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The status of women in Buddhism
Impact of Buddhism on the world
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Buddhism is considered as one of the leading religions throughout the world today. In order for a Buddhist to follow the religion, there are certain set of guidelines that one has to follow to gain a better life, but most people have other factors that they have to face along this path. The story, “The Journey of One Buddhist Nun” by Sid Brown, is an account of a Thai woman, Maechi Wabi, who entered a spiritual life along with life struggles and outside influences. According to Brown, Wabi faced many challenges along the way to liberation and two challenges she faced most are the gender and socioeconomic issues which she overcame during her spiritual journey.
Siddhartha Gautama had a luxurious lifestyle provided by his father in the palace but still he was unhappy about the life and wanted to seek an answer to it. But unlike the Siddhartha Gautama, Maechi Wabi had to go through a different phase to renounce from all the desires in order to again liberation. She was from a poor family and after her father left the family, she had to take care of her brothers and sisters even Wabi was at her younger age. She even built a disgusting phase towards men due to her father’s actions. Wabi’s father left the entire family and renounced all his desires, and therefore, Wabi had a curious thought and confusion as to why he did that (Brown, 18). Also the author states that Wabi was not happy about her life and the situation at home because of suffering and the struggle the entire family is on to survive made Wabi to finally leave her family and start a different journey to seek an answer.
Although Siddhartha Gautama and Maechi Wabi went through similar phases in leaving the life of a household to find the answers, factors such as gender and so...
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...autama left behind a luxurious life and went onto gain enlightenment, but Wabi had to leave her poverty behind and moved on which see did undergoing too much pain and suffering.
Wabi’s quest to gain a peaceful life was somewhat consisted many barriers but she was able to jump through each and every one of them with courage and self-motivation. Factors like gender and socioeconomics are not defined in Buddhism because anyone can follow the middle path, but Buddhist elites in the past had made these rules and regulations and they are accepted earlier and now which play a huge role in ones’ spiritual life. With the Thai culture’s setup, especially a woman to follow a spiritual life require much effort, and Wabi’s story say that in order to gain liberation, one need to be develop their inner being through self-practice even though the problems are right in front of you.
The Buddha in the Attic is written to represent the unheard experiences of many different women that married their husband through a picture. They were known during the early 1920s as the pictures brides ranging in different ages, but naive to the world outside of America. Though the picture bride system was basically the same as their fathers selling their sister to the geisha house, these women viewed being bought to be a wife by a Japanese male in America as an opportunity for freedom and hope for a better life (Otsuka, 2011, p.5) For some of these women, the choice to marry the man in the picture wasn’t an option and chose to die while on the boat instead of marry a stranger, while others accepted their fates with grace. The book continues
Buddhism is a religion from the East that has spread to many different countries all over the world. It has spread to the West, and has had a great influence and impact, especially in America. However, the Buddhism that is practiced in the United States is not exactly the same as the one that is practiced in Asian countries. If Buddhism differs between the different traditions of the Asian countries themselves, it is obvious that it will differ greatly in America as well. However, even though there are obvious differences, it is important to maintain the core values and fundamental principles the same. This research explores how the three different types of Buddhist practitioners have adopted Buddhism in America, and it describes some differences
Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Lipper/Penguin, 2004. 66-98. Print.
The teachings of the Buddha do not only benefit men but also women. However, when trying to be ordained, women meet more problems than men do. According to the difference in precepts for monks and nuns, nuns are inferior to monks in all circumstances. (Walsh 2016) These differences combined with the low social status of women during the time of the Buddha have formed a popular view about Buddhism that discriminates against women. However although there is evidence that emphasize the difference in treating women and men in Buddhism, it is Buddhism that propose the equality between women and men, thus further raising the status of women in social circumstances. In this paper, I will focus on the traditional view of women
Buddhism is currently the fourth most popular religion in our society today, following Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Its major ideologies are based on the philosophies of Siddhartha Guatama, also known as “Buddha”, who began his teachings in 598 BCE at the age of 35, according to Buddhist texts. A Buddhist’s foremost aspiration is the obtainment of Bodhi, or enlightenment through meditation and Anapana-sati (awareness of the breath). Buddhism shares many ideologies with India’s Hinduism and Yoga such as non-harming, non-violence, and self-awareness. In many instances, people regard Buddhism as a way of life rather than a religion, for it has no clear belief in the idea of a God or Gods. Its structure is built upon a hierarchy much like Christianity where superior orders such as Lamas or the Dalai Lama are said to be chosen by nature through the process of reincarnation rather than by a council like Christianity’s Pope. Though these “higher level” Buddhists are rare (not everyone is a reincarnation of an ancient Buddhist “priest”), all are permitted to follow “The Middle Way” either as a Buddhist monk or the simple attendance of a weekly teaching session from time to time. Throughout the last few hundred years the Buddhist population has blossomed into a healthy 381,611,000 and over fifteen different sects including Zen, Mahayana, and Theravada.
