suffering beings that develops more and more as one engages in the process of

making real ones embryonic Buddhahood. Suffering beings are suffering

beings; Buddhism makes no distinction in that regard between human beings,animals and, for many modern Buddhists, the planet (King 2000, 307).

With an explicitly feminist Buddhist approach toward enlightenment, sexual

difference is categorically emphasized. But this, we have learned from the

scriptures, frustrates and is counterproductive to true religious insight, and thus

would be a regression. Therefore, a reconsideration of the Buddhist doctrine

that we all are human beings with the innate possibility to reach enlightenment

is of utmost importance. In this sense it would probably be better to speak of

a teaching of equivalence of the sexes because equality implies a sense of

sameness, whereas equivalence allows for physiological and psychological

differences without implying any hierarchy of difference.14 The foremost

aim of Engaged Buddhism is to put this equivalence into practice. Reforms

are likely to succeed in this sense as long as they come from within the tradi-

tion aiming to realize particular Buddhist ideas not only on the level of

the individual believer, but on the institutional level alike. From the institu-

tional level, the next step toward reforming secular society can and will be

made.

Notes

This paper was delivered at the conference Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation hostedby the Free University, Amsterdam in March 2001, and is published here by kindpermission of the publishers (Gort, Jerald D., Jensen, Henry and Vroom, Hendrik, M.(eds). 2002. Religion, Conflict and Reconciliation: Multifaith Ideals and Realities,Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi).

1 There are, of course, other forms of Buddhism that teach the power of the other.For example, Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia teaches the reliance of the believeron the grace of Buddha Amitabha.

2 See Pitzer-Reyl (1984, 45) and Horner (1930, 167). I was not able to find anyexplanation why such an examination was necessary.

3 Please note that neither tradition exists as a homogenous whole, but comprisesvarious, sometimes even contradictory, philosophical developments. However, forthe sake of convenience, I shall use these terms in order to refer to the earlier (i.e.Theravada) and the later (i.e. Mahayana) forms of Buddhism with their differentgoals of salvation.

4 The term Bodhisattva indicates one who practices the teaching of Buddhism in bothother-worldly and secular ways. Instead of becoming a Buddha immediately, thisperson vows to save all beings and works with compassion for suffering beings.

5 Because of an ongoing discussion on the position or function of women within

Vajrayana Buddhism, I will not go further into this matter. For a general, but recentlycriticized description of women in Tantric Buddhism, see Shaw (1994).

6 See, for example, the story of the nun Myoshin, Chief of the Business Office, whowas not taken seriously by seventeen visiting monks. After having heard theirdiscussion of the parable of the flag moving in the wind, she explains to them thedeeper meaning of the flag, the wind and the mind in terms of the concept ofEmptiness (Nishijima and Cross 1994, I, 734).


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7 See the examples of the Mo-shan Liao-ran and her disciple Zhi-xian, or the oldwoman selling rice cakes and Tokuzan, Master of the Diamond Sutra.

8 Nishijima and Cross 1994, I, 6983. This chapter was probably written around theyear 1240. However, Dogen seems to have changed his attitude later in life when,

in his late writings, he states that a nun who has served the sangha all her life hasto bow before a newly ordained monk. This represents the Theravada view. It is notclear whether Dogen actually changed his mind or whether these later texts areapocryphal writings, added during the establishment of a male-dominated ZenBuddhist institution. On the authenticity of Dogens writing see Heine (1997).

9 Since the 1980s one can observe several reformatory movements from within the ZenBuddhist sects in Japan as well, led especially by the Buddhologists HakamayaNoriaki and Matsumoto Shiro, who call themselves Critical Buddhists. However,no activist approach has yet been formulated by them. I also count the engagedmovement of the Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh as a Western Movement,because he teaches in and operates primarily from France.

10 For example, liberation movements in Asia are TBMSG (Trailokya BauddhaMahasangha Sahayaka Gana), initiated in the early 1980s by disciples of Sangharak-shita who were working among B.R. Ambedkars followers in India or the SarvodayaShramanera Movement led by A.T. Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka. See Queen and King(1996).

11 Skt. prattya-samutpada; dependent origination implies arisal from conditional cau-sation; since everything, all phenomena arise from causation they lack an essentialself-nature (S atman) and are thus impermanent, void.

12 Ichikawa Hakugen (19021986), for example, states that the ethical pitfall latent inthe Zen approach to society directly derives from misinterpretations and falseapplications of key Buddhist ideas (Ichikawa 1967, 1970).

13 For a detailed discussion of the concept of Buddha nature, see King (1991).14 Formulated in Alan Sponbergs (1992) outstanding article Attitudes toward Womenand the Feminine in Early Buddhism, on page 12 he refers to Brresons (1981)book Subordination and Equivalence: The Nature and Role of Women in Augustineand Thomas Aquinas (originally published in French 1968). Sponberg prefers todistinguish further between equivalence and inclusiveness, because the latter assertsneither sameness nor a lack of hierarchical differentiation.

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Question of Change in His Later Works, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies,24(12), 3985.

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Ichikawa, Hakugen. 1967. Zen to gendai shiso, Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten.Ichikawa, Hakugen. 1970. Bukkyosha no senso sekinin, Tokyo: Shunjusha.

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Schuster Barnes, Nancy. 1987. Buddhism, in Sharma, Arvind (ed), Women in WorldReligions, Albany State University of New York Press, pp. 10533.

Shaw, Miranda. 1994. Passionate Enlightenment. Women in Tantric Buddhism, Prince-ton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Sponberg, Alan. 1992. Attitudes toward Women and the Feminine in Early Buddhism,in Cabezon, Jose Ignacio (ed), Buddhism, Sexuality and Gender, Albany: StateUniversity of New York Press, pp. 336.

Correspondence address: Claudia Romberg, Oskar-Haffmann Str. 44, 44789 Bochum,Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

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