Exploring Buddhism at a Traditional Mon Buddhist Dharma Session

Introduction

Sunday, February 16th at two-thirty, I visited the Mon Buddhist Monastery Community in Akron Ohio. This was a traditional Mon Buddhist Dharma session. I was very pleased by the turnout of the session and was able to grasp a better understanding of the Buddhism religion by the end of the session. I was able to meet a monk, listen to his many life experiences, and hear about his daily practices. He answered many of our questions and gave us even more knowledge than we learned in class. He was very interesting to listen to and, overall, the experience was not as I expected.

When we first walked in, we took our shoes off and sat on the carpets. The place was full of writings, flowers, and colors. Sitting on the floor for this period of time was semi-uncomfortable and very different than sitting in a pew during a church service as I am normally used to. I can’t complain because this was the only con I can think of. As I said earlier, our shoes came off when we first entered and this felt little strange even though I was prepared to do so beforehand. We learned in class that you take your shoes off before the session takes place but I didn’t come to terms with this until it actually happened. I was also a little surprised the monk was a very down-to-earth person. I thought he would be about religion and religion only but religion is only a part of him, he is just as normal as any of us.

As a whole, this was a very diverse experience and I am very glad to be a part of it. I learned and explored many new things and was willing to open up my religious views. In some ways the session was as expected, but other ways it was not. For example, the monk’s upbringing was very interesting to me. From my understanding, I generally thought the religion was chosen rather than brought up in during childhood but I was wrong. I’m very glad I was able to explore and open up to new and interesting things about such a beautiful religion!

Many questions were emerging in my mind as I was experiencing the Buddhist religion first-hand. Two questions that were not fully answered and I would like to know more about are:

• What are the roles and attitudes towards women in the Buddhism Religion?
• How is homosexuality treated in Buddhism and is same-sex marriage allowed?

The Buddha, previously known as Siddhartha Gautama, was carried by his mother, Queen Maya for nine months after she had a dream in which a white elephant entered her side. Nine months later, in Lumbini, as Queen Maya traveled home, Siddhartha was born emerging from her side (Curran 64). This story is one of the most important stories in Buddhism, the birth of the Buddha. This story has a very important female role but is overlooked in a sense. Without Queen Maya, a woman, there would be no Buddha. She died a few days later after giving birth and this is the last mention of her life.

Feminism in Buddhism 

Another great wonder in Buddhism is feminism. Many scholars are divided about whether there is a case for feminism in Buddhism, especially in Theravāda or early Buddhism, seen largely as shaped by patriarchal attitudes as opposed to the later developments in the Mahayāna and Vajirayāna traditions more favorable towards women. While there is general agreement among Western scholars that there is no explicit feminist theory in Buddhism, material that points to less discriminatory gender attitudes and even a positive stance towards women have been explored (Sirimanne 274). Feminism has a great deal with women and women’s rights, and stating that many scholars there is no explicit feminist history shows that women do not have a very important role in the religion’s upbringing of Buddhism. In the Vajrayana branch of Buddhism, Dakini, or “sky dancers” are vultures thought to be symbols of feminine spiritual energy. These “sky dancers” are the vultures roaming above in the sky just after dismembering the corpse and placing it in a scheduled spot. This is known as a sky burial and is done because the landscape is harsh and not conducive to an actual burial. This seems to me as if women are being compared to vultures that pick at the remains of a dead corpse. This is not pleasing in any sense and for certain does not have a positive representation of women.

Early Buddhism had little to say about women’s issues and reproduction, but compared to the other major religions, from the outset, women have always played a significant role in Buddhism as lay disciples as well as monastics later on influencing the Order and societies where Buddhism took root (Sirimanne 275). The Buddha is celebrated greatly and is very well-known in this religion being a male. Although he was a male, he did bring women into contribution in certain ways. Although Buddha was not a social reformer, simply the fact that he admitted women into the monastic order was revolutionary and would have no doubt created a great deal of animosity in society and unease even within the male monastic communities (Sirimanne 275). Thus means, he took his power and let women (in some ways) be part of the religion.

The number of women and their roles in Buddhism has changed dramatically over the years as well. Buddhists, especially in the West, have challenged the issue of why there have been so few women teachers and leaders throughout Buddhist history, and have begun to change that situation dramatically (Sirimanne 275). This is saying that with time, women are being more and more appreciated as the world and standards of women are changing.

The view that early Buddhism displays a strongly patriarchal and even misogynistic attitude towards women is based mainly on the recount of the Buddha’s initial refusal to grant the request of his aunt and foster mother, Prajāpati Gautami, and her women to become monastics three times. The Pāli Canon reports that it was Venerable Ananda who finally convinced the Buddha through presenting a logical case on behalf of the women as the Buddha himself admitted that they were fully capable of attaining the highest goals on the Path to enlightenment (Sirimanne 277). Women are fully able to do most things men are capable of doing, religion or not. Buddhism does not have many female leaders and The Buddha admitting the women were fully capable of attaining the Path to enlightenment was only a small but wholesome victory within the female gender.

