Essay about Women in Buddhism

Most religions argue that there is equality between sexes within their religious groups but there is further evidence to question this. In religious organisations they are mainly male dominated. In Orthodox, Catholism and Judaism women are all forbidden to

In many cultures, the roles of women vary reluctantly. While researching the many aspects of Buddhism, the religion is sometimes practiced differently and the roles of women differs. According to Experiencing World Religions, (Molloy, 127) Buddhism is one of the world's oldest yet most significant religions thus far. It has influenced many cultures, originating from India and making its way to migrate throughout the country of Asia, and women have been involved since the very first day. In today’s society, although men are predominantly inferior over women, women are granted the same opportunities. Just like many other societies in other countries or many other religions there are discriminations and prejucial acts against women. Although, woman are offered the second class citizenship in many Buddhist traditions, a woman's role is very important when helping maintain the religion resulting in mass population of worshipers , fulfilling the duties as caregivers and also wives to their husbands, and also providing any assistance if needed in the community. (Molloy, 127)

The position of women in Buddhism appears to be contrasting to the position of animals – as if women as more inferior than animals are in the tradition. In “Rupyavati Gives Away Her Breasts,” after Rupyavati’s selfless deed, everybody is amazed that a woman could be so giving and compassionate, offering up her own body for another. In shock that a woman possesses such bravery, the people who had gathered said, “’How your sharp intellect contrasts with your female sex!’” (p. 166). Clearly, the ethics and capability of women to perform selflessness were not acknowledged at the time, which is obviously due to cultural norms.

The Sangha, the Buddhist monastic order, comprises Bhikku (monks), Bhikkuni (nuns), laymen, and laywomen. While the Bhikku and Bhikkuni depend upon the laywomen and men for economic support, the lay community depends on them for spiritual guidance and ritualistic practices. This well-rounded mutual relationship is clearly a division not only amongst religious status, but determined by gender as well. This is quite a contradiction with the Buddhist belief that your physical self is impermanent and ultimately attachment to your illusory self will cause you suffering. The second Noble Truth states that suffering originates from our ongoing desire, a clinging to possessions, attachments, and self. Why would a religion founded in the idea of shedding attachment focus so much on gender, which is an attachment? I feel that the Buddha’s hesitation in allowing women to be initially recognized in the Sangha originates from his early childhood convictions of women, fear of the Dharma becoming further compromised, and ultimately leading to the deterioration of Buddhism altogether. The Buddha’s hesitations regarding women becoming monastics seem to be questionable because of the way women have responded to this discrimination even during the Buddha’s lifetime. These women are evidently devoted to the ideals and teachings of Buddhism because of their ability to shed attachments and embody a fully monastic lifestyle. As they are shedding their attachments they give up their gender.

For Indian women during ancient times their entire lives seemed to be under control; from childhood by their parents, then under the watch of their husbands and as they grow older the hands of their sons. Luckily these women were given a type of out of this lifestyle with the support of Buddhism. Buddhism a philosophy focused on spiritual development towards the true insight of the nature of reality. Buddhism included practices such as meditation as a means of changing yourself in order to develop the qualities of awareness, kindness, and wisdom. So how does buddhism treat its women followers are they also subjected to the same prejudice and oppression that individuals outside of the religion. To answer these questions would be looking at the Buddha himself Siddhartha Gautama or ‘The Supreme Buddha’ was unapologetically open in his belief that women had the same potential and perseverance as men did. As one of the only religious leaders to accept women so fully in his time the Buddha 's own teachings and thoughts regarding women as equals was outlandish,to the

The role of women in society has been a controversial one. Most religions see women as being inferior to men and are of the view that women were created as a companion for men. A lot of our social morale stems from religion; hence this help to shape the view that woman is inferior and is to be submissive to their male counterpart. Society has set roles which each sex is expected to play. Gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex (Princeston.edu). Women are expected to be docile and agreeable, while men are expected to be head strong and

Nonetheless, within the Hindu religion, women’s roles have evolved over time and women are going against the social norm of their tradition and their way of life in hopes of being treated in the same manner that Sikh women are within Sikhism (Desai, et al., 1995). Hindu women’s traditional roles in the household in India have changed over the past century. The influence of Western scholars as well as Sikhism views on women has brought change to the overall status and role of women in Hinduism so that Hindu women can be recognized in the same way that Sikhism women are. Western scholars who have studied Hinduism have written many books and articles on the sacred scriptures including reviews on the Vedas (hymns and ritual texts) and other religious scriptures that at one point were restricted from Hindu women.

