Bhikkhuni Ordination Debate

Global Aspirations, Local Concerns, with special emphasis on the views of the monastic community in Burma

Bibliographic Data

ID8096208
AuthorsHiroko Kawanami (0000-0003-4529-0825, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume24
Issue2
Pages226-244
Publication date2007-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBuddhist Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0265-2897 • E-ISSN: 1747-9681
PublisherEquinox Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1558/bsrv.v24i2.226
OpenAlexW2006141645
LanguageEN
Citations received22

This paper examines the recent events following the bhikkhuni revival in Sri Lanka, and looks at the position of the Burmese Sangha, which has traditionally seen itself as the custodian of an ‘authentic’ Buddhist legacy, thrown into a debate by the action of a Burmese bhikkhuni who was recently ordained in Sri Lanka. It introduces the early initiatives of revivalist monks in Burma as well as the viewpoints of Burmese Sangha and the nuns in regard to the bhikkhuni issue. Since most debate on the position of nuns take place without much reference to the local political contexts in which they stand, the state monastic organization in Burma is introduced to aid understanding of the framework in which the nuns operate today. At another level, the paper draws attention to the tension created between the international bhikkhunis who promote liberal ideologies of gender equality, individual rights and universalism into a faith based community, and local nuns who adhere to the traditional norms of religious duty, moral discipline and service to the community, and questions the ultimate aim in endorsing such secular ideals

Buddhism · Burmese · Duty · Faith · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Universalism · Viewpoints · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Asian Studies and History · Religion, Society, and Development · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religious Studies

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