![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Women in Buddhism By Diana Paul I was very pleased to discover is still in print, and fairly cheap to buy on both sides of the Atlantic. I checked it out from the library, and though even the second edition is now 20 years old, I think it's still one of the best books on women in Mahayana Buddhism that I've read. I would unhesitantly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about women in Buddhism. The lay out of the book is really great, she discusses Traditional views of women, Paths for women leading to salvation and images of women,. Each section is further divided down, and includes a discussion followed by Indian and Chinese sutras relating to the images being discussed as well as an introduction to the specific sutra, when it was written, which copies survive and where, etc. Paul tries to present a very balanced view of women in Buddhism, she includes both the highly misogynistic views and the more egalitarian ones, and gives reasons for the views. Interestingly she sees a progress in Buddhism towards a more egalitarian view of women, which is in contrast to the view I just read on Taoism which grows more restrictive over time.
In the traditional view of women the first chapter looks at women as the Daughter of Evil, the Temptress who is there solely to led men astray from the Dharma. She says these texts are the result of the monastic community which in rejecting family life also rejected women. The second chapter looks at the role of women as the mother, Paul notes some interesting ideas about motherhood in Buddhism, that it is a secular activity and one that hinders women in achieving enlightenment as it breeds attachment. The feminine sacred is separate from the role of motherhood, sacred women are nuns, laywomen without children and young unmarried women. Paul sees a link between the growth of roles available for women and the elevation of women's status in Buddhism. Motherhood represents pain, suffering, bondage, and dependency, a very different view from the "mother goddess" figure of other religions.
Paths for women to salvation begins with a chapter about nuns. It is interesting to note that paths for men and women aspire to an asexual ideal. According to this belief, women find it harder to follow this path due to their increased sexual nature. Due to cultural and societal beliefs about women's nature and social position the survival of nun's communities and their importance was strictly limited. Nuns communities are always subject to that of the monks. However a nun could still have formidable religious and political power.
Women who didn't become nuns were still able to participate in the teaching of the Dharma, they could be instructors as well as being instructed. As good friends they were able to become or remain a Bodhisattvas. One of the interesting arguments in Mahayana Buddhism was do women need to be reborn as men before they are able to awaken to enlightenment? Is it possible for a woman's body to do so? There were several different viewpoints on this issue, one had a woman able to achieve enlightenment but when she did her body would transform to that of a man's. Paul identifies three views on the role of women as Bodhisattvas, 1 denial of a women's entrance into Buddha land, 2 acceptance of women as lower-stage Bodhisattvas, 3 acceptance of women as advanced Bodhisattvas and imminent Buddhas.
This view of sexual transformation was able to work both ways, with powerful Bodhisattvas transforming monks into women to make points on the transcendence of gender. This was an idea that became much more popular later on as Bodhisattvas were seen as appearing both as male and female, and transcending gender. However women as advanced Bodhisattvas were found in only a small percentage of sutras. Paul spends a chapter looking at the transformation of Guan Yin from a male Bodhisattvas to a female one.
The question of whether or not a woman was capable of having a Buddha nature was important as if women were they could not be viewed as biologically determined to be religiously, physchologicaly and physically inferior to men. Views on this were conflicted, however followers of the idea of universal Buddhahood who believed that all men and women equally contained the nature of the Buddha.
All in all a very interesting and insightful book, very easy to read, well argued, with interesting translations.
In the traditional view of women the first chapter looks at women as the Daughter of Evil, the Temptress who is there solely to led men astray from the Dharma. She says these texts are the result of the monastic community which in rejecting family life also rejected women. The second chapter looks at the role of women as the mother, Paul notes some interesting ideas about motherhood in Buddhism, that it is a secular activity and one that hinders women in achieving enlightenment as it breeds attachment. The feminine sacred is separate from the role of motherhood, sacred women are nuns, laywomen without children and young unmarried women. Paul sees a link between the growth of roles available for women and the elevation of women's status in Buddhism. Motherhood represents pain, suffering, bondage, and dependency, a very different view from the "mother goddess" figure of other religions.
Paths for women to salvation begins with a chapter about nuns. It is interesting to note that paths for men and women aspire to an asexual ideal. According to this belief, women find it harder to follow this path due to their increased sexual nature. Due to cultural and societal beliefs about women's nature and social position the survival of nun's communities and their importance was strictly limited. Nuns communities are always subject to that of the monks. However a nun could still have formidable religious and political power.
Women who didn't become nuns were still able to participate in the teaching of the Dharma, they could be instructors as well as being instructed. As good friends they were able to become or remain a Bodhisattvas. One of the interesting arguments in Mahayana Buddhism was do women need to be reborn as men before they are able to awaken to enlightenment? Is it possible for a woman's body to do so? There were several different viewpoints on this issue, one had a woman able to achieve enlightenment but when she did her body would transform to that of a man's. Paul identifies three views on the role of women as Bodhisattvas, 1 denial of a women's entrance into Buddha land, 2 acceptance of women as lower-stage Bodhisattvas, 3 acceptance of women as advanced Bodhisattvas and imminent Buddhas.
This view of sexual transformation was able to work both ways, with powerful Bodhisattvas transforming monks into women to make points on the transcendence of gender. This was an idea that became much more popular later on as Bodhisattvas were seen as appearing both as male and female, and transcending gender. However women as advanced Bodhisattvas were found in only a small percentage of sutras. Paul spends a chapter looking at the transformation of Guan Yin from a male Bodhisattvas to a female one.
The question of whether or not a woman was capable of having a Buddha nature was important as if women were they could not be viewed as biologically determined to be religiously, physchologicaly and physically inferior to men. Views on this were conflicted, however followers of the idea of universal Buddhahood who believed that all men and women equally contained the nature of the Buddha.
All in all a very interesting and insightful book, very easy to read, well argued, with interesting translations.