The author is Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Head of Applied Ethics Research Center; Hsuan Chuang University, Taiwan=玄奘大學宗教學系教授兼應用倫理研究中心主任
關鍵詞
動物權=animal rights; 台灣佛門女權運動=the Buddhist Feminist Movement in Taiwan; 護生=Life Protection; 緣起=Dependent Origination (s. pratīya-samutpāda; p. paticca-samuppāda); 男性沙文主義=male chauvinism; 比丘尼=bhiksuni; 八敬法="the EightSpecial Rules" (p.s. ATTha Garudhammā); 廢除八敬法運動=the Abolishment of the ATTha Garudhammā; 達賴喇嘛=Dalai Lama; 菩薩道=the Bodhisattva Path
摘要
The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyze: (1) the author’s mental journey from advocating animal rights to female rights in Buddhism, (2) the situational background against which the movement was initiated, (3) strategic thinking about movement building, (4) the assessment of the strategy and action plan’s effectiveness, and (5) bottlenecks to the development of the movement. In my previous papers, I stated that “the Eight Special Rules” (ATTha Garudhammā) legitimizing gender discrimination were not formulated by the Buddha. In this paper, based on the current situation in Buddhist communities, I would like to further point out the fact that not only have the rules twisted the healthy relationship between men and women in daily interactions and rituals, but also the minds of practitioners. That is, by enforcing the rules, a mixed sense of inferiority and superiority was elicited through them, and the emotions of jealousy and superciliousness also evolved. Additionally, “the Eight Special Rules” also frame a far-reaching and inescapable so-called “gender order” that manifests in various forms of rituals and gatherings in Buddhism. This draws Buddhism towards becoming an obsolete religion that extremely discriminates against females. However, words alone are not enough. To effect change, we need to take action! Thus I weighed the entire situation and realized that, in order to deconstruct Buddhist male chauvinism, I must start at “the Abolishment of the Eight Special Rules”. Furthermore, I decided that I would not let this dispute develop into a tempest in a teapot engineered by Buddhists alone. I believed that if an appropriate amount of public pressure was brought to bear on the Buddhist community, then the mental state of the male chauvinists in the entire community could be pressed to transform and evolve. At the end of March 2001, I took advantage of an opportune situation, as the Dalai Lama visiting Taiwan, to initiate the movement of abolishing “the Eight Special Rules”, and appealed to him to restore the bhiksuni ordination lineage for Tibetan nuns. The Buddhist Feminist Movement turned out to be a hot topic in the media at that time. Not only did it receive strong support from public opinion, but also gave a great shock to the male chauvinists in the Buddhist community, which really taught them a good lesson as expected.
