Man and Woman in the Teachings of the Buddha
by Dr. Hellmuth Hecker
Presented by: BHIKSHUNI NANDABALA, ZenNun
A full-length article by this title appeared in German in the bi-monthly Buddhist magazine Wissen und Wandel (Knowledge and Conduct) in 1989. Sakyadhita requested the author, Dr. Hellmuth Hecker of Hamburg, to send a summary of it for the benefit of English-speaking readers. The article is based exclusively on the Suttas of the Pali Canon.
We must differentiate between what the Buddha observed concerning the position of women in Indian society during his time and how he himself commented upon it. First, we must check what he said about the equality of the sexes and then what he noted concerning the differences between the sexes.
Equality
We can speak about equality in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end:1) Origins
While in Christianity women appear to be discriminated against from the beginning (for example, being created from the rib of man, seducing man, and so on), there is no such idea to be found in Buddhism. The Buddha's understanding of the origin of humankind and the evolution of this world system was that human beings were not sexually differentiated at first. Only later on, a division of labor developed at the time of the rice harvest. In connection with this, a differentiation between the sexes arose. From this time onwards only did sexual reproduction exist; in the beginning, beings incarnated by spiritual means. (Digha-NikayaNo. 27)
2) Aims
In Buddhism, the highest and real aim of humankind - the ideal of life - consists in the attainment of absolute freedom, that is, reaching a state where one is no longer controlled and conditioned by the urges of nature. Sovereignty and independence from all transient things is only to be found in nirvana, which can be reached during one's own lifetime. That is the nature of bodhi (enlightenment or perfection). This salvation can be gained in the same manner by men and by women. There are not even slight differences in this connection, neither in the method nor in the quality of attainment. The Buddha discovered that gender is of no importance for the aim of freedom. A female saint, Arahat, or a female being striving after sainthood is in no way subordinate to a male saint or male follower of the Buddha. It is not possible to declare a higher or more important equality of the sexes.
3) On the Way
According to the teachings of the Buddha, there exists no practical difference between the sexes. Man and woman are equal in their dependence upon each other and in their clinging which must be overcome (Angutara-Nikaya I,1). Man and woman are equal in the rights and duties of their partnership, as the Buddha described it for lay followers in the famous sermon to Singalako (Digha-nikayaNo.31). In particular, adultery is as unwholesome for men as it is for women. The third precept (sila) is the same whether one is a man or a women.
For those people who are striving after the highest aim of the spiritual life in this very lifetime, the Buddha founded the Order (Sangha) - an order for monks and an order for nuns. The founding of an order of nuns was a revolutionary act in ancient India, since there previously existed no such communities for women. In establishing an order of nuns the Buddha had to consider the social situation of women in Brahmanism. In the Indian society of the sixth century B.C.E., women were in no way prepared or educated to establish a religious institution such as an ascetic community. The Buddha, therefore, set forth for nuns eight special rules, binding them to the order of monks. These rules are to be regarded as a shelter and help for the nuns, not as evidence of discrimination (Anguttara-Nikaya VIII, 51).
In the Pali rendition of monastic law (Vinaya) there exist 227 numbered rules for monks and 311 for nuns. The additional rules are not an added burden, but only elucidate other rules. As for the unnumbered rules, there are many more for monks than for nuns.
On his last day, the Buddha delegated to the Order the possibility of altering the lesser, minor rules after his death. It would still be possible today, therefore, to cancel those eight special rules in Theravada Buddhism, provided that there existed an order of nuns in that tradition.
But the Bhikkhuni Sangha has been extinct for many centuries in South and Southeast Asia. To revive it seems impossible since there must be at least ten Bhikkhunis to ordain a new one. This rule could be regarded as one of the minor ones which could be reformed by the Bhikkhu Sangha - if they wanted to do so.
Non-Equality
The Buddha found that in India there were differences and discrimination between women and men on the biological, existential, and social level. What was his position in this regard?1) Biological differences
In Samyutta-Nikaya (37,3), the Buddha enumerated five special sufferings of womanhood. Numbers 1 to 3 are concerned with the female body: menstruation, pregnancy, and giving birth. These sufferings exist only for some animals and humans; already female deities of the lower stages are free from them.
Numbers 4 and 5 are of a social nature, connected with Indian society of that day. The Indian wife had to leave her parental home and had to attend to her husband. These difficulties are not, however, necessarily connected with womanhood. In our modern society there could be enumerated completely different sufferings of women: violence in marriage, increasing rape, and the double burden of occupation and family.
The Buddha did not call these woes necessary or divine, but he referred to them as realities of womanhood (Numbers 1 to 3) or of Indian society (Numbers 4 to 5). He did not find it necessary to speak of the lesser physical strength of the average woman as a "special suffering of womankind". Only where women intend to compete with men in sport or business would this be of consequence. Indian women were more interested in spiritual aims than in sport.
2) Terminological differences
In the language of Middle India of his time, the Buddha found two expressions for the female: first, the neutral term itthi (woman) and second, the discriminating term matugama. Literally, matugama means "mother (matar) in the village (gama)" and describes a woman who does not think further than her village horizon, a woman who has no higher ideal than motherhood. Every matugama is an itthi, but not every itthi is a matugama. When the suttas are speaking of primitive women and of female vicissitudes, then women are called matugama and not itthi. Only in post-canonical literature do the contours become indistinct; there can be observed a tendency to generalize all women as matugama and as dangerous for the ascetic life of the monks, especially in the rebirth tales (Jataka).
The question may arise: why did the Buddha not use an equivalent term for primitive men without spiritual aspirations. Why did he not call them pitugama? The answer is simply that there did not exist such a term in Pali and the Buddha did not invent unusual terms.
3) Existential differences
The Buddha's saying that women are incapable of five leading positions may be most difficult to understand. He says, namely, that woman cannot gain dominion over hell, heaven, the Brahmas, that she cannot rule over the world of humans, and that she cannot become a Fully Enlightened One (Samma-Sambuddha). But Sakyamuni neither invented these impossibilities nor defended them; he only reports that by his universal clairvoyance he never saw a woman in these five positions in any of the innumerable aeons into which he looked. He adds that this would also be an impossibility. We can only try to understand why the wisdom of the Awakened One came to this conclusion.
That a woman cannot rule over hell and devils is by no means a drawback, but an advantage. Ruling over the sensual gods, the brahmas, and the world of humans is also something transient and of no importance for spiritual aspirants. A woman who is a streamwinner with the four kinds of trust, who has the guarantee of attaining nirvana after at least seven lives, has sixteen times more to gain than a ruler of the world with the four continents (Samytta-Nikaya 55,1). Besides, the Buddha only says that a woman cannot gain "Sakkatta," that is, the position of Sakka, the ruler over the 33 gods in the sensual heaven. He does not say that a woman cannot rule over other, higher sensual heavens. And every woman can become a Brahma, an inhabitant of the world beyond sensuality, as can a man. Brahmas are neither male nor female, but beyond those distinctions.
A woman can become an Arahat (saint) and a Pecceka-Buddha (Pratyekabuddha: silent Buddha), but not a
Samma-Sambuddha. Why? The Buddha says there are only four things which cannot be understood by
speculation, and one of them is the sphere of faculties of a Fully Enlightened One (Anguttara-Nikaya
IV,77).
WHAT THE BUDDHA SAID
See also: CHINESE BHIKSUNIS IN THE CH'AN TRADITION
As well as: AVYAAKATA: The Buddha's Ten Indeterminate Questions
ZEN, WOMEN, AND BUDDHISM
