Experiencing Womanhood as a Buddhist Nun

Buddhist scriptures, as early as 600 BCE, offer seemingly contradictory ideas about women. On the one hand, husbands are told to respect their wives, yet there are numerous descriptions of women as temptresses, whose bodies... [ view full abstract ]

Buddhist scriptures, as early as 600 BCE, offer seemingly contradictory ideas about women. On the one hand, husbands are told to respect their wives, yet there are numerous descriptions of women as temptresses, whose bodies are ‘charming cadavers,’ beautiful on the outside but rotting at the core. The Buddha was hesitant to create an order of nuns, yet nuns are said to have the same capacity for enlightenment as monks. The experiences of women in Buddhist societies evidently vary greatly across countries and cultures. Nevertheless, these original teachings bear weight on contemporary conceptions of women in Buddhism. Focusing on early accounts of Buddhist nuns, as well as on the lived experience of nuns at Nagi Gompa monastery in Kathmandu today, this presentation will explore some of the tensions that exist in the treatment of Buddhist women.