236group3 (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} 236group3) wrote,@ 2004-03-14 13:22:00 |
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Buddhism -Tuedsay March 9/2004
Recorder: Tessy A John 990113033
Class # 9 Blog Discussion of Buddhism
Readings: Buddhism After Patriarchy Ch 4,5
Breaking Through the Concrete
The first reading gives a historical account of the early formations of Buddhism and its transformation into its three distinct forms. The reading critically analyses the very well known story about The Buddha’s reluctance to allow women to found a nuns order of worldly renunciation. Buddha’s reluctance of the allowance of nuns into the monastic life is often viewed as highly controversial. If one were to only focus on this part of the record, one could easily assume Buddhism as being exceedingly andocentric and rooted in the notions of patriarchy. However, this is a misconception because it is well known that women have a role in the Buddhist life. Women are just as capable as men of attaining the goals of Buddhism. Gross states that the Buddha had never stated that women could not achieve peace. The author states that in analyzing this passage of the Buddha’s reluctance to found the nuns order it is important to keep in mind the status of men and women at the time. That is to say that the Buddha’s reluctance could very will be connected to the very conservative values and traditions that were relevant at the time. After all, Buddhism as a religion came into being approximately five hundred years before Christ. The author also offers the explanation that the reason for this perceived reluctance was simply because homelessness was to unconventional a lifestyle for women to take up. The thought of women without ties to the social world and families was too difficult a concept to conceive and understand.
Once a nun was ordained into the sangha, all of her actions were governed by the monks. This gender hierarchy allows for monks to have complete power and control over the nuns. The author states that the eight special rules that the nuns order must undertake is an institutional subordination and does not impede the spiritual life of a nun.
Further on in the text Gross suggests that this story is not part of what she calls the usable Buddhist past. That is to say that this story is unsuited for basic and fundamental Buddhists values. Instead Gross suggest that there are other teachings and writings that declare certain women to be experts in meditation and teaching. Furthermore, if we are to use the story of the reluctance to found the nuns order, Gross suggests that we focus on the fact that Buddha listened to the advice and arguments of a group of women. Thereby changing his mind in spite of the dominant male oriented anti women public view.
There are many positive images of women in the Buddhist text. The author highlights a few of them within the article. One of the most important according to the Therigatha is that The Buddha often taught laywomen and nuns directly and praised them for their generosity and achievements.
In chapter five of the readings, the author discusses the role of women in Mahayana Buddhist texts. Most importantly is the discussion of the ability of individuals to change sex. In these texts, men often challenged women to change their sex in order to prove her level of spiritual attainment. The significance of these texts is that it highlights the notion of impermanence. That is to say that permanence does not exist. There is no object on this earth that that has innate characteristics. In human beings, there is no essence of what that human being is. With regard to the discussion of gender, there are no innate characteristics that make up males and females. Gender is not static or fixed but instead fluid and ever changing.
The final article that we read for this discussion was the article by Linda Ruth Cutts entitled Breaking Through the Concrete. This article was a sort of auto biography about the life of the author and the life events that caused her to follow the practices of Zen. This practice comes from the third stage of Buddhism known as Tantra or Vajrayana. One of the biggest differences in this movement from the Mahayana beliefs is that the practitioner is encouraged to use emotions to access innately pure parts of the mind. Mahayana Buddhist on the other hand believe that followers are to rid themselves of all raw emotion. The author describes in detail the painful feelings and emotions that she had locked away for so many years. Through what she calls mindfulness she was able to remember her pain and work her way through her troubles. Cutts states that this practice has a particular importance for women. Due to the way that this society and culture are structured women often put the needs of others before their own. By doing this women often forget how take care of themselves. For this reason is important for women to listen to their bodies in order to take care of the physical, mental and spiritual needs.
Discussion:
The first question that we decided to tackle was “What is the message of the sex change motif in Mahayana Buddhist texts?” I said that the Mahayana texts are important and very different from many of the other religious texts studied in the course thus far. In these texts women can attain and accomplish all the same spiritual gifts as men can. Irene in agreement stated that both males and females can achieve enlightenment. I pointed out that in comparison to the more conservative model of Buddhism along with many other religions the role of women is not fixed but is ever changing, women can even achieve Buddhahood. However, it is important to state that in fact, a gender barrier does not really exist. Alex agreed stating that in all things there exists no man or women at all. Irene supported these two ideas when she said that form does not determine who you are. In discussing this question as a group we conceded that the message of sex change motif was on two folds. Firstly, that in essence there is no gender. There is nothing that can be said to be specific determinants of gender these are mere appearances of what we think we perceive because everything around us is impermanent. The second message is related to the first of impermanence and that is the notion of emptiness which is an extension of impermanence. In Buddhism nothing is inherently anything. Women cannot be viewed as impure and an impediment to a persons spiritual enlightenment because their female bodies can be changed. In reality, nothing is inherent in anything but only in relation to other things which are also impermanent.
