Women In Buddhist Scripture

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Recommended: Portrayal women as obstacles in Buddhism

The second segment of the chapter discussed the divine law, gender roles, daily living, the paths to enlightenment, the religious life, and death. What I found interesting was the discussion on how women were portrayed in Buddhist scriptures. Like most sacred texts, there are contradictory statements about the nature of women and their role in society within the Buddhist scriptures. The ancient texts often depict women as " seductresses who, because of their carnal sensual nature, are a threat to the spiritual welfare of men" (Bilhartz, 2006, p. 238). For example, in the parable found in Itivuttaka, it is evident that women are viewed as obstacles in the spiritual welfare of men. The parable is about a man who is being carried away by a river to whirlpools with monsters and demons. According to the …show more content…

In the Sutra Nipata, Gautama and Punnaka have a discussion about preparing sacrificial gifts for the gods. According to Gautama, people prepared sacrifices to gods to satisfy their own desires, and therefore are unable to reach enlightenment because they are "infatuated by their passion for existence" (Bilhartz, 2006, p.251). He continues to explain that one must be without desires and free from the cares of the world to cross beyond the cycle of birth and decay. Gautama does not put any importance in sacrifices to reach enlightenment. The story of Gautama's past life also discourages preparing sacrifices. The story is about a brahmin who was killed and reborn 500 times as a sacrificial goat as a penalty for sacrificing a goat for the Feast for the Dead. Gautama admonished the people not to perform animal sacrifices for the penalty is a miserable rebirth (Bilhartz, 2006, p. 253). I found it interesting how this differ from the Hindus who pay respect to their deities with some form of offering in order to achieve infinite

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