Another great factor in discriminating against women in Buddhism is that the birth of a girl is looked down upon. The ongoing belief in Theravāda countries is that a female birth is the result of inferior kamma, and women are urged to pray for male births in the future. This belief, however, can be justified to a limited extent as in general women’s lives were indeed filled with more suffering than men’s due to both societal and biological factors at the time of the Buddha. Even today as the high numbers of female embryos being terminated, girls denied education, forced marriages, violence and sexual exploitation of girls and women, barriers in the labor market, and lower wages demonstrate. However, the real societal issue is the way this idea of inferior kamma has been used in patriarchal societies (Sirrimanne 277). Kamma simply means the inheritance from a previous life. In conclusion, the discrimination of women in Buddhism has gradually in some ways gotten better but overall, the religion does not put women first in its practices and ways of life.

Another great wonder within the Buddhism religion is how homosexuality is treated and is same-sex marriage accepted? Same-sex marriage and homosexuality is widely known to be a very controversial topic among the world and not everyone has the same beliefs when talking about it. It is stated that for nearly forty years, Ministers in the Buddhist Churches of America have performed same-sex marriages. Buddhism has been for the most part neutral on the question of homosexuality. The principle question for Buddhism has not been one of heterosexuality vs. homosexuality but one of sexuality vs. celibacy (Wilson 32). Celibacy is the practice of abstaining from sexual relations before marriage. Although religion has been neutral among this topic, not all believe and act the same towards same-sex relationships. Some, at certain times, have been tolerant of same-sex relations; others have not. However, because of the essential neutrality of the Buddhist tradition in this regard, it has adapted to particular sociocultural norms, so that throughout its history we find a wide gamut of opinions concerning homosexual activity, ranging from condemnation (never to the point of active persecution) to praise (Wilson 32). Just like any religion, every person within believes a little differently than the next.

Within the teachings of the Buddha, nothing was ever mentioned about same-sex relationships. The third percept of his teachings is being responsible in sexual relations. Sexuality is said to be a gift and to not be abused or treated lightly (Curran 67). This precept is described as responsibility, respect, love, and trust in relationships with others. This is the only precept having anything to do with relationships, and nowhere does he mention homosexuality or even heterosexuality. He doesn’t mention anything about it not being okay to be with someone of the same gender, in fact, it is only said to treat that relationship with respect and nothing but kindness. This means that the right or wrongness of the relationship among two people is not determined by religion but by the human being itself.

When you think of a monk, what comes to mind? Generally, a male figure comes to mind, right? This is because the dominant media representation has falsified our minds. Not to say the least, female monks are defying the tradition. In Thailand, for example, female monk Nakhon Pathom states, 'I'm going to overcome this obstacle and become ordained like I've always wanted.' It is stated in this news article that “only men can become monks and novices in Thailand under a Buddhist order that since 1928 has forbidden the ordination of women. The country does not recognize female monks or novices.” With this being said, women have found a way around this. Women obtaining to be female monks will go as far as getting ordained overseas.

The article also states, “The government says this is not gender discrimination but a matter of long-held tradition, and women are free to travel abroad to be ordained, just not in their own country.” As they claim this is not gender discrimination, they don’t look into the fact that women have to travel across seas to be a monk where as men do not have to go through the same troubles. Nakhon Pathoms response to this was 'Women can't be ordained here, but no one stops them from doing that overseas. They just can't be ordained by Thai monks, that's all.' By saying this, she demonstrates female power. She says words like “no one stops them” meaning nobody can stop a woman from accomplishing the same things a man can do or be. Nakhon Pathoms demonstrates how to defy the odds while being female in a male-dominant religion. Her efforts have helped many younger and even older woman achieve their goals in this religion as well.

Works Cited

1. Curran, Stephanie. One World, Many Faiths: An Interactive Guide to World Religions. Kendall Hunt, 2018, pp.63-78.
2. Sirimanne, Chand R. “Buddhism and Women-The Dhamma Has No Gender.” Journal of International Women’s Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, Nov. 2016, pp. 273–292. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qth&AN=119760566&site=ehost-live.
3. “Thailand's Rebel Female Buddhist Monks Defy Tradition.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 4 Jan. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/women-defy-thailand-s-gendered-buddhist-tradition-becoming-monks-n954596.
4. Wilson, Jeff (Jeff Townsend). “‘All Beings Are Equally Embraced by Amida Buddha’: Jodo Shinshu Buddhism and Same-Sex Marriage in the United States.” Journal of Global Buddhism, vol. 13, 2012. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=reh&AN=ATLA0001908320&site=ehost-live.