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From: SECBH@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Jack Carroll)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.eastern
Subject: Lotus Sutra/Women in Buddhism
Message-ID: <1990Dec20.012110.6179@nas.nasa.gov>
Date: 20 Dec 90 01:21:10 GMT
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In article <1990Dec8.020416.27265@nas.nasa.gov> kde@heawk1.gsfc.nasa.gov ( Keith
writes:

>...In the first 42 years of Shakyamuni's preaching life,
>he taught according to the minds of the people, with his bodhisattvas
>asking questions and even answering them, too. Ignorant people in this
>day and age read them and thinking that since it accords with their mind
>that is must be the Way. Also in these earlier sutras, he taught that
                                                        --------------
>women and men of learning could not attain Buddhahood.... (other
 -----------------------------------------------------
material deleted.)

The place of women in the Buddhism of the past is an often discussed
topic, moreso in the West with its more organized approach to
feminism than in Asia, as far as I have observed.

Certainly the Buddha did ordain women in his lifetime, though
it is sometimes cited that he had reservations about an order
of nuns.  However, to the best of my recollection, it was not
until generations after the Parinirvana of the Buddha that
conservative schools, such as the Theravadins, successfully
promoted the idea of women being unable to achieve enlightment
while in female bodies and that the order of nuns virtually
vanished.

The Therigatha (hope that is spelled right) in the Pali Canon
is rather strong evidence on the place of women in early Buddhism.

Moving into the area of Mahayana scriptures, I would question whether
the Lotus Sutra makes either the strongest or the earliest
case for the place of women in that tradition.  (Regretably, my
books are packed away preparatory to moving, so I can't do any
research.)

As I recall, the Vimalakirti Sutra is as early as the Lotus Sutra.
In one chapter in particular, I believe that it is usually titled
something on the order of "The Goddess of the House", it
dramatically and with great humour asserts the equality of
women.  (In the normally staid literature of the Buddhist scriptures
this selection unusually funny.)

Again, though I do not have the resources to check the accepted
dates, the Avatamsaka Sutra, i.e. - the last book actually -
certainly makes a very strong case for the equality, both in
potential and accomplishment, of the women, as well as laypersons.

I am aware of the unique place given to the Lotus Sutra in the
Nichiren sects, however in surveying Buddhism more broadly and
considering its scriptures from a non-sectarian viewpoint the
postion of women has been stated and restated in many places,
and these statements have been ignored or emphasized dependent
upon many complex factors in addition to the scriptures themselves.

Jack Carroll