Gender and Buddhism, Essay Example

Buddhism, Gender Roles and Modern Spirituality

Introduction

Buddhism is often described as a religion, while it is also a lifestyle that can help people of modern times understand the world better. Buddhism, indeed, is practiced by several celebrities and the meditation practices, philosophy associated with the religion is becoming extremely popular in the eye of a 21^st Century person.

Wallace (35) points out the trend of “a high degree of eclecticism in Western Buddhist ideas and practices with those who combine Buddhist ideas with their personal beliefs and preferences”. This indeed indicates that Buddhism might be a religion, but it is also a way of thinking, knowing the world, and therefore, it is a system that is open for everybody. The restrictions of the religion are much weaker than other Western value systems’, therefore, it is a universal method to experience spirituality, as well as a belief system. This brings us to the proposed thesis statement of the current research:

Thesis statement: In original, Asian Buddhism the role of women is less important than Men’s. However, through the westernization of Buddhist thoughts that the religion has gone through, today women have the equal level of importance, and there are no differences in genders in their journeys towards Nirvana.

It needs to be noted that women were not fully excluded from religion: indeed, Buddha was approached his stepmother to establish an order of nuns (Lopez 85). The authors would like to review the role of Buddhism’s westernization, the creation of modern Zen Buddhist centers, the role of traditional values and principles in the light of gender roles, perceptions in modern Buddhism (Belak 34). The dramatic shift towards the liberalization of the religion did not only impact the philosophy of the religion, but also its views on the equality of genders. (Gross) As Ikeda (online)  puts it: “the images of “masculinity” and “femininity” we have in our consciousness are deeply influenced by cultural traditions that have developed over long periods of time”. The investigation of the background, motivations and features of this shift will form the main topic of the essay.

Historical Background

According to Gross (29), the roles and images of women in the first few hundred years of  Indian Buddhism, the texts about Buddhist nuns creates a controversy in the position of the religion towards genders. The question is why did Buddha – according to the legend – hesitate to support the request of Prajapati to encourage women to take part in the practice of the religion. When he finally agreed to establish the nun’s order, eight special rules were made and nuns were made to honor monks as superiors. Further, the hierarchy was established to allow monks to officially admonish nuns but did not allow nuns to do the same with monks. This indicates that inequality of women did indeed exist in the early history of Buddhism.

Discriminatory rules are still present in Buddhism, and Goodwin (200) confirms the situation as follows: “Buddha repeatedly makes clear that his teachings are often misremembered, misrepresented, or misunderstood”. Therefore, it is indeed possible that the discrimination of women in the religion of Buddhism does not originate in the spiritual texts. However, in order to confirm the above statement, it is imperative that some of the original teachings of Buddhism will be examined and reviewed. One of the most significant teachings related to women in Buddhism is that “women have more negative karma, and are inferior to men” (Goodwin 201), therefore, they should have a lower importance in the religion. This idea is still widely accepted and taught in the Asian Buddhist centers, and stereotypes exist in Taiwan and China alike. However, originating from the Dalai Lama himself, several reformation initiatives have been started in the past few decades. In 1995, the Dalai Lama stated that women’s discrimination was causing harm and should be abolished (Goodwin 206). Indeed, the reforms must have been triggered by the westernization of the religion. Today, – according to Goodwin (207), around half of the spiritual leaders and teachers of Buddhism in Western groups are women. There is currently a debate on the spiritual role of women and the interpretation of scriptural attitudes. The interpretation of the Eight Garudhammas can be translated to direct sex-based discrimination, however, some authors state that some of the passages are present to protect women from men and promote their equality (Goodwin 221).

The Journey towards Nirvana

According to Dhammananda (2), the Vedic literature, created before Buddhist times was calling for respect and honor for women. In the religious field, they had the same access as men to knowledge and revelations. The author says that in Buddha’s time, “a woman was believed to be unable to go to heaven through her own merits” (2). The author suggests that Buddha, instead of restricting women, indeed empowered them to “lead their own life” because the religion teaches that every person is responsible for their own enlightenment. Dhammananda (3) argues that the rules specifically created for women in the religion by Buddha were the result of the social and physical differences of sexes, not a form of discrimination or restriction. Women were – according to Samuyutta Nikaya – were able to achieve perfection through the “Noble Eightfold Path”. This study of original texts indicates that indeed, the foundation of Buddhism is not discriminative against women, however, the religious verses can be interpreted in different ways, hence, the characteristics of the religion are determined by the preferred interpretation.

