Gender discrepancies supported by religious traditions continue to have negative effects on women’s well-being. Such gender disparities persist in Buddhist societies and institutions and are linked to cultural and religious beliefs and practices that assign a lower status to women. As a result, in some Buddhist traditions, in Asian as well as Western settings, nuns cannot ordain to the same level as monks. Further, most Buddhist archetypes of enlightenment remain male and men hold positions of power and privilege within the majority of Buddhist organizations. Since the 1980s the global Buddhist women’s network, Sakyadhita (International Association of Buddhist Women), has campaigned for gender equity and full ordination for women as bhikkhunis.
This paper will focus on recent controversy surrounding the British-born Theravâda monk, Ajahn Brahmavamso Mahathera, the abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery in Western Australia (WA) and his advocacy for equal rights for women within Buddhism. In 2009, Ajahn Brahm helped ordain four bhikkhunis in WA, as a result of which Bodhinyana Monastery was excommunicated from Wat Pah Pong Monastery. In 2014, Ajahn Brahm’s planned speech on Gender Equality at the United Nations Day of Vesak (UNDV) convention in Vietnam was withdrawn by the UNDV’sInternational Committee. Both events generated significant online activity on the blog of Bhante Sujato, an Australian monk, and online petitions supporting the bhikkhunis and Ajahn Brahm. This paper arguesthat Buddhist women and men, nuns, monks, and laypeople, including scholars, are uniting globally to create “third spaces” to campaign for gender equality in Buddhism, drawing on both traditional Buddhist principles and modern digital activism to further their aims.
目次
Introduction 114 Bhikkhuni Ordination in the Thai Forest Tradition in Australia 115 Conclusion 118 NOTES 118