The next topic of discussion was the question regarding whether we think it is appropriate to adopt only certain portions of the historical record as “useable” and reject the rest? We did not get to spend a great deal of time on this question and only one person was really able to respond due to lack of time. For this reason, I will state what the group member said and put in my own response to the answer. Alex seemed to think that it is appropriate for different sects to take what texts they deem appropriate to make their points. I on the other hand tend to disagree. When taking up a religion it is important to study and understand all the concepts within that religion. For example, as a Christian it would be easy for me to take only specific parts of the Bible and use these parts to justify my own actions. For example in the Old Testament the passage that says it is appropriate to live by the passage “an eye for and eye.” By living only by these words I could think it appropriate to stone everyone that has ever done harm to me. This is clearly not an acceptable way to live my life. It is only in reading other passages in the Bible that I as a Christian realize that this is not the appropriate action to take. When reading historical texts, it is important to remember the time period for which it was written, and who did the writing. The Bible is not the written word of God. In the same way, the Buddhists texts are not the written word of The Buddha. In both of these cases, the texts were written by some third party, an interpreter if you will that is usually a male. There can be no guarantee that the writers of given texts clearly understood the message of their own spiritual head. For this reason texts should be used as a form of guidance in order for an individual to find their own way. Texts should not be viewed as the law on how to practice your faith, but instead as a template to guide you on your own spiritual journey.
Buddhism as a spiritual practice was light years ahead of its time with regard to its interpretations of gender. It is amazing for me to think that centuries ago individuals came to the realization that gender is not a fixed biological trait. The teachings in this religion can serve to help the community of gays and lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals in their struggle for equality by reiterating the fact that in essence there is no gender.
Our discussions on this topic as well as thus far in the course have been progressing very well. Our group has found a comfort level with one another that allows us to converse freely our opinions and feelings. Everyone within the group is open to new ideas and welcomes the thoughts and attitudes of others. Our only problem so far is the fact that sometimes we are not able to spend as much time as we would like discussing certain topics. We find that we have to hurry through the questions in order to answer most of them. Other than that, I find that all our group members are happy and excited to discuss and everyone arrives prepared.
Recorder: Tessy A John 990113033
Class # 9 Blog Discussion of Buddhism
Readings: Buddhism After Patriarchy Ch 4,5
Breaking Through the Concrete
The first reading gives a historical account of the early formations of Buddhism and its transformation into its three distinct forms. The reading critically analyses the very well known story about The Buddha’s reluctance to allow women to found a nuns order of worldly renunciation. Buddha’s reluctance of the allowance of nuns into the monastic life is often viewed as highly controversial. If one were to only focus on this part of the record, one could easily assume Buddhism as being exceedingly andocentric and rooted in the notions of patriarchy. However, this is a misconception because it is well known that women have a role in the Buddhist life. Women are just as capable as men of attaining the goals of Buddhism. Gross states that the Buddha had never stated that women could not achieve peace. The author states that in analyzing this passage of the Buddha’s reluctance to found the nuns order it is important to keep in mind the status of men and women at the time. That is to say that the Buddha’s reluctance could very will be connected to the very conservative values and traditions that were relevant at the time. After all, Buddhism as a religion came into being approximately five hundred years before Christ. The author also offers the explanation that the reason for this perceived reluctance was simply because homelessness was to unconventional a lifestyle for women to take up. The thought of women without ties to the social world and families was too difficult a concept to conceive and understand.
Once a nun was ordained into the sangha, all of her actions were governed by the monks. This gender hierarchy allows for monks to have complete power and control over the nuns. The author states that the eight special rules that the nuns order must undertake is an institutional subordination and does not impede the spiritual life of a nun.
Further on in the text Gross suggests that this story is not part of what she calls the usable Buddhist past. That is to say that this story is unsuited for basic and fundamental Buddhists values. Instead Gross suggest that there are other teachings and writings that declare certain women to be experts in meditation and teaching. Furthermore, if we are to use the story of the reluctance to found the nuns order, Gross suggests that we focus on the fact that Buddha listened to the advice and arguments of a group of women. Thereby changing his mind in spite of the dominant male oriented anti women public view.
There are many positive images of women in the Buddhist text. The author highlights a few of them within the article. One of the most important according to the Therigatha is that The Buddha often taught laywomen and nuns directly and praised them for their generosity and achievements.
