Bhikkhunis International Buddhist Magazine - June 2020

A Study of
the Role
of Bhikkhunis….
The research concluded that the
Buddha set his determination since
right after his enlightenment to allow
for ordination of women and to institute
the Bhikkhuni order as one of the
four-fold pillars of Buddhism, namely:
Bhikkhus, Bhikkhunis, Upasakas and
Upasikas in order to sustain his
Sasana and spread his teachings into
the future. The eight garudhammas
are not rules but recommendations
meant to ensure the continuity of the
Sasana. Dual ordination as specified
in the sixth garudhamma was meant
to prevent Bhikkhunis from giving
ordination on their own. It was rather
meant to honor Bhikkhus the role
of Upachaya. In the case of having
no existing Bhikkhuni Sangha, the
Buddha gave clear decision that
Bhikkhus should perform Bhikkhuni
ordination. The revival of Theravada
footsteps in spreading the Dhamma and
helping with community development
and education to the best of their
abilities. They have played a great
role in offering Dhamma education,
meditation training and even bringing
about socially-engaged Buddhism to
the awareness of the general public.
Even though the position of Bhikkhunis
in Thai society is not clear at present,
it is inevitable that Bhikkhunis will
play an increasingly important role
in Thai society. It is just a matter of
time before the legal validity of single
ordination of Bhikkhunis by Bhikkhus
will become well-known and bring
about true understanding about the
Buddha’s intention for the role of
Bhikkhunis in the four-fold Sangha.
The commentaries, however, put
this meditation under the category
of samatha (the development of
However, at the end of this section,
the Buddha explicitly declared that
this meditation culminates in seeing
the body internally, or externally, or
internally and externally; and in seeing
the nature of arising and passing away;
and in not clinging to anything in the
world. Given the culmination of this
meditation. It is reasonable to conclude
that this contemplation of thirty-two
anatomical parts is expounded in this
discourse to develop vipassana insights
and enlightenment. So, we can draw
the conclusion that we can practice
this meditation either to develop jhanic
concentration or vipassana insights. For
the development of vipassana insights,
however, the commentaries encourage
us to develop jhanic concentration first.
And then, with the help of powerful
jhanic concentration, we may redirect
our mindfulness to the present mental
| Bhikkhunis | June | 2020 |
Based upon research in a Master’s
Degree thesis conducted at
Mahachulalongkorn University,
the paper uses a qualitative
approach. It is a mixture of both
historical and documentary research,
based as much as possible on original
text, and in-depth interviews of five
prominent Bhikkhunis in Thailand.
It consists of three main objectives
namely: (1) Study the prominent
figures of Bhikkhuni Sangha and
their achievement in the history of
Buddhism, (2) Analyze the contributions
of Bhikkhunis to Thai society, (3)
Suggestions for the improvement of
the role of Bhikkhunis in Thai society.
“Buddha’s
intention
Bhikkhunis
Role”
Bhikkhuni ordination in Bodhgaya in
1998 in 1998 is thus legally correct
whether from single or dual ordination
considerations. Its validity is based on
the precedent that according to the
canonical Vinaya as set by the Buddha
himself when he delegated the
ordination of the followers of Maha
Pajapati Gotami to the Bhikkhus.
Currently, 2017, more than 150
Bhikkhunis are residing in 30 provinces
and abroad. From the interviews of five
prominent Bhikkhunis, the researcher
found that despite hardships and
obstacles which they all had to endure,
they are now very happy and are
determined to follow the Buddha’s
concentration and tranquility). And
Abhidhamma explicitly categorizes
this meditation as samatha that can
culminate in the attainment of the
first jhana (but not higher jhanas).
The Visuddhi-magga says that this
meditation—known as body-based
mindfulness {kayagata- sati)—\
Nas taught as samatha in this
discourse because it describes how to
contemplate the body parts in terms
of repulsiveness. This meditation,
however, was taught as vipassana
in other discourses’^ in which the
Buddha described how to contemplate
the body parts in terms of physical
elements instead of repulsiveness.
Most
Venerable
Bhikkhuni
Sobhita
phenomena involved in the jhana itself.
Seeing jhanic mental states arising
and passing away, we can develop
vipassana insights step by step until
enlightenment.
We can also observe the
anatomical parts in terms of physical
elements as mentioned in the next
section, so that we can see physical
phenomena arising and passing away,
thus developing vipassana insights
step by step until magga-phala
enlightenment. So, this meditation can
be practiced either for the development
of jhanic concentration or for the
attainment of vipassana insights and
magga-phala enlightenment.
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| 2020 | June | Bhikkhunis |