Gender Equality in Spirituality; The Revival of Female Monks in Indonesian Theravada Buddhism

In many aspects of life, the division between men and women occurs not only in social role, but also in spirituality. Certain paradigm of what women should be and do that they cannot be in equal position with men deters women to participate in religious attainment.

Since more than two thousand years ago, the tradition of having Bhikkhuni (Female Monk) in Theravada sect has disappeared. After the death of King Ashoka, many monks were chased after and then killed because Buddhism no longer was protected by the King in charge.

While the Monks escaped to jungle, the nuns stayed in the city due to the Vinaya (Buddhist Monastic rules) that mentioned Bhikkhuni could not stay in jungle. This Vinaya was imposed by Buddha Gautama because of the raping cases towards Bhikkhuni living in jungle. In the city, however, the Bhikkhuni could not escape the massacre.

According to the rule, women entering monastic life can only be ordained by directly The Buddha or must be by Bhikkhu and Bhikkhuni. This rule causes the tradition of Bhikkhuni has long been gone since the extinction of Bhikkhuni in Theravada. Many lineages of Theravada no longer facilitate women to become Nuns as they don’t have Bhikkhuni anymore to perform ordination.

This condition becomes the hindrance for spiritual journey of women in Theravada Buddhism. They cannot choose to attain certain level of spirituality in Buddhism that can only be achieved by becoming Bhikkhuni, because to begin with the option is not even provided.

Ayya Santini, however, is the first woman renunciant of Theravada Buddhism in Indonesia. Her struggle to insist becoming a Bhikkhuni came fruitful in 15th of April 2000; she was ordained by Theravada Monks and Mahayana Nuns. This, however, cannot be acknowledged by most of Theravada Buddhist society in Indonesia, which they argue the ordination is not legitimate because the ordainers were not Theravada Nuns.

Despite the controversy, Ayya Santini has been practicing her asceticism and has gained de facto acknowledgement as a Bhikkhuni by Buddhist society internationally. In 2007, she has been awarded as The Outstanding Woman in Buddhism by United Nations celebrating the Women International Day.

On last 21st of June 2015, the first Upasampada (ordination ceremony) in Indonesia was held. There were 9 Samaneris (Novice Nuns) that have been ordained becoming Nuns; two of which were Indonesians.

This event is not merely a turning point in the history of Buddhism in Indonesia, but also a statement of women empowerment that shows how culturally and religiously women can also have important position and can be equal to men, especially knowing how in many religions men are considered to have higher position than women.

In the past, women did not have much opportunity like men to decide what they wanted to be and to voice out their opinions. While men could perform important social role like being a leader, women should stay at home. Culturally and religiously, women were not allowed to lead men regardless of their capability.

Culture and religion oft times are the root cause of the problem of gender equality. Women are seen as weak and irrational beings, and they are seen not as independent beings, but mere part of men that exist only to complete the men, or worse, as the men’s properties.

Such social norm has limited women’s opportunity to participate further in societal system and to make a decision for themselves of what kind of life they truly aspire, to be married or to live in celibacy.

Values, however, are always dynamics. Neither can culture nor religion really confine the rapid change of values believed in society. The realm of people’s mind is unpredictable and can result in unexpected outcomes in the form of opinions and actions. Nonetheless, the system of upholding certain values will always have to be associated with current relevant situation occurring in society.

This is the originality of intellectual property despite of the existing cultural and religious dogma. People assess and criticize the situation and the regulation exercised within their environment, whether or not they are resolving. Not to mention, historically speaking that is also how culture and religion were once created; they were proposed based on contextualized issues in the past. Therefore, change is inevitable.

Today women can have more freedom choosing their destiny. Some women can pursue dream career like men do, some can become notable scholars acknowledged by everyone, and some can become spiritual leaders.

More than 25 centuries ago, Buddha Himself said so that there would be some rules within Vinaya needed to be changed following the situation people would face. Furthermore, in Buddhist cosmology, it can be indicated from Buddha’s teaching that eon of years ago, or maybe in different universe, there might be a colony of human beings that the Buddha in that era didn’t impose any Vinaya at all for the Monks and Nuns because the society already lived upholding Sila (moralities) very highly even without entering monastic life. This implies how even religiously Buddhism is opened to contextualized change.

Now Indonesian women in Theravada Buddhism no longer need to hesitate if they want to be Bhikkhuni seeking for the pathway to enlightenment, as they now have the same opportunity as men.

I believe spirituality is for everyone, and it is supposed to be beyond regulations set by humans, because spirituality is about a quest of truth, and it will always be a personal relation between one person and the universe. This being said, spirituality cannot be confined by mere tradition or reason of different sects.

image: http://buddhazine.com/upasampada-bhikkhuni-theravada-pertama-di-indonesia-setelah-seribu-tahun/