In chapter five of the readings, the author discusses the role of women in Mahayana Buddhist texts. Most importantly is the discussion of the ability of individuals to change sex. In these texts, men often challenged women to change their sex in order to prove her level of spiritual attainment. The significance of these texts is that it highlights the notion of impermanence. That is to say that permanence does not exist. There is no object on this earth that that has innate characteristics. In human beings, there is no essence of what that human being is. With regard to the discussion of gender, there are no innate characteristics that make up males and females. Gender is not static or fixed but instead fluid and ever changing.
The final article that we read for this discussion was the article by Linda Ruth Cutts entitled Breaking Through the Concrete. This article was a sort of auto biography about the life of the author and the life events that caused her to follow the practices of Zen. This practice comes from the third stage of Buddhism known as Tantra or Vajrayana. One of the biggest differences in this movement from the Mahayana beliefs is that the practitioner is encouraged to use emotions to access innately pure parts of the mind. Mahayana Buddhist on the other hand believe that followers are to rid themselves of all raw emotion. The author describes in detail the painful feelings and emotions that she had locked away for so many years. Through what she calls mindfulness she was able to remember her pain and work her way through her troubles. Cutts states that this practice has a particular importance for women. Due to the way that this society and culture are structured women often put the needs of others before their own. By doing this women often forget how take care of themselves. For this reason is important for women to listen to their bodies in order to take care of the physical, mental and spiritual needs.
Discussion:
The first question that we decided to tackle was “What is the message of the sex change motif in Mahayana Buddhist texts?” I said that the Mahayana texts are important and very different from many of the other religious texts studied in the course thus far. In these texts women can attain and accomplish all the same spiritual gifts as men can. Irene in agreement stated that both males and females can achieve enlightenment. I pointed out that in comparison to the more conservative model of Buddhism along with many other religions the role of women is not fixed but is ever changing, women can even achieve Buddhahood. However, it is important to state that in fact, a gender barrier does not really exist. Alex agreed stating that in all things there exists no man or women at all. Irene supported these two ideas when she said that form does not determine who you are. In discussing this question as a group we conceded that the message of sex change motif was on two folds. Firstly, that in essence there is no gender. There is nothing that can be said to be specific determinants of gender these are mere appearances of what we think we perceive because everything around us is impermanent. The second message is related to the first of impermanence and that is the notion of emptiness which is an extension of impermanence. In Buddhism nothing is inherently anything. Women cannot be viewed as impure and an impediment to a persons spiritual enlightenment because their female bodies can be changed. In reality, nothing is inherent in anything but only in relation to other things which are also impermanent.
The next topic of discussion was the question regarding whether we think it is appropriate to adopt only certain portions of the historical record as “useable” and reject the rest? We did not get to spend a great deal of time on this question and only one person was really able to respond due to lack of time. For this reason, I will state what the group member said and put in my own response to the answer. Alex seemed to think that it is appropriate for different sects to take what texts they deem appropriate to make their points. I on the other hand tend to disagree. When taking up a religion it is important to study and understand all the concepts within that religion. For example, as a Christian it would be easy for me to take only specific parts of the Bible and use these parts to justify my own actions. For example in the Old Testament the passage that says it is appropriate to live by the passage “an eye for and eye.” By living only by these words I could think it appropriate to stone everyone that has ever done harm to me. This is clearly not an acceptable way to live my life. It is only in reading other passages in the Bible that I as a Christian realize that this is not the appropriate action to take. When reading historical texts, it is important to remember the time period for which it was written, and who did the writing. The Bible is not the written word of God. In the same way, the Buddhists texts are not the written word of The Buddha. In both of these cases, the texts were written by some third party, an interpreter if you will that is usually a male. There can be no guarantee that the writers of given texts clearly understood the message of their own spiritual head. For this reason texts should be used as a form of guidance in order for an individual to find their own way. Texts should not be viewed as the law on how to practice your faith, but instead as a template to guide you on your own spiritual journey.
Buddhism as a spiritual practice was light years ahead of its time with regard to its interpretations of gender. It is amazing for me to think that centuries ago individuals came to the realization that gender is not a fixed biological trait. The teachings in this religion can serve to help the community of gays and lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered individuals in their struggle for equality by reiterating the fact that in essence there is no gender.
Our discussions on this topic as well as thus far in the course have been progressing very well. Our group has found a comfort level with one another that allows us to converse freely our opinions and feelings. Everyone within the group is open to new ideas and welcomes the thoughts and attitudes of others. Our only problem so far is the fact that sometimes we are not able to spend as much time as we would like discussing certain topics. We find that we have to hurry through the questions in order to answer most of them. Other than that, I find that all our group members are happy and excited to discuss and everyone arrives prepared.