Impact of Westernization

Wallace (34) describes the westernization of Buddhism as a result of the spread of religion through the migration of Asian people who practice the religion, and the increasing number of western “converts”. The author implies that Buddhist practice in the West is based on a new context, mainly built upon the teachings of vipassana, related to spiritual healing and awakening through meditation. However, Tibetian and Zen Buddhism have also changed in the West to accommodate the requirements of modern lifestyle. Both having a non-monastic approach, their rules are less defined and their teachings are more universal, less dependent on traditional gender roles. One of the arguments against women’s equality made by traditional Buddhism was their sensuality. In these types of western Buddhist approaches, the goal is not to eliminate sensual desires, but to sublimate them (Wallace 35). Western Buddhism, on the other hand, is selective in accepting traditional teachings: some aspects of rebirth and rules are simply omitted from the teachings of western centers. The author concludes that the reformation of the Buddhist religion resembles the Christian Church’s reformation, when the role of institutions, rules, monks and nuns was becoming less significant.

Equality

Belak (34) states that gender inequality is mostly based on culture, not the religion. Indeed, when we consider that the religion of Buddhism is originated from the global East, it is evident that the democratic features of the society, nurtured by the values of the West are not prominent in Asia yet. Looking at the gender roles and stereotypes in Burma related to religious life, the author confirms that while there are certainly Buddhist religion-based restrictions applied for women in Burma and  “facets of Buddhist teaching restrict women’s participation not only in their religious practice, but also in many aspects of their daily lives”. (Belak 35) Therefore, discrimination of women, inequality of genders cannot be looked at from a simply religious aspect; more importantly cultural differences have to be considered. This is why western forms of Buddhism are more liberal regarding women’s roles in religion.

Another important information can be retrieved from the analysis of Ikeda published by SGI. The author states that the Lotus Sutra is indeed far from discriminating women; indeed it promotes equality of genders. He states that “to discriminate against others – in any way -is to discriminate against your own life”, therefore, discrimination is a constraint of Buddhahood. In the western form of Buddhism, the teachings of Lotus Sutra are prominent because they match the cultural and social values of the global West. Ikeda also states that the teaching of the Lotus Sutra is the very own foundation of the modern civilization: based on not restrictions but compassion and cooperation. As all human beings have the right to be happy and the potential to achieve the status of ultimate happiness, women are not inferior to men when it comes to achieving Nirvana.

Dhammananda (1), however, confirms that equality in the religion of Buddhism is provided by the Bhikkuni Sangha, which created the order of nuns, opening new opportunities for women not only in society, but service and religion as well.

Conclusion

From the above study, it is evident that the complicated nature of Buddhist religious texts, Sutras and later literature makes it hard to interpret the original attitude of Buddhism towards women. However, as the Western civilization has started to discover Buddhism, not only as a religion but also as a spiritual practice, traditions created centuries after the death of Buddha were neglected, rules were ignored and the philosophy of Buddhism started to become the foundation of the religion. Indeed, it is important to note that every culture would teach the aspects of the religion most relevant to their customs, values and beliefs. That is why in the East, women can be oppressed and denied basic rights not only in the religious field of life, but also in the society. And that is why the teachings of Lotus Sutra are dominating the Western centers of Buddhism, where around 50 percent of the spiritual leaders and teachers are female. Religions do not exist in an empty space: the practices, teachings and rules are dependent on the society that receives the spiritual doctrine. Explaining ancient texts and the intentions of Buddha is a task that is based on the mental attitude of the teacher. As Dhammananda and Ikeda read the texts: there is no discrimination present in the original texts of Buddhism. 16^Th and 18^th Century leaders in the East, however, found a reason to believe that indeed, women were less potent and cannot achieve Nirvana on their own. Today, the westernization of the religion has created a religious trend that promotes gender equality not only in the global West but around the world. Accepting women as equal is a part of the religion’s reformation process that started in the 21^st Century.

Works Cited

Belak, B.  Gathering Strength. Women From Burma on Their Rights. Chapter 3. Social Roles & Gender Stereotypes. 2002. Print.

Dhammananda, V. Status Of Women In Buddhism. 2003. Web.

Gross, R.  Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis, And Reconstruction Of  Buddhism. 1992. Print.

Goodwin, A. “Right View, Red Rust, and White Bones: A Reexamination of Buddhist Teachings on Female Inferiority” Journal of Buddhist Ethics. 2012. Print.

Ikeda, D. Gender Equality in Buddhism. SGI. N.D. Web. Accessed: 27 Jan. 2014.

Lopez, D.  Buddhism in Practice. Princeton University Press, 1995. Print.

Wallace, A.  A spectrum of Buddhist practice in the West. In: Prebish, C., Baumann, M. (eds.)   Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia. pp. 51-65 2002. Print.