Maechi Wabi’s journey illustrates the relationship of vipassana meditation because of the suffering that she goes through to become a nun. Through her journey to become a nun, she learns that to become a nun in Bangkok you need to have money. Without much of money, she goes through difficulties to difficulties to find a place where she can stay, practices meditation and learn Buddhism. Vipassana meditation means “to see clearly” (43 Brown). While Maechi Wabi practices vipassana meditation, she learns a lot about the nun and her inner self. Wabi starts to understand the idea of rebirth and suffering (the Buddhist truth) as she continues practicing meditation. The more she meditates, the more she gained an understanding of suffering, karmic and notices that everyone, including herself, is suffering because of the karmic that they have had builds in their past
Thích Nh’at Hanh is a world renowned Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, religious figure and accomplished writer. Living Buddha, Living Christ is only one of his many famous publications. Thích Nh’at Hanh, is famous for his insights into spiritual heritage and mindfulness in the present moment. Many Americans are seeking religious understanding and personal spirituality, even if they do not practice in the traditional manner. Throughout this book Nh’at Hang encourages readers to find meaning, understanding, mindfulness, and peace in the teachings of Buddha and Christ. His main focus is to open meaningful dialogue between different traditions, cultures, and religious groups around the world, for the betterment
“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 correct this contradiction for years to remove the inferior and degrading stereotype that defines them and to be seen as equal to men. Beginning with the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism from India until today, the status of women, both physically and symbolically has declined due to the patriarchal system adopted by Tibet. “The mystery of Tantric Buddhism consists in the sacrifice of the feminine principle and the manipulation of erotic love in order to attain universal androcentric power.”[2] In their patriarchal society, the symbol of the woman is used by men now as an instrument; manipulated by men in order to acquire control and power.
Siddhartha Gautama is famously known as Gautama Buddha and was the founder of the idea of Buddhism. The Buddha was known to possess supernatural powers and abilities. He was born in the holy land of Nepal and his journey began in India when he decided to travel and teach himself about life. In the midst of his journey, he discovered Buddhism after he experienced a profound realization of the nature of life, death and existence. Buddhism became a religion based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama and since then Buddhism has been popular throughout many civilizations. Buddhism is now one of the most ancient religions in the world, where people follow Buddha, which stand for “awakened one,” and Buddhism which has gained popularity because of the teachings of the Buddha.
For the purpose of this essay, I have chosen to expand my forum post for the reading on Buddhist nuns and the difficulties they face due to the institutionalized misogyny present in Buddhist traditions. I selected this topic of wimmin in Buddhism because I am similarly interested in wimmin as my primary academic focus, and thus have found this topic one of the most engaging from the course so far. I believe that it is especially important to think about the roles of wimmin in Buddhism, and, more than that, why they do – and have – occupied these roles, both in history and as they continue to do so into current times, due to the simple fact that they are undeniably important members of communities, but culturally-normalized negative attitudes towards them have often implied otherwise.
"Basics of Buddhism." n.d. The Living Edens: Thailand. Public Broadcasting Service. Website. 6 March 2014. .
One central theme of The Dharma Bums is Buddhism. One of the most important things to note about the religion in this book is the two forms it takes, and the significance these forms have on the plot and meaning of the book. Ray Smith is a neophyte in the school of Theraveda Buddhism, which is a school dedicated to movement towards enlightenment. Under the teaching of the Theraveda canon, everything a person does should be done with the end goal of perso...
Summary and Analysis of The Nun's Priest's Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Nun's Priest's Tale: The Knight interrupts the Monk's Tale, for as a man who has reached a certain estate, he does not like to hear tales of a man's fall from grace. He would rather hear of men who rise in esteem and status. The Host refuses to allow the Monk to continue, instead telling the Nun's Priest to tell his tale. The Nun's Priest's Tale: The Nun's Priest tells a tale of an old woman who had a small farm in which she kept animals, including a rooster named Chanticleer who was peerless in his crowing. Chanticleer had seven hens as his companions, the most honored of which was Pertelote.
The narrator, Tambu is culturally restricted to roles that denied her opportunity to rise above domesticity. Tambu is trapped which is portrayed when her mother says, “and these days it’s worse, with the poverty of blackness on one side and the weight of womanhood on the other” (16). Tambu’s story traces her hardships from infancy; she has to cultivate the fields, fetch the water from Nyamarira river, look after her young siblings, and cook for the family. Many of these roles obstructed her chances of attending school, her brother, Nhamo, on the other hand is able to study. He is privileged to attend school despite the family having to eke out a living. The relationship between Tambu and Nhamo is reduced to that of the privileged and the non-privileged. Nhamo has all the opportunities becau...
The life of a Buddhist monk involves a considerable amount of patience. One must go through an immense amount of training which requires a great amount of time to accomplish to become a Buddhist monk. One must also become familiar with the background behind Buddhism to fully understand the life of Buddhist monks. The restrictions on their daily life also allow us to visualize the life of Buddhist monks. A person seeking insight into Buddhist monks’ lives should learn about meditation in Buddhism to increase background knowledge.