housewife, to stay at home. This is my explanation of the essay, "The Cult of

Whether it is in a polytheistic or a monotheistic religion, the gender of divinity is always a topic given great attention. Although Buddhism doesn’t put much focus on gods in the teaching, it does include certain religious aspects such as praying to the higher beings. The feminine divine traits in Buddhism can be found with a closer examination on the feminine metaphors in the Buddhist scriptures. While Buddhas are predominantly in male form, divine beings like Bodhisattvas often appears to be female figures including Kwan Yin and Tara. The concept of Buddha nature is described as “tathagata garbha” at times, which means Buddha womb. The imagery of this spiritual womb nurturing the nature for all beings implies the significance of this feminine feature. Another example is how the Buddha’s wisdom is referred to as a ‘she’ in some Buddhist texts. The involvement of both feminine and masculine traits seems to underline the irrelevance of gender in Buddhahood. On the other hand, in Christianity a prevailing image of God being the ‘Father’ is developed. The teachings of Jesus powerfully delineate God as a kind and merciful father accepting and guiding his children with no discrimination. In fact, there is only one explicit example in the scriptures comparing God seeking a sinner to a housewife in search of a lost coin. In addition to the masculine image of God, it is argued that between two human sexes, Jesus as a male is

     Since the beginning of the Jewish religion, women have had what seems to be a marginalized role that encompasses almost every facet of life. In many cases within the body of Jewish texts, clear misogynist statements and commentary are made dealing with every aspect of what it means to be female. Within the Orthodox

Gender can be described as “the social attributes associated with being a woman or a man in a particular society” (Woodward, 2000, pp.47) A person’s gender is then determined by their sex which is “a biological classification”. (Woodward, 2000, pp.47) As gender is a social attribute the identities of people of different genders vary from society to society. For example, in many religions, women do not have place in the rituals of the religion as it is simply only for men to do. (Chryssides and Geaves, 2013, pp.331) As religions were formed in certain cultures this shows a clear divide caused by gender roles based on the cultural origin of the religion but also shows that this has an impact on the identities of the male and female members of the religion. This being that the males feel they have more authority over the females of the religion.

In the Gita, Krishna says that “women are less intelligent and are with men of low rank” (The Bhagavad Gita 90). I don’t think that Krishna necessarily is down playing women at all and instead, he is insisting that a woman with intelligence will worship Krishna and will dedicate her life to help and worship the divine. Women who are attached and think about the things that are not important are usually empty headed as they are selfish and attached. “From attachment desire arises, from desire anger is born…from loss of understanding, he is ruined” (The Bhagavad Gita 40). Krishna is telling Arjuna, a man that needs advice from Krishna, that the people that don’t dedicate their lives to the Supreme will eventually get attached to the inadequate things and would not be happy in life.

Buddhism’s teachings are paradoxical in many ways, and even the very definition of Nirvana is not clear. Nirvana is not a place like heaven for Christianity, but rather an eternal state of being. It is the state in which the law of Karma and the rebirth cycle come to an end. Achieving enlightenment also implies to be able to see things as they are. Since Buddhism emphasizes the importance of the soul more than the body, I wonder if there is gender discrimination within Buddhism, and to a larger extent I find it interesting to question how the notion of gender impacts the application of the Buddhist philosophy? Therefore, I will, throughout this

An often controversial issue within politics is how woman are viewed and treated in the Hindu religion. The role of woman in Hinduism is often disputed and positions range from quite reasonable to highly antagonistic. An often overlooked aspect is that, Hinduism is more of a way of life then a Religion. This is because Hinduism requires that we see the same reality in all the diversity of creation; that we see the same Self in all beings. Hindu women within this religion would view themselves as an important part of the family, but this is not shown through the contents of the Manusmriti. The Manusmriti directly translated is “Laws of Manu,” or “Institutions of Manu,” is regarded as the foundational

“In Tantric Buddhism, we are dealing with a misogynist, destructive, masculine philosophy and religion which is hostile to life – i.e. the precise opposite of that for which it is trustingly and magnanimously welcomed in the figure of the Dalai Lama.”[1] Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is an inherent contradiction regarding the status of women. Although in many aspects women are seen and treated as inferior to men, several of the ancient and fundamental values of Tibetan Buddhism, and more specifically Tantric Buddhism, emphasize equality of the sexes, universal compassion, and most importantly the significant and essential role of the woman. Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been trying to