In Buryatia, where Buddhism carries masculine characteristics and where the activities of Buddhist institutions and monastic schools are aimed at educating, training and servicing mainly men, Buddhist nuns and women do not have the opportunity to fully engage in Buddhist learning and practice. Women’s inferior status and position have developed over the centuries and under the influence of traditional views and the patriarchal structure of Buryat society. However, despite the entrenched attitudes and norms, Buryat Buddhist women make every endeavor to participate in religious life. Especially in the post-Soviet period, when the revitalization of Buddhism began, Buryat Buddhist women began to actively participate in this process, thereby greatly contributing to the revival and development of the tradition in the region. As a result, Buddhist novice nuns emerged, and the first and only nunnery Zuungon Darzhaling was founded in order to fulfill the religious needs of Buddhist women in contemporary Buryatia. This study investigates Buddhist nuns and women in contemporary Buryatia. Using the results from email exchanges with Ven. Tenzin Chodron (Dr. Irina Urbanaeva), a scholar nun, and Budaeva Zorigma Dalaevna, the abbess of Zuungon Darzhaling, I examine the place of Buddhist nuns and women in modern Buryat society, as well as their religious lives, personal practices and the problems they encounter in daily life. Also by using a case study of nunnery Zuungon Darzhaling, I analyze the nature and possibility of female Buddhist monasticism in Buryatia.
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摘要 I ABSTRACT II DEDICATION III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IV CONTENTS V LIST OF FIGURES VII ABBREVIATIONS VIII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. RESEARCH MOTIVE AND PURPOSE 1 1.2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6 1.3. REVIEW OF PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP 8 1.4. THESIS STRUCTURE 15 CHAPTER 2: A BRIEF HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN BURYATIA 18 2.1. FROM MONGOLIA TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE (EARLY 17TH TO EARLY 20TH CENTURIES) 18 2.2. BUDDHISM IN THE SOVIET UNION (EARLY 20TH CENTURY TO LATE 1980S) 30 2.3. THE REVIVAL OF BUDDHISM IN BURYATIA (LATE 1980S TO PRESENT-DAY) 38 2.4. SUMMARY 43 CHAPTER 3: THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN BURYAT BUDDHISM 45 3.1. WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL BURYAT SOCIETY 45 3.2. BURYAT WOMEN IN THE SOVIET SOCIETY 53 3.3. BUDDHIST WOMEN IN POST-SOVIET BURYATIA 59 3.4. SUMMARY 67 CHAPTER 4: BUDDHIST NUNS OF BURYATIA: PAST AND PRESENT 69 4.1. THE HISTORY OF WOMEN’S ORDINATION IN BURYATIA 69 4.2. BUDDHIST NUNS IN CONTEMPORARY BURYATIA 76 4.3. THE LIFE OF A SCHOLAR NUN TENZIN CHODRON 82 4.4. SUMMARY 91 CHAPTER 5: A CASE STUDY OF THE NUNNERY ZUUNGON DARZHALING 93 5.1. HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 93 5.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES, METHODS AND PROCESS 98 5.3. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 99 5.4. SUMMARY 108 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 111 APPENDIX A 117 APPENDIX B 118 APPENDIX C 120 APPENDIX D 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY 122
