Formal and informal withdrawal; vibbhamati; re-ordination; upasampadā; Buddhist nuns; bhikkhunī; TheravƗda
摘要
Buddhist monks (bhikkhu) have the possibility of formally or informally withdrawing from the Buddhist community (saṅgha), and to later be ordained again as Buddhist monks. Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunī) may only informally withdraw (vibbhamati) from the Buddhist community, and are, as generally held today, prohibited from receiving full ordination again as Buddhist nuns. To examine the actual situation is not only a question of historical interest, but also of importance for the present-day bhikkhunīsaṅgha. In the present article the rules and regulations concerning the situation of nuns in the TheravƗda tradition are investigated. All relevant sources in the middle Indic language PƗli from the canonical Vinaya text to the subcommentaries are taken into account to find out how this case is regulated in specific texts, and why.
目次
1. Introduction 1 2. The Vinaya 3 2.1 Formal withdrawal from the Buddhist community 3 2.2 Informal withdrawal from the Buddhist community 6 3. The statements of the commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) 12 4. The statements in the subcommentaries (ṭīkā) 15 4.1 The subcommentator’s explanation of vibbhamati 18 4.2 The twenty-four pārājikas 20 5. Conclusions 23 Acknowledgements 28 Remark regarding the formatting 28 Abbreviations 28 